Can't read the plans unless you enlarge them.

But, lowering the cost of the build by putting the bedrooms in the basement also means lowering the appraisal by quite a bit as you don't now get to count those bedrooms as living space for appraisal purposes. Which means bringing a lot more cash to the build. Which you say you are short on.

Unless you can build without a bank's involvement, you DO have to take into account "resale value" because that IS what the bank will look at. They want to know how much they could get for the place if you forfeited on the note.

I love your plan! We're designing our home right now and we have our master and kitchen close to the garage- so practical! But almost impossible to find a plan that's done that way! We also connected the laundry room to the master- love it!

I think you're children would love having the run of the basement to themselves. I lived in the basement growing up (it was a walkout) and loved it. It was also great after I had a family of my own because when we came to visit I felt like we had our own space that my kids could inhabit without messing up the living space of everyone else upstairs. If you're truly thinking of being in this house til you're good and gone then you'll want to make it inviting for your children to come and visit you when they have families of their own: In the basement I would include the following: a bathroom that has a separate sink area (I would put in two sinks). Having a separate toilet/shower area is great when there are lots of kids/grandkids. I'm not sure of the gender/privacy issues with your children, but it might be nice now, too. I would give them their own laundry room- even if it's a stacked set- nice to not have to go the one that's connected to your room). Also include a family room for them to watch TV/play video games for when they have friends over. If you really want to get fancy I would include a wet bar with a mini fridge- no need to run upstairs to get a drink or snack! In our house plan our basement is going to have a small kitchen- fridge, oven, microwave, sink, countertops. It makes having a party down there so much easier!

Hope this helps!

Thank you very much for your input. Our current plan has a bedroom, family room, bar, bathroom, garage, storage area, and hobby room in the basement. I would love to just go with it but I'm a thinker (too much) and I can't stop obsessing about having wasted space.
Your comment about making the basement family friendly is spot on with my thinking. I'm not sold on a kitchen area but I would love the kids to have their own laundry. Great idea!
Thanks again...
Saftgeek

Wow... A couple years ago when I started my journey I posted some plans and the forum went crazy on them. Either I've got a great set of plans or this board has really settled down... Please feel free to offer input and suggestions.
Saftgeek-

You are not getting comments because your plan is still unreadable. You need a much more legible and larger document posted within the message body if you wish to receive comments. Even without really being able to read it, I can tell you that there are too many odd angles that will eat up a lot of the usable space. I doubt seriously if your "estimate" to build is all that accurate, based on just that factor alone. And, if you have all of that land available, why on earth are you planning on a front load garage? The little jog in the foundation only adds expense. It doesn't disguise the size of it at all. Only a side load garage minimizes the impact that having a garage on the front of the house has.

I'm not sure what is going on with the attachment. I can open it and increase the size on my screen, but I can't get it to carry over to my post. I will have to try to come up with something different next week. As for the garage... if you took our land, picked it up by the corners and stretched it out, we would have about 50 acres. IT IS HILLY. I have three ridge tops and lots of draws. We want the house on the bluff, not set out from it. When we do this it really limits the direction you can approach the house. Our choice is to have a front garage or move the house from the spot where the view is the best... I can live with the garage but I don't want to build where the view isn't the greatest. It's really hard to explain in such a small post.
The bluff drops off and the river turns, therefore; our plan maximizes the view on that corner. Again, if I don't have the kids' bedrooms on that side of the house I could put the corner back and have windows on the entire side.
Hopefully I can get a better file so I can upload them better. Stay tuned...
Saftgeek-

Your property and view sound very nice! Could you put the bedrooms all on the 'left' side of the plan and move the kitchen/dining area to the 'right' side, with the view? Maybe flip the fireplace to the opposite wall?

I would want to maximize my views as much as possible...and would, if I were building a new home, rather than remodeling.

Also, this might give you a big window in the kitchen, which would bring in a lot more light and give you a different view, as you're working. It's nice to have a large view, but also smaller views from different angles...that you can enjoy throughout the day.

In the late afternoon, at certain times of year, the sun shines right along the creek and the aspens seem to be highlighted. It's pretty anytime, but in the fall...when the leaves are gold, they almost seem to glow! :)

I love the walkway to the laundry room from the master...good planning on that.

I have a few criticisms.

The diagonal in the great room is awkward. I think it should be squared up.

The placement of the study to create a hall is very strange.

I totally agree with the hallway comment. I'm really concerned about it and that is truly the main reason I tried to post the updated plans here. As far as squaring up that corner... it is hard to describe what happens to the contour of the land. It falls away in that direction so the view is absolutely the best off of that corner. I can't turn the house because there is no way for the garage to work out. Like I said, it is very difficult to describe. I will attach our first attempt at a house plan, which was drawn to take advantage of the lay of the land. There were quite a few issues with this version. Mainly, we were told the cost for all the peculiar angles would be very expensive. We tried to enlarge, improve and still incorporate the best view. If we moved this portion to the basement then we would square up the corner and incorporate more windows.

I'm really hoping someone can suggest a better flow/layout on that side. I am very happy with the master portion. We currently live in a house where the bedrooms are all together, and with teenagers it really isn't optimal...
Thanks again for the input!!!

Saftgeek-

will work on this for u this week , as time permits ...

Thank you very much Summerfield. I am really looking forward to seeing your suggestion.

Well... we've been approved for a loan. While this is really good news I will now agonize over whether we've got it right and hopefully find a buyer for our current home. Stay tuned...

Saftgeek...

a possibilty ...

SummerfieldDesigns, do you ever make beautiful, functional designs!!! So many clever addtions -- love that pass through from mbr closet to laundry. Can you tell us what software program you are using?

Carol

Wow... I am blown away. I am sitting with my wife trying to digest all the things that are different in this plan. I really am amazed at how you can take something I thought we'd thought through from every angle and turn it into something nothing less than amazing.

I again want to thank you for taking time to put this together... I can't wait to sit down with the contractor. I'm sure he is going to be blown away too. Once I get some ideas from this plan and my current plan merged I will post it for you.

Summerfield... You are amazing. God bless you.

Saftgeek-

had time to refine your plan ...
thank you , and all , for your kind words :-)

Summerfield

I'm sorry I havn't replied sooner. I just returned from a Northern Tier High Adventure scout trip with my son. A week in the wilds of MN was an incredible experience. To share it with my son made it even better. I plan to sit down with our contractor this week. Thank you again for your great, great updates to our plan.

Saftgeek-

Summerfield

I'm sorry I havn't replied sooner. I just returned from a Northern Tier High Adventure scout trip with my son. A week in the wilds of MN was an incredible experience. To share it with my son made it even better. I plan to sit down with our contractor this week. Thank you again for your great, great updates to our plan.

Saftgeek-