MrsPete, you are exactly right! As long as I was just THINKING about things, I could consider lots of different ideas. But when the "rubber hits the road" or when the time comes to think about paying for all these great ideas, I'd rather have it paid for with a REALITY CHECK. I can afford more of that. One thing I had on my idea list was an emergency natural gas generator, like the brand Generac. However, with all the other things we need now, that is going to have to be postponed. We will have natural gas range and water heater, and maybe a small gasoline generator to carry the fridge and the a/c. It will be mostly hot weather when our emergencies occur. In the house plan we just recently worked out, the original bedroom is staying the same size. But where the exterior wall once was, we will take out a single window and widen that into about 5 foot wide opening, same as the passageway from living to dining room. Then that allows us a sitting area for us, with an 8' wide closet at one end, I wear a lot of long caftans or muumuus whatever, and then I can keep my sewing in on end of the space too. Future residents can have the option of adding another doorway to the wider opening, I've made it possible to have a kingsize bed on two walls of the bedroom (we only like a queen). Present plans though are for a surface mounted door using barn door hardware. Haven't bought the hardware yet, but we are using an old heavy cypress door salvaged from our house destroyed by Katrina. My DH likes things finished nicely, while I like OLD look, with some of the paint left on it, sanded of course, and then sealed. I have a pocket bathroom door, and they are fine in the right spot, but for sheer character, nothing beats an old door with its hardware visible.

A walk in closet requires at least 6’ of depth to have hanging on both sides. And that only leaves a skinny 2’ walkway. 7’ depth is better. Otherwise stick with a 24”D reach in closet, hopefully accessible from the bedroom. That depth doesn’t account for the wall framing, which has to be accounted for. A reach in will take away usable wall space. That has to be accounted for in furniture placement. Bathrooms all have minimum required spacing for fixtures. And plumbing drains have to slope 1/4” per foot. That means drains may sometimes need to intrude into the space below if the placement isn’t optimal. http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/bath.design.rules.htm#.WqAZJX9MHYU A bathroom addition is the most expensive per square foot project that you can undertake. You need to slow down and hire the right designer to make the most of your space. The designer will have contacts with the right contractors. It isn’t a $198 project. Or even a $19,800 project. Make sure that you have the conversation about proper waterproofing for your wet spaces. That is a giant error that many make, to their regret. http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2018/

Multiple thoughts, not all in line with the majority: - Five bedrooms is a huge house. The potential field of buyers who want the space and upkeep of a house that large (and who can afford it) is relatively small. More plainly, You're looking to build a house that only a small percentage of buyers can afford to buy. Wanting a thing and being able to afford a thing aren't the same. Your pool of resale buyers will be small, so selling could take a long time, or you might be forced to take less than you want. - Yes, people will like the idea of a "master up and a master down": live-in space for mom, space for a live-in nanny or elder care-giver. Plenty of reasons people would like the space. But the real question is, Will your resale buyer be willing to pay what it will cost you to build it? Personally, I think you'll attract plenty of interest, but you may not attract the necessary dollars at resale to make this worthwhile. - How old are these small children? By the time you finish building this house, they'll probably be at least a year older -- how long will you want to have bedrooms close by? - I'm a highly practical person: you're talking about a short time when kids are small. To save money, could you sleep in a "non-master" upstairs for this short time, then move downstairs? - How "master" do you see your "masters"? That is, when you say "master bedroom", are you envisioning a slightly larger room with a modest walk-in closet and a private 3-piece bath ... or does "master" to you mean a spacious room with a seating area, a massive closet and a luxury bath? The question isn't just, "Should I have two masters?" It's, "Just how much will I put into a master?" Your own vision of "how much" can make a world of difference in this question. - Don't overbuild for your neighborhood. Remember that the biggest, most expensive house in the neighborhood is "drawn down" by the more modest houses that surround it. - Summary: Don't be caught up in just whether this is a desirable idea -- it is. Consider first and foremost whether it is an economically viable idea.

Thanks for the clarification and if we decide to send everything to an architect I will be sure to upload. At this point the builder has told us we have to put down a $5,000 deposit on the lot and $5,000 deposit to send the rough sketches to an architect. With the market being crazy, we are trying to compare what we would be able to afford with a new build vs. what we've been seeing come (and go) on the market. So we are trying to get a general sketch/layout idea of our build to see if the estimated costs are going to work in our budget.