Page one of that article states that the designers were limited to 1500 sq ft.

Thanks! Sorry, I didn't realize the link sent me to page two. Duh!

The two story floor plan looks like 3200 sq ft to me, not including three garage or porch.

Actually, maybe slightly under 3000. Too late at night and can't see enough on my phone to give you a certain answer. Hopefully someone else can correct me.

Which of the 4 houses are you referring to?

If it is the house on page 2, which is where the link takes me, I come up with approximately 2912 sq ft. Page 1 shows the sq ft at 1554 and page 3 looks like around 1536 sq ft. There is just no way that the house on page 2 is a 1500 sq ft house. You can tell by the scale of the furnishings, etc. that each square has to be close to 2' x 2'.

Kind of a confusing article, the first page does say 1500 sq ft but I agree there is no way that house can be that size.

yes sorry the house on page 2 (Robert Hidey design)

If each square is 2' x 2', I would say each floor is 1316 sqft, for a total of 2632 interior sqft and the garage is 20' x 22'. Those are based off 2' squares which is close to the scale, but could slightly be off. With exterior sq ft, I think 2912 is closer. Without actual dimensions, it is all just an estimate, but I would feel comfortable calling this house 2600 - 2900 plus 450 for a garage. (Which by the way is a pretty small garage for truly fitting 2 cars and having an access door on the side.

You can see the size of the rooms if you go to this link

Here is a link that might be useful: Builder Magazine Novebmer 2010