Yes, the description about the style of home built here for under $400k is completely accurate. I grew up in a different state and there were many more options - you could buy an older home, and there were many well maintained neighborhoods of older homes to choose from. This area has grown really fast in the last 20 years, and there was plenty of land to grow out, so the 'older' homes here were build in the 1990's and most seem to be that same split level or one story with basement style. Also, from what I can see, the 'semi-custom home,' for lack of a better term, has been nonexistent in the lower priced market until recently - now that a lot of these national builders are out here I think is slowly changing, but there really aren't unique floor plans unless you are looking at buying someone else's full custom build, which can start to cause a budget problem. I actually found a couple of house plans that might be feasible, so right now I'm measuring my house and my sister's house trying to get a feel for the size of the rooms. A couple of threads have been helpful for that here :) The only issue with remodeling for me is the cost, which I know sounds odd when considering building as an alternative. I know normally you get more house when you buy, but the homes in our price range that would allow us to budget for remodel as well are really outdated, and from what I understand, 'style' updates don't add much value to the home. Like I said before, I'm not looking for marble, but I still care what my house looks like. So if I budget 20k to update a hideous 90's yellow oak kitchen that is basically in good condition and functional, we're really not going to get much back on that, are we? Maybe I'm mistaken. From what I can see, if we buy and remodel, it would likely be a 1990 split level homes, so based on those I've looked at, I would want to convert a single bathroom to a jack and jill, likely losing one bedroom, update kitchen cabinets, and replace any country style or oak railings common in the split level homes here. Are those really smart remodeling investments? Will my home end up losing value because of the loss of the bedroom?

Interesting to see that the sentiment seems to be largely against the vault -- I had really expected people to say, "No, no, keep it" because I think my thoughts and plans are on the "low side of grand" for this board. I'm thinking, though, that I may be in the majority on this one. One thought of note: Several people are mentioning 9-10 foot ceilings, decorative ceilings, etc. Our house'll have 8 foot ceilings in all the other rooms, so if we lose the vault, I 'm assuming the living room'll have 8 foot ceilings as well. I think I would like slightly elevated ceilings in this space. I suppose we could do a tray ceiling (or similar) in the living room -- but that would mean that the "found space" on the second floor would definitely be storage only because the ceiling would be low. I might be able to live with that. WHY did I consider the vault in the first place? A good question. This is the house plan we've liked for about two years now. I'll have a fling with another plan occasionally, but I always come back to this one. I love the charm of the exterior, it's the right size for us, it'll be relatively inexpensive to build, and it just has an "us" feel. I wouldn't have purposefully sought out a plan with a vaulted ceiling, but it was included in this plan . . . now, however, I'm thinking, "Do I want this?" It occurs to me that it's wrong to take the passive route of building this (expensive) item just because it's on the plan. Whether I do or don't keep the vault, I want it to be a carefully considered choice.

I agree about consulting an architect or a designer who can work up a scale drawing including perspectives. That said, the ~ 8 foot ceiling was the standard for decades (and still is in much construction), and people have been perfectly content in reasonably sized rooms with 8 foot ceilings. I think the need for extra tall ceiling heights, particularly these near double height spaces, is grossly overstated in modern architecture. I live in a building with 14' ceilings and 23 foot (approximate length) parlors. This is a Very high ceiling. The floor I lived on with the 10 foot ceilings was a much more human scale for an interior, and 8.5 - 9 would have been adequate too, without the ornamental ceilings.

Darn! For some reason the majority of the photo is cut off, so you can't see everything properly.