Good question for your builder.

I love plans that you can sit in the powder room and see who the person is knocking at the front door.

Wow, you really can be sitting on the toilet and watch the UPS man make his own drop off on your porch!!

Always leave the window open in case you have to sign for the package.

That's just about the dumbest layout for a bathroom that I've seen in ages (2nd floor bath).

Tatts, the upstairs bathroom had to match the closets for odd design.

Is this a dwelling for cars or people?

The garage opening is grand and prominent, while the human-sized front door is shoved behind a porch column and feels like an afterthought. I've never been the biggest fan of attached garages (for the reason that they often totally dominate the front of the house) but they certainly can be positioned so that they don't overpower or crowd the main entryway.

This is not a farmhouse style ... this is a zero lot line style.

Can a bonus room be built over the great room?

What would be the purpose of the "bonus" room? Seems like a request for a random room with no purpose.

>Is this a dwelling for cars or people?

>The garage opening is grand and prominent, while the human-sized front door is

>shoved behind a porch column and feels like an afterthought. I've never been the

>biggest fan of attached garages (for the reason that they often totally dominate the front ..

Most PPL deal with the limited budget. The garages placed like this save money on a driveway and having to pour a sidewalk.

"Hey, let's position the garage door and front door right in each other's way so the homeowner can save a thousand bucks by forgoing a separate walkway. Never mind that the extra bend that's now needed in the driveway because of the garage facing to the side instead of the front will take more additional concrete than the little walkway we eliminated would save. Also, pay no heed to the complex footprint and rooflines that needlessly raise construction costs many thousands over a similar design with simpler forms. Just remember those thousand bucks we're saving here."

Somehow, I've seen countless other houses with attached garages built on a far smaller budget than this one would need that do not have such cramped, awkward entryways.

This is just a bad design. It can be fixed by moving the garage mass over a bit to give the human entry some more breathing room and make the garage doors face the front. By making the driveway straight, you'll save enough to be able to make a little walkway to the front door.

PPF, thank you for changing the gable to a shed dormer. With the gable it looked like another house landed on top of it, a la Dorothy.

Oh no, the dreaded snout house.

Wow....I Don't think I'll be asking more questions or advice on this forum. Because of our lot we need a side entry/courtyard garage...with a BONUS room for extra space/storage as we'll have no basement. We are on a BUDGET so the 2400 sq ft appealed to me. AND Mascord is calling it a "modern farmhouse"...whether or not it is. And guess what...they DO have a version of a bonus room...and I actually like it.

The bonus room might feel a bit cramped and dark ... how tall are the knee walls, what is the slope of the ceiling and how big of a window will they place on the end wall?

Yes, this forum tends to be a bit "tough love" but it is done with the best intentions to get you the best house for your budget. Some of the comments are also longstanding comments/jokes that you will pick up and understand if you hang around :-)

You didn't mention that you were going with a production builder and had to use their plans. Nothing wrong with that, but production builder are looking to make money and not concerned with providing the best designed space for an individual's specific needs and wants. People assumed you had a choice in the layout of the house and were telling you that you can do better.

Now that we know you are stuck with a builder's plan, the question is, how much will they let you change and at what cost?