Well... yeah. You have a bunch of dead space in the middle of your house. Your master is the size of a decent living room. Is the WIC for the master? But it has no door to BD1's bathroom? Do you have reasons for having two similarly-sized living spaces and two similarly-sized dining spaces? What's the storage off of the office for? And you have bump-outs for just about every room - is there a reason for them?

I'm a big believer in setting up a set of design goals for a house that reflect how you use space and how you want to use space, and then designing a house based on those goals. This seems like... something else.

Thank you for the feedback. What bump-outs are you referring to? The storage is a general purpose storage room probably with some shelves.

Yes, the master seems large, if that is what you mean. We currently have a separate family and living room and wanted to maintain that. One is used to meet visitors and also to just have a room to space out in the corner of the house. Do some reading or listen to some music. The Great Room is is the Family Room. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Each BR has a walk-in closet. This picture is poorly labeled and an early draft. Also the wall should close between the Master WIC and the adjacent BR Suite.

We did set out a few design rules. We'll have another updated draft in the works. We probably will shrink the space down somewhat and be closer to 2800 sq ft on the main floor.

Oh, and he dining space. We like to take family meals during the week in the kitchen area. But also host guests and want a formal dining area. So guests are not sitting in the kitchen. I don't find that particularly appealing.

Regarding the bump-outs, your floor plan is basically a big square, with complicated edges. It tends to make for a fairly dark center of the house. Though site restrictions etc. could make it the only workable option.

I like your design and the overall shape of your home - I think it is interesting. The lobby does appear to “waste” some space but I think it makes for a grander entrance. A couple of things I did notice: 1): as your master bedroom is on the main, are you going to also have laundry facilities on the main? 2): are you planning to use any. Of the storage room as a front entrance coat closet?

Thank you Sharon. I think so too having a a spacious appearance makes the house look great from the inside in my mind. We moved the laundry to the down floor - at least that was the last thought - but we might bring it back up again, unless we shrink the floor space more. Not sure yet. That coat closet is something we almost missed. I think we can accommodate that by switching the pantry and storage and then divide the storage into coat closet and storage. Or keep the storage and cut a coat storage from the living room which is large enough I think? Lots of design decisions. But good feedback. Thank you.

@amodernmountainhome Indeed we have a challenging underlying steep down sloped lot. So there are some difficult design decisions we need to make. I think with the Patio and the large patio doors we will have enough light. Maybe we need to position the Dining Room into the corner and combine the two patios, then have a 4-5 panel sliding door for more light. I think you have a good point here! Thanks.

I think the living room seems a bit disjointed from the rest of the house with the hall...do you need the office to have its own access? If not, consider incorporating that hall into the living room and having the office enter through the living room.

I would want some more windows in my kitchen, especially since you have 2 walls to put them on. I would move cleanup to the short U with a window, prep sink in island. Definitely move your pantry closer to your actual kitchen work space.

I think you could squeeze the entire left side in a few feet if you want to save some of the dead space in the great room/lobby.

Reconsider covered porches (if those are all covered) as it will limit light. If you can, try to take advantage of southern windows, keeping them uncovered by porch roofs for lots of light. Covered north facing rooms will be very dark.

Master bedroom is very large and could lose some space. Add windows to the bed wall. Make sure you want your master bedroom to share a wall with the TV wall of your living room. I wouldn't want that, personally.

In the master bath, the tub doesn't fit unless it has a surround (freestanding won't work).

Consider changing the powder room so the toilet isnt' the first thing you see when the door is open. I might also consider moving the powder room closer to the lobby so guests aren't walking into the private areas of the home to get to it.

To be effective, walk-in closets with clothes on 2 sides should be at least 7' wide; any narrower and they'll just be a big reach-in. Hanging clothes take up 2', so a one-wall walk-in should be 5'. The storage closet will also be quite tight.

Do you do any outdoor cooking or entertaining? Where would you do that?

Which way is the slope? Left to right? Bottom to top?

Is there a view? Where?

Is there a garage? Underneath? How would groceries come in?

Your formal DR and master will have 2/3 of the view. Is this how you want it? About 20% of the view appears to be closed off (kitchen corner etc.)

@anj_p Thank you. I think we should increase the master bathroom to accommodate for the tub. That makes sense. Yes, moving the Pantry is a great idea. We switch it with the storage, then we can make a coat closet as was suggested by Sharon. Coat closet door will be in the hallway. Good deal. I think we sill want a dedicated office entrance and have access to the storage room. I think the powder room will be moved. We are switching Office and Living Room with the B.R. Suite so that will give us new options. Stay tuned.

@JJ Thank you for taking the time to comment. Yes this is just the main floor. The outdoor cooking and large patio will be on the lower floor. The slope is towards the back of the house (west side). So East is the higher end, sloping from East to West.

In other words, perhaps an architect can help. 4000 square feet on a challenging lot with views etc probably deserves a licensed architect.

Hello @JJ, yes the garage is directly under the kitchen and runs into the staircase at the lower level. I think we're good here. The views are divided between the master bedroom, formal dining room and the two patios. But as I stated before, now I am thinking to combine the two patios into one in the center with more sliding doors (4-5 panels, for more light) and move the formal dining room in the corner. Then it's perfect. I think. Thank you for commenting.

A long narrow closet with a door at one end is difficult to use. And if it is for miscellaneous items, not clothing, it’s even harder to use. The closet near the office would be better with double door, or bifold doors.

The powder room. When you look it down the hall, the toilet is what you see. Every time you walk towards your bedroom, guests, everyone will see it. Don’t be so sure that that door will always be closed.

What is your climate like? Who will live in the house? Do you have the plans for the lower floor? Elevations? I’m trying to imagine what the roof will look like.

@bpath I think you hit the nail on the head. This closet is not too useful and we'll change it and split it up. Powder room will be moved. You are correct.

We are in Northern California and we will occupy the house. It's our retirement home. We'll have a normal tile roof, probably 7/12 pitch.

@Mrs Pete I am afraid you are raising a lot of really valid and true issues here. This needs a serious overhaul. The majority of the points you are making are spot on. Back to the drawing board. Thank you for your time and all that valuable input.

Hi Nachdenklich: as you have designed a home that’s interesting and not the usual cookie-cutter and, if you are concerned with heating light into the centre of the house (although, with appropriate paced and sized windows, I don’t think it will be an issue), you could consider something along these lines (I’m guessing it would be fairly expensive though) - it could be made to look traditional or contemporary:

What site features influence the locations of the spaces? Is there a garage?

@Sharon Brindley Designs That looks awesome. I am afraid of any roof openings though. We'll revise our design and re-post here an update soon. Thank you for your contribution to this thread.

@Mark Bischak, Architect My original post was just meant to solicit some main floor plan design feedback. The house is 2-story and the garages are located in the lower floor. The main site feature that influence our design is the view since the house is located at a hillside with city and lake views. Another design aspect would be a large south facing roof for best solar exposure. Thank you for your comment.

"I am afraid of any roof openings though."

I own and live in a production home, that we purchased when it was in the framing stage in early 1990. (Sacramento County, CA.) There are two skylights. Neither skylight has ever leaked - not even one drop. We even had a new roof put on in January 2017, and both skylights were completely removed and reinstalled. We have had some torrential, horrendous rains since the new roof went on (well, all along since 1990), but still no leaks at all. And, as I said, this is a production home. I would think that with a custom home, you can certainly have "roof openings" that don't leak.

I think the plan disappeared.

The plan did not lend itself have an access to a detached garage, so the garage in the lower level explains that.

If my memory serves me right, the "Great Room" had a view to the outdoors between the "Formal Dining Room" and the "Master Bedroom" through a covered porch. This would minimize the view of the outdoors, assuming this is the space where the view would want to be maximized.

The living room is on the other side of the house which would have a totally different view from the great room.

I do not know your program or all the design influences, but it seems like the plan may be able to respond to site better.

So now we hired an architect and I think we have a good plan. Please see this new updated design. We like it however we do have a few minor concerns we like to address if possible.

First we will change the Living room into a Den and probably also use it as an office? We think putting a french door as access from the Foyer to the Den. Is that a good choice?

Or, second option, close off the Den (currently marked as Living) towards the Foyer and add a door in the hallway at the top. But the concern is that it will be facing the powder room door. Is that an issue?

Next concern is regarding getting natural light into the staircase. Should we close off the Dining room towards the Foyer and open it up all the way towards the staircase, so natural light will flow into the staircase? from the Dining room area. Any other options or thoughts to solve that issue? We don't like a dark staircase and lighting might be an issue.

This design has not been put in CAD yet, so it is not to scale. We are just seeking some general layout ideas. Thank you.

Bump

Bump

I think the french door to the living room and using it as an office is good, it is actually the setup that I have right now and it works well for me. However, my office is in the back of the house, not right off the front door, not sure how I would feel about that.

Your kitchen island appears huge and a barrier. You will have to walk around it everytime you need to get something from the fridge to the sink.

Why are there two door from the garage to the inside. I would eliminate one and only use the entrance into the mud room. This way you can use that long wall in the garage for shelving / storage.

I dislike the gallery space, as I feel it is a waste of space. The whole powder room set up is odd. I wonder if you could move it to where the closet is? I would also make it a full bath, Should you ever have to make your den into a bedroom there is a full bath for it.

That hall closet is too far from the front door or mud room to be useful for guest or your own coats.

I personally dislike the master bath tub at an angle. Do you really need a tub, I would prefer a large shower in it's place.

The butlers pantry looks to be quite long and narrow. And yet the pantry which is useful looks tiny in comparison.

What does the 2nd floor look like?

That's one hell of a kitchen island.

The laundry/pantry bump-out is kind of odd. I would get rid of it and move the laundry to be closer to the bedrooms.

nachdenklich-

I would appreciate it if you would re-post the original plan. It would be educational for the rest of us who are late to this thread and missed seeing what all the original comments were about, and to see how this has evolved. Thanks.

I liked it until I saw the corner tub and corner door in the primary bath circa 1998... Island is huge so I assume it has stools so what is the nook? All in all the house has a logical flow. I do wonder if the placement of the 'formal' dining and living means they will be walk by spaces.

Just before more people comment on that kitchen island. As I said this drawing is not to scale so maybe a bit premature to post it here. Also regarding the original drawing there is no evolution. We switched architects and did a complete redesign as we did not like the original plans. We are not looking back.

At entry there is no coat closet, unless the closet by PR (?) which seems far away.
The second entry for garage I'm assuming is for a mudroom and butler pantry? might rethink that.
The kitchen has an awful layout with the appliances on opposite sides of the island. And why with so much space overall is the kitchen wall then cut in half with the pantry/laundry?
What is the nook for? You don't need a breakfast area, possibly seating at the island and a casual dining table all in the same space.
I would move the laundry closer to bedroom, maybe where that closet is? what is that closet for?
I don't like the layout of the master bath, seems cramped for such a large house.
I would want a door to the outdoor space from the bedroom.
Do you want a fireplace in the family room?
What is the purpose of the gallery?

What is the layout for downstairs?

The best houses orient the public rooms towards the south for the best passive solar heating and cooling

The best houses are L, U, T, H, or I shaped.

The best houses are only one to two rooms deep. And covered lanai, porches, garages, etc count as rooms in this case.

The best houses make sure all public rooms and bedrooms have windows on at least two walls.

The best houses do not if possible put mechanical rooms, pantries or closets on outside walls

The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room.

The best houses do not have the mudroom go through any of the work zones of the kitchen.

The best houses have an organizing “spine” so it’s easy to determine how to get from room to room in the house and what makes sense.

So how many of these best practices does your house have?