It's a very nice house.

There are a lot of experts here who can provide advice. I'm not an expert, but when I was looking into building on a wooded lake lot, I was caught off guard by the cost of clearing the land and putting in a gravel driveway and the septic system. Not trying to discourage you; just warning so you won't be as surprised as I was.

I'd be concerned about a wrap around porch (vs. wrap around deck) making the house dark.

It is a nice floor plan and the exteriors are beautiful but there are a couple of considerations that would bother me. (Just opinions so take them or leave them, they're just opinions!)

The size of the family room effectively shrinks once walkways are subtracted. Take away about 3 feet at the french door end and another 3 feet for a walkway to the powder room and master suite. That leaves a tad more than 13 x13 for family room furniture. Is that large enough?

Noise from the family room and kitchen will carry to the upstairs since it is a two-story family room. If you haven't experienced this situation, it may surprise you how noisy it can be.

The kitchen would not work for me. The sink is all the way across a large kitchen from the stove. I think about how many times I walk between the sink and the stove during meal preparations and I wouldn't want to cross 12 feet of space every time I need to rinse off my fingers or throw something in the sink.

The best advice I got when we were looking at plans was to "walk" the plan in your mind over and over and see how it fits your lifestyle. Imagine cooking a meal, bringing in groceries, getting ready in the morning. And equally important is drawing the plan and your furniture to scale and see how it works.

It is a big investment so take your time!

I love the Banner Elk II plan and have been in contact with Max Fulbright ref. that plan.When I last emailed him he sent me other variations of the plan. He has been great answering my emails and I look forward to purchasing this plan in the near future. We are sort of in the same situation as y'all except our daughter has 2 more years of college left. We own a farm in east Tennessee were we plan on building this house.

We're getting ready to renovate a lake house that has some very specific needs in the kitchen so I've been looking at A LOT of floor plans and reading everything I can find on kitchen planning. I agree with nanj about your space. I wouldn't want the range to be so far away from the sink, around an island to boot.

An old article I read from Fine Home Building talked about kitchens in the real world and how difficult it can be to plan that perfect work triangle. This is a new build and you have plenty of space. Someone here will likely come up with that perfect plan for you. But, if that doesn't happen, and one leg of your triangle must be farther away than the rest -- the article suggests that it should be the fridge that takes the most steps.

I think the rest of your plan looks lovely. Good luck with your new home!

Thank you all for the comments.
-DreamoftheUP: We are in a subdivision where the roads are paved the house will set back about 75 ft from the road. I didn't think about the cost of clearing the lot. We want to keep as many trees as we can.
-deikoe: We live in Missouri. Our close friend, who is a building inspector, is giving us some advise on the septic issue. There is city water. Build set back is 75ft from road and the lot drops off at around at around 150 ft back, about half way to the lake. We will not be close to the water because of the terrain.
-Nanja: I know this house I posted seems small to me. And I like to cook also and appreciate the helpful comments about the kitchen.
-Jhernan: He email me variations also. The Banner Elk 4 has the attached garage and more square footage. But no screened in porch. I am worried about the wrap around porch shading the interior but the porch would be nice because of the slope we have on our lot. It would be easier to walk around the house with it.
-Edevee: Thank you for the encouragement.
-We need to start soon because the owner of the Condo we are renting wants to put it on the market to sell but has agreed to hold off until we have built our home. Plus my daughter is having a fit that we have moved out of her home town, away from friends/civilization she says, which is driving me a little crazy from hearing her complain. The new house will be closer to the metro area. Plus her friend will want to visit because of the lake.
-I am wondering about the heating and cooling of a house with cathedral ceilings and a loft. Our electric bills in this condo have been between 400 and 500 this winter. When we are on a fixed income in a few years that will really matter.
We live in Missouri and there are a lot of offers coming in from people anxious to get some work on a house. We sold our last house that was paid for so we will not have any loans on this house. We also hope that helps get a better build price. We want to go into this house with out any kind of debt since we are a few years from retirement.
- Here is the other floor plan by Fulbright called River's Reach (also Asheville Mountain Home), similar but I do not like the two story entry. How do you clean the windows?
Thank you again for all your helpful thoughts.
pitterpatter

Here is the exterior of the Asheville with out the attached garage as on the floor plan.

Here is the back:

Here is the interior (my style would be not as much or any stained wood. I like white trim and walnut flooring, bronze hardware):

I am wondering about the heating and cooling of a house with cathedral ceilings and a loft. Our electric bills in this condo have been between 400 and 500 this winter. When we are on a fixed income in a few years that will really matter.

And all those walls of glass. Max Fulbright is in GA. You might want to ask them if they have any information about these plans being built in your area. If you can find any that were built in your area, you can ask about utility costs.

We are looking to possibly build the Asheville home. Pitterpatter94 did you build your home yet? I would love to see pictures and take any advice you may have. thank you!

• We bought this plan but then decided we wanted too many things changed. So we ended up building a similar plan we configured with the help of a structural engineer.

cdganoe- Hi, I stumbled across this discussion looking at the analytics for our website. If you want to email me through the website here: contact us. I have several pictures of the Asheville Mountain House that's not on the website that I can send you. I can also check to see if there is one near by that you can drive by or tour. Thanks - Max jr.

Here are a couple that we recently got in from a customer that I love! They added an L-shaped 3 car garage but most of the interior shots should be the same.

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Asheville Mountain 3 Car Garage · More Info

Pitterpatter we would also love to see how your home turned out if you get a chance to send any pictures. Hope you are loving it.

I love so many of the house designs of Max Fulbright. Looking to narrow down some house plans for our mountain vacation home in upstate NY. Has anyone built the Appalachia Mountain home?

I have emailed and asked for exterior pictures (colored) for the "Little Appalachia" plan that I purchased from Max Plans. Once I paid, I haven't gotten a response from any emails and I also asked if there were any homes similar to the plans that I purchased, built around here in Tennessee so that we could just drive by and see exterior details. I was told he could not give away those details...

if you come across any info on the Appalachia Mountain model please let me know . Thanks and good luck with your build!!