I'm partial to #4 solely on the basis that it's the only one that resembles a Southern Style home. And I think that roots and relevance count for a lot.

That said, the stock plan exterior could be enriched with some more detailing without breaking the budget.

They are all pretty different. I like #1 because it's the only one where I don't think you're dodging furniture as you walk through the house.

So besides 3- bedroom southern style, what are your wants and needs? Planning on children? Do you work from home or study? Entertain? Have overnight guests?

I'm with Worthy. #4 is the only one I'll entertain. :-)

Any way you'd consider moving the master toilet to where the shower is (and either combine the tub with a shower or nix the tub), then annex the water closet space for the laundry room, so you'd have direct access to the laundry room from your master bath? I'm not gonna lie; that would be seriously awesome.

I can quite happily live without any upper cabinets at all, because I am addicted to windows in a kitchen. At minimum, I'd flank the range with windows. So, that would be my personal kitchen change. Oh, along with rotating the island, too, because I like a nice big parallel work space behind the cooking surface. It would make a nicer sight line from the door, too, since everything is so open.

Add windows to the other master exterior wall. Also add windows to the upstairs bath and both bedrooms. Those bedrooms are begging to have more light. :-)

I'd like to see the laundry redone so that the appliances are against the exterior wall. I'd also change the dining room's double doors to outswing rather than inswing.

Where will you park to unload groceries?

And the standard... Which direction is north? How many people in your family? What's your blood type? lol ;-)

You need to decide if you want the secondary bedrooms upstairs. If so, #4 is good; if not, #1 is good. Also where you want the garage? #1 has a great garage location and #4 doesn't have an attached garage.

For #4, I would be concerned about natural light being blocked by a wrap around covered porch as well as the cost of construction and maintenance of so much of it.

#4 does have a bit of a Southern Raised Cottage style but #1 is a classic Tidewater South style only not detailed well but that could be fixed.

So why not hire an architect? :-) These are shamefully low on storage, as Mark pointed out. Not to mention detailing. And windows. And, and, and... lol

#4 has probably been my favorite that we've looked at, but it's also the biggest. I love the idea of connecting the laundry room to the master bathroom. We actually looked at one plan that had a connecting closet from the master to the laundry room and loved it...however that was really the only thing we liked about that particular plan.

We would probably add a carport to the back of the #4 house if we went with that one. I've also thought about nixing the wraparound porch and just doing a full front/back porch.

We do not currently have children, but are planning on it. That's where my indecision is coming regarding the bedrooms being all on one floor or upstairs. I just can't see putting a little one on a different floor by themselves. So I like the first floor plan for the proximity of the other bedrooms being close to the master...

Neither of us work from home, and we don't anticipate having a lot of overnight guests. Most of our family is close to us. We will host get-togethers..

I just don't feel like we are that complicated...surely we can find a stock plan that we can tweak and be happy with. That could be naïve first time home building thinking.. :)

The problem is do you really know yet what you will or will not need since you don't have children yet?

A few questions. You say you're on 6 acres. What direction is north? What is it you do need?

I can't say I love any of them. I definitely don't like 2 and 3 because they look like typical tract homes.

#1 could work except the way the kitchen is arranged now, anyone coming from the mudroom will be walking right through the kitchen. People tend to take the path of least resistance.

I do like the exterior, but am not a fan of the bump outs.

And I'm certainly not a fan of where the powder room is or how it's laid out.

#4 could also work but I'm not a fan of several things.

I don't like the fact there's no entry foyer.

Like you, I'm not a fan that the kids bedrooms would be upstairs.

Also not a fan that from some spots in the living room you'll be able to see into the powder room.

No kiddos "yet," hmmm... I apologize for assumin' y'all were empty nesters. No idea where that came from, sorry. :-)

Anyway, I like my kids near me. Asleep, awake, eating, playing, reading, doesn't matter. I'm weird; it's cool. Clustered bedrooms have always been a priority for me (even before having children), always will be. So I definitely see eye to eye with you there!

Stock plans aren't for uncomplicated folks. I'm actually not sure *who* they're really for, lol. Maybe folks in a hurry? Folks who don't like meetings? Folks who don't know what an architect does? Folks who like most everything they see? No idea. I just know that I'm too darn picky for them. Me and all three of my criteria. lol

Actually, I really *want* to experience the design professional thing. Some people want to skydive; I want to work with an architect. :-D

Of them all, I'd prefer#1.

But I'd definitely re-do the master suite to put the bedroom on the corner - more light from different directions - and lessen some of the pricy bump outs, especially in that corner. I do like the small children being on the same floor level as the parents.

For kids on a separate level, #4. Add windows!!!!

Maybe that flex space can be extra closets - seasonal clothing you switch out, when it's not that season, holiday decor, etc.

Am I the only one that cringes at porch windows that look into bedrooms? Possibly so.

I don't think it's "complicated" to have a house designed just for you. In fact, I think it's LESS complicated to tell an architect, "these are the spaces we need and this is how we're going to use them" than it is to bring 3 different stock plans to a draftsman and try to have elements of them combined into one workable whole.

As for bedrooms, my littles have always been upstairs and us down. It prevents me from waking at every little "meep" and also cuts down on interrupted naps from downstairs noise. I never found it to be a problem, but I did put a nice rocker (and for a while, a daybed, that I never did use) in the nursery.

I suspect that for some people the difficulty of working with an architect is an aversion to sharing a very personal design process with a stranger, yet some of those people will gladly ask for and accept advice from strangers on the internet. It may have something to do with retaining control over one's life even though the same people might readily seek the advice of a doctor or lawyer.

Ironically, I find my best clients are lawyers and doctors (especially psychiatrists). Not only do they readily accept the benefit of professional assistance but they think my fee is a bargain.

As for the 4 schemes, I have never been comfortable sleeping on the ground floor of a house and to date only one of my clients has been willing to put a master bedroom on that level. I suspect this is partly a regional idea but it may also be a personal control issue.

I've spent a small fortune in architect's fees and I think the rigidity of some to stick to a number like "10% of the overall budget" is a real reason that folks turn away from a more personalized home design experience.

If more architects did the kind of work that we're seeing here - charettes, remote discussions, concepts and plans that in turn get drafted and built locally, I think you'd see a huge uptick in the number of non-cookie cutter houses.

As for accepting advice from strangers on the internet - it's FREE!!!! And you don't have to feel badly for ignoring it. LOL

Ironically, I find my best clients are lawyers and doctors (especially psychiatrists). Not only do they readily accept the benefit of professional assistance but they think my fee is a bargain.

Heh. Maybe that's why my architect seems to like me. I'm a veterinarian. I get the whole "this is harder than it looks" aspect of a professional design. I don't expect you to wander into my office and ask to spay your own cat, after all. ;-) I take everything he says, go away, and think it over. And I've warned him that that's my intellectual style - I'll give you a knee-jerk, "no," then wander off, ponder, and come back and say, "yes, if...." I need time to get used to ideas I hadn't had on my radar screen.

I've gotten over the need for my bedroom to be upstairs BUT I do prefer it on the back of the house. I'm perennially amazed at these stock plans with either bedroom or sometimes bathroom (?!?!??) windows on the porch or at least in the prime spot on the front of the house. Rly? You want to watch people come up the drive as you bathe? One of my requests of my architect was to put some effort into keeping the private areas of the house just that.

I don't charge a fee based on a % of construction cost and I've never known any residential architects who did. My hourly fee usually results in a 4 to 6% fee and I will not take a job that doesn't involve a full scope of design services from site analysis to punch list.

For a homeowner who has high design expectations, my fee is low; for a homeowner who has lower design expectations, my fee is high. That's OK with me since I would find it unbearable to spend my life designing ordinary buildings.

I know an architect that charges a percentage of the construction cost. He had one project where he specified windows made in Europe for a project here in the States. Luckily they had a good builder that could finish the project without the architect (he was fired).

I charge hourly . . . and I don't bite.

Interesting from Mark and JDS - you two seem much more friendly than the ones up here in the cold north - all wanted a %age of construction costs (typically 8-10%), and couldn't guarantee even remotely what that construction cost would be!

Thank you everyone for the comments and advice! Ya'll have definitely given me some ideas. We will be sitting down with some much more knowledgeable people than we are in a few days to discuss these plans, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any glaring issues.

As far as stock plans vs. architects, I just don't think we are at the place in our life where an architect is essential for us. We really can't justify the cost, and we live in an extremely rural area. Not many architects here! We'd be having to drive an hour and half to meet, and we are just not in the position to do that at this time in our lives.

And jannicone is right, this advice was free and thought-provoking! Also, much appreciated!

Our townhouse in NYC (East 37th Street) was rehabbed by a local architect's design, using very high quality special German windows to keep out street noise, and constructed by a German construction crew who came to do the work. Thank God! You have to live in New York, and on a cross-town designated street to understand the noise, when the windows are open. Did I mention the 7 floors of excavation through bedrock for the new addition to the Morgan Library which lasted for more than a year? Really good windows are life savers!