I surely strayed OT when gabbing on about a swimming pool, but I was looking at the examples and photos as issues that include both true access (to the front of the home or the main entry or the heart of the home, or all 3) in terms of physical layout, proximity, obstacles, versus how to achieve "welcome to my entry" or welcome to my garage or to my driveway. So one part of the original discussion was that we should strive have both (good access and good identification/welcome), and part of the discussion was about how we do various other things or remedial things to mitigate either poor planning or site limitations. Very often, color is an easy way to link or separate or highlight, or to creat drama, and the properties of color and hue make big differences. So I am interested in how perhaps the exact same design, executed in different colors and materials, might create different effects. That is one of the fun things about seeing some of the photoshopping of paint and siding colors on previous posts relating to balancing garages with the houses, or front doors, or whatever. From a design observation, I think the blue driveway color has an impact of de-emphasizing the front door and kind of "popping" (yes, I used that awful word) right at the street edge and flowing away from the house rather than drawing you in. But, for others, it may create an opposite response and seem to flow toward the house and entry and pull you in from the street.

Thank you all for your input! Ichabod Crane, the side entry is listed and pictured as an option, so it shouldn't affect the timeline, I wouldn't think? Live_wire_oak, your suggestion regarding the additional steel, framing labor, etc. could definitely be part of it. The lot size would remain the same, however. Mrspete, love your comment, this is exactly how I've felt throughout the pre-building planning process!

Will the driveway be sloped down to the garage? Having had a driveway with retaining walls, I will tell you that they are a pain in the behind. Especially for visitors, who are likely to bump their fenders or open doors on them. If the driveway has a slope the door banging is all the worse. But if you must, send the driveway along the edge of the property line. Can you widen it? Will visitors usually park in back, by the garage? Then how do they walk around to the front door? You will certainly want to pull the driveway back from the right-hand garage so that the retaining wall allows a car door to open while parked in the driveway. Then provide steps up to the front lawn and around to the front of the house.

"L" shape for these reasons: Having even a tiny attractive side yard visible from the road would have more curb appeal than having your home barely fitting on the lot -- wedged in between two other /lots/homes. An "L" shape residence, even if the garage were connected directly to the house, would not block any more light from the south of your house than an attached garage would block. IF you choose the "L" shape you could add at least a narrow breezeway or screened walkway (8' wide) or even a somewhat wide screened porch between the garage and house not only to waylay garage fumes and smells and sounds and keep them from entering the house but that porch would also enable some of the east/west natural light to enter the house behind the garage ... especially if you added skylights to the porch roof. A slightly wider (12' or more) screen ed porch between the house and garage could also be a place for the family to enjoy the outdoors without being outside -- a place where the children and /or a pet could play "outside without actually being outside and would be a perfect place to park bicycles. With the home "deeper" rather than wider, you'd have more room between the home and the east/west property lines ... a tiny bit more privacy and more room to create an attractive side yard and/or put exterior steps down to the outdoor backyard play area to enable you to walk around your residence to your back yard -- something that could be a really good thing for safety sake.