First floor plan:

Second floor plan:

Second floor plan - with my tweaks highlighted in green:

Walkout basement plan:

3D rendering of front of house - no landscaping:

3D rendering of back of house - no landscaping:

Is room 4 the bonus room?

I find the layout of the master bath to be a lot of wasted space. I would prefer a proper door to go into the master bath. Sorry now I see your changes in green it is better!

Do you live somewhere where an entry closet is not needed? I know mudroom is right there but it isn’t the same.

I noticed you have a pool on your plans. Where is the closest bathroom for someone coming to/from the pool?

@WestCoast Hopeful

Thank you for commenting.

Is room 4 the bonus room?

Yes!

Do you live somewhere where an entry closet is not needed? I know mudroom is right there but it isn’t the same.

I have generally seen either an entry closet, or a mudroom, but not both when they are close to each other. By "not the same" do you mean the mudroom will always be messy and unappealing for guests? :) My thought was to leave a cabinet empty in the mudroom for guest coats. I'm definitely open to ideas on this.

I noticed you have a pool on your plans. Where is the closest bathroom for someone coming to/from the pool?

The closest bathroom is the powder room. The fastest way is to get to it through the front door.

@bpath

Thank you for the suggestions.

The kids' walk-in closets are pretty cramped and not a good use of space. They'd do better with two long reach-in closets, back-to-back.

Interesting idea! I agree it would provide more storage. I'm not a 100% sure, but I think we may have issues opening the left door to a long reach-in closet in bedroom #2, due to the angled ceiling in that corner of the room. I'll have to doublecheck.

I’m looking at the library, but what is the “rang.”?

"Rang" means "rangement" in French, which translates to "storage area". This is where I had planned on storing the printer, filing cabinet, extra supplies, etc. I think 40" is maybe a little bit tight -- perhaps I could consider increasing that a little bit to have L-shaped storage (stealing from the pantry space). What do you think?

And I wonder if you’d like a door from the library to the kitchen or dining, depending on how you will use the library, to allow a circulation route?

Interesting idea. I can see that one key benefit would be to allow for more light. However, one drawback is that it would leave less room for bookcases (would be difficult to put on other walls given the windows). I had envisioned this room to be the "adult" room to quiet down in the evening -- to read or to work if needed. Thoughts?

Will there be a bathroom in the cabana?

No bathroom planned. I thought the cabana would have a small changing area with pool towels, etc., and a storage area for pool and gardening stuff. We have harsh Canadian winters, and I didn't think the cabana would be insulated -- so no plumbing. Do you think this is a mistake?

My comments are on the exterior, there are a bunch of elements that don’t necessarily go. The windows muntins are craftsman-esque, but there are no other craftsman elements. There are a lot different roof styles; the gables on the back have no tie-in to anything on the front of the house.

Not sure why there are prominent cornerstones over windows that aren’t arches.

If the exterior could be simplified and improve the overall look of the house.

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/149948821221/mcmansions-101-roofs

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/150043321471/mcmansions-101-dormers

We have a mudroom and a coat closet right beside each other. Our front closet still has some of our coats in it too but it is away from the mudroom in terms of guests. For us I prefer the separation.

I absolutely think you need plumbing and insulation in the cabana. It for sure needs to be a useable space often. Also it is exactly where the bathroom should be. I cannot image how awful it would be to be wet with a young child and have to bring them up to the main house through the front door for the toilet

What I would like is feedback on tweaks to improve livability in this house, while keeping the existing footprint. Final tweaks and tips to make this house more enjoyable to live in.

There is a long closet sharing the wall between mudroom and front entry. Would suggest a 2 ft door in the entry way to access closet from that side. So much nicer to hang guests coats right when they enter.

I would find it to be a major pain to have the kitchen so far away from the garage. Just one of my crazy pet peeves, but please hear me out.

Grocery Stopping

1. Put the items in the cart

2. Remove items to check-out conveyor.

3. Bag the items

4. Put items back in the cart, take to vehicle.

5. Remove items from cart and put in the vehicle, drive home.

6. Remove items from vehicle and carry into the house.

8. Remove items from the bags.

9. Put items away.

Add the long walk to the kitchen and on a bad day, tempers are gonna flare LoL : )

@richfield95

Thank you very much for posting, I appreciate the feedback.

RE: Windows – my first set of plans (a long time ago) had several muntins top to bottom but I thought the look was very busy… I think just plain glass is off the table, but I’m certainly willing to entertain a different option than what is shown in the current plans. I am interested in having input on this – what would you suggest doing? Would it look better with several muntins in the top part, while leaving clear glass in the bottom part?

I read the two articles you linked with great interest. Thank you very much for posting this. After reading this, I think I’m going to make some changes.

If I summarize the rules for dormers:

• Dormer size should be proportional – I think this is the case
• Dormers should be vertically aligned to other windows – I think this is the case
• Dormers should be spaced evenly – I think this is the case
• Dormers should be in the same architectural style and should use the same materials as the rest of the elevation – same materials, but based on reading the rules for roofs I think it would be more “architecturally consistent” to have gable dormers. Is that right? (or are you suggesting just to get rid of the arch over the window?)

If I summarize the rules for roofs:

• Do not use more than two roof shapes on the front elevation – On the front elevation there is the mansard main roof (principal structure and two wings) + hipped roof on dormer. On the back elevation there are three roof shapes: mansard and gable, plus the arched dormer. So should I make this all gabled dormers? Or on the back elevation maybe consider a cross gable instead of a dormer?
• Do not use a roof too steep or large for the façade – I think this fine
• Do not have a complex roof with several different pitches – I think this is fine, and all roof pitches are 12/12 everywhere

If you have any suggestions I would be happy to read them. Thanks again!

@WestCoast Hopeful

Thank you for commenting. Let me give some thought to the cabana. This is an interesting idea I hadn't thought of; I don't think I've ever seen a house with an "outdoor" bathroom over here, even in luxury houses for sale that I've lurked at online over the years. I sort of have a dream of having an exterior shower - we've had that when we rented houses in hawaii and central america, but I've never seen them over here (probably because of our climate).

I don’t live in Ontario but do live in BC and I fully admit different winters here. That said a friend in high school had a similar set up to you and the cabana washroom was used constantly in summer months. They also had a pool table in there and a small kitchenette and it was amazing. No need to run up to the house till end of day. Heaven.

@misecretary

Thanks for posting! Your post made me smile :)

@WestCoast Hopeful

It sounds amazing, and truly a custom feature that would encourage us to spend more time outdoors.

Following

Bump, in hope of getting more comments. Thanks!

I, too, find the absence of a bathroom or a toilet/sink/shower combo near the pool problematic. You can turn off the water at the house to prevent frozen pipes in the winter, no? I also think that even though you choose not to finish the bonus room, the room needs more windows on the back. Do it now and forget it. But such a large room with only the two dormers is limiting the potential use of the space. I am not a fan of mixing arched gables with regular ones, even though they are on different facades of the house. Either one or the other. The arched seem rather fussy to me. You say the home is in the mountains. Yet the exterior seems very formal. The interior seems quite relaxed and lovely. But perhaps this is what YOU like. Congratulations and good luck with your new home!

In the intervening three years, I’ll bet the OP has figured it out.