I'm thinking you should make it similar in style to your deck and tie the two together somehow--maybe a planter in between? You could even have a raised planter on the other side of the porch across the front of the house. The planters would not have to be wood, they could be fieldstone or whatever appeals to you.

There is significant disappointment on our end as well as the builder that this was missed by the architect along the way. In fairness to the architect, the builder allowed us to work with the architect to develop the plans we love prior to any $ commitment from us but he did not want to pay for the survey until we were invested. So, here we are. We are disappointed because the length of the home has been established for several months and the width of the property has as well. The survey and site plan were just officially performed but the inputs are the same and have been known...so we are disappointed but still love the floorplan, location, etc. and want to make the best runner up choice we can :)

Hi all, Thank you all who answered this post. I wanted to give you an update since things got real crazy for quite a while. I know when I read posts, I always want to find out the resolution. This situation is that we were buying a home from a production builder. After carefully re-reading the fine print in the contract, we realized that we didn't really have much power to force them to upholding our selections and options. We were in contract with them as a buyer and seller, not as a buyer and a builder. Any customizations and selections were totally within their legal right to follow through with or not as they chose. We could have cancelled the contract but then would have been without a home for our in laws. There was not another lot left to swap to for a do-over. We decided to forge on ahead, and actually banded together with some other neighbors on the court to keep each other on our toes in regard to preventing more major mistakes happening. We know this was the best option for us and the parents. They do not have many years(if any) left and they want to spend it living in the same neighborhood as grandkids, not waiting around for perfection. Also, since we started the process pre-covid, we would have ended up spending loads more to get less of a home further away. We did have them build three shallow steps into the house from the garage and if we need a ramp in the future, they will convert it for us. They moved in May, and their home is in the perfect spot for them at the end of the cul-de-sac. They see all the neighbors and dogs walking around the loop and there is a trail that adjoins the older and newer section of the neighborhood that comes out right past their home. Due to the trails, hills, and trees, the backyard has 180 degrees of lovely trees with no other homes in sight. This was absolutely the right move for them, it just was a LOT of headache for us. We tried to not stress them about it too much because we wanted them to actually enjoy living in the home and not have a distaste for it because of all the problems. And yes, we did have a few more minor issues. The main take-away is to carefully read the contract and then determine what is worth cancelling it over. I was not familiar with a builder selling as a seller, not as a contractor, but I realize they do this to keep things rolling and to protect their bottom line. I am sure many people would not choose this set up for themselves, but for our family this has been the right choice. Overall, the quality of the build is very good so we are not concerned about things falling apart on us. Oh wait, but there's more...DH, myself, and our 15yo son have moved in with them! We decided to relocate across the country so DH can spend time with his parents while they are still with us. They are doing great and are very active and DH golfs weekly with his dad. We have made the bonus room over the garage our little apartment and son is in one of the 2 bedrooms downstairs. The other br is a guest room/office for DH to work from home. It is tight for sure, and we have two enormous storage units with all our stuff. We are in the middle of designing our forever home and we have taken GREAT care to vet the buider for our future home so we don't run into this type of struggle again. Thanks again! Juls

We had a similar problem but not as severe. Most houses have this problem to an extent the bottom Riser to door only has to be 36” by code. Our bottom Riser to front door is 43” but with a 36” door and box 6.5 box newel it still felt tight . We replaced out front door 5’ rough opening door plus two side lites to a dual 30” doors it gives us 6 more inches and the swing when greating guests feels more open. we also met with out building inspector and he stated that the hand rail had to be reachable from the landing. He didnt require it to be all the way to vertical of the first riser mine is actually on the back of tbe 2nd Riser and inspected but check with your building inspector and if cleared by them I would keep record if you ever sell your house