If nothing else, if you could upload the same pictures, but without all of the extras (like remove the excessive dimensions and the sentences of text listed under each room identifier). Then re-label the rooms how you and your family plan to use them (promise we won't tell the city that the gym isn't really a gym ;)

And then, I think the first floor plan pic has the basement on the left and the second floor on the right?? Label the floors too (splitting up those two floors onto their own images will make them more legible too).

Additional info needed

- where in the world are you building?

- what does your lot look like? how big is it?

- what direction is the front door facing?

- do you have any views you love / hate that you want to emphasize/de-emphasize?

Ok I'm trying to figure out how to upload better pics

I generally have best luck with jpg’s

My god, the exterior elevations look like you're building a hotel! But then you are going to have 3 families living in it. Will you zoning even allow this?

I cannot imagine living with this many families in one house.

are moving in my In-laws and sister in law. They will be in the basement.

I can't see the details well either, so I'm wondering if you have provisions for an elevator for your inlaws, who are going to have to deal with going up and down the stairs daily.

How old is your sister-in-law? Is she older? Very young? Will she be living with you for the rest of her life? For just a few years?

Also, where will everyone eat? All together in one big dining room at one big table at the same time? In shifts in a smaller dining room? You say "We entertain ALOT with a large family" but the dining room on the first floor is very small.

I see "gym" noted on the second floor, not basement, so I'm confused.

With such specific needs and such a particular family situation, are you working with an actual architect rather than a draftsperson?

I couldn't get past the Left and Rear Elevations. It looks like a candidate for the game "How Many Architectural Clichés Can You Name".

Jonathan I hope you continue to post, clarify, and grow a thick skin! Some of the comments will be brutal and unkind. If you can push past the rudeness you will get help.

"They will be in the basement."

It sounds better if they will be in the "lower level".

^^^ hold your breath, it's going to be bumpy but it will be sooo worth it.

Alison You are quick to criticize everyone else for their comments but what does it say about you when you need to indirectly criticize those who do comment?

CP it is possible to comment without being rude or unkind. I'm encouraging the OP to keep at this and push past the rude comments. Clearly those who make them don't intend to stop, I can't change that, I still think there will be mountains of great advice and useful tips for the OP. I also think the bulk of it can and will come from people who start off commenting in a way that comes off very rude. The OP, new to the forums, may not be willing to persevere and I'm encouraging him to do so for the value he will get in the end.

Bischak, what do you mean and how would you change it?

I have the pics in pdf form. Trying to figure out how to upload so they are clear.

Bischak, what do you mean [...]

I can't speak for Mr. Mark, but when my untrained eye saw the elevations, I thought, "Whoa, CHAOS!" lol Too many different things... Too many different cladding materials, too many different window shapes/sizes/lite divisions, no focal point so the eye bounces everywhere, etc.

[...] and how would you change it?

A simple question with a seriously complicated answer... an answer that really requires a lot of time, skill, patience, and for which should involve compensation. :-D

[...] and how would you change it?

A simple question with a seriously complicated answer... an answer that really requires a lot of time, skill, patience, and for which should involve compensation. :-D

Another important part of the answer is that a house exterior needs to be considered in tandem with the interiors.

I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but from what I can see of the plans, the house is what's called in this forum a "fat plan", meaning it's more than 1-2 rooms deep -- which means that rooms will be dark -- and it also has a lot of jigs and jogs, which means 1) considerable additional expense to the house under the roof and 2) a complicated, expensive roof.

You can avoid a fat plan by using an "alphabet" (C-shape, L-shape, I-shape etc), and you can avoid an expensive build and a clunky exterior/roof by smoothing out the jogs.

It's obvious you were not working with an architect. If I were you, I would seriously consider ditching this plan and very poorly designed exterior and find a talented architect to create a truly beautiful home for you.

This plan looks like you told a draftsman what you wanted and that's what he/she gave you

Jonathan,

While it's a little hard to see, the items that I frequently post about are illustrated in a manner where I can see them.

First, the exterior has too many materials. This creates a lot of visual noise rather than harmony. I would reduce the number of exterior materials.

Second, I tried to count the number of corners. I lost count after 24.

Here is why that is important. Corners cost money. Excessive corners cost a lot of money. Simple shapes in following the alphabet make the most sense in residential architecture. E, H, I, L, and T are efficient, reduce the number of corners, create uncomplicated foundations and roofs. This is all translates in to cost containment and visual clarity. You will also avoid the temptation of adding room onto room onto room and a hall to try to connect them. It becomes a fat house, makes the house dark, and is a visual mess.

What I can read from your plan seems to be one of those spaghetti houses with lots of corners, twists and turns. It's going to cost a lot of money to build. Have you run it past a builder to get a ball park estimate of building costs?

I suggest you engage an architect. While your needs won't change, there is a better way to satisfy those needs. If you have an architect, make them go back to the drawing board and start over. My guess is this was designed by a draftsman.

Start over, simplify and commit to a home with fewer corners. It will turn out to be a much nicer home.

"I have the pics in pdf form. Trying to figure out how to upload so they are clear."

Probably the easiest way to do that is to increase the zoom %-age in Acrobat and take a screenshot of it. Then, upload the screenshot.

If you were on a Windows machine, I'd tell you to use the "Snipping Tool", but it looks like you're on an Apple, so I can't tell you what function to use.

Don't do it from an iPad or phone, do it from a full-size screen (Mac). You won't be able to fit enough of it on an iPad or phone screen.

I can't read the small plan, so my comments are limited:

- My first impression of the exterior is similar to that of other posters: Too much. Chaos. Especially too much roof; it seems to overpower the house in one of the pictures. This is caused by a "too deep house"; that is a house that's too wide for practicality. Aim for simple elegance.

- You say the in-laws are going to live in the basement ... at some point this will likely become a problem as they grow older /lose mobility. Instead of such a large house, I'd consider doing something along the lines of a small "guest house" for them out back. Something along the lines of a "granny flat" ... a large bedroom with a sitting area and a kitchenette ... connect it to the main house with a covered breezeway, or place it on the other side of a garage. Not to be morbid, but at some point they'll no longer be with you ... and you may enjoy the ability to avoid heating /cooling this space, or it will give you the option of putting your college-aged children (or a renter or the sister-in-law) out back.

- Though I can't read your plans well, it looks like your main floor is wide open-open-open (cue echo). With so many people and multiple families, I think you need one BIG open space for your main living area, then two separate "away spaces" ... rooms that are separate both visually and acoustically. One of them in the basement makes sense. These rooms would allow 1-2 people to separate from the large group and read, watch the game in privacy, practice a musical instrument, or whatever else.

- I would put all three girls on the upper floor together. Three -- she'll be four, possibly five by the time you move into this house -- is plenty old to walk down the stairs if she needs you. Building what you really need long-term just makes sense.

I've been trying to remember who had the multigenerational home for the past few days, and I finally remembered -- it's mojomom. Jonathan, you might find this thread (and the background posts mojomom links to) helpful as you consider your options:

Multigenerational Duplex Reveal

Thanks for the comments. The basement is a walkout basement to pool and view of the lake. My in-laws will have their own drive so they don't need to walk up any steps in they don't want to. I have thought the same thing about too many exterior components. May just stick to rock and shake or hardie board, just 2 components. We did hire an Architect/Engineer, but my wife and I do think he could've have done a better job laying out the rooms in the house. Been busy the last few days, will try and get clearer pics soon.

I have thought the same thing about too many exterior components. May just stick to rock and shake or hardie board, just 2 components. We did hire an Architect/Engineer, but my wife and I do think he could've have done a better job laying out the rooms in the house.

Go with your guts, in both cases -- exterior and interior. It would help if you can find someone with design talent who can handle them together at the same time.

Jonathan,

I've been trying to find time to respond because as mentioned by beckysharp (Thanks!), we also built a multigenerational home, so I "get" your concept. Our home lives beautifully, but I'm not saying that what works for us would work for you. What is most important is what living situation works best for YOUR family. No one on this forum can (or even has the right to presume) to tell you what family living situation works best for you. They can, and I hope, will throw out suggestions or maybe even alternatives for you to mull over and discuss within your family.

For starters though I am glad that there is a drive down to the Lower Level. I'm not even going to call it a basement, because preconceptions regarding basements are regional and many folks don't accept that a fully daylighted walkout can be a very nice (and dry) living space. Let's define your house as Lower Level, Main Level and Upper Level. You might consider an elevator or leaving space for one between the Lower Level and Main Level. We didn't install an elevator and did not designate a space for a future one and I don't regret that decision at all (at least not yet) because of our set-up having everything we (the senior generation, early 60s) need on one floor. Hopefully, we will never need an elevator because that would probably mean a tragedy with one of the younger generations (they do have a main floor bedroom and bath for temporary incapacities), but we do have a couple of spaces that would be options to retrofit later, if something happens to change things.

As far as concept is concerned, I didn't want to think about resale because I intend to stay here forever and I assume you don't want to think about it either, but do give it some consideration. Someday, sooner than you can believe, you will be empty nesters, and hopefully, well in the future, your in laws will be gone. We were able to make some adjustments that assure that with just a bit of work resale should not be a problem at least not in our resort market. I still hope resale is the 'kids' issue, not ours, in any case.

Regarding design, you will find a wealth of knowledge here if you just hang in there and allow the snide remarks roll off and filter the comments dispassionately. It would also be helpful if you could prove general location information, lot size, urban, suburban or rural, orientation? I assume your views are out back to the lake.

When you post easier to read plans you'll get more input. For starters, as you recognize, your exterior is a mess with too many materials. I'm not sure whether all the bump outs etc are necessary or not and the front and rear 'towers' looks off partly because of the mixed materials but also in design, but I can't see it well.

Lower Level

Still hard to read, I zoomed in as much as I can. Will try something different.

Architecture is a blend of art and engineering. Some architects have a tendency to gravitate towards one or the other, and balance is lost. This is exposed in their designs when an exterior elevation appears to be a hodgepodge of building parts, materials, and forms. The design should drive the structure, not the structure drive the design. There are a lot of things I would have done different (like not provide a living room with tunnel view of a lake) or just down right wrong (like a door that can not open 90 degrees). To fix this you need to start over with an architect with better balance.

Yeah, thats terrible.

That is just a small example.

I still hope resale is the 'kids' issue, not ours, in any case.

My parents built their "forever" home (first-floor master!) After 50 years in it, in their mid-90s they left the house this year. So I'll be managing the resale of a very idiosyncratic house, custom finishes, and a layout style that is not popular these days. Houses in that area sit on the market for a couple of years, and the more unusual the house, the longer it sits. My advice: DO consider resale. You may want/need to sell the house to support your long-term care.

BP wouldn't you think your parents appreciated the home they built though? I'd say 50 years in a home trumps resale but that's just me. My in laws are so preoccupied with resale they are barely enjoying their home now. They talk constantly of keeping up with what is happening in the neighbourhood and wanting to upgrade this or that. I think it is a complete waste of their time and money. They have a lovely wood burning stove in the rec room because they love it. Well now they want to change it since everyone has gas. I'd rather live in a home for 50 years that was how I wanted it to be then spend those 50 years thinking, "well this will sell well so I guess it is ok". But that's just me!

Alison, they absolutely appreciated it. Visitors loved it. My issue is with "I hope resale is the kids' issue, not ours". It might be the owners' issue, it might be the kids', but it will be someone's.

For sure. Nobody actually lives in their home forever. I'd still think worth it for time spent in home and enjoying it.

That's the attitude I try to maintain as I head into this morass, lest I become resentful (after all, *I* didn't live in it for 50 years, but rather less than 10) not a beneficial sentiment.

but back to Jonathan's build, not my attitude. Doors that don't open 90 degrees? That's wild!

The biggest problem I see is that the drawings are messy due to too much information, stiff CAD graphics and no shading or color. They are obviously meant for construction not a design review. To have a design opinion I would need to color the drawings or trace them then color them.

Are there sketches or a 3D model?

Dumb door swings are an annoying distraction but a greater one for me is framing notations on the plan. These drawings are talking to everyone except the person paying for them.

I really couldn't see much but I think I saw two kitchens. In my experience, that's a 2 family house requiring fire separation but many zoning codes today are allowing accessory apartments and maybe that doesn't require separation.

For a house this complex and expensive the OP deserved design presentation drawings for final approval and furniture location. I wouldn't have attempted to design it without a 3D model.

Its not a matter of tradition but life safety and the law. The IRC requires dwelling units to be separated regardless of the occupants. Three units would trigger the IBC. Perhaps this project is not located in a jurisdiction that has adopted that code or it has an accessory apartment zoning exception (for one apt) or its on an island far from civilization or in Canada. It's not about people; it boils down to stoves, the second biggest cause of deaths from fire in the US after smoking.

The first things I look for in a project are restrictions and a 2 hour horizontal and vertical separation would be a big one. Otherwise the drawings are too messy to think about.

Even if the units are not required to be separated the house should have a sprinkler system.

BPD, ridiculing something out of context is not civil behavior. While I said I hope it will be the kids issue, if you had read the entire post you would have seen that we DID consider resale and, if it is the kids problem they are still coming out way ahead. Duplexes are very popular in this resort area, selling for about $500 a square foot and we installed fire walls and door between our two units in order to be able to divide it into separate units if necessary in the future for resale. Sorry you are having problems with your parents house, I am sure that is difficult.

Mojomom, you are right, and I am sorry for my insensitivity to you. And it certainly wasn't civil (the username was also reactionary to another forum.)

Thanks for the gracious response. I always enjoy your input. Apology accepted with no hard feelings. Honestly, I do believe resale is important and I think your comments probably just reflected the trying time you are going though with your parents house and like I said, I am sure that's really hard physically, organizationally and emotionally.

Mojomom, thank you <3

Jonathan, you will have a great house! You are thinking hard about it, and that will take you miles.

WHAT?? A courteous exchange?? Am I on the internet??

No, Iowa. :) (I love Field of Dreams).

Now, you know the line in "Hamilton", "Can we get back to politics, yo?" Let's help Jonathan build a home.

BP wouldn't you think your parents appreciated the home they built though? I'd say 50 years in a home trumps resale but that's just me.

As in so many other areas of life, I think the right word here is BALANCE.

Absolutely you should build a house that suits your own needs and will make you happy, but it should ALSO be pleasing enough to the general public that you could sell it if necessary. Sure, in this case, the parents enjoyed their house for 50 years ... but haven't we all heard of situations where people built their "forever home", only to find that life had other plans only couple years into ownership? Job changes, divorce, death, additions to the family ... stuff happens. The couple being discussed "won the lottery" in that they were able to stay in their perfect home for 50 years ... will we all be so fortunate?

BALANCE. That's the goal.

Thanks everyone. Still trying to make it right,

Yes, we have already talked about changing the BR 2 closet like you have said. Dining will be for everyone in the house. We will split between the huge island and dining table. Wouldn't be all the time that we eat together.

The downstairs is for my in-laws and sister in law. Their master suite is on the left and the SIL BR is on the right, (labeled as a gym). We are trying to reconfigure both bathrooms, just hard to do. They have their BR and a little space for themselves along with all the other space. We are putting a full kitchen for them. Rest of the space is communal space.

We are also changing toilet in Master bath. We are going to use some of the WIC space so we can swing toilet and add door for privacy

Generally I like the flow of your first floor, so wouldn't mess with it too much, more tweaks than anything else. The pros will probably tear this idea apart (please do!), as a starting point you might consider eliminating some zigs and zags and simplifying the footprint. Just for example, although this would involve rearranging your bathroom which is still large enough to do what you need, it adds a true foyer and coat closet and simplifies the footprint a bit.

I'd try to move that bathroom in the game room to a more private area. It'd be nice for your sil also if it was more private. I might move it next to her bedroom and add a little hallway wall on the left, so it was segregated more from the living space.