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mrsbrad_gw

Garrell house plan- opinions please

MrsBrad
11 years ago

My husband and I are about to close on our lot so we are really trying to narrow down a plan we like. I think we may have decided on Augusta from Garrell Associates. We have 2 kids, 11 yr old girl and 9 yr old boy. We plan on having more kids. Any thoughts or opinions on this plan or has anyone used this plan? The only changes we are considering are small. I would like to add a side entrance into the mud room area. We are going to have a pool and it would be nice to have another entrance to come in and use a bathroom. We are also debating whether or not we need the keeping room. I live in NC and am not sure on what it may cost to build yet. Thanks in advance for any help!

Here is a link that might be useful: Garrell Augusta

Comments (5)

  • Robin
    11 years ago

    I don't know how much time you spend in the kitchen, but one of my concerns when searching for a home plan was being able to see the family room while I cook. That way I could keep an eye on kids at the same time. Maybe you could move the stove to the other side of that walkway opening for more visibility. I also agree with eliminating the keeping room since you already have the family and living rooms.

  • ILoveRed
    11 years ago

    If you have not purchased this plan, here are a few considerations.

    It seems these Garrell plans tend to have shallow garages.

    Isn't 20 ft. Too shallow for most vehicles.

    Have you ever had a two story room open to other rooms? We have and it's hard to heat the two story room and the second story gets too hot.

    The living room at 11 ft may be hard to furnish.

    I would not want to use up precious sq ft on so many redundant spaces.

    The exterior has a sweet appeal. I can see why you are attracted to this house, but I would keep looking.

    If your lot is deep and narrow as this plan seems to indicate, would it be worth thinking about hiring an architect to design the ideal plan for your lot? It might save you money in the long run.

  • nini804
    11 years ago

    With two tween-aged kids...I would definitely floor in the 2-story family room and make it a playroom/media center. If you are having a pool, I would make the keeping room some sort of pool-house area, with a bath and changing areas, storage...etc... I would not use that 5th bedroom in that location as a bedroom...the location seems more like a craft room/office.

  • MrsBrad
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you for each of your inputs. We have not purchased the plan yet but that is the one we like the best so far. We will probably end up using an architect but I wanted to first see if another plan might work for us. I have never had a two story great room and have wondered if they were very practical. I know they are beautiful but I am more interested in practicality. Our lot is not narrow. We have 5 acres so plenty of room. I was just interested in minimizing footprint to reduce cost. I like the idea of using the keeping room as a pool room. I had not thought of this. Each of you have given me some things to think about!

  • bdpeck-charlotte
    11 years ago

    We started with a stock Garrell plan and made many modifications.

    The garage is too small in both directions. As pointed out 20 feet barely gets sedans and small SUVs in. Forget about ext cab full size bed pickups and large SUVs. A suburban (my yard stick for biggest possible) is about 22ft long. We did 24' deep in ours. 28 feet wide is also narrow for 3 cars. The bay nearest the front of the house won't allow for a car door to open to that side, the garage door is at the same place as the wall that's not bumped out. Make that 2 ft more to open a door. And you're door from the house can be a problem. Are you going to have steps down? If you're on a slab, no problem, but a crawl or basement and you'll have 3 or more steps (protruding into that bay) and if you have more than 4 or 5 you may want a landing which would be even more protrusion. I'd make that dimension at least 33ft, 2 more for a car door and 3 more for steps into the house.