You asked for opinions so... It doesn't "work" for me. Not at all. It's far too busy and there seems to be rational plan to how the different cladding materials are used on different parts of the structure. They're just slapped on willy-nilly. But then, I also don't like your inspiration picture. To me, having stone go part way up the second floor level but not all the way to the roof makes it look like somebody goofed and didn't order enough stone and then, rather than get more, decided to just "do something different" the rest of the way up. Ugh. And, if your builder doesn't flash very properly between the bottom of the Hardi sections and the stone/brick below it, you're likely to get water intrusion. In my opinion - and I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but you did ask for opinions - you've chosen a bad "inspiration" and made it worse. James Hardie's website has a nice little booklet called "The value of design" that I urge you to read. Here is a link that might be useful: The Value of Design

I sometimes wonder why anyone posts his plans on this site. We come from SO many perspectives! Most people posting are building a house in a subdivision, not people buying property and then designing a house for their needs that suits the property. If someone is even considering a subdivision-type house, or is looking to adapt "stock" plans, then that is exactly how that person wants his house to look and be arranged. That's the kind of house they like and most likely the kind their friends have, too. Then there is an outlier such as me. My "subdivision house" was built in 1948, and in fact, all the houses were custom built in this subdivision. Some of the ones built just before WWII were two story colonials that were identical inside, but slightly different on the outside. Over the years, various owners have added on and done so in different ways, so unless one knows the history of the neighborhood, it is not apparent. If one is determined to have an "open concept" floor plan, and a first floor master suite, the floor plan is pretty much predetermined. I have LOTS of problems with such plans as I think that ultimately, they don't work very well. The space always appears quite large on the floor plan, but when furniture is floated and not mostly against walls, one loses a LOT of space. Add lots of large family entertaining, and even at 3500 sq feet, it will feel cramped/crowded. "Open concept" works best in tiny houses where separate rooms would feel like a rabbit warren, or in very large ones, with tons of room to float furniture (think McMansion). People today want lots of garages as many families have lots of cars. For decades, a ONE car garage was standard, and then a 2 car became the standard about 70 years ago. Now, it is not unusual to see 4-5 car garages. The problem, of course, is how to site them - they are an imposing presence! And then there is the cost. Even though it is never included in the square footage of a house for sale, it does factor in the square footage cost of building and it can be a LOT! A friend of my daughter lives on a horse farm and built a house on the family farm. She wanted a beautiful, gracious home with lots of millwork details. It was custom designed and the bids to construct it came in a 4 times their budget. So, they did without the first floor MBR suite for 5-7 years and then added it, living in a 2nd flr smaller bedroom in the meantime. It was tight up there with three girls and their stuff! Ten years later, they finally added the garages. I think they have 4 at least. Sometimes a longterm plan is the best. One figures out how to get what one wants in the public rooms in a house, especially if one has large groups often. Then one saves to add onto the house and the design is already done and ready to go when the money is there. Believe me, I LOVE my garage - I'm far too old to be scrapping windshields! But perhaps you need to chose between that and the sport's court and make sure you have made your public rooms big enough for a crowd...or just your own very large family! Do speak to a roofer about your roof design. A roofer friend said that most houses today, with their multiple gables etc, cost a fortune when a new roof is needed ($30,000 to 40,000)!. They are very labor intensive, whereas a traditional single peaked roof (front and back both the same with no gables), is far less expensive. You don't mention if you have trees nearby; if you do, the leaves will gather in the valleys and are a huge nuisance. Good luck!

The formal living room will not be used very often. I'd like to have it a bit separate from the rest of the business of the house for a few reasons: 1-my husband sometimes has informal board meetings for non-profit organizations at the house. 2-my MIL stays with us for around 6-7 months every year and it's a nice place for her to sit and have tea with her friends 3-dads usually retreat to the formal living during gatherings when they want to have their serious discussions (ie: sports, politics etc...) The dining room is used mostly for: 1-older kids HW 2-projects 3-formal dinner parties So I don't really mind if these 2 areas aren't well-integrated with the rest of the house. The major bustling will be from the garage to family room, kitchen, game room, stairs and bedrooms. I also wanted the kitchen to be in the corner of the house so that I could open windows and air out after cooking. Also, we have a 15' easement in our backyard so we needed to pull the pool into the building line so that we could build a pool enclosure around it. My 4 daughters will have the 2 bedrooms to the left of the house and my 3 sons will have the 2 bedrooms at the center front of the house, and our master bedroom tucked away in the corner back. So this is how the floor plan played out keeping all those factors in mind.

I can tell you from experience that without the help of the folks of this forum, especially the architects, my house would not be the wonderful place it is today. I can say almost the same thing about our house building odyssey, plus we thought and planned for years -- which I know isn't normal lol -- before we finally built our house, which we finished last year. Building a house is an expensive, challenging venture no matter what, but the more planning and thought you can put into it before you start the building process, the better. We often say in this forum, "you don't know what you don't know", but if you keep an open mind, read widely (including through the archives", you'll learn and know more, which makes for a better building experience, and, in the end, a much better house and home. PS Virgil, we often say that about Saskatchewan, the next province over : ) .