Where are you building this, how many people will live here, and for how long do you plan to live in this house?

Great minds lol

Me and my husband and our one child. We live in northern Minnesota and our lot is flat. We really like the big wall of windows and the open floor plan. We plan to live there forever.

Sorry...but this is not a "forever" house. The stairs are a major culprit. No one can live "forever" in a house with stairs. It means your entire second floor will be unusable to someone when unexpected illness, injury or other limitation occurs. And it will, probably more than once in your lifetime.

And then...there's whether or not you can fit all of your furnishings in the living-dining space. Have you measured?

And then there's no privacy at all in those open spaces. Sounds, smells--everthing--will pervade the entire open space on two levels. KItchen noise and cooking smells, TV and music sounds, conversation between two people, etc., will fill the two-level space. The only place for peace and quite is to go to a bedroom and close the door.

Sorry...but it's possible to do so much better, particularly if you are sincere about "forever".

This one was another one we liked but we like the higher pitched roof. This one is obviously larger. We plan to go to a draftsman for a plan we are just looking for any input I guess on this type of home.

U

Have you considered that the large 2-story volume in either design will mean added monthly expense for heating and cooling that large volume of space?

And if it's temperate and comfortable on the lower level, it will not be on the upper level.

The second plan is definitely designed better for everyday family life and longterm living but it seems odd that the master bedroom is upstairs since usually those are on the main level with secondary bedrooms upstairs. It would probably not be too hard to switch those up, though, with that plan (put master on main and 2 bedrooms upstairs).

Would anyone know if changing a roof pitch is possible? Changing the roof of the second plan so it looks like the first?

Yes, of course it's easy and expensive to change roof pitch.

Doing so in the second plan, however, simply creates a much larger open volume to heat and cool, changes acoustics and adds a much larger attic space above the second level rooms.

Probably not a very good idea.

Ok thank you for the information. I obviously don’t know much about any of it so I appreciate the input

Rachel , this is a nice plan. I love the simplicity and layout

Changing a roof pitch is always possible but you will lose a lot of usable square footage on the second floor. The A-frame has a 12:12 roof pitch, according to the plan, and the second plan has a 8:12 pitch.

Ok something to consider. Thank you.

We go around on our lake and just love the look of those homes with the big wall of windows.

I liked this plan but my husband did not. Any thoughts on this one ?

You should look at getting an architect to design you a home suited for your lot and your views.

Rachael

"We go around on our lake and just love the look of those homes with the big wall of windows."

If you like it you should have it.

you already doing better than most by choosing simple and sensible designs.

I like the first two, dont like the third one as much

It’s all very overwhelming. My husband very much wants a loft bedroom and the open floor plan and windows. I love the look of it also. I am aware of the extra costs of heating and cooling due to the high ceilings.
We do want simple and open floor plan but want to make sure we have enough space. We will not have a basement.
Are there any floor plans anyone recommends looking at? Or general resources that might help me gain some knowledge on building?

Thanks again for all the responses

what do you not like about these floor plans that you posted? if you like a plan go for it.

Unfortunately, Debbie has absolutely no architectural education or experience.

Be very cautious in evaluating her comments.

Rachael, we live in Alberta and finished building a new house last year, so I understand what your climate is like, and you'll want to do as much as you're able, both in terms of siting the house (passive solar) and construction (avoiding large two-story spaces, and a two-story wall of windows), to minimize energy costs and keep the house as cool in the summer and warm in the winter as possible.

If you orient the public spaces of your house to the south, you can use nature to help cool the house in summer and warm it in the winter, and just make the house a more comfortable house to be. We built our new house so that the front door (along with the entry, office, and bathroom) is facing north and the back of the house (living room, kitchen, dining room) is facing south.

Here's a good thread from Virgil,

"What's a Well-Designed House?"

And some good books,

"What Not to Build" by Sandra Edelman, out of print but worth tracking down secondhand

"Designing Your Perfect House" by William Hirsch

Thank you very much for the information I appreciate it

Are there any places to look online at plans that are “good” to get ideas that might be helpful to us.

Can you walk through some model homes in your area? Walking through a home can help when looking at floor plans. Really study them and imagine your daily life - and the smart folks here are AMAZING at seeing things we can’t or don’t see!

Ho-hum. We now return you to our normal broadcasting.

Our home will face east and we would love to have large windows to have a view of the lake. The 1.5 story house would allow a nice view as our lot is flat down by the lake. We also would like a four season porch on the south side of the house. I understand there are higher heating/cooling costs involved with the larger open space of the home. The plan you posted also has a large open space with lots of windows, it looks nice.

Well...back to the OP's question about web sites with good house designs.

Rachel, there are at least two sites with strong architectural designs:

1. Allison Ramsey Architects, and

2. The Bungalow Company

If I understand your situation correctly, you have lake front property for which you would like a house with large windows and views toward the lake (and who wouldn't). You also like the concept of a large open space with high ceilings for your living spaces.

This suggests that it's the back of your house, not the front, which faces the lake, and where you would prefer the living spaces to be located.

This means bedrooms, and other spaces will tend to be located at the front of your house, leaving the rear of your house to be as open as possible with views of the lake.

For a "forever" home it's always a good idea for the parent's bedroom to be on the first floor in order to avoid stairs and the limitations stairs place on mobility when/if adults become sick, injured or lose mobility for other reasons.

Hopefully, your view of the lake is not in a westerly direction, since that is the very worst orientation possible for a house's public spaces. That's because the westerly sun, as it gets lower in the sky each afternoon, becomes a major source of glare and heat gain inside the house. The only recourse for western sun is to use drapes or interior screening materials for all west-facing windows, which means the view out of those windows in blocked for most of the afternoon for every day for most of the year. Hint: avoid west facing windows in your public spaces.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck on your project.

Thank you for the information Virgil, I will look at those places for ideas. Yes our great room would be at the back of the house leaving the bedrooms in the front is the plan. The back of the home with views to the lake is east facing so that sounds like it is a good thing.

When it comes to lake houses, “front” and “back” start to become difficult terms to use. Mark has talked about this. And a lot of the design will depend on the nature of the “neighborhood”. Is it a lake with houses close together, streets with curbs, driveway cutouts, etc? Or is it more “vacation home” like, with space and privacy, less conformity among the lots, and so on?

The OP’s post reads more like a weekend house, with not much interior storage, no coat closets, and no attached garage (in MN I’d want an attached garage, myself) It‘s adorable, and I’d love to escape to it on the weekends or for a week or month or season at a time! And of course we don’t know much about the OP and her family, how they enjoy the outdoors beyond on the boat. Do they snowshoe/cross-country ski in winter? Hunt? Fish? Garden? Or how they enjoy their indoors, for that matter.

I’m off with my coffee to dream some more about my someday-on-the-lake home. Now that I’m retired, it will probably have a first-floor master.

Well...in my jargon, the "front" of the house is the side facing the access street/road, and the side in which residents, visitors enter the house. It's the side where cars approach from the access street/road.

The "rear" of the house is the side opposite the "front" of the house. In this case the "rear" of the house is the side facing the lake.

Let’s just say lake side and street side :)

Thanks Sophie. Our lot is somewhat private, I guess that depends on an individuals definition of private however. Our lot is 160
Feet wide and 700 feet long. On one side we have a neighbor who has a home right on the waters edge and our neighbor on the opposite has their home right next to the road. My husband wants a Morton building for our garage space as he has a lot of things to store. I realize the initial plan I posted doesn’t have much for closet and storage space. I wouldn’t build that exact plan , i need to have more space for storage and I’d like an entry with closets. Just looking for any feedback in general I guess on that style of home.
The homes on our lake range from cabins that are small and very old to newer large log homes, all sorts of places there. There are quite a few homes though that have this style I posted , with the large window walls facing the lake, some are large and some fairly small. I have been in a few of the smaller ones and we really like how they look. Thanks again .

I should say the setback on our lake is 100 feet, so we would like our patio to be as close to that as possible.

How many sides does a barrel have?

So Virgil, in the sample house, the “front” is technically on the side, because that’s where the entrances are! Lake side / street side, and/or entry side / service side might be better terms for some houses, relating to function and objective location, as opposed to relative position. Relative is, well, relative!

Mark, have you ever designed an octagon house? I always wonder how they are labeled!

Rachel enable your messaging

also, this is a modern design similar to the first house you posted. just bigger. master bedroom on the second floor, all other rooms on the bottom floor. big open living plan with the same layout as yours, two story volume, and wall of windows.

ive toured a lot of houses and this is still one of my favorites if not my favorite

http://joelcontrerasdesign.com/project/dayton/

Be careful trying to make a structure designed as a cottage to be a home. Also be careful trying to fix someone else's dream to be yours. Unless your life is that mundane that you think one pretty house fits all, you may want to consider having a home designed for you and your site.

Yes, I agree--lake side, street side, entry side or barrel side are much better house descriptors.

Mark, I've long thought it much better to be outside the barrel than in.

"Mark, have you ever designed an octagon house? I always wonder how they are labeled!"

Elevations are labeled with points of the compass, "north", "east", . . . .

If the exterior walls vary too far from those directions, the plans will show a true magnetic north arrow that includes a "plan north" arrow that will dedicate a "north" and all the other points of the compass is based on that when labeling the exterior elevations.

There are two sides to a barrel . . . the in side and out side.

Rachael - Put an hourly rate on the hours you spend looking at floor plans and house/cottage designs. Then talk to a few local architect to see what it would cost you to have them design a home for you that meets your needs and fits your site. Then decide where you think you should invest your money.

How many grooves in an average LP record?

I plan to talk with an architect, I’m just seeking some advice. I was hoping to find someone who had built a similar style of home that might have some valuable feedback for me is all. I don’t believe one house fits all , this is the style home we like. I know there are a lot of different layouts for any style house. Again, I’m just seeking some feedback and advice

Mark, don't forget the top and bottom of a barrel. That's two more sides...

Rachael, don't give up hope just yet. These extended threads naturally tend to drift a bit as various personalities weigh in. And out.

Have you looked at the two web sites I suggested?

Thank you Virgil, yes I have and have found a couple that I like. Still looking , the one has a lot of plans! Thanks again!

DE I think I turned messaging on? I’m new to navigating this site! Thanks

CP shares Lots of wisdom. :)

Gra8 thank you so much for your input! I have thought of those things, is the main reason you would choose not to have them the challenge of cleaning them? Our wall of windows would be east facing.