I'm open to suggestions for where to put the laundry room!

cpartist, I see your point! It's hard for me to predict how long visitors might stay with us, especially family, so it's hard to know what might be "safe" to double up on. (I like the library where it is and think it will get a lot of use.) I have read a lot of excerpts from Susanka's book. It's very smart! As far as who will live there, two people in their fifties :) and occasionally the kids in their early 20s.

I'm not sure what to do about the kitchen's western exposure. That room will have fewer and smaller windows than either of the other wings, though. The architect is looking at the overhangs all around the house, nothing is final at this point. There is a pergola planned for the west and south sides of the kitchen wing, as well as intermediate height overhangs on each wing that has upper windows.

bpath, thank you for the closet description. I will give that some thought.

Could you move the office closer to the primary bedroom and then put the powder room where the office was? Moves the powder away from the kitchen and line-of-sight from the front door.

And I wonder if two reach-in closets, one corresponding with each primary bathroom would be more convenient. The person using the far east bathroom has quite a hike to get dressed, then hike back to hang up their towel...

Agreed that the master bedroom needs a little better flow. The easiest way I can see to do that would either be adding a hallway next to/parallel to the stairs OR adding another door on the east side of the wic (and moving both wic doors to the south of the closet). That would lead to less closet/storage space, but it would solve the flow problem.

I wonder if this would work for the primary bedroom suite:

I think the solution may be to add a walkway parallel to the stairs as JD suggests. I'd do it by taking 3 ft from the big walk-in closet. Move the lefthand bathroom to the space next to my office where the smaller closet is now, and put the entrance to that bath just after you turn into the bedroom.

Replace the bathroom i just moved with closet space, and then you have an aisle to walk into the closet or the remaining bath from either side of the bed/stairs/etc. I don't know what that means for the size of that second bathroom north of the stairs, but i think there's enough room. I need to sketch it out. Otherwise you'd need to enter that bath by walking past the closet next to it which seems like a long way (and which is a lot like what i do in my house now).

You can add that hall without moving everything else around.

Not a pro.

Seems unnecessarily awkward, especially with the angles in the exterior walls. Reminds me of a senior citizen assisted living space created by putting together several double wide mobile homes in a nearby town. That said, it may turn out looking really good. Houzz has (somewhere in its files) a plan for a Lake Hartwell home for a couple that is three buildings connected by halls/bridges) that did turn out looking good except for the concrete "prison wall" they built in front of it.

Do you particularly want all those angles exterior walls with the floor plan spread out or are you totally prohibited from using earth moving equipment to reshape the hill?

Have you considered a split level with a study/office on each side of an entry, with a large entry being the "landing" of steps from basement/downstairs and guest/upstairs, reserving all the main living area for yourselves on the southern ground level downstairs and creating guest quarters upstairs?

I think the angles are ok. Not everything has to be a boring square box

Ooh -- I like the suggestion of straightening out the curves. Then you get a straight view out that kitchen door to the west, easier build, easier access for the cars in and out of their parking places, etc.

It is so intriguing when views emerge, rather than be straight on.

And, with that in mind, what is the approach to the house like?

Great concept! I agree with bpath on most commenta. Envy the shed! nIn this large of a house (and I have no problem with the size) and if you are using the designated dining area as a library/ den, I would add a dining table where the rectanglular divider is between the entry and living roomI’m. Great place for knockout chandelier and ideal focus from the entry. I would doubt you woud use it ofton for dining, but would be great for holiday dinners or for setting out apps.

Impressive house, but a bit on the large size for an empty-nester couple, IMO. Not sure it will live as well in 15 years as it might when you're in your 50s. I assume you have staff to help keep it clean and functioning at peak performance. If you both work and run a farm, I should think that housekeeping falls low on your priority list. How large was the home where you raised your kids? Generally, less space than that works fine as one ages. I find my own interest in housework wains with every passing year; I'm amazed at how much disorder and dirt I can now tolerate!

JD, very true, we can add the aisle parallel to the stairs and not move anything else in the master. It's so easy to overthink this stuff!

mojomom, cool idea about putting the dining room table in that spot. That is exactly how it's set up in a family member's house, and it works well.

About the angles, i like them! but i will like them less if they cost too much! We're assured that the walls are actually straight, only the exterior masonry wall curves and the rest is an illusion. We'll see when we talk to a builder.

suezbell, the split idea is interesting, but i don't think it's right for our situation. One thing that works well in the current plan is having our offices far apart and on different floors. One of us talks on the phone for work constantly, and the other one needs near total silence. Since sound travels up, we put the loud person upstairs, which should be a great improvement over our current arrangement!

As far as the approach, the road gradually climbs the hill coming from the southeast so you see the house above in the distance, and then you sort of disappear around the side of the slope. Then you loop around facing west above the house where you see an almost 360-degree mountain view as you turn south and enter the parking area. When you come in the front door, you can see straight out to the south view through the great room's floor to ceiling windows.

What is the total square footage of the house?

Being that you're already in your 50's I'd seriously rethink not having a laundry near your bedroom.

I am also an empty nester. I have no issue with larger houses. My parent's empty nest house was something like 3500 square feet. My house is 2870 square feet. However, my house has less rooms and the rooms we do have, do double duty like I suggested. We have DH's study, the friend's entry, a kitchen with dining area, living room, and master suite downstairs. Upstairs (we have an elevator just in case but for now it makes great additional storage), my studio which doubles as a bedroom with a pullout couch and the guest bedroom with a murphy bed that doubles as our exercise room.

Additionally that is quite a hike to either master bathroom. Everything works well now in your 50's. Things may start to not work quite as well as you move up in years.

I know that we use every single room almost daily (well maybe not the exercise room, lol). We didn't build anything that would have sat empty for days and weeks at a time.

Do you need two offices or could one be one of the spare bedrooms?

decoenthusiaste, i hear you about the cleaning. My current house is a little larger, and it's hard for me to keep up with it (so I don't!), but it also has more people's stuff in it. There will be less stuff and fewer people (usually) to create clutter and mess, but more tools and "outside" stuff. My dog doesn't shed, so that's helpful, but dogs track dirt, etc. I also don't have a mudroom in my current house, so the mess is harder to contain. I am sure I'll have someone in to clean occasionally, but i also think in some ways it will be easier.

cpartist, it's about 3800 right now, i think. The main level is 3000sf. it changes slightly with each revision, and with the next one it should get smaller. I think we'll use all the rooms every day, except one or both guest rooms. I've thought a lot about how to make those rooms do double duty. We definitely need two separate offices that are dedicated for that purpose, so that doesn't work for us. I did think about whether one of the guest rooms could work as an exercise room. i'm not sure if i can even fit the equipment and a decent size bed in the room, and the equipment would be too heavy to move out of the way.

Could the powder room fit under the stairs that are near the laundry room? If it moves there, then where it was could become another coat closet.

Why can’t a stackable washer dryer fit near the master bathrooms (it would be away from the office)? It could be a second option since I get you also need one where the one laundry is now.

Something like this. There could also be some bifolds covering the washer dryer. Red is walls, arrows are circulation. Bed, stairs/linen closet, and western wic all stay the same. Easy access from both closets to washer. Just a thought. Also this is NOT to scale lol...the hallways look ginormous, but not suggesting you do that

I don’t know where your land is located, but Humid Subtropical means the South, so hot sun for the majority of the year, and you have no shading overhangs. If you are in an area with good amounts of rain your terraces will be unlivable most of the year without a roof.

The owner has said there are overhangs to keep things cool. That wouldn’t show up in a furniture plan...

cpartist, it's about 3800 right now, i think. The main level is 3000sf. it changes slightly with each revision, and with the next one it should get smaller.

Truly think about which rooms need to be larger or smaller. For example, does the entry and the library need to be so large? 18' x 15' is a fairly large room for a library. And 15' long for a foyer is also quite a large foyer which is mostly wasted space.

I think we'll use all the rooms every day, except one or both guest rooms. I've thought a lot about how to make those rooms do double duty. We definitely need two separate offices that are dedicated for that purpose, so that doesn't work for us.

How often will you have guests in both bedrooms upstairs at the same time? I've lived in my house 3 years now and I can count on 1 hand the number of times both our upstairs bedrooms were used. So for a total of 5 days in 3 years, I've had to vacate my studio. I use my studio daily but then again, when I had house guests, i was busy with them! Every other time, guests used our other guest room with the exercise equipment put away. And yes, until covid we had lots of guests since everyone wanted to come visit us here in FL in the winter.

For the laundry room, not only do you have to carry things back and forth but someone has to swap laundry between the machines. So it would be nice to be more centrally located. I wonder if it can go between the downstairs office and the living room, moving the office to the right. Of course, I’m also thinking that the master suite will be reconfigured — surely there is a more elegant layout — and the smaller walk-in closet would be moved, allowing the office to move over.

This keeps the washing near where most of the laundry is generated, but also isn’t far from the living areas. It is farther from the upstairs office. Does one person tend to manage the laundry over another?

By the way, what purpose do you intend for the hall closet between the office and the master?

Do you have en elevation you can share? I’m trying to picture the butterfly roof between the two flat roofs.

Edit to ask about the front guest closet, and debating walk-in versus reach-in. Do you always hang up and retrieve your visitors’ outwear for them? For me, I wouldn’t want to disappear into the closet to hang things up, or bring out a jacket to ask ”is this one yours?” Nor would I want guests venturing into the depths one at a time to retrieve their items. I think (and this has nothing to do with my appreciation for reach-in closets in general), that a reach-in closet opening to the middle of that foyer would be nice. With a console table or low chest on the powder room wall opposite, mirror or artwork above it. It allows room for guests preparing to depart to be gathing their things and saying their good-byes and taking one last gaze at the view, all together.

New laundry thought: what if the stairs move to the laundry, and the laundry to the stair/pantry? (Of course, the old laundry would have to be enlarged) You might lose the access to the deck over the shed, but maybe not, depending on the design. But I wonder how much use that deck would get? The person in the upstairs office has a deck already, which it looks like can also be accessed from one of the bedrooms. The upstairs hall can then be wider, or storage can be added along one wall. And the laundry is a tad more convenient that where it is now. And, all kinds of cool design options for the stairs in that position. Windows! Could make for a delightful commute to the office! CPArtist’s stairs to her studio, exercise, and guest rooms is a lovely transition, as an example of how stairs can be so much more than just steps.

Thank you bpath. Light and windows were so essential to me and yes, I love coming up or down my stairs. They delight me every day even now 3 years later.

Thank you for all of these very thoughtful insights and suggestions! I will consider these ideas and how to incoroporate some of these approaches as we figure out the next set of changes to the design.

All the farm houses I designed had an area where the farmer can enter the house and "clean-up" before coming further into the house.

Late to this thread and didn't have time to read all the comments, but my first impression is that this is one of the best plans I've ever seen in this forum. I'm assuming you have the budget for this. Only a few tweaks:

• If you're looking to save square footage, both the living room and the kitchen could lose several feet and still be as functional as they are now.
• In the master, I would make the wall directly opposite the bed solid, with either a TV or artwork on the wall. This will create corner windows, which I would make all the same size. There's room for a sitting area in one or both corners.
• I'm guessing there's a TV on the side of the powder room wall where the chairs face. The chairs kind of crowd the dining table, so maybe there's a better arrangement.

Congrats on developing a great plan. Good luck with your build.

cpartist, that is a lovely window! it makes the area a space to stop and appreciate, not just a space to pass through without thinking.

bpath, i like the idea of moving the stairs to the side. that would allow the area behind the kitchen to be a real pantry/laundry/mudroom space.

Mark, we will have an outdoor shower, but that may not be enough.

Rapp, thank you! that is great to hear! as for the budget, we'll see...

How many feet shorter do you think we can make the kitchen and living room spaces? I am interested in shaving off square footage where we can.

Yes the east wall of the library may be where we put the tv. The furniture shown is not how we'd necessarily arrange things; the architect put those in for show.

We're empty nesters, and we work from home, so we both need offices.

How much longer do you intend to work? If it's just a couple years, is it worthwhile to build two offices? Could one of the guest bedrooms do double-duty as an office?

And, we want two full baths in the main suite--I know that's uncommon.

I would despise this -- an extra bathroom to clean every week.

You're planning TWO bathrooms with enough floor space for a wheelchair? The chances that BOTH of you would need wheelchairs is incredibly small.

I don't love having the laundry over there

Yeah, since you intend to be old in this house, having the laundry nearer the master would be a much better plan. What if you put the laundry in the office-near-the-master space /move one office over by the garage? You have two large walk-in closets. What about putting the machines IN one of these? Or in a closet in the space between the closet and the bathroom?

Because it's a rural property, i do like the idea of having it near where we'll be coming in from working outside, so we can leave messy stuff and not drag it through the house.

Two thoughts:

- You have a garage right by the master. Who's the messiest? That person parks in that garage /enters near the bedroom.

- I've lived on a farm most of my life. What you really need in terms of "keeping mess out" is a foot wash and a place to leave muddy shoes. Once your feet are clean, walk straight to the bathroom and take off whatever else is messy -- and you have your shower, towels, and clean clothes right there. A foot wash /shoe storage spot is a practical choice.

The kitchen layout is not at all set

The kitchen is huge but disjointed and too spread out. People get the idea "I love to cook, so I want a BIG kitchen". No, if you love to cook, you want a FUNCTIONAL, WELL PLANNED kitchen.

Why do you have three essentially identical tables within reach of one another ... PLUS island seating, I think? Think through where you'll realistically sit to eat.

the powder room is going to look like a rectangle just floating in the middle of the floor, because that's basically what it is. I thnik that would look strange.

No, this works fine. My daughter's house has essentially this same thing: she has a "floating rectangle" straight in front of the door. It contains a half-bath and a closet, and it forms the wall of the living room. This is not odd.

These rooms do go to the ceiling, right?

What is the wall dead ahead of the front door? That's forcing a lot of extra space, and it makes no sense.

What about this instead ... make ONE big floating rectangle ... one side is the closet, one side is the half bath. The wall keeps people at the door from looking into the living room, and because this requires less space, you can shave some space off the living room.

Seeing that when you walk in and (sorry this is gross) smelling that when you are the dining table.

Close the door.

Do a whole lot of people leave the dining room table to poop? This particular fear is quite over-rated on this board.

I just personally still think it's a waste of space.

In more than one place.

One last thing, I would avoid as many stairs as possible since this is a house where you want to age in place.

Agree. It's also quite spread out -- not to be morbid, but consider that at some point it's likely that one of you will be alone in this house. At that point it'll be a lot of empty space in which to rattle around.

This doesn't evoke comfortable living space to me. It has 'statement' written in the layout and likely the elevations. To me that should come down the priority list. Less wings with more open space would appeal to me.

Agree.

So I will say I am 74 yrs old and we live in a 3200 sq ft house which is on a 1/4 acre it is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to downsize. We are healthy but honestly the upkeep is taking more time then it used to.

I'm almost 1/3 younger than you, but I want to downsize from my 2400 sq ft house. It's more than we need, it's expensive to heat/cool, and it's a lot of upkeep. We are keeping more stuff than we need because we have space. We're about to retire, and I want a nice SMALL house /more freedom to do fun things rather than cleaning and maintenance.

My mother just downsized from a large house to a 1-bedroom apartment on the side of my brother's house, and she's loving it.

I never like a pantry outside the cooking area and true pullout ones are much better use than walkins.

Disagree. This pantry is only steps outside the kitchen, and it's ideally situated between one garage and the kitchen (not so convenient for the other garage).

Pull-outs are expensive to build, and you can't see everything in one fell swoop, as you can in a walk-in pantry. No, I've had pull-outs once -- and I was not impressed.

I would have a largr bathroom instead of 2 but that is a personl thing I guess

Agree. At the very least, one shared shower between would be more practical.

I think this is huge house with no real idea of aging in place.

Agree. It's a house designed with some "wow items" but not real functionality.

Flipping the toilet and coat closet would help a bit.

That's a small change that would work. I'd also make the doors open inwards towards one another.

The master bathroom layouts will not accommodate grab bars at the water closets.

True, and I've read that bathrooms are the #1 thing that force people out of their houses. My nurse daughter, who worked home health in college, says that bathrooms are often a big problem for the disabled /elderly. Bathrooms are an item that MUST be right, if aging-in-place is a concern.

I can see that you were thinking of aging-in-place because you allotted space for a wheelchair to turn around. Thing is, if you're not in a wheelchair now, your chances of permanently being confined to one because of aging are small -- and if you are confined to a wheelchair, much of the rest of this house won't work for you. Things that don't work here:

Left-side bathroom:

- As another poster pointed out, you don't have cabinets upon which to secure grab bars at the toilet. Sure, you can install a pole near the toilet, but that doesn't look good.

- I'm sure you've stayed in hotels with a toilet in this position ... it covers up a part of the vanity, which essentially slashes the size of the vanity. So this bathroom will lack storage ... and the linen closet is on the other side /near the other bathroom.

- You could bring the shower forward a bit /making it larger and more comfortable.

- You have no windows in this bathroom, and if you add them, they'll look over the front door.

Right-side bathroom:

- The shower isn't all that large, and with part of it blocked by the vanity, you have only a small entrance.

- The toilet seems to be "floating" out in an open area, which won't be comfortable for use. Elderly people often need "storage" at the toilet for any number of medical reasons. And you have a big empty space between the toilet and the shower.

- The spouse who gets the right-side bathroom /who wants to use it during the day must walk to the bedroom /around the closet and bed /through a hallway ... that's a seriously long walk if you want something from the medicine cabinet.

The master bath area really needs work ... consider this:

- Consolidate the two closets into one, and move them to the end. This means you can go into the closet to put away shoes or pick up a sweater without entering the bathroom or bedroom areas. You could slash the size and still have plenty ... or you could put an island in the middle. Do consider how much closet two people who work at home actually need.

- You can turn the smaller walk-in closet into a laundry room, and we all seem to agree that a laundry near the master is strongly preferable.

- OR you could put the washer/dryer IN the master closet and eliminate this "connector area" with the hall closet and walk-in closet.

- I'm not in favor of two bathrooms, but if you're going to do it, this layout makes more sense. Both bathrooms are easily accessible during the day. The three pieces in each bathroom are easy to reach /no blocking of the vanity. You'd have plenty of storage for one person in the vanity.

- On the negative side, one spouse still has to walk around the bed to reach the bathroom ... if you move the bed to the right side of the room, the flow will work better.

- Both toilets can have grab bars on both sides.

- The shower is now giant /better suited for elderly people. You'd have a dry area by each entrance, and you'd have plenty of space for a sliding shower head and a stool in the middle. A stool is more practical than a built-in bench because it is moveable, and it can be replaced (when you're old) with a hospital shower chair).

- You mentioned a curbless shower. This one is large enough to accommodate the necessary slope and make that possible.

- Natural light would be a problem, but you could do an up-high window in front of each shower entrance /it would be far enough away from the shower head area.

- All your water is contained in one wall, which is less expensive to build AND means less chance of leaks.

- This cuts you down to one single door in the master bedroom, making for a better flow.

This is 2021 - no one should have to carry keys.

I absolutely LOVE that my new car doesn't require me to take the keys out of my purse. I am going to add a keyless entry to my house door.

Consider an asymmetrical fireplace wall that has space for a TV

Good idea.

Also you have a lot of separate outdoor spaces. Do you think they will really all be used? Do your guests need a terrace and a roof deck?

Agree. Outdoor space can be high maintenance. Create ONE really nice space --- not multiple little ones.

Are you a griller? I don't see a spot picked out for a grill.

I didn't want a full-time formal dining room b/c we entertain more casually most of the time.

About library books: do you have lots of books? I'm a literature teacher, so I read constantly and own more books than I could count, but since the Kindle came out, I've mostly stopped acquiring DTB (Dead Tree Books). I LOVE knowing I have over 6000 books literally in one hand, and since becoming a Kindle-devotee I actually have enough bookshelves.

I hear what you're saying about casual entertaining and a fold-down table, but this design doesn't seem particularly functional. Take a look at Susan Sarakah's -- author of The Not So Big House series -- Libertyville house: https://susanka.com/not-so-big-showhouses/libertyville-not-so-big-showhouse/ She designed a really cool library-that-can-be-a dining room, and it is more streamlined /less clunky.

but i don't mind at all carrying a basket of dirty clothes in the other direction.

You don't mind doing it now ... but you're saying you're going to be old in this house, and at some point you may not be able to carry those baskets. My grandmother, who lived 100 years, was perfectly capable of operating the machines and folding her clothes ... but, as a walker user, she couldn't get the clothes down the hallway from her bedroom. Don't give up on this piece of the puzzle.

--Regarding the garage, i have thought about the ramifications of losing the 2-car indoor parking, and i don't love it.

Agree. Keep working on this.

Again, you're talking about being old in this house. Once you're retired, will you maintain two cars? Think seriously about it -- in retirement, how often will you both need to drive? Consider, too, that calling an Uber (even once a week) is cheaper than buying-maintaining-insuring a car.

Additionally, we haven't seen a front-elevation of this house. I'm picturing it looking rather odd with two garages on the front.

I intentionally kept the kitchen somewhat separate because i prefer not to entertain guests in the same room as the noise/smell/dirty dishes/ etc.

Yet you have a large table in the kitchen, which is more than the two of you need /suggests you're going to entertain in the kitchen. These two thoughts don't seem to go together.

I have tried to plan the house so it will accommodate large functions, because i do like to entertain, but those are not every day.

You have many, many more "every days" than you have large functions. Don't saddle yourself with more, more, more for a couple days every year.

We will likely have a solar panel elsewhere on the property (not far from the house), and we could have a green roof on the library and my office, since they're flat-ish.

A desire for solar power is another reason to downsize to a more reasonably sized house.

i think part of the point of the design is that growing awareness of the view from one end to the other--but practicality may dictate!

No reason you can't have good design AND your views.

The motor court. Well, I do, and I don’t. Love the concept, love the look, not sure how well it will work when there is more than one vehicle parked in the court. Or, when a repairman is parked there, but one of you needs to get in or out of your garage or carport.

I wouldn't worry too much about repairmen -- I think we have one at our house once every other year. BUT, yes, if a friend is visiting, that friend's car could block both cars from leaving.

If we had a big gathering, people would probably have to park along the shoulder of the driveway,

It's important to think through this. We had a gathering at a relative's house this weekend, and we actually had to shuttle people down to the nearby elementary school to leave cars. Whereas, one of the positives of my house is that 6 cars can park in my triple-wide garage, and more can park on the two sides (being on a corner). This isn't an everyday issue, but it's one you should think through.

It's hard for me to predict how long visitors might stay with us

How often do you have overnight guests now? How long do they stay? That's probably your answer.

has less rooms

Fewer rooms. If you can count the item, it's fewer. If you cannot quantify the item, it's less. Examples: You have fewer rooms but less happiness. You ordered fewer hamburgers, but you have less confidence. You take fewer pills but are less healthy.

Sorry, sometimes I can't turn off teacher-mode.

Conclusion: Keep working on the design. I don't think you're happy with everything yet, and the posters here have pointed out numerous spots for improvement. Remember that changes on paper are free.

mrs Pete I have a house where the bathroom is near everything since it’s a tiny home. Bathrooms are gross and never smell good. Also no one wants to worry if the people at the table can hear them. You think a door keeps all the smell and the noise from penetrating outwards? Think again. You can have whatever you want in your home and teach your students whatever, but literally every teacher I’ve EVER had has told me not to put a toilet visible to dining or the entrance. Guess there’s a first for everything. It’s also just common sense to not want to see the door to the toilet or hear the people in there when you’re eating.

JD, if people actually got up from the dining room table to poop, I'd agree.

Not sure what this has to do with teachers.

“Sorry I can’t turn off teacher mode.” I assumed you were an IAD professor

Mrs Pete, it may not be likely that both will need wheelchairs, but pretty likely both will need walkers or rollators, especially in the night and early morning when joints stiffen up. and might need a helper, besides. So plenty of room in the bathroom is needed.

2rickies, I keep googling images of stair towers. i love this one.

Mrs Pete, i appreciate the thoroughness of your comments. (That said, I was a bit confused at first because the comments you quote come from a number of different people who made helpful suggestions here, and i couldn't always remember the context.)

I think it's best to stick with the goal of this thread, that is, pointing out improvements that could be made to a floor plan, not to the way the comments about it are phrased. Online communications tend to be less formal and technically "correct." I'm a writer and an editor by profession, and I regularly "break rules" in online communications because speed (and sometimes siri or that blasted auto-incorrect) dictate. (Note: yes, i own many, many books, and I will be keeping most of them around, as they are my work and my joy--even if I also use an e-reader sometimes.)

I definitely have work to do on the master suite layout, including the bathrooms. It certainly is less costly to make changes now, rather than waiting until construction, but it is not free. The architect gets paid for his time (and he earns it!). I'm very pleased with the overall design and the aesthetic. It suits my family, which is what's important, right? The advice in this thread is helping me to notice functional aspects and the impacts on daily living--things that are easy to forget or miss when one is trying to keep track of so many details. At the same time, every family has their idiosyncratic way of moving through the day and managing space--in other words to each his own! I know almost everyone here disagrees about this part, but I still prefer the laundry in the mudroom part of the house rather than near my bedroom or my office. I asked a family member who is older and also lives on a large rural property whether she'd consider the laundry near the bedroom suite, and she gave me a look of horror!

Anyway, between the two of us, we both do laundry, and it would be convenient for the one working upstairs to throw it in, and the other one might switch it to the dryer, etc. But often it gets done in the evening. I hate folding, except sheets and towels; the spouse doesn't mind folding clothes. (We're not formal in our divisions, except I do 95% of the cooking and probably 80% of the clean-up.) I completely agree we are not going to have a huge table in both the kitchen and the library. We will probably make one do double-duty, or put a tiny one in the kitchen. Those furniture drawings are just placeholders. Also, the spouse will love spending time sweeping the patio. The more to sweep the better.

There is no uber in the entire county. We will have one car, one pick-up for hauling, and various and sundry farm vehicles. If it should happen that we both lose the ability to drive (rather than one of us, which is the more likely scenario), we'll have to ask a neighbor for a ride to the store and to the landfill. Luckily, it is a very neighborly place.

On the offices, we really can't make them guest rooms. They will be too packed with our work stuff, and it wouldn't be pleasant for someone to stay. We will both be working until we're carted off. I love what I do. Besides, we have to pay for the %#@$*(! house, right?

bpath, that is gorgeous staircase!

RappArchitecture, thank you! I like the curves--they follow the contour of the mountain (I'm not sure that's evident in the drawings), and i think it fits the site nicely. I do worry about the cost, though. I'm hoping that the drywall itself is not actually curved, only the masonry...

When you say two feet--do you mean out of the depth? Both rooms are 25' deep. Making them 23' seems fine to me. (I don't think i can lose width, especially in the kitchen because it's needed on the 2nd floor.)

I remodeled my kitchen with the help of folks on this forum a long time ago. I like a tight work triangle, but i cook a lot and bake a lot, and after living with the restrictions of my current space, dictated by walls that couldn't be moved, i'd like more room to spread out. But, it also doesn't have to be crazy large.

Honestly, i don't mind cleaning bathrooms! In our house now, we each clean our own. Is it all pristine all the time? Nope. Do i care? Nope!

This stair is cool, too, but i’d prefer less jagged I mean less staggered windows.

One more thought for the laundry. My parents had a long house. The bedroom-to-laundry went past the library, livind and dining, kitchen, breakfast room. Fine for 40 years. When things went south, I was working on converting a closet behind their shower to a stackable laundry. But then, things went further south.

So. Do what works for you for now. My mom considered the walk her ”steps”. Be prepared to make subtle changes in the future. You have a fabulous house in the works. I hope you have many happy years in it!

We're just starting to build our house that takes advantage of the scenery and topography, which changed this from the way that many others would have done in a more traditional location. So I do understand.

Our current home has quite a bit of curved drywall. It's fabulous, but it terrifies me to think about ever having to patch it! Go for it if you can! My suggestion for straightening out the curve was to give more immediate views out your west windows and add space to the motorcourt. Our current house has a very tricky driveway/garage layout that I wouldn't wish on anyone...

Get a cost estimate for curved walls as shown, and get a cost estimate for making those walls straight; and then make an educated decision.

In the living room, I would shift the south wall up by 2, maybe even 3 feet. In the kitchen, it maybe makes more sense to reduce the width (side-to-side), depending on how it impacts the upstairs, but have your architect quickly sketch both ways to see what's feasible.

You may be able to lose about 100 SF altogether, which might easily pay for the premium to build the curved walls. Well worth it!

Random thoughts:

1. Agree that master bath(s) area needs work. IMO only in the sense that it needs to be more special that it appears now. I think the dual sided grab bars is over rated. Post surgery my parents ended up with a commode that gets placed over the toilet - placing the bars closer to them and allowing them to "push off". Having walls that close isn't a good idea - and then having grab bars that far away is useless from a strength and leverage pespective. It's also good to have space on one side to help with any transfer assistance that one may need at some point. I'd enlarge the shower to easily allow a shower chair.
2. Thought I was done with the bathrooms - nope. I am confused about the layout and entry to the bath on the left. Do you have to exit the master bedroom, cross in front of the stairs to use it? I get it that it becomes usable if the downstains office needs to be a bedroom - but..... I would not want to leave my master to use my personal master bath - and cross the stairway especially if there are guests staying with us.
3. If the views are to the back - the motor court works - but I worry about too much hardscape and driveway taking away from the front facade. I am not generally a fan of carports, and depedning on your barn storage - they can become cluttered. And do you really want the farm truck front and center? Unless its a really cool vintage one - but those don't get owned by real farmers... ;-)
4. Laundry - it's near the kitchen. Chances are, if you eat, you're going to have to trek between that space and the bedroom at least a couple of times a day. Do the laundry then. And if you have a walker - get a laundry cart from Steele.
5. Don't change the closet and bath towers - they will frame the view to the back when you walk in the front door and the view and the house open up to you.
6. My biggest concern is the 3 level living. I realize the site may be driving this - but I would not want my dog grooming / dog wash area downstairs. Forget you aging - what about the dog aging? I have a blind dog - (actually I have had several) and they teach you about aging in place and one level living... I can understand the guest area being upstairs - easy to ignore when you are not using it (aside from the bathroom / stair / privacy issue noted above) but the basement pantry / dog grooming seems like something that you'd want accessible without stairs for a variety of reasons.
7. Finally - as noted - take all of this with a grain of salt - mine included. Designs evolve, decisions get done, changes occur, compromises are made. You well may have worked through many of these issues and made those compromises - it's how life works and it's a balance between creating a beautiful space and being practical.
8. Finally, finally.... the Architect designed, fully custom home is aspirational and highly encouraged here, while at the same time almost always subjected to the most scrutiny and the most intensity to ultimately be bland enough that it would erase so much of what it made it an Architect designed, fully custom home in the first place. ;-)

Just one more thing about powder room and closet. IF you were to swap them, and IF you ere to turn the closet into a each-in accessed from the center of the foyer, the back side of it could be a recessed area for the books and tv in the library, giving it a skosh more room. Not that it needs it, but an extra foot means more room to stretch out your legs.

I like all of the thought that you're putting into your house. Here are a couple of comments from my life and the two houses and my spouse and I have built, to make you smile.

Accept that no matter how thoughtful you are, you won't use the house exactly as you envision. For example, we have sliding doors from our bedroom out to our hot-tub for easy access. We never use those doors as we anticipated, because we change into swimsuits, grab a drink from the kitchen, then use use the sliding door near the kitchen to go to the hot tub. (Also, we have bears in the area, so can't leave those sliders open at night.)

We designated one of our extra bedrooms as my spouse's office. He has never used the room for that purpose. While his files and reference materials are there, his laptop basically lives on our dining room table. To my dismay.

Our bedroom has a similar orientation as yours, with a huge set of windows opposite the bed (we also have a smaller set of windows to one side). Our ceiling is high and pitched, and from our bed, I feel like I'm in a tent, looking out at the woods outside our windows.

Mrs Pete, it may not be likely that both will need wheelchairs, but pretty likely both will need walkers

Walkers are a much more realistic concern, but needing them at the same time may or may materialize; my mother and stepfather are both 77 -- he uses a walker outside the house, but she can still hike half a day with a pack on her back. Aging doesn't come to us evenly.

Think about the likely progression of mobility loss and how walkers might fit into your life -- having been a caretaker for my grandmother, I have some insight into this:

- When people experience mobility issues with aging, they tend to need a cane first only when they leave the house ... then they need the cane inside the house too. A walker is a step-up from the cane, and people tend to first need the walker only when they leave the house ... then perhaps all the time in the house too.

- One thing that helped my grandmother tremendously was owning TWO walkers. She had a typical walker inside the house ... AND she had a outside walker with larger wheels that was better in the yard, which she stored in the garage. She had only one step leading down to the garage, and she had sturdy grab bars on both sides of the door. Even if she was alone, she could safely transfer from the house to the garage ... and the second walker was waiting for her. Especially in her later years, she was not able to lift the walker from the house /over the step /into the garage by herself.

- A second thing that helped her tremendously was having a "storage spot" for her walker inside the house -- this was very useful in the days before she used the walker all the time. She had a breezeway between the house and the garage, and it was ideal for storing the walker.

- Still talking about walkers: my grandmother had a double garage, and I was always glad she had a single double door (instead of two smaller doors). I was her main mode of transportation, and when I went to pick her up, she'd have the garage open for me, and I'd park smack-dab in the middle. This meant we had loads of space for her to walk around the car with the car doors wide open -- this was nice in the rain.

- If you're concerned about walkers, this is more reason than ever to avoid the idea of one spouse needing to walk arouuunnnd the bed to reach the rest room.

- If you think you might want a scooter in the future, consider where it would be stored ... and make sure you have an electrical outlet in the right spot.

- Bathrooms are often the site of falls, so it's essential that you have plenty of grab bars. Go ahead and put them in while you're building -- it's easier than waiting 'til you need them. And adding them can be problematic: my uncle installed grab bars in our shower for my grandmother, and later we had mold behind the tile. If they'd been installed properly when the shower was being built, that likely wouldn't have happened.

- If you're thinking that you might one day need an in-home helper, it'd be smart to design one of your guest rooms with that person in mind. Fully separate for privacy, adult-sized closet, private bath -- and a parking space (though if you needed an in-home helper, you might no longer maintain a car for yourself).

- My now-nurse daughter did home health care in college, and she says that the #1 thing people needed was help with bathing. So consider a bathroom that would allow space for a helper in the shower. The #2 thing she did was meal prep; for example, she'd chop things, which the patient could later cook on his or her own.

- If you do one day need home health care, remember something my daughter said: she had two clients -- brother and sister who lived together -- who scheduled her on alternate days. This meant she'd come help the brother with bathing on Monday and Wednesday, and she'd do their food prep. She came back on Tuesday and Friday to do the same for the sister. This meant the siblings got the benefit of food prep four days a week; they used their insurance benefits wisely. She liked those clients.

Okay, I got off-topic, but -- as I said -- I do have some experience on this topic.

I think you could take at least two feet out of the living room, and maybe two feet out of the kitchen depending on clearances.

Definitely -- some space could be eliminated at the foot of the bed too. You want enough space, obviously, but more-more-more is just more to maintain and heat/cool.

and to the landfill.

Do you have to haul your own garbage in this rural area? We had that issue for a long time, and it makes me appreciate the garbage service we have now. Anyway, have you planned a convenient space for garbage to be stored (we used to have such trouble with possums getting into it), and is that spot convenient to the pick-up truck's parking spot? You can cut down on the work with good planning.

We will both be working until we're carted off. I love what I do. Besides, we have to pay for the %#@$*(! house, right?

That sounds a bit like a chicken-and-egg scenario.

There is no uber in the entire county.

My farm is in a remote area as well, but even we are starting to get such services -- and the county provides a van service for the elderly and disabled (of course, my grandmother wouldn't use it because that's for poor people -- not true, but she wouldn't use it).

My county actually has LOADS of resources for the elderly -- definitely research what's in your area before you need it. For example, when I called and told the garbage collectors she was over 90, they started coming into her garage and taking her cans to the street /back again. And Meals on Wheels was great for her -- and not just for the food; she had a short visit five days a week, which she enjoyed.

I know almost everyone here disagrees about this part, but I still prefer the laundry in the mudroom part of the house rather than near my bedroom or my office. I asked a family member who is older and also lives on a large rural property whether she'd consider the laundry near the bedroom suite, and she gave me a look of horror!

This is a bit off-topic, but my husband and I find that we are doing much less laundry now. He's already retired, and I am home for the summer. One of our adult children still lives at home, but she does her own laundry. We no longer wash loads and loads and loads every week.

At the same time, every family has their idiosyncratic way of moving through the day and managing space--in other words to each his own!

Yes, but many of the things that're pointed out here are not matters of tomato-tomato (a phrase that sounds better than it looks in type); rather, they are things that don't mesh with your stated goals. For example, you say you want a house that will support aging-in-place, but you have one master bath that requires a lengthy trek around the bed. This isn't an "each to his own" -- it's a potential issue that can be tweaked to meet your goals.

that is gorgeous staircase!

Very nice!

I do worry about the cost, though.

Well, that's realistic.

I like a tight work triangle, but i cook a lot and bake a lot, and after living with the restrictions of my current space, dictated by walls that couldn't be moved, i'd like more room to spread out. But, it also doesn't have to be crazy large.

A medium-sized kitchen works out best. "Too small" brings obvious problems, but "crazy large" isn't a benefit because it adds extra steps and invites clutter. You want to Goldilocks all your spaces, starting with your kitchen.

Honestly, i don't mind cleaning bathrooms!

I don't understand that at all! I hate cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming.

This stair is cool, too, but i’d prefer less jagged I mean less staggered windows.

That one's a bit much for me. The "jagged" is too much for me, I mean.

It's also good to have space on one side to help with any transfer assistance that one may need at some point.

A potential danger: strokes are sadly common, and they affect one side of a person's body. If you have grab bars on only one side, you run the risk of having bars on your "weaker side".

I'd enlarge the shower to easily allow a shower chair.

Absolutely essential.

I have a blind dog

I just lost my little blind dog at Christmas -- I miss him every single day. I've finally stopped turning around and expecting him to be at my feet.

but the basement pantry / dog grooming seems like something that you'd want accessible without stairs for a variety of reasons.

Agree. With aging-in-place a concern, everything you need for everyday life should be on one level. Guest rooms can go up/down.

For example, we have sliding doors from our bedroom out to our hot-tub for easy access.

Even if you never use those doors "as anticipated", I think it's good to have an exterior door for fire safety ... if your bedroom isn't near another door.

I already mentioned my daughter who worked home health during college. She says that home health places will reject you (and this essentially can force you into a nursing home) if you don't have convenient fire-safe exits.

I feel like I'm in a tent, looking out at the woods outside our windows.

That sounds pleasant!

Since you have one of the offices on the second floor, have you considered putting in an elevator?

Thank you for all of the thoughtful comments!

We have considered an elevator, and i am told there will at least be a space left for one. I want to make sure that's in the plan for the reasons mentioned. I also have in mind that if necessary we could move our exercise space to one of the guest rooms that would be accessible by elevator.

The dog grooming had to move downstairs. If we have a possible elevator that should solve it. I don't like having it downstairs, but something had to give. I need an 8x11 space because i need a large bath plus a grooming table i can walk all the way around. there just isn't a good place for it anywhere else except an add-on to the garage, and we couldn't keep expanding the main level.

I'm a person who has had many inconvenient injuries (typing awkwardly right now with a brace on my wrist!), and i do keep mobility issues in mind. the info from a person in home health is very helpful. I don't like the crazy path to the 2nd master bath. DH keeps telling me it's fine with him, and i keep saying he'll regret it! i'm sure there's a way to improve that traffic pattern, and i'll keep working on it. agree about adding grab bars in the shower from the start. DH doesn't want the closet smaller, so I thought of making the bedroom smaller. We need space for a king bed and night tables, not much other furniture. I think that might work. i know a lot of people like "sitting" space in the bedroom, but we rarely use it now.

mrs pete: i hate vacuuming too, would much rather just sweep and mop.

about the powder room and coat closet, we will flip them but i want to keep them apart because the idea is you enter the front door and you have a view between them, straight out the south great room windows. Not sure about reach-in vs walk in there. i anticipate keeping brooms and vacuum in that closet and i think walk in is easier. in my current reach-in, all the tall household equipment gets in the way.

lexma90-- funny about how spaces get used for unexpected purposes. in my house, the sitting room next to the master became the exercise room by default. there is no place to sit unless you count a bicycle! i like the idea of a tentlike view; it sounds lovely.

At a certain point it won't matter if the dog grooming is in the basement, you won't be doing washing the dog yourself anyway.

Here is what I see as the architect's basic concept of design:

Three massings connected by a light, airy spine. However, after design development, here is what it has become:

Incorporating the program requirements has muddied up the simple concept:

- the arc is being used to force a symmetry upon massings that cannot meet symmetry.

- the arc spine (in plan) is not reinforced in any other design expression.

- the massings themselves are off balance - the 2 story (with you stating a sloped roof) dominates against the central Living mass which is being used as an anchor (although the prominent butterfly roof will gain attention).

- the spine has no arrival point in the Master wing and ends in a messy arrival point at the Shed wing

- the spine being 'heavy' masonry (same as 3 massings) as you approach the house loses the visual intent of it tying 3 large massings together

- the concept of Entry 'pillars' (Powder/Closet) get lost with the competing masonry arc and Closet being blended into the wall. However they are positioned well with the Vee of the roof.

- the single slope roof overhangs (and trellis @ kitchen) do not help define the spaces below them and do not relate to the spine layout.

________

Some words about using an arc in plan:

- you may see them more often in commercial/institutional, as the scale of those footprints are very large.

- the arc is typically used to lead your eye, connect disjointed parts or add interest to repeated patterns, and create points of arrival.

Here, I believe the inspiration is taken from the site and its views, and to justify the angled flanking masses. Realize that the scale of a house is much smaller, so you lose the visual intent of leading your eye and sense of arrival because you are only walking 50' or so here, and the radius is large enough to not notice the arc when compared to the straight walls along the opposite side of it or at the ends of the arc circulation. If it's solely to add drama to a space, it can be done as a faux or with an interior wall.

At this scale, practical difficulties will be:

- hard to build, the sophistication of contractors in rural areas is difficult to find.

- custom built-ins required (shelves, cabinets, etc)

- if you do "straight" drywall segments following the arc it creates unintended shadows and requires exact framing and finishing

- with masonry (straight unit faces) and some types of other cladding, if the radius is not gradual enough you may see each unit segmented, and that may give problems with patterns (e.g. running bond)

- examples of detailing considerations: long fenestration interrupting the arc (e.g. head overhang or threshold breaking up the arc @sliding doors), parapet caps for flat roof, tile layouts creating slivers, straight ceiling/floor registers, 4-gang boxes conforming to curved wall.

thank you, 3onthetree. your points are well-taken (though some of these terms are unfamiliar to me!). The architect hasn't gone over many of these details with us yet, but will be soon.