We produced the “design” above and showed it to several builders who would work with their architects to create, make recommendations, and finalize drawings. Are you sure you'll be working with a truly licensed architect? I ask because our builder told us the same thing. We are required to use the builder we bought the lot from. Thankfully for us, he comes highly recommended and does superb work. However he said, don't worry our architect will design your home. His "architect" turned out to be a draftsman with an engineering degree, a CAD program and a horrible sense of design. The only reason I got what I hope will be a great house is because 1. I have a design background (at one point I was even planning on being an interior designer) 2. I listened very carefully to every person here but especially the architects on these forums. I am getting a well laid out house with good flow and with just the right amount of space for our (DH's and me) needs. Having said that, if I didn't have a design background and if I didn't truly listen to the advice given here, I'd have had a hot mess of a house. And it would have looked a heck of a lot different than it does now. Did I disagree with some of the advice? Of course but I made sure to check my ego at the door in the sense that I tried very hard not to be married to what I produced when reading through all the advice. In a few cases I at first disagreed with advice given, but when I went back and stared at the plans and advice, I realized the good people here on this forum were absolutely right. In some cases the changes weren't exactly what were proposed but by being open to change, I was able to find a solution that still gave the house flow, but also worked for what we needed. You still seem too married to your plan even though the experts here (and no I don't put myself in that category) keep telling you it doesn't work. If you truly are interested in getting the best home possible, make sure that 1. you will be working with a real architect and not a designer or draftsman, and 2. that you're willing to really keep an open mind.

Jackie, You started in the right place. Ask questions on this board. There are a lot of resources available from the experts and those who have been on both sides of the hammer. We will tell you when it's something to really worry about. Respect is a two way street. Hire the best people that you can find. Let them do their job. Monitor what they do. Question things if you don't understand them. Ask if there is an alternate way of doing things. Be flexible. Trust, but verify. Understand that the really good professionals are always busy, but never too busy to answer a sincere question. If something doesn't seem right, ask about it. Don't be afraid to ask why? Question every one of your decisions by asking if there is a better way to complete something? When you are asked to make a decision, give it quickly and decisively. If you don't know the answer, tell them you don't know or don't understand. If you encounter something that you don't like, and you will, talk about it with the GC. Let your GC handle the subs. It's his job to yell at them, not yours. That's what they get paid to do. The GC gets paid to answer to your satisfaction unlimited questions. Try not to bother the subs too much. Always be friendly. A sense of humor will go a long way to get through this process.

My husband and I ran into a similar problem when we had our big addition/remodel. What my husband did was contacted both the bank and the appraisal company and showed them our building plans and asked that they base the appraisal on the prospective build out. The bank worked with us. The residential lending officers actually visited our home on three separate occasions to ensure that we were in fact upgrading the home to the level we proposed we would, understandably they needed to ensure their money was going where it should be. So about midway through the project they increased our construction loan by 25,000, and 3/4 into the project they gave us the final 40,000 they agreed to lend us. This was still about 25,000 shy of our desired amount. In addition to our discussion with the bank, we sat with the contractor and asked where we could cut some corners. He offered us the opportunity to do some “homework” throughout the project which included cleaning up the work site at the end of the day ourselves and preparing the area for the following day, drilling holes in the framing to save a ton of time that we would normally pay the electricians 125 per hour to do, and the biggest savings was painting the house ourselves. You may not have the time or desire to do this much hands on but I gotta day not only did we save enough to complete the project, but we came in under budget enough to furnish a few of the rooms. Best of Luck!

I can't really picture the finished look you're after so I can't help there. But 4x2 is awful tight, especially because you'd better be doing some sort of an insulating "liner" inside the firepit (fire brick is better than a steel liner, and you can find black firebrick) or else you risk cracking your concrete slab. Regular concrete and late night wood fires aren't best buds. Killer views, and I think the firepit helps lead the eye to them. But the expansive views make the 2 ft width feel all the more dinky and undersized. Go bigger. As long as I've been at this no one has ever said "dang Dave I wish we went smaller". Not for nothing but you could also really play up the view to the distant horizon by making the far edge slightly narrower than the one closest to the house, really force the perspective. At first that's what I thought you did, but I think it's an optical illusion caused by the patio shape.