I like the Donnelly better. I personally would not like the super long walk from the foyer to the living room.
How long are you going to be in this home? How far apart are you hoping to space your children? Unless you are using one bedroom as an office now, 3 bkiddo rooms seems like a lot when you are engaged. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it is very unlikely you will be in this house in ten years. So much changes in the first 5 years of marriage! Somebody may even decide to be a stay at home parent. Or move for a career.
Also be sure to leave lots of extra wiggle room in that budget. You can afford about twice the house before kids! Diapers are the cheapest part in my opinion! I keep waiting for it to get cheaper, and they keep getting more expensive!

This will make it easier for people

Donnelly

Clarksville

dekeoboe - Thanks for uploading the images.. That does help a lot..

nostalgicfarm - Thanks for the feedback.. We both currently work but did plan that once the kids arrive that she would be a stay at home mom.. We have also been planning financially with this in mind.. As far as the spacing out of kids.. We figured give them 2 years apart.. I talked that over with a few friends and most said that 2 years apart is better then waiting longer.. As far as how long we plan to be in the house.. We are building the home in the town that I work.. In my line of work I have a set date for retirement.. So with that in mind I plan on living in the home for at least 17-18 years.. We figure that once I retire we will move out of the current area..

Trust me.. I would love to choose a smaller house plan or a plan with more open space.. However one thing that I learned from my parents is I don't want a house that I have to keep extending or ripping down walls and doing additions.. we figured we are building from scratch, we might as well make it to grow in.. As pictured above the Donnelly gives us the three spare bedrooms so if we end up with three kids they each have their own open room and then we have a dedicated office.. The Clarksville on the otherhand saves us some square footage but we lose the dedicated office space downstairs.. We do keep the three bedrooms upstairs which 1 could be used as an office.. I just always had the idea that an office should be on the main level.. We plan on speaking with an architect which I think will be able to come up with a better floor plan..

Also as far as the foyer goes... I understand what you mean by the long foyer.. However I also feel that a foyer should be a more defined space.. The donnelly, in my opinion, falls short with a dedicated foyer.. It does save space by not being a full space.. But I always look at a foyer as a space you welcome guests into your home, take coats, etc.. With the donnelle you have to walk through your family room to put coats, shoes, etc away..

IMO...I prefer the Donnelly for a couple reasons.
1. I like the office space on the first floor. Especially when you start having kids...even just one, you may want to move your office upstairs and use the office as a playroom. You wife will spend her life in the kitchen and laundry room as a stay at home mom (trust me...I did it for 10 yrs) You'll appreciate a place on the first floor for toys to live.
2. I am not a fan of walking into stairs...I love that the stairs are off the family room. I also think that without the stairway, the smaller foyer in the Donnelly will feel larger b/c it's only purpose is an entryway.
3. The laundry room in the Donnelly is a separate space. I hate walking in through the laundry from the garage...you may not think it's a big deal now, but when you add kids and their laundry needs, you will discover how truly inconvenient it is!
Just my 2 cents... :)

The Donnelly is so much more livable, roomier. When babies come, could grandma visit in the guest room?

My friend's house has an entry like the Clarksville, and she really has time with the tall, narrow foyer. She feels like she's in a square silo, and it's hard to decorate.

I hear you on the entry, though; could you modify it in the Donnelly to move the door our further? It would still be protected/set in by the garage. You could move it out even further and slide the door to the right so that the door opens in front of the stairs, and you make a jog left to enter the house. In fact, if you live where there's cold air, you could maybe rework the entry to give a closet there, too.

Pwanna1 - As far as the donnelly goes.. I also like the office space on the first floor, but almost feel like its so "hidden".. I also feel like you have a lot of "Wasted" space in the donnelly.. Well mostly concerning the family room.. it is 16x20 but I figured that you will probably have to shave 3ft off of each of those to make pathways.. for example when you go to the stairs or office you would need at least 3 ft of walking room to get through the family room.. Also if you are walking through the family room to the kitchen/breakfast area you would need a path on that side as well.. So i feel as though you just shrunk your family room to 17x13... while it will "appear" bigger it will have useless space.. The clarksville on the other hand is smaller to start at 20x13 (we plan on bumping out rear of home so it would probably be more like 20x15) but its in a "dead end" spot so you can utilize the entire space and it is not a walkthrough room...

As afar as your comment about walking into stairs.. 1 of the main things I love about the houses we have gone to seen are the great two story foyers that have a nice staircase to the upstairs.. So that was a must in our searches..

Lastly.. The laundry room in both plans is a separate space.. I even believe the clarksville is a bit larger and located on the second floor for easy access.. No having to run up and down stairs doing laundry..

BPathome - Both grandmas live in the area lol.. No having to visit.. And when I say in the area I mean literally a few minutes (like 5 if that lol).. Modifying the Donnelly is not out of the question.. We actually thought about altering the entry way as you stated and flipping the stairs but just more square footage lol.. And you still have the issue with the family room being the center hub when going anywhere downstairs.. I just feel that while the donnelly is bigger, it actually has space that once furnished will become walkways rather then part of the room.. As i stated earlier you have the family room that will need walkways to the office/laundry and also walkways to the kitchen/breakfast area.. At minimum you are a looking at at least 3 ft for each, maybe more..

Jason....
My mistake...I miss read the plan and thought the mudroom was the laundry. Probably my complete aversion to upstairs laundry. ( I know, I'm not the norm there...I just find I'm downstairs more often than up...I'd rather carry the clothes up to put away and bring down to wash than run up and down to DO the laundry all day long)

But, I have to say, it seems obvious you've made up your mind by the way you have an answer for every challenge anyone is presenting and you're using the board to confirm your decision. :) Sounds like you'll be very happy with the Clarksville. Go with it!

There are things I really like about the Clarksville, but I think, with modifications, the Donnelly plan is superior to the Clarksville. Especially if you end up being a family of 5, I think you will regret having one less room on the main floor in the Clarksville. An architect or good designer should be able to make changes to the Donnelly to meet your needs. How wide is your lot? Can you add on to the width? Which way is south?
If you can't afford to add square footage, this is still a good plan with a few minor modifications. In either case, FWIW I'd suggest the following changes be considered and discussed with whoever does your plan:

--As a stay at home mom (or even if you both are working), you will want the (young) children where they can be seen--especially while working in the kitchen, unless they are sleeping. That means that either the Dining Room or Family Room or Breakfast Room would best be designed so that the kids toys, school papers, etc. can be in a room that has space for them to play and that can be closed off from the part of the house where you will entertain when you have company. This room also needs space for video games, computer, etc. We have had our daughter and grandchildren (ages 6, 8, & 11) living with us in our lower level walkout and 2nd floor since they were 1, 3, & 5. These last 3 months of nothing but snow and sub-freezing cold have necessitated having them inside most of the time that they are not in school, and the extra space to play, do projects, and split them up if they've had too much of each other has been wonderful. This has been true when we've had normal winters also! We have the toys, books, and computer in one room, and the TV in another, although the toys and books often get moved to the TV room when the video games or TV are off.

When we have other people here (with or without kids), we generally split into 2 groups (sometimes both groups have kids & adults, sometimes only one does), and having 2 rooms with comfortable seating and places for games and activities works very well, since we can tune in to what's going on in the other group & move back and forth easily between the 2 rooms.

Based on my experiences with a previous condo layout similar to the Donnelly, I'd enlarge and make the Breakfast Room the DR, and get rid of the desk & pantry. Then make the DR the Breakfast/Play area with a small table for projects/eating, and put double doors on it to the Foyer. In our new house, we made both the DR & Breakfast room almost the same size (one is 12 x 14 & the other is 13 x 13.5), so either can function as a family room, living room, study/den, or eating area.

--I'd move the front center exterior wall out to line up with the DR wall, and add a porch across the front from the garage to the DR. Then shift the Garage ~2' to the right. That will give you enough room to turn the stairs so that they come into the Foyer, and room for a closet.

--19.5' is not deep enough for the garage that will have snow, lawn, kids, garden, ski, etc. equipment stored in it. I'd add at least 2', which would give you enough room to enlarge the laundry, and rearrange the back hall area. I think I'd switch the Laundry with the Bath, since that will serve as your powder room, as well as having less dirt tracked into the house when your kids come in from outside or school. With 2-3 kids, it is SO much better if you can work in a nice sized mudroom for all of the dirt and their stuff, with the powder room also right there. The small closet in that location should read "Linen" or "Storage", not "Coats."

--I'd make the Kitchen a double L, so that it's more convenient to enter from the Foyer and easier to work in. I'd put the pantry to the right, and the ovens to the left of the new door. Move the fridge a little to the left, and extend the counter/cabinets to its right to line up with the end of the serving bar, and put the MW to the right of the fridge.

--Add windows to the right and left exterior walls in as many rooms as possible to let in natural light and make it feel more open.

Hope this helps you work through your choices.

Anne

Clarksvilles's dining room is very small, directly ahead of the front door is the breakfast room, and I think you'd feel the lack of "one more room" on the first floor.

But, it does have a nice mudroom entry and a pantry/butlers pantry, and The bedrooms are bigger. I see why you like the more private family room of the Clarksville, and TV sound won't travel up the stairs to wake toddlers.

Can you make the left side of Clarksville about 2' wider, and bring the dining room out even with the front door? It would make a big difference in the kitchen, too. You might find the dining room makes a nice office or "away space" when not used for dinners.