I will not comment unless you are willing to make major changes.

@Mark Bischak, Architect That's what I am here for. :)

I would get rid of the bump out for the range in your kitchen. I’d bring it into the square room and move the island inwards. this would give you more counter space and I think look better from outside. The pantry would have to shift also maybe.

I feel in general like the kitchen is a bit small for such a large house.

I don’t think the walk in closets in the lower level are going to be very useful.

The office in the lower level won’t be fun as an office with no windows and so small but maybe you will use it for storage. we have an office that size but with windows and our whole house is 1900 sq feet. For one person it’s fine but very small. with no windows would not work imo.

good luck with your build! Are you on a hill?

Not a pro. Not a fan.

Does this plan have a "McMansion" looking roof line?

Why not one long garage accessible from three garage doors on the left side -- with the left wall of the garage front straight? & Since you're not building living area over the garage, why not just build it beside the house with a screened porch in between to make sure you have windows on all four sides of the house?

Why a foyer and a hall side by side that appears to be the equivalent of a mud room in front?

The reasons for wanting a lot of angles in the exterior walls of homes baffles me

as does the willingness unnecessarily chop up spaces into more tiny ones

and not wanting to put windows bathrooms

and putting extra doors in closets so closets cannot hold as much

as does requiring a walk down a narrow corridor to the back of the house to get to the living room.

And the steps in the garage-- all those heated smells and fumes going up directly from the garage.

How many adults and how many children will be living in your new home?

How large is your lot? Width? Depth? Is it sloped?

What direction (north, east, south, west) does the front of the home face?

@roccouple, thank you for your input. Yes, we are on a hill. We have 4 daughters, that's how we ended up with so many bathroom and walk in closets :). I agree, its not the best set up for an office but it will be more of a space to store paperwork/pay bills.

Do you have a site plan?

@Mark Bischak, Architect not yet. House will be sitting on 4 acres facing NW.

@suezbell

Does this plan have a "McMansion" looking roof line? - Yes

Why not one long garage accessible from three garage doors on the left side -- with the left wall of the garage front straight? & Since you're not building living area over the garage, why not just build it beside the house with a screened porch in between to make sure you have windows on all four sides of the house? - We might have to look into that idea

And the steps in the garage-- all those heated smells and fumes going up directly from the garage. - The stairs in the garage are leading to walk out basement

How many adults and how many children will be living in your new home?- 2 adults, 4 teenage girls

How large is your lot? Width? Depth? Is it sloped? - 4 acres, yes, it's sloped

What direction (north, east, south, west) does the front of the home face? NW

Make the laundry room door from the master a pocket door at the end of the hallway instead of from the master closet so you have better closet storage. Or consider closing it off completely to the master. It's not that far to walk around from the master, and with 4 daughters it will be used more often from the other side. Use sliding doors from the living room to the deck and dining room to the deck so you can eliminate the door on the short wall. You will need that space for arranging your furniture. On the lower level, put the TV and fireplace flat on the wall where you have your exterior door, so your furniture is arranged looking out at the view as well as the fireplace. If you need a door from that room, move it to the short side wall where you have the fireplace currently, so it's out of the way. Remove the door and hallway wall to the office, so the space is more of an alcove and doesn't feel like a windowless closet. In general, you seem to have a lot of wasted hallway space, and haven't considered how your furniture can be arranged.

You have a lot but not a site plan?

What did you give the creator of the layout?

With 4 acres, maybe spread the house out some ...

Totally agree with the list provided by Mark Bischak, Architect.

Not a fan of the McMansion roofs -- every new ridge/angle/valley means less headroom, more framing and more unnecessary cost as well as more potential for more leaks More angles in the exterior walls mean more cost. More zigs and zags and angles in interior rooms mean more difficult in decorating.

Not a fan of a corner fireplace even in a square room where the room could still be symmetrical.

It appears your family room has some southern exposure and likely plenty of light but your storage room blocks the morning sun and the three downstairs bedroom s will have the hot afternoon direct western sun?

The Family room faces south?

And the three downstairs bedrooms face the west/setting sun?

Consider how your rooms are facing in relation ship to the natural sunlight.

Also, with four acres, seriously consider a separate building for your garage attached to your home only via a screened porch or open covered walkway.

Is the slope too steep for a split level? Your foyer would be your landing for steps going up and down. Putting French doors at the tops and/or bottoms of steps could enable you to better control the heat exchange.

With four teen girls, you might consider putting the four girls bedrooms upstairs -- a pair of bedrooms on each side with a J&J bath between each pair -- each bedroom having its own private powder room with the toilet and single sink against the outside wall (window over toilet) with the toilet and a door on the interior wall from each powder room leading to a third room with a tub shower combo two girls would share. A 3' deep closet could be installed from the powder room door to the interior wall of the bedroom that leads to the upstairs girls family room: instead of a narrow hallway between the pairs of rooms, you could widen that space to about 12' feet and have the girls share that "family room" with the steps and tv on the north end and the south wall a window wall. Alternately, perhaps the girls could have a girls family room in the attic?

In the downstairs of your split level, you could put a full width essential utility/mechanic/laundry room against the embankment with doors on each end of that long space (with path beneath the upstairs foyer behind the steps going down to lead from one part of the essential space to the other.

In front of that essential room you could have the equivalent of two master suites (with (bath and closet closets to the essential room, giving the bedroom more sunlight. The second master suite would actually be a bonus room used as a guest room or family room or media room -- whatever you need it for at any point in time. Your pantry could have it's own space within that back essential space alongside a mud room and laundry room and mechanic room and storage space.-- all within that essential space alongside the back wall of the downstairs. The wall between the essential space alongside the embankment and the actual downstairs living room between doors on each side of the access door from the kitchen could be wall to wall floor to ceiling storage built into the wall -- as the wall..

With a huge open great room in between the two master suites, you could have the kitchen/island(w/bar)/dining area on one side ( beside that "bonus" master suite) and your living room beside the actual master suite, with both master suites accessible via small hall between the bedroom part of the suite on the sunny and the bath/closet space (built adjacent to the essential back hall).

Unless you're truly satisfied with the plan you posted, consider investing Invest in some graph paper and a good eraser, then, with pencil, consider some alternate floor plan ideas that BEGIN with a straight line along/with the top edge of the slope of your lot.

Hope you are able to build perfect forever home. Do let us know your progress.

Whatever plan you do end up with, the 3RMJ&J baths for between each pair of your teen daughters' rooms would be far better than the traditional J&J2DR (single room full bath). You could even use a pedestal sink or really small vanity because the smaller powder room would not need to be shared.

Also, whatever plan you do end up with, pay attention to what rooms get sunlight -- what rooms you want to have sunlight from what direction.

4 teenage girls in a walk-out basement with parents one floor up and on the other side of the house ... I don't see the moat with alligators on your plan!

Half of your house has no windows or views and you are on 4 acres? That is the biggest issue.

I am afraid to ask but do you have elevations?

Climate? Do you want to spend a lot of time outdoors? What is your "style"? How important is natural light?

PPF's design is cool and it allows LIGHT into that lower level. If you put a deck on the house as shown it will make that basement cave like.

You need to take each "side" of this house and PULL - stretching it out so that it's not so square. Square houses are for tiny subdivision lots where they are cramming houses in the smallest footprint possible.

SOOOOO much of your main level outside walls is GARAGE - it's stealing all the places where you could being natural light into your home. NOT FAIR! ;-)

The plan ticks all your room boxes, but I am afraid that's like saying a Hot Pocket is healthy dining because it hits all the food groups. There's more to it than that.

The lower level office appears to be able to double as a "time out space" that you'd hear about on the news. Can you even imagine spending ANY time in that room?

I'd start over. I don't say that lightly - and I've done it myself because something didn't "feel" right about a plan and Architect #1 - despite having invested well into 5 figures. This is going to be a large build. Get it right.

I have used this rough illustration before to show how an arrangement of spaces can be orchestrated to create a congruent whole. This only shows two dimensions but in reality it should be carried out three dimensionally and sometimes into the fourth dimension. It is the difference between a symphony and, a drum set falling down stairs.

Start over with an architect that understands how spaces should be designed with purpose and not haphazard. Houses should do more than be a place to live, they should enhance life and provide a constant reminder of beauty.

I think you need to consider redoing the plan. I designed my living space around how I wanted my kitchen...the most important being my view from my kitchen island. If you are working at your island, your view is the basement stairs.

I have a larger plan than yours with 3 kids' rooms in the basement. I did have 5 bathrooms in the plan, and had plumbers tell me my job was too big for them. I narrowed it down to a master and powder bath on the main plus 2 bathrooms in the basement. My daughter's bathroom will have a 7*7 room for makeup vanities attached to a 6*7 full bathroom that is also used as the basement powder room. I see no need for your basement powder room behind the bar. Your master bathroom is odd and your closet does not have much actual hanging space for the size.

Those corners are all going to cost a lot of extra money. It also seems like many of the spaces (bathrooms in particular) were laid out to fit inside the exterior walls rather than designed. I would also recommend adding a basement laundry closet (like 3*5 hallway closet) in the basement if you have 3 girls living down there. I am building a nice laundry room on the main with a hallway closet in the basement. With 3 children myself, I think 2 W/D sets is necessary!

I live in a low COLA area and our builder's general rule is that every corner costs on average $1000. In higher COLA areas, I'm sure corners can be more expensive. Now, that said, some corners are necessary and the cost of the corner may be less than the cost of the square footage if that corner wasn't there. However, it is actually often the case that you can get more square footage and a better layout by eliminating the corner and for less money than the cost of the corner. Your plan has a total of 28 corners, most of which are unnecessary.

For those folks already familiar with me, I'm going into Broken Record Mode. lol :-)

I counted how many rooms deep the plan is. Anything greater than 2 (including attached garages and covered porches) will most likely:

(1) Restrict or eliminate natural light to interior spaces -- which may or may not be a big deal for ya -- I couldn't live in it without serious mental breakdown, and I like to think I'm already resilient with 7 kids (or already completely out of my mind; take your pick, lol).

(2) Create a roof that costs more to build, maintain, and repair.

I've recommended to others, with slightly less-pudgy proportions than this plan, to start over, as hard as that is. So sorry, but I think in the long term, it'll be much better to find a person of greater design talent. <3

This plan does remind me of a game of Tetris - boxes plopped here and there, squeezed somehow into a bigger box. I agree with the others who said that this is a do-over. The good news is that it is a LOT cheaper to start over at this stage!

My first thought was "Why so much garage?" Perhaps you really do need indoor parking for 6 vehicles, plus a lot of extra garage storage - but does it al have to be tacked on to the house? A 2- or 3-car attached garage, and a separate 3-gar garage would save you a fortune, and allow for a much nicer home.

Sadly, this plan screams untalented draftsman. Please engage an actual Licensed Architect. Unfortunately, he / she will be hard to find. Due to the advent of tract-home subdivisions, most Architects nowadays spurn residential design in favor of commercial projects. The professional's fee will be higher but, the result will be so much better.

"I see no need for your basement powder room behind the bar."

I disagree. The two full bathrooms downstairs are accessed through the bedrooms. There is a large Family Room with a fireplace and television downstairs. If the teenage girls whose bedrooms are downstairs have friends over to watch tv, and one of the friends needs to use the bathroom, which bedroom do you want the friend to troop through to get to the toilet? And if the folks visiting and enjoying the family room and tv are friends of the parents, do you want them to go through the girls' bedrooms to get to a bathroom? Or do you expect all visitors to go upstairs to use the powder room near the entry and laundry room?

I say keep the powder room and rethink all the other spaces.

Thank you everyone so much for your input!! Luckily we are still in the beginning stages of the project. We clearly see the deficiencies of the left wing of the house. After reading all comments and ideas, we are getting back with our architect and have him redo the left side completely by downsizing and moving the garage off to a side. Rearranging the placement of master bath/closets and adding more windows on that side. Again, thank you all so much for your input!!

Is the person you have designing your home a drafter or an architect that is licensed by the State in which they practice?

If I got the main floor bedroom and my three sisters got the three lower floor bedrooms, I’d feel left out. I don’t know your daughters, perhaps there is one that marches to her own drummer, but I’m saying how I’d feel.

@Mark Bischak, Architect He is a licensed architect/builder.. In his defense we gave him 2 house plans we saw and liked within a city limits on regular residential lots and he built the plan based on our wants..

@auntthelma Luckily, that is exactly what our girls wanted. Two girls are in college and will be in and out of the house. Our youngest one will stay on the main floor. Everyone seems to be satisfied.

If he is an architect, then he should also have given you elevations. Where are they?

Is he a licensed architect/builder or a licensed builder who is using the term architect loosely because this looks nothing like what an architect would do and everything that a draftsman with a CAD program would do. And I say that because a LICENSED architect worth his degree and his experience would not

put in a closet with an angled door cutting off the majority of hanging space.

Make a bathroom door open so it blocks the access to the toilet so that the first thing you have to do is close the bathroom door.

Have so much wasted space throughout the house including the bathroom for the bedroom below the kitchen.

Have the master toilet over 17' from the master bath door of the master bedroom and then have to walk almost that same distance just to wash your hands after you use the toilet.

Stick two honking huge garages on the side of the house when you're on 4 acres.

Create a 17' long hallway and then more wasted space in front of the staircase.

Put a laundry room where the builder/"architect" put it because a dryer hose can only go a total of 25' from the back of the dryer to vent out of the house. Any turns take off from that length. No talented architect would make that mistake.

Create a walk in closet that's only 4' 10". Considering clothing takes up 2' of depth from the wall, that means the "walking" room in the closet is only 2'10". Barely enough and it means only one wall can be utilized for clothing since clothes can't turn corners.

Have a pantry that's only 4'3". That allows you to only put shelves that are 15" deep on the long wall while still having the necessary 3' of space for getting into/out of the pantry.

Having a house with a massive, bloated roof.

Have the tv and fireplace downstairs angled like a step sister in the corner like that and especially not angled unevenly and against a window.

Have it so anyone can look into the bedroom on the upper right.

Have it so that if people are watching tv or doing anything in the family room, whomever is in the bedroom on the upper right will not be able to have quiet to study or sleep.

create that hallway to the bedroom on the bottom right.

However a talented architect would have created a home that is only 1-2 rooms deep for lots of natural light instead of this house with rooms 3-4 rooms deep.

Honestly, this house design I'm sorry to say is poor even by draftsman standards.

@Mark Bischak not yet. House will be sitting on 4 acres facing NW.

If he truly was an architect, the first thing he'd be doing is working from a site plan.

In his defense we gave him 2 house plans we saw and liked within a city limits on regular residential lots and he built the plan based on our wants..

And a good architect would have worked with you to show you a plan that is well thought out, has a central spine to create a flow and ease of moving from room to room. This doesn't.

We clearly see the deficiencies of the left wing of the house. After reading all comments and ideas, we are getting back with our architect and have him redo the left side completely by downsizing and moving the garage off to a side. Rearranging the placement of master bath/closets and adding more windows on that side. Again, thank you all so much for your input!!

Sorry but then you'll still be left with a poorly designed house. You need to start over. This is not it.

Really how can you know thw plan of the house without thinking a bout a site plan Hose design satrts with a site plan it is how a house is designed to the site . You just have a plan and plob it down with no thought.As for the plan you have so many issues I won’t go there . Get an architect .

Look at the actual sizes of the girls' closets - they're hardly wide enough to walk into, and too deep for reach-ins.

And, I agree with others that the master bath/closet/laundry could be reworked to get you a lot more storage and better flow. The two doors in the closet eat up so much hanging space, and the toilet seems to be very far from the rest of the bathroom.

Everyone who suggests that you start over from scratch is giving you good advice. And if it's at all possible, find another architect to help you.

Start the redesign by spending time on the site and visualizing how and where the house will sit. Make a list of all the spaces you need. Think about which rooms you want to face the view. Think about where the sun rises and sets and how it moves thru the sky, and then which rooms you want to receive morning light and which rooms you want to face the afternoon sun. When this is all done, create a "bubble diagram" of spaces similar to what Mark drew. Make sure that all the rooms are facing the view and the light that you want. Label the spaces. Once you've done that, come back to this site and ask for feedback and advice before you proceed any further with the design.

My kids are younger so maybe I don't fully get it yet, but, if I were building a house with half of my children at college I would be sure to give them space to return to but not necessarily their own bedroom. It would seem they are, hopefully, heading toward leaving the nest. Have you considered downsizing overall to allow for the fact that within a few short years you could be down to 3 people living in this large home?

This design is something one would expect in a suburban neighborhood lot, not a 4 acre site.

is this something you handed to your architect?

Or is the person not an architect, but simply a drafter?

Sorry, but this is a fat house which will be dark and unappealing since it is much deeper than wide.

It is completely inappropriate for a 4?acre site.

You need to start over working with an experienced architect who understands the importance of interior natural lighting and passive solar design.

Good luck!