It is my non-professional opinion that you are totally RIGHT to be concerned!

Your house will be on nearly 1 acre, yet this poor design has the garage so prominently jutting out front. :-( The house itself is far too "fat" -- for ultimate awesomeness with natural light and cross breezes, it's best to have a home that is 1-1.5, no more than 2, rooms deep. Doing this also brings your roof into proportion and simplifies it.

That being said, it doesn't mean you'd necessarily have to use a plain rectangle, but could totally rock letter shapes like L, T, U, H (my personal favorite, lol), or E. Or go *really* cool and do a large cube with a huge chunk taken out of the center and have an enclosed outdoor courtyard. (I can dream, can't I?)

I can't quite make out the compass, but I think north is to the left? Ideally, it's best for the public areas of the home to enjoy southern exposure.

Do you know what specific styles you like? Describe what you like and maybe someone can identify it for you, if you need the help.

(Says the chick just *dying* to use my new Field Guide to American Houses book to try to help someone else, lol.)

Edited to add: Have you considered talking with an architect to design your home? I hear they're pretty awesome. At least the ones on this forum are!

Thank you so much for the response!

I'm so concerned about natural light because we didn't know any better when we built the current house and it is very dark.

I wouls say say my style is traditional, transitional or contemporary???I totally need help, I'm clueless My first house that is now a rental was built in 1901 big front porch so I'm guessing cottage? I love that house still but it is so nice having a garage and closets.

I don't want anything trendy but I do love box beam ceilings, wainscoting, trim, mouldings, etc. Clean looking with lots of light and indoor/outdoor access. Is that even a style?

Here is a pic of the house on the lot in case this is helpful too.

Thank you again!

Nothing "McMansion" about Mediterranean style. But this is not a very good plan for the reasons mentioned above.

Instead of basing style on what you see elsewhere--inevitably Neo-Eclectic, i.e., a bit of this and a bit of that, or as you put it, traditional, transitional or contemporary--you might do better picking a style and working from there with a competent architect.

The garage thing has become a common problem. I am thinking that so many people have decided that the front of a house should have a garage. The vast majority of houses are built that way and have been for 30? years. Doesn't make it right.

I've had both. I see both. There is no question for me that given the choice, find a way to get that garage off the front of the house. I am planning a build now on a 80 foot wide, .3 acre lot. Front load becomes much more practical.

But on .9? And a corner? Don't do it. 3 car garages really dominate. FWIW - my front load will be a 2 which is a step down from our current 3. Compromise.

My personal future thinking is that cars will rapidly disappear in the lifetime of houses. The garage doors will seem silly. Autonomous vehicles that pick us up at our front door and seamlessly drop us at our destination. No parking, No traffic. No insurance, maintenance, depreciation and no storage. Rural areas last of course. But boy does the concept make city living more attractive. The biggest downside of big cities is commute/traffic. Other downsides of course but still.

Find a local architect that has designed style(s) you like and has designed houses specifically for it's site.

Agree with all of the above. Looks like your builder pulled a plan out that was used before and made a few changes without consideration for your particular lot or your particular needs. Defeats the purpose of a custom built home. Do as Mark and the others suggest. Get an actual architect - not a builders draftsman.

I'll start out by saying I agree with others, you should hire an architect or a person of talent who understands the site and won't just plop a builder plan on the land.

Knowing that many people don't end up listening to the advice, I'll point a few additional things out.

-Your driveway is very close to the street corner, I would be surprised if it's allowed to be that close.

-I like the idea of having a door for the dog run however depending on kids ages I wouldn't like or sleep well having a door that close to their bedroom. (Maybe I worry too much as a parent of youngsters or perhaps I was just too sneaky as a teenager.) I also wonder how well it will work, my dogs have always scratched or rang a bell at the door if they needed to go out - having a door that remote wouldn't let me hear them if they wanted to go out or if they were ready to come in.

-The kitchen looks dark. I'm not a fan of the layout either but I am not generally crazy about sinks in the island so I am a bit biased.

-the bathroom is very remote for both bedrooms 3 and 4, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to that location other than 'that's where there was room'.

-If your kids are in the greatroom, chances are your office won't be too quiet. Some people who work from home want to be apart of the action, others need a quiet remote space, just make sure you consider your needs.

-It's smart to have the ac unit on the north side of the house, however it's right outside the kids bedroom windows. Make sure you get a super quiet one.

You have a corner lot - that screams L shape to me. And why would someone put a front load garage on a corner lot? I mean you don't even have to deal with the turning radius issue and can have a straight shot without it overpowering the front of the house!

This is, as you already know, a bad example of a plan being plunked down on a lot without any regard for the relationship between the two.

I'd start with an idea book to show what homes speak to you and then start working with a person of design talent.

This is an incredible opportunity - and you don't want to settle. You also have some specific needs, and the house should work for you!

You've gotten lots of good comments about the house, and the pink and green make it very difficult for me to read it.

But as the mother of twins, I suggest you plan for your daughters to have their own rooms at some point. My identical twin sons shared a room until they were about 6, then they decided they did NOT want to share any more. They were still best friends (still are, at age 22), but felt like they needed their own space. I get the impression that your children are pretty young.

In a house that big, you should be able to find a way for the children to have their own rooms, assuming that they will not want to share a room (no matter how big) forever.

I'd love to see a roof plan to be sure there isn't a hidden pond up there somewhere.

The damage of the garage is not so much the face of it but the notch it cuts out of the house creating dark interior spaces.

Can't the house be moved on the site so the garage isn't the primary design element? People used to put garages at the rear of the lot. Mine is that way and it never crosses my mind that it would be more convenient to step directly from the garage into my house. I can't imagine not having windows on all 4 sides of my house.

"I like stuff that's at least 75-100 years old."-don't we all, lol. "When two by fours were two by fours.."..))

Even though I do like well executed mid century modern

Mediterranean is timeless when it's in well, Mediterranean. Totally timeless in Southern California, for example. Timeless is more about whether it belongs, makes sense, works with the nature, geography, history ..the styles are not born out of thin air, they try to tell something.

But of course you should pick the one that speaks to you. Many styles can peacefully co exist together in one neighborhood..usually the older one:)

Great comments..haven't finished reading all of them but going to.

It appears that you may have found a builder who is a quality builder, but he is not a quality designer. It looks very much like he simply pulled out a plan he has built in the past and plunked it (architectural term) on your property.

One of the first things many architects would think about when looking at your property is to put the auto access from the side street. Probably the second thing an architect might think about is some sort of "L', or "T" or "C" organizing concept for the house itself, since the climate and weather in northern California is so favorable for so much of the year.

Ditch the "fat", dark 4-room deep, 5-room wide bulky plan and start anew with a creative and experienced local architect. Northern California is full of them.

You can do much better, but not with this design.

I have to agree with everyone else. This is not a good plan for a corner lot and the house has so many negatives. As others have said, you can do better.

0.9 acre starts to feel small when you put a good size one story house on it. I would move a few of the kids' rooms to a second story, which would give you more flexibility with the living areas, more windows in the living areas and more options to place the garage.

I think you're developing a McHacienda.

If it's Italian, how about a McVilla?

Thank you all so much for the feedback and the education. It was definitely obvious at the meeting that I am not communicating my vision effectively, I'm guessing because I don't have the correct vernacular and his job is to build quality not interpret my vision. He was hesitant to go too far off plan as he was worried how much is was going to effect the price we discussed but was very willing to try and accommodate my thoughts. I'm a little worried that bringing in an architect may be offensive to him but I can be too sensitive about hurting people's feeling but if we are spending this much money it needs to be something we absolutely love.

I did a lot of research on architects and have spoken to a few and have some meetings set up next week. As someone posted this my chance to build my dream home on a great lot and I am not going to waste it!

Devoted Dame- thank you so much for the helpful comments. You did see a compass but it is a bit hidden (at least to my inexperienced eye) on the plot plan in the lower right hand corner. Currently as the plan sits now the back of the house would enjoy mostly southern exposure. I'm still trying to figure out my style but seem to be leaning toward French provincial, Colonial, Victorian, or Cape Cod so far. I am in LOVE with storybook just had no idea what is was called. There is a storybook house about a block away from my rental and it has always captured my attention.

McVilla- haha! :)

Worthy- that is so true about the Mediterranean style when I see a pic like the one you posted.

David- Thank you for the advice. I love the vision of not having to drive anymore ( Coming from someone who drives 1000 miles a week)!

steph- You make some very valid points and ones I had not thought of.

Jannicone- I am loving the idea of an L shape with the garage on the side!

JDS- there may be a hidden pond! I will post just for fun.

Ann- great point about the girls room. I think we should balance the rooms out a bit more. I'm sure as a mom of twins ( or any mom of young kids) the toys in the living room are killing me!! They do have very different personalities so I can see them needing space of their own sooner rather than later. You are correct, they will be 2 in June.

April- This has been an eye opening experience, I have definitely realized through this thread that it is definitely the architecture and not the style itself.

Virgil- I couldn't agree with you more. Thank you for the feedback.

Mark- McVilla is hysterical

Thank you you all again!

Jds- here is the roof plan, let me know if you see a pond :)

That roof reminds me of the tetris game.

Best of luck finding a good architect to help you. You are correct that it is your hard earned dollars so you need to create a house that will work for you. I doubt you'll hurt his feelings.

If I were a betting man, I would bet the first place roof problems will occur is indicated below.

That is a nightmare of a roof plan. The roof truss manufacturer, however, will love it!

It's a classic example of the negative points of designing fat houses, which are many rooms deep and wide, requiring humongeous, out-of-scale roofs to keep the rain out.

Although you have valid concerns, be careful what you "learn" here too. There are very good professionals here, but most of us are not. Majority of feedback tends to be common folk regurgitating hear-say they read here. Also, that McMansion website is very funny and has some truth, but it's not an all-knowing guide.

Consider everyone's advice, weigh your options/needs, realize you will probably need to make compromises along the way.

Majority of feedback tends to be common folk regurgitating hear-say they read here.

I respectfully disagree, lol. :-)

I can only speak for myself (since I'm one of the non-professionals on the thread/forum), but I think a lot of the comments are restating basic design principles -- which I wouldn't call hearsay -- that *should* be common knowledge, but aren't. We commoners can learn from our experiences, as well as the more educated among us, and pass along that info. :-D

And when the architects like Virgil, JDS, Architectrunnerguy or Mark speak up, or the builders like worthy, you should hear them.

Frankly, it doesn't matter who speaks up here unless-

Meghan, you have a project that requires two major pros- a builder and an architect. The latter is the person who you tell your vision- you story- to, and get a real plan. Do that first. The the former- the builder- is the person ready to execute. Do that second.

Like this:

Imagine if you were making a movie- start with the script, first, then move on to hiring the production stars.

Hi All,

I wanted to update you all after the advice that you provided.

First off I met with several residential architect's and really hit it off with one and I had actually toured of few of his houses previously and really liked them. We discussed what I did and did not like about the plan and he told me he would absolutely be willing to help but he thought I should go back to the builder and draftsman first. He has not worked with either previously but since we are in a small town he was very familiar with their work and thought that the draftsman although not an architect very talented and the builder very quality. He pointed out some things that he really liked such as the wall thickness and the builder uses a stick roof ( I think that was the terminology), not trusses and really liked the recessed windows. He did understand my concerns (and all of yours :)) and even pointed out the roof issue as well and how he would have dealt with it although I can't remember now.

Part of the allure of just changing few things on the current plan is the builder new exactly the cost and timeline and I was able to walk through it since he just finished a very similar one although that does make me feel like it is less 'custom' and just a more expensive tract home.

So we met with the draftsman and the builder and came up with the idea of swapping the location of bedroom 4 and the garage so there would be a side entry which would also help with using the same windows up front etc to improve the facade. We also asked him to add a .5 bathroom and change the roofline of the house all which they said they could do. At the end the builder even said that since I am not adding any sq footage that he could do it for the same price.

When I sent a follow up email with some pics as had been requested I got an email from the builder saying that since we were drastically changing the plan and the draftsman would have to start from scratch we would have to pay for new plans and engineering and that he may not be able to keep the price the same.

So now I have some follow up questions....

When hiring an architect does that usually include the plan and engineering or just the plan?

Those of you who have worked with a builder have you had to pay for plans and engineering?

A common theme that I see on this forum and feedback on this plan was that it was 'fat' and too deep. I understand that to mean that the rooms shouldn't be more than 2 deep for light purposes. This plan only has that on the left side of the house where bedrooms 2-4 are but since it is on an exterior wall does that still hold? I just want to make sure I understand correctly. The architect seemed to not be too concerned because the ceilings are 14 feet and there are lots of windows.

Right now there is only a 1.25 per sq foot price difference between the draftsman and the architect so I would much prefer to go with the architect if all the other costs remain the same (plans, engineering etc). Although 1.25 sq foot adds up I would prefer to go the architect route and start from scratch.

The only thing that was stopping me from doing that in the beginning was knowing what the product and cost would be but if my requests are going to change both things then I think I would be better off going with the architect. I of course will ask the architect on Monday but have a meeting with the builder tomorrow so was trying to wrap my head around mt options before then.

I would love any insight and really appreciate all the thoughts so far.

Whether engineering is included is independent of architect vs draftsmen in my market. The last firm I talked to has architects, draftsmen who does most of the residential work, and they farm out engineering. In my market, it is a smallish number - like $1500 on a typical (custom 4,000) house. YMMV.

Taller roofs help with fatter houses - sure. Many would say better house design is cheaper and easier to maintain temps.

I'm becoming a big fan of L shape. Square/rectangle is efficient in many ways. But L gives some separation on the two ends for sound. And it prevents the fat house effect that requires the high ceilings. 14 feet to me doesn't sound very cozy. I have 10/11 now and 11 feels grand but will do 10 only next time.

Remember with high ceilings you are having to heat and air condition all that volume. That's why we are always trying to find the sweet spot between claustrophobic and cavernous.

I've had fourteen feet ceilings in a historic home in New Orleans. They served a purpose a hundred years ago before air-conditioning by allowing heat to rise. Low ceilings in the northeast because it's expensive to heat tall spaces. 10 feet is a good compromise for the main floor, 9 feet on second stories.

Now that you are going the architect route you have lots of choices. If you reduce your ceiling heights from fourteen, you will save some money on material costs without any loss of symmetry.