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sarah_nguyen6315132

My dad's plan in Northern California

girlguineapig
9 years ago

We are in northern California and building a new house. We have an architect who is working on creating a few alternative initial ideas for us, but my dad, who built a brand new house with my mom 4 years ago, has been enthusiastically trying to create a floor plan using Home Architect.

I am actually quite impressed with his latest plan and was thinking of forwarding it to my architect. It only includes the first floor right now. We didn't want a formal dining room and the bedroom on the first floor is for guests. My father-in-law (and sometimes my step-mother-in-law) visit for at least 3 months a year and I'm sure my own parents would appreciate a nice guest room too (they live nearby though). Who knows, may end up living with us someday.

Some thoughts -

- I'm not sure about the guest bathroom placement (especially with regards to the window), and it seems like it's not well laid out somehow. It would be nice to have a larger shower (I've seen more rectangular shaped ones that are larger).
- It would be nice if the guest closet were a little larger.
- Should the "storage room" be the "mudroom"?
- Maybe we should pull out the house a bit so the garage won't stick out.
- There's room to stretch the house more in both directions.
- On the other hand the first floor is already 2378 SF...

Please take a look and give some feedback. The plan is definitely generally what we were thinking.

Here is a link that might be useful: Larger version of floorplan

Comments (2)

  • GreenDesigns
    9 years ago

    The first thing that strikes me is that the spaces are too small to perform as you wish. The accessible bathroom isn't accessible, nor is the closet, or the route to get to it. It also shares a wall with one of the noisiest rooms in the house, and would not be hospitable for guests to try to sleep in for that reason. If the bath were hall accessible, it could serve as a full bath to the other two rooms on the front of the home if someone wanted them to serve as bedrooms, either for guest overflow, or if you decide you don't want all of the bedrooms upstairs. But, those rooms need closets to allow that potential, as well as to store other everyday items that need storing. There is also no closet by the front door to serve guests.

    The entry is overly large, and without a "destination", unwelcoming. The stairs will be problematic as drawn. The family entrance complex is award and will be cluttered without a good drop zone. The garage is not nearly large enough to work as a 3 car garage. 30' of width is optimistic even for sedans, but with a truck or SUV, no one will be able to get out of their vehicle without occpying the whole bay. The small bay will be OK for a lawn mower and other yard maintenance storage, or a Smart car, take your pick. Not both.

    Please let the architect do his job. Then critique it. At that point, showing him a few suggestions is warranted, but please don't mistake a floor plan that is developed separately from the exterior will be all that helpful as a starting point. It's more likely to muddy things up. And it will possibly restrict yourself from envisioning other possibilities.

  • girlguineapig
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the feedback!

    Yes, I was thinking that the bathroom would actually need to be larger to be accessible. I just started learning about 5 feet diameter "circles" for wheelchair access. I was also thinking it would be better if somehow we could get a closet to border the family room instead of that wall.

    We prefer the guest suite's bathroom to be ensuite because the most common use will be my father-in-law and his fiancee staying there for months at a time and ensuite is definitely more comfortable for a couple...

    We are set on having three bedrooms plus bonus room upstairs. I don't think the office will ever become a bedroom but I suppose theoretically the living/piano room could be an overflow guest bedroom...but I don't think the possibility is worth making the powder room a full bath. And we definitely want ensuite for the guest room.

    I'm not sure what you mean exactly by the entry having a "destination". Do you mean the entry doesn't seem to go directly into another room?

    The garage is 31.5' currently...we were thinking 32' would be okay. Of course more would be even better but it's a tough balance. We plan to have a shed in the backyard for gardening stuff.