Hi bobby. Did you try dongardner.com? We just bought 5 acres and are building 2500 sq ft ranch. 4 bedrooms 2.5baths. We are building the Giverny Court with some modifications. Reduced the size and straightened out some angles. Took us nearly a year to tweak actually still tweaking as we wait for footers to be poured. Good luck!

Try eplans.com.

Also...know exactly how you want to input your choices, for an advanced search. Do you want a formal dining room? A fireplace? Bedrooms upstairs or main floor? Do you want a basement? Need an office?

Many plans don't come with a mudroom or walk in pantry, but those can usually be added later. For now, try to find a plan that you like in a general sense...and don't worry about the facade. You'll probably start with an interior you love and an exterior from another plan.

At least, if you find something you really like...it will give you a good starting point. Best of luck and have fun :)

Hiring a local architect can ensure that you get exactly the home that you are looking for, designed for the exact site that you have, and in compliance with local building codes.

Thanks for the replies. I have looked on eplans as well as several other sites. It seems like all of the sites have the same plans. Does size matter when choosing a layout? In other words. Can I pick a small layout I love and then just have it expanded?

I feel as though an architect might be out of our budget, but I have no real idea what one would cost. I will definititely check out Don Gardener, I hadn't seen that site before.

I felt the same way about the architect, but now that we are into our build, I can honestly say it was the best money we spent. The right architect can take your ideas and give them life, find the best use for your lot, capturing the right views, best sunlight patterns and orientation. He was extremely helpful design wise as well incorporating well designed elements we hadn't even thought about. I would encourage you to call a few architects and go have a meeting with them. It's free to meet with them and let them give you a quote. Then compare that to whatever stock plans you have. More information can only help

We will probably met with an architect and get a feel for what it will cost... Can't hurt! Our budget for the house, not including the land is around 550k, which will get us a really nice house. I'm not sure hiw much of that budget I would want to spend on an architect. I'm thinking 10k might be my max. I love the idea of a house designed to compliment the land. We have a lot to think about. I'm glad we are only closing on the land this month and then have 3 years to build.

Any more suggestions on where to look online for plans?

Southern living house plans have nice variety, in my opinion. Visbeen architects also have very nice open plans, some are craftsman inspired.

Bobby, our architect will come in at just above $10k...but only because we kept changing our minds mid design. :)

This post was edited by Michelle1973 on Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 13:32

Have you looked at frankbetz.com

Try mascord.com -they have lots of Craftsman style homes.

Your program is unlikely to fit in a Craftsman style house from the internet.

Look for an experienced sole practitioner architect instead of a firm with higher overhead.

It would help to know where the project is located.

Here is a link that might be useful: Allison Ramsey designs

Allison Ramsey designs is also my fav

Our lot is the the southern part of the lehigh valley in Pennsylvania. Not quite an hour drive north of Philly. It's 2 acres and is wider than it is deep and mostly flat but with a slight slope from right to left as you face it.

We have built twice and used an architect both times. We started with a base plan we found on the internet and made modifications from there. Both times it was less than 2K for the plans. It was money well spent. We were given the plans in a PDF and took them to a local print shop to have blueprints made. If your budget is 500K, you should really spend the extra money to get a custom house plan that meets all of your needs.
I would suggest checking with local builders about architects in your area.

Keep in mind that many architects are not good at kitchen design. Use the kitchen forum on GW and maybe talk to a KD in person.

Bobby- you've gotten a lot of good suggestions so far. We are just about to break ground, and know exactly how you feel. We worked with an architect in conjunction with our builder and consider it money well spent. We spent DAYS looking at plans online as well as drawing out what we thought we wanted. It was not time wasted - we printed out exterior elevations that we loved as well as floor plans that we liked. We made notes on all of those pages as to what we liked or what we didn't, and when we met with the architect it was very helpful to him. It gave him a good idea of what we were looking for. Good luck to you both!

We just finished our plans with an architect and they sound exactly like what you are describing.

I am assuming I can sell a copy of.my plans for you to use.

Dies.anyone have any experience with thus?

Psrome, give me some details on your plan, if you don't mind.

Ownership of architectural drawings remains with the architect unless the Owner-Architect contract transfers ownership.

We are building a ranch with a spacious walk-out basement that sounds similar. It was a custom build but the architect put the basic floor plan online if you are interested. All but the basement bedroom and third full bath are on the first floor. There is an additional family room or game room in the basement, too.

This post was edited by hyalena on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 17:52

Hyalnea, we're interested in a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath with all of the bedrooms and 3 baths on the 2nd floor. The first floor will have the kitchen, great room, study, formal living room, mud room, laundry, and a half bath. We also want a covered patio with a built in fireplace and a built in cooking area. We're flexible on the location of the laundry, everything else is not negotiable.

I've found several layouts that will accommodate all of this, but my interest in consulting an architect has been piqued by reading the discussions here.

Absolutely; consulting an architect would be a very good idea. Wish you very best of luck!