Where are your elevations?

Which direction is north?

What is the size of your property and are there any setbacks?

Front of the house faces north, backyard faces south, garage side faces west. Property size is 8250sf, setbacks are 10' on the sides and backyard, 20' setback in front. attached is the site plan and topography assessment. Main floor of house will be on one level, garages will be stepped down.

One more thing, I have a green zone in the back, so I need to step back 10 to 15 feet from the green zone. Extending the building footprint quite a bit more into the backyard most likely is not an option. A couple feet is fine, but not much more than that.

My three cents worth:

Is an empty nester really going to buy a 5 possibly 6 bedroom house?

Is the shotgun garage really necessary? I would probably redesign that second bay into a walk-in pantry (you are feeding 5 bedrooms after all) and possibly a mudroom/junk room - a place for kids to drop stuff.

Can you swap the downstairs bedroom with the office. Guests don't really want to be sleeping next to the busiest areas of the house.

Why is there a slice of space to the right of grid B just off the double ht entry space on the second floor? Should this not be part of Bed 1?

Can you redesign the master bath and eliminate the 45 degree angles. 45's unless intentional never feel resolved and always make the space feel chopped up. This should be an easy fix with the space you have and with a bit of effort.

I don't see any apparent reason for the jog in the back downstairs wall. I would take it out and increase the seating area with a secondary seating area in front of those windows.

Balconies off of master bedrooms are never used. I can't tell you how many of those I have taken off over the years when renovating houses. Mostly houses built in the 80's.

Agree an empty nester is probably not your target - family with kids more likely. Having said that, how much of a backyard is there? It is something worth thinking about if reselling in a few years is important and the likely buyer is a family with kids. Also, a mudroom.

I think you might want a linen closet upstairs.

This may fit your personal needs. However, your concept is bankrupt for your target audiences with a 3-car garage. And you have no usable outdoor space for any sort of family which spends time in this home. You will not be successful with either of your target groups with this design. You can tinker with this plan all you want for your personal needs. When it comes to resale to your targeted audiences...start over!

This is a huge house for empty nesters. Don't get me wrong, many empty nesters have huge houses, but when they do the Master Bedroom is always on the first floor. I recommend hiring an architect, I mean this in the kindest way. Good luck to you with your project, I hope it turns out exactly the way you want. Happy New Year!

There's something to be said for the partial tandem garage. Strollers, bikes, trash cans, work space. I like that.

The guest bedroom seems like it's in an odd spot, right in the middle of the house. Would you consider swapping it with the study, and give the study a second door to the living room? I like circulation in a house, and that would give it to you. Or, eliminate the guest room. With 4 bedrooms upstairs, your probably don't need it, and the study could double as a guest room if needed.

We're empty nesters, and are down-sizing. We would LOVE the 3-car garage, even with the tandem bay because that's how we roll. But there's no way I'd consider a 5-bedroom house to be suitable for empty nesters. At most, we want two bedrooms.

The cars have more square footage allocated to them than is allocated to the people in the first-floor public areas of the house. Tandem garages are worse than annoying. The back space ends up full of stuff, the front spaces get used, and the third car ends up parked on the street. Migrating cars from the front driveway so someone else can back out at 6 am is not a route to marital happiness.

Empty nester houses these days have a big master suite on the first floor, often with separate HVAC zoning than the second floor. Parents with young children often want to have their bedroom on the same floor as the children, with a flex room that acts as a nursery or an office.

Don't put the washer and dryer in the room adjacent to the bed in the master bedroom, or any other bedroom for that matter. Starting a noisy load of clothes at night will be impossible.

You gave no indication of the number of people who'll be living here for the next 5-8 years. Five bedrooms is overkill for empty nesters and for most Americans with 1.2 kids.

Sorry I can't see this house working for either group. Especially empty nesters.

First of all the master is upstairs and unless you include an elevator, a bedroom upstairs for empty nesters is normally a non starter.

There are lots of rooms upstairs, but that's not what an empty nester needs. They need more public space for entertaining and 2-3 bedrooms.

Is there a reason your upstairs hallway is wider than your master closet?

Is there a reason you're highlighting the master bath with double doors?

Is there a reason all the features in the upstairs bath are angled?

Is there a reason the master bedroom needs 21' in length while the closet is barely large enough for one person's stuff?

Is there a reason why you put the closets in bedroom 2 against the outside wall instead of against the bathroom.

Is there a reason there is a narrow hallway leading to nothing in the upstairs hallway along the staircase?

Is there a reason bedroom 1's closet is against an exterior wall?

Is there a reason your kitchen aisle is too narrow between the edge of the island and the bottom perimeter cabinets?

What is the empty space at the top of the island for? It's wasted space.

Is there a reason the shower in the downstairs bathroom is so small it's almost impossible to turn around in?

Is there a reason the stairwell has no natural light and is in an interior wall?

If that is a deck all the way across the back to enable you to enjoy the green space you mentioned, that is the best part of this house.

This seems like a lot of house for one you intend to flip in less than a decade. If financed, almost all your payments will be interest only, not giving you much equity in the home in ten years or less.

How much room do YOU need for your family?

Are the garages on the west side of the house and the garage DOORS at the north/front of the house? As drawn, having a long entry hall seems awkward. There is too much space used as hallway.

Would not like that garage at al. If you keep this garage plan, do put a curb beneath and a closet around your water heater or whatever else is in the end of the bonus parking in the garage so you don't run over it. An empty nester retirement era home likely would not need to be this large and likely wouldn't need a triple garage.

Since your lot is narrow, could you put your garage separate and at the front of the lot, separated from the home by a screened porch or covered portico, resulting in a much more practical floor plan.

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Even if the home behind the garage is deeper and not as wide, having the garage separate, with a bonus room atop it, would be a better plan.

Any home needs a lot of closet and storage space -- on interior walls to save the outer walls for windows -- perhaps along hallways with closets back to back facing rooms and hallways to make the space more useful.

Keeping the great room an actual rectangle (rather than having angles in the walls) will give you more space and make it easier to decorate.

Putting a bath and a half between rooms (bedroom, bonus room, office), with entry to it from those two rooms, results in less space used as hallway.

Keeping the exterior walls of a home an actual rectangle rather than with a lot of small angles -- unless actually needed to enable the placement of a window or porch -- is more space for the money. (Angles mean more carpenter work.)

The outline of the outside walls of the ground floor do not line up with the outside walls of the upstairs making more work for installing wiring and plumbing. Putting a room with plumbing over another room with plumbing is a more practical design.

Best of luck with your endeavor.

Actually, on further viewing - your first floor ONLY (INCLUDING the three-car garage - LOTS of empty nesters have "toy" cars!) is perfect for what we want in our last home. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living/kitchen combo. In fact, we'd move the kitchen back, delete the stairs and make it a four-car garage (two tandems).

Have you thought at all about the exterior elevations or are they just going to an after thought?

My guess is that this OP is probably gone after all of these negative comments. Many feel more like an attack than constructive criticism of the plan.

^^^ Really? I am sensitive to that sort of thing and I don't find the feedback attacking in this particular thread. Now, on other threads I have literally cringed because many replies were downright rude and unnecessary. But this thread feels pretty vanilla, imo.

Jennifer, you are right. I went back and reread and only a couple attacking posts on this thread.....not bad compared to others!!!!

Many things need improving, both large and small (like what's that space between the 2nd floor front bedroom and the two story foyer?) but here's a suggestion for the master bath. As you have it, it seems like the sinks and tub are just "tumbled in"...and we picked up more closet space and a longer vanity to boot! Tub's the same size and the shower is the same with the exception of the elimination of that narrowing useless little part by the window.

Also, the stair needs vast improvement but as a minimum open it up with a railing, not a wall at the top.

But good luck with your build. Exciting times!

D., I am sorry some people are posting rude pictures. Shame on them. But I really agree with those comments suggesting this plan has some major drawbacks (having just built my empty nest home, which is entirely different than my previous young family home,). I have some constructive advice to offer you moving forward. First, we went through a lot of plans before finding the right one, so don’t be afraid to ditch one and move on. Second, our lifesavers in guiding our decisions were the open houses: other houses on the market that we could tour. Did dozens of them, every weekend for a while. Take lots of mental notes and photos. They help you see what design flaws and gems other people have created. They help you understand how even small design choices (like your small kitchen) affect the livability and functionality of a house. Good luck!

This is a simple situation: The OP wants to build a house to suit her/his needs for the next 5-8 years. And then the OP wants to sell it to either a young family or an empty nester. Simple! We get it!

Here's the problem: The OP's short term needs (5-8 years is a short time to build, occupy and then sell a custom house) simply don't match the general needs and expectations of either of the proposed-to-buy groups. The life styles, needs and wants don't match. They simply don't match!

What to do? Well, that's simple too. Adjust needs vs. wants. Prioritize whether the short term or longer term has priority. Redesign. Or forget building and just buy an existing home in a good neighborhood.

Or just go ahead and build this and try to sell it in 5-8 years.

Whatever.

I guess I missed where the OP stated their short term needs. I see where OP stated what the target buyer would be.

I do not like the shotgun garage. I would use that space to make the kitchen bigger.

I do not understand the open to below area. It seems like wasted space. I might use it to add another bathroom.

I think the guest bedrooms need another bathroom upstairs.

The master vanity is too small. The master bathroom needs to be reworked.

Do you have elevations?

Builders create houses on spec all the time. They must have a broad generic appeal, be relatively economical to construct, and use popular and inexpensive finishes. “The House that Home Depot Built”. That is the key to a spec house making money. Otherwise, they will lose money.

This is not a money making spec house. Nor is it particularly livable as an individual response to the constraints of the lot.

I suggest that you regroup and re-examine your goals for building.

Thank you all for your comments! I really appreciate it! No hard feelings. I did not run off from the feedback I have received.

I wanted to get a feel for what you all thought of the floor plan, I am not tied to what I have.

Here's some of my next steps:

- remove the guest bedroom from the first floor

- possibly remove the tandem garage to make just a 2 car side by side garage

- move the staircase to where the guest bedroom is

- add a walk-in pantry where the 3rd car shotgun garage was

- add a mud room in the area where the staircase used to be

- re-arrange the upper floor.

I'll get some drawings up on here and I'd like to get some thoughts on that.

Again, I really appreciate the feedback and I have no hard feelings!

A little modification to my intentions. House will be geared towards families with 3-4 kids, empty nesters prob not my target audience. All my neighboring homes are for younger families.

Here's a modified first floor. I'm re-drawing the second floor and will post it once I have a draft.

Please give me feedback on the first floor.

You’re not talking about tweaks here. Tweaks are going to a single large garage door from two small ones. Or making the windows 6/6 instead of 3/1.

You need to start over with a completely blank sheet of paper. On that paper, you start a list in 2 columns. Need. Want. Then you take that list and a copy of your survey and go talk to architects. Ask them do they see getting 95% of the true needs and 30% of the wants on that lot.

The ones that tell you , “Yes, but you are going to have to make some sacrifices and stop interpreting a need as a want, because it IS not a need”—-those honest folks are the ones that you go walk the land with. There’s one of those that can make you a great house.

But it won’t be a spec house. It will probably still have a lot of mass appeal, because good design is more appealing than the dreck you’ve shown. And it will appreciate enough that you won’t lose money when you go to sell.

But you can’t design a house for mass market and to fit your family also as a money making venture. One or the other gets the short end of the stick. Why that should be your family instead of your wallet is a whole year of therapy on a couch.

A spec house is purely for sale, at a profit. The cheapest allowable choices are what go into a spec house. A 13 SEER HVAC. No radiant heated bathroom floors. No $3000 chandeliers. No wood salvaged from your grandfathers barn. Nothing personal or emotional.

A spec house is a cold cool gray financial decision. A residence is a warm luggage tan heart decision. The two clash right off the bat. Only the skills of a talented professional can help you to combine elements of both and not have it be a complete disaster.

This site has a lot of grade to deal with. Assuming 1' contours there is 15' of difference from one corner to the other. The design doesn't address the grade change in any way. Always start with the site!