While the image uploaded is quite big, not sure why its showing so small in the body of the message. The linked image should give detail as far as dimensions.

Here is a link that might be useful:

unless you are determined to build this , i think that a much better plan could be conceived ... even with the restrictions of your property ...

you have a lot of wasted space , and the garage placement is going to prohibit natural light where you need it most ... master wardrobe is also poorly located ...

if you can post a plot plan that shows the buildable area , i'll see what i can do to help ...

thanks :-)

I'd be delighted to see what you come up with. Regarding the placement of the garage, I have some doubt as to whether or not the builder will really allow it to be changed. I'm going to provide a couple of outlines and the plat map of the area (we are lot 13). These homes are squeezed very close next to each other. There will be a home and a very tight alley between that side of the property, and the next. The builder is very specific about wanting to provide privacy even tho these homes are crammed right together. For reference the area labeled Tract H is a lovely little community garden complete with water feature. We hoped to get a decent view of this with our home office there in front with windows wrapping all the way around. And again behind the property is wooded area with tract B that wraps around our property being a sidewalk/walking trail.

Here is a link that might be useful:

This is an outline the builder gave us for the build area for the side by side 2 car garage. I really hated the way the 2 car garage crammed the right side indoors.. I didn't even play with this outline long. There is a 5' easement along the front of the curve that isn't shown with a dimension here, it will be visable on the next outline I believe.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Here is the Tandem garage outline the builder originally sent me. We worked off this one to come up with what I originally posted. If you reference back to the original plat map there is another easement line not reflected here that cuts across the front corner of the lot that I believe we took into consideration when we did the shape of the front office.

Its a challenging lot for sure :d

Here is a link that might be useful:

I might mention a few of our needs we had when we originally came up with this design as well. A large non windowed wall for what we term our "jumbotron". We desire an entertainment wall capable of having a large screen TV and other goodies in our main living area. The flatscreen above the fire will definitely not work for us..I hate it!

Extra large shower easily capable of 2 ppl showering simultaneously was non negotiable with the DH.

How many people will live here? And, is it "just" a home, or also an office for work? (as in, a place of business as well?) Do you entertain? Other lifestyle things you can add to make it more apparent how we might help you "see" and "feel" how it will live, would be helpful.

A single bedroom home will have zero resale value. That might not be important to you, but there isn't a bank in the world that will finance something with zero resale value. If you build this, it will have to be a 100% cash build. And then really really hope that nothing in your life changes where you need to move such as health issues or job losses.

We're just 2 people, and no that won't change unless something happens with our parents we can't foresee. Yes my husband wants the option to work from home. The large office in the front of the main floor plan is his and where he intends to do that as needed.

As is, the plan has 2 bedrooms and an unfinished 3rd, the master on the main level and a guest bedroom on basement level. We're mostly very private people and large gatherings/entertaining isn't something we've ever done in our 10 years of marriage. We will be in a state away from family however, so the guest accommodations in the basement will house out of town visitors on the rare occasions that we have them. I don't foresee having more than 2 guests at a time staying with us as I'm an only child and my husbands family is large but not tight knit.

My husband is a very techy individual and our pastimes include gaming and movies (hence the requirement for a decent wall space for such tasks). He also has an affinity for music and me a passing fancy for billiards. We tried to keep this in mind when leaving the large open space in the basement, which is large enough to use as a multipurpose rec room.

The community has a very european/tudor feel to it which we love. The builder has incorporated decks with wrought iron railings, turreted roof designs, arched top windows and such. Myself (and the hubby) love the gothic architectural style and plan to incorporate it on the outside and the inside of the home. Wrought iron chandeliers where applicable, gothic top windows on the front office, groin vaulted ceiling in the master, old world textured plaster on the walls on main level... The plain square box this home will not be!

As I said, if you are doing a cash build, you can do purpleheart and ebony checkerboard floors and dungeon chains to hold suit of armor lighting sconces if that floats your boat. If a bank is involved, they want something with more mainstream appeal in case you default on the loan and they end up owning it.

NOW is the time to talk to banks about this, not after you've spent untold hours planning something that cannot be built.

Fair enough. Financing is not a factor for us honestly. Its a truly custom home with certain parameters set forth by the builder such as elevation. Resale is still something we're keep at the back of our minds though. At the end of the day however we'll tailor this home to us not the masses if it comes down to choices that can't be had both ways.

Just a quick bump in case any small tweaks can be suggested to the floorplan as it is now. I know Summerfield will later dazzle us with the possibilities of this odd shaped triangular lot!

Wow Summerfield! This is sooo nice. I think my new hobby is searching for your makeovers. The only very minor thing I would change out is putting the range on the wall between the two windows and putting the prep on the sink. But that is just my preference.

Very cool design Summerfield! It has possibilities and elements we can definitely use. I'll run it past DH and thanks again for taking the time!

I was intrigued by your space and shape limitations so decided to play around with it and see what I could come up with. I love Summerfield's design but am a bit concerned that, at 33-6, the tandem garage may not be large enough to fit two cars in. That might not be a problem for you since you indicate you're a one-car family, but it could be a problem for a potential buyer. Figured it couldn't hurt for you to see another possible option. Do wish I had Summerfield's cool software tho...

Darn him, builder informs me code requires 20 ft setback to the garage (I guess if you look really close on the tandem outline this can be seen, I missed it entirely). And a 2 car garage is a requirement on this site which may pack a 40 ft requirement on garage to boot. Still going to send the alternate design at him but by the time the requirements are met our original plan might become more a necessity. Still liked the concepts, took better advantage of the wooded view out back >

Thanks for the input Bevangel, Going over it now. looks good and turns out you might have been spot on with the garage observation (see above post lol).

I hope they don't insist on 40 ft depth! Going up to 36'9" really puts a constraint on what can fit in the space at the back of the garage. No way you can put a kitchen behind a 40 ft deep garage like Summerfield's design has.

Even fitting a master bath back there could be problematic.

If you like what I did earlier, let me know and I'll be happy to try to massage it to meet any other limits builder should come up with.

I'll talk to the builder and see if he will go for a 37 ft garage. It will shrink up a kitchen back there and we'd lose the gigantic pantry/mudroom summer has in her design if we go that route. Would necessitate a combined laundry/mudroom but DH and I are arguing about that and more atm :) I'll post again once I know more about what code will let us get away with there.

If I'm reading your drawing correctly, you have a 72'0" lot line on the left side. The garage must be set back 20'0" and you have to leave a 3'0" setback at the back edge. So, subtracting 23'0" from 72'0" leaves you just 49'0" for the depth of the house on the left side. Even if the builder allowed you to have a 33'6" deep garage as shown on Summerfield's plan, I don't think it would fit on you lot because, as drawn, the plan is 54' deep.

Even if the builder agrees to a 37'0" deep garage, that leaves you with LESS than 12ft of useable space behind the garage. Remember that you have to account for wall thicknesses and you have at least three walls (Front garage wall where the garage doors are, wall at the back of the house, and wall between garage and house) With 2x4 framing, those three walls will take up about one foot of your available depth leaving you just 11 foot of useable room behind the garage. With 2x6 exterior framing, you would lose another 4 inches leaving you with just 10'8" back there.

It is certainly possible to have a kitchen just 10'8" to 11'0" deep...but I don't think you can make it an "island kitchen".

If your builder (or the your neighborhood covenants and restrictions) require that your tandem garage be 40' deep, you'll basically have just 7 feet deep space back there. Okay for a closet, a bathroom, or a laundry room...but not much else.

Spoke with our builder yesterday, He says the garage setback is non negotiable and has to go back to the way it was. But the definition of a 2 car garage is negotiable as long as we don't step into the realm of a 1 car garage. 36 ft is a reasonable minimum he suggested. I'm playing with ideas now trying to incorporate better use of the back of the home while preserving some of the architectural flare we really like from the first plan. We really like the office as it was as well as the spiraling staircase down. I do realize its an inefficient use of space but it really fits what we want the home to be.

Another thing is a square or rectangular bedroom so we can easily have our groin vault in that room.

Trying to take form and function and meet somewhere in the middle atm! If I get something I'm reasonably happy with I'll throw it up for more critique.

This is my meeting in the middle floorplan at the moment. Thanks a ton for the inspiration you guys contributed to getting us something more workable. I think we're both thrilled that I took the time to post on this site. Tho the architect/builder might be less than thrilled, suppose I should have done it sooner >

Here is a link that might be useful:

I wouldn't like having my pantry so far from the garage entry. Perhaps you might want a second door from garage into house JUST for when you're unloading groceries.

More importantly tho, you have sight-lines that really bother me...

With the tiny size image that you are able to post, it is sometimes hard to see details but it looks maybe you intend to use a pocket door on the powder room. If so, be aware that bathroom pocket doors often get left standing at least part-way open when people leave. (This is also true of regular swinging doors but they get left standing open slightly less often than pocket doors.) Whether you have a pocket door or a swinging door on your powder room, if it gets left standing open, you'll have a straight in view from your dining room, breakfast nook, and much of your living room and kitchen. I definitely don't like that. I don't want to glance up from eating dinner and see a toilet bowl. Also, my experience is that guests are often hesitant to use a powder room that isn't tucked away down a hallway from the main living areas. There is just a sense of "lack of privacy."

I also would not like answering the front door and knowing that anyone standing there has a view into my master bedroom.

With all the best of intentions, mud rooms tend to get a bit messy. With an arched opening into the mud room, any such messes are on display to anyone in your living room area.

In the master bath, the location of your tub means that you can't have a window over it. If you're going to have a nice big tub in the master bath, IMHO it really should have a window next to it. You haven't indicated where your vanities will go in the master bath but I assume they would go on the exterior wall across from the tub because that's pretty much the only spot left. You'll want mirrors above your sinks - so that means you're limited to maybe a single narrow window between twin sinks or a row of high windows over the mirrors. In either case, your master bath is not going to get much light.

The way the front door opens, it blocks access to the office door. Such door conflicts should be avoided if at all possible. It's okay, tho still not good, when the door being blocked in a door conflict is the door to a seldom used closet, but blocking the door into a major room like the office just kind of screams "poor design."

Finally, you have apparently got your heart set on that circular staircase leading down to the walk-out basement. I personally think you would do much better to give that design element up in favor of a more functional floorplan. But, if you are bound and determined to have a circular staircase, wouldn't it be better to position the staircase where it would be MORE on display as an architectural feature. As it is, while you see the staircase when you first come thru the front door, it is then hidden behind solid walls from all the "living areas" of the house.

So, I'm wondering maybe moving the staircase would solve some of these issues.

Moving the staircase would allow you to move the front door which would solve the door conflict between front door and office. Here's a rough sketch of what I'm thinking...

Note that this puts your staircase "on display" from both the entry and the living area. You could also have a window where the front door was before which would bring a bit of light into the entire foyer area.

I put a short hallway with an arched opening to lead to the master bedroom and powder room so that both have a greater sense of privacy. It is true that anyone standing or seated in a straight line with the arched opening and powderroom door would still be able to see into the powder room but the vanity is all they would see. The toilet bowl would be hidden around the bend. And, one would not be able to see into your master bedroom from the front door.

The entry into the mudroom is angled so that you can't look straight into it from the living room area or from the front door. So if you wanted to use just an arched opening into the mudroom instead of a door, at least any messes would be partially hidden. And, if you were to bump the right hand wall of the mudroom another 8 inches or so toward the living area, I think you might actually have room enough for a couple of cubbies in the mudroom. I don't know if doing so would make the aisle between mudroom and living area too crowded tho, so I left the wall where you had the arched opening originally.

I also did a little bit of rearranging of the master bath. Moved the tub so that it could have a window over it. This also makes your tub the focal point upon entering your bathroom (which, in my opinion is much better than looking at an expanse of blank wall.) Toilet room is moved to down to the far end where, if you wanted to, you could actually have a second door between office and toilet so your husband wouldn't have to walk clear around if he needed to go.

Anyway, some more ideas for you to play around with...

Some interesting points there Bevangel, thanks for the feedback. Note also the link I have on each floorplan. That should open up a much larger detailed image.

After doing some graphing of your ideas in my program, husband I really like what you've suggested Bevangel. I can really see what you mean about the sight lines now that I see it in the 3d rendering, your way versus ours. We're going to talk to the builder about it today. As long as moving the staircase isn't a dealbreaker for any reason with the builder or the architect (which is on our dime even if he needs to redo some things), I can see your design working out for us. Thanks for offering feedback on our less than optimal feature! I realize this plan isn't what many would make it into, but still taking the time to feedback and keep that element of it means the world to us! Will update the thread with the outcome if the builder agrees and I have a more solid drawing on it. He'll probably have some input/suggestions too as he's acting as our designer.