The design looks well thought out. There are things I would do differently but I realize there are time compromises must be made for the good of the overall plan.

Hopefully the kitchen layout is based upon good reasoning. I normally do not care for corner pantries but do not see an easy solution. Also hopefully the design will accommodate life in twenty years when the family grows.

Consider shrinking the bathroom window that opens to the front porch.

Good job Brian.

Without knowing your budget and what the bids have come back as makes it a bit tough. But just going off your wants - to get everything you want is likely going to result in a big, expensive house.

The proposed bid set is a (beautiful), big, luxurious, very expensive house. The window package alone on this - whoa.

Some low hanging fruit:

-powder and full bath on level one

-large music room

-large kitchen with proposed built in fridge, large range, two dishwashers

-owners suite (huge bedroom with detailed ceiling, his/hers walk ins, oversized shower, soaking tub)

-large laundry room

-complex stair case, which is doing something wonky with the windows on the front elevation (imo)

-your home office is huge. My husband works from home, and his office is our smallest 9x11 bedroom.

-fitness/golf room

If you folks do spend a lot of time outdoors, then I propose children sharing rooms. They can get their alone time outside :)

Oh, Brian's in Michigan. Assuming you are too. Forget that whole outdoor thing.

There is a lot happening on that front elevation. I would simplify it by removing the big gable in the center of the house (unless it has a purpose other than decoration) and standardize the windows. Currently looks like a window showroom.

Well...it's a thoughtful and good design. It's also large, with lots of specialty rooms and expensive.

So how much do you wish to reduce the plan?

Yes, we think the design is beautiful. we are in awe of the thought that went into the plan. It sits so well on the site too, just lovely.

The music room is meant to double as guest space.

The kitchen was requested to have specific appliances.

The master has some flexibility.

The kids are in and out-all year round, so having a close potty where they can keep their snow pants on us well worth it. in our opinion.

I agree the front elevation is a bit wonky due to the staircase.

Office only needs a desk and speace for a printer, the above garage space was simply space we already had to use, so it got thrown up there. We're open to other ideas, and have considered putting it in an attic space or in the music room.

Budget is $650k on the house, no lot.

The windows came in at $16-26k, (we have 2 estimates) most are single hung. Is that a high number on this size house? We didn't think it was too unreasonable.

Do you have bids for this design?

What is total floor area?

Have you discussed reductions with the architect?

That’s s busy household! We would love to have such a private office.

For the main floor bath, consider bringing the toilet into the room with the sink, leaving the shower behind the pocket door. This allows you to have basically a powder room, without guests seeing someone else’s shower needs.

Would you like a door from the living room to the music room? I know it takes a corner out of commission, but it would be nice for flow, for entertaining, and for calling someone from the kitchen to put down the clarinet and come to dinner already.

$16-26K for windows? I shall eat my words - I would have estimated at least twice that :)

I would guess this is a million dollar home. Then again, I was off with my window estimate too.

Lovely home. In my neck of the woods...you couldn’t build this for 650k. What brand of windows for that price?

I would be concerned about the quality of windows at that price.

I agree that there are a lot of dedicated spaces.

The screened porch / deck area is fairly isolated - but I get that it does not interfere with the walk out basement's light - so that's a good thing. Just not sure you are going to use it where it's located. Are the views out the side? Is that where the pool would go in the future?

I also agree that when it's all said and done - this is a $1M home. I'd be concerned about bids that are far less than that.

I think you'd have to go for radical simplification in order to get anywhere near that. Think 2 story colonial with all the same size windows, ditch the music room and golf / exercise room, the 2nd 2 car garage, and the size / complexity in the master suite. Simplify that roofline.

6 baths, 2 dishwashers, 3 stories $650k

I can do this in the mid 1990s.

We are building a house, and I'd say that ours is about 2/3 of that size, and when it's all said and done, the build will end being around $650k for ours. This would definitely be more like a million dollar build in our area, too. It's a gorgeous house, though!

Also throwing it out there that window bid is extremely low. I used a mid to upper end vinyl brand (Okna) and it was more than your lowest bid and I had half the windows - this is 3 years ago. These we bid against multiple other materials and brands.

Without kowing material quality and specs - this house would cost in excess of $1M to build in the Milwaukee metro market.

How much are you trying to cut?

What is the current square footage sitting at? I agree with whoever mentioned the front elevation looking a little wonky with the current window design.

As far as the budget, I say it depends on the square footage. We are contracting everything out ourselves on a new build and our budget is roughly half of yours (square footage for us is 2620). The budget does not include lot price (we already paid for that in cash a long while back). That budget is with us using nicer quality choices, above the typical "builder's grade" quality. We priced everything out before beginning & our budget is putting us roughly around $115-125/sq ft.

I'm curious how much it came in at. In my area I think this could be done for around 650K if there is flat lot and no basement.

I would discuss with the builder where most of the money is going and go from there to figure out where the major costs are. I also would cut the detached garage for now. It's a luxury and would be nice, but something you could live without to try to get the most out of your house. The other part would be to use somewhere else in existing space such as the music room for the office and not finish the area above the garage. Stairs and the engineering to make that livable space adds cost too due to the span of the garage being open.

Think through what and how you can make rooms do a little more double duty. Having separate rooms for the kids I think is nice and when they move out and then come home with their families it would be nice to have too.

I'd also discuss with the architect the removal of the middle gable. It doesn't add to the curb appeal and you're creating some water issues where the roof meets the garage. It is also an extra cost for no benefit.

The things that bug me the most are on the exterior. Something looks off/disproportionate on the middle gable. Also, is there any way to not have a front facing garage?

What ages are currently being homeschooled? My kids are 16, 11, 11, and 10 and we homeschool. At this age, my kids would not "do school" in a dedicated classroom as each needs his/her own space to complete assignments. Therefore, it does concern me that you have so much space dedicated to that one purpose as needs change over time with age. Just carefully consider your current and future needs in that regard.

For reference, we just sold a 3200sq ft, 5 bedroom, 5bath, 3.5 oversized garage, w2nd kitchen in basement-also finished walkout, in the same town for $450k, built 3 years ago

This is 3700sq ft.

We're looking at cutting the basement fireplace, not finishing most of the basement, finding a better spot for the office. We used all of our 3.5 garage. We're actually in a 2 car now, and have a storage unit for the rest of out 'garage stuff'.

I hope you can make this work.

This is one of the most thoughtful and complete designs that I have seen posted on Houzz in many years. It obviously was produced by someone of experience and talent.

That said, the plan is very large, and at three levels, very complex. It looks like the sitework may also be substantial. Translated that means expensive by comparison.

Perhaps you live in a location where building is inexpensive...wherever that could be!

I hope you can get to your budget.

You have avoided telling us the area of the house and the current estimated cost. I assume you have a reason for doing so.

I hope you can work with your architect and make the necessary revisions to come within your desired budget, while keeping the essence of this wonderful design.

Good luck with your project!

The builder and the architect are the best sources for recommendations on reducing cost. If all else fails, bring your architect and builder to Sierra Station on Mack in Grosse Pointe park and arch13 and I will meet you there to discuss.

I’d be more than happy to also meet at Red Coat for the sake of convenience and good design.

We're working with our architect to get it finished, thank you.

We need cuts to sq. footage and probably some finishes. I don't know how we'll cut the sq footage, but the more the better-about 300-500 would be great. We think cutting the office and finding a corner for a desk somewhere else is an option.

Right now we're in a temporary home, with 2 car garage, and have a storage unit for the rest of the garage stuff. Adding the 2nd garage later is likely, but what a pain it'll be..

The front elevation faces the side/rear of the corner lot, the driveway approaches the right elevation. The detached garage would oppose the attached garage, with a courtyard area in front of the porch, sided by a retaining wall. We would eventually add a pool off the left side of the house, and a patio on the walkout.

We're planning already on losing the basement fireplace, simplifying, deleting some doors, using attic space instead of above garage? (not sure if that helps or hurts), simplified siding and roofing, losong stone on porch and possibly chimney or going to brick.

Still waiting on further bids.. so more options may make themselves known.

Thank you all!

I agree it is a pain to have to do a garage later, but from a storage standpoint it is very expensive storage. But if the goal is to try to keep as much of the house as possible then that would be my first cut. BTW this is coming from someone who has more garage space than living space. We have 2400 sq ft + a 2 car garage vs. our house is 2100 sq ft. I understand cutting it would be less than ideal.

You do need to do something about this area or it is going to be an issue with leaking at some point. I would design it away while you can. See yellow highlight.

For reference, we just sold a 3200sq ft, 5 bedroom, 5bath, 3.5 oversized garage, w2nd kitchen in basement-also finished walkout, in the same town for $450k, built 3 years ago

This is 3700sq ft.

3 years ago.... there have been some significant cost changes in construction.

Measure time as "start vs start" or "completion vs completion" as you're likely looking at 2020 start and 2021 completion.

we just sold ...in the same town for $450k... this will have nothing to do with costs in 2020-2021

This home should be fully priced so you understand the totals. I'd be surprised if your proposed cuts get this below $800k total as the project shows a lots of costs unrelated to size.

I'd find out from the builder how much removing the office from above the garage with the stairs and then the below changes along with putting the second garage on hold will save you. The office is more than exterior changes, but the rest is mainly exterior.

1. Remove the dormer too when no office needed. Dormers are great at adding space in an attic, but are more expensive to build.

2. Remove the gable that is also causing you issues with a potential leak. Removing the gable will save on some siding material and a little bit of roof and of course the framing.

3. Reduce the height of the roof in the attic space. This translates to less roof, framing, and a lower slope which roofers around here charge more for higher slopes when it comes to labor.

I'd probably do something about fixing the windows for the stairs to look a little better as well. They sort of mess up the facade. I'd prefer them to look like there was a regular or a smaller window there vs. the odd shifts they have. I understand the reason for it, due to the landing, but it looks a little off since the rest of the house looks very traditional.

Can’t tell on my phone, Is the fireplace a wood frame with zero clearance insert, with the chimney a wood frame with stone veneer applied to simulate a masonry chimney?

How are you planning to heat the house?

What if you delayed the build of the detached garage, put the office in the second floor of the detached garage, used one of bedrooms temporarily as an office, and build a tunnel from the house to the garage accessible behind moving bookshelves? (Trying to generate some creativity)

For reference, we just sold a 3200sq ft, 5 bedroom, 5bath, 3.5 oversized garage, w2nd kitchen in basement-also finished walkout, in the same town for $450k, built 3 years ago

Building new always costs more than already built.

Plus with the tariff's, etc building costs have gone up significantly in the past 3 years. If I had to build my house today versus 3 years ago when I did build, I probably couldn't afford to do so.

How much do you need to cut?