You're off to a good start and have some lovely spaces here. Of course, there are things that can be improved, and one of the biggest I see here is alignment and views. Not everything has to be centered/symmetrical, but there is a certain balance that will help with comprehension of the design - for instance, the fireplace and lounge area should align with the front door, which would be a nice view upon entering. There are several areas where you should consider what's being viewed from where. Traveling from family room to the front of the house you are greeted with the edge of the living room wall, same from the hall beside the dining room. There is also a sizable amount of floor space spent on circulation in the rear entry/pantry areas - with some redesign you might be able to shave off that 100sf. The dining room is a little far from the kitchen, but this is not really a big issue with the pantry and if entertaining in that room is not daily. I believe the half bath by the study could have a more private entrance in a house of this size, and that unless you have windows on the second floor close to the main stair, it will be dark and not show as well. Will the deck and hot tub be only used by your family? Right now it's closed off behind the "service" areas of your home. With the amount of land you have, the garage should be at least pushed back from the front facade or minimized visually in some way, if not slightly detached and connected via breezeway. It's best to develop all aspects at once, so that plans/elevations/sections can respond to each other as the process continues.Good luck!

I really love your plan...especially the rear entry area...such gracious space! I just wondered, since you said this is your forever home, about some sort of downstairs bedroom/bath. In our area, a house the size of yours would have a minimum of 4 beds, 3 baths...with the master usually down, but definitely at least a guest suite down. My parents are considering moving from a house & neighborhood they love simply because all the bedrooms are upstairs and it is becoming bothersome. We put our master down so we could stay here forever if we wanted.

A couple points - there is no coat closet near your front entry. You say you entertain a lot. When guests arrive, where do they plan to leave their coats?

Your dining, entry, living, and lounge area ends up being 1 large space. It can be great when you are having large gatherings. But the rest of the time it could end up feeling large, loud and empty. That could be ok since you have the study and the family room.

That's a lot of doors on your living room. I get that you want to have porch access. I don't know if you have any privacy issues or sun glare - but it is easier to cover up a window than a door. Are bugs an issue? Maybe you would want to do some large plate glass windows and cut back on the number of doors?

On the subject of doors, you have all these double doors in the living room, yet a single door on the entry. You haven't posted an elevation, so how will you make the entry the focal point? Instead of having these French doors the focal point?

And while I'm on doors - do you have any other porch access besides the living room? It's a really big porch. And it might be nice to have access from the other side. I'm thinking easy access to the kitchen so you can sit outside with a beer on a beautiful evening. And not have to walk half a mile to get another.

The stairs above the laundry room - where do they go? I'm guessing exterior access to a basement?

You seem to have 2 grand staircases, but both are kind tucked away in back corners out of view.

You have so many "living areas", and this is just the inside areas -- it doesn't include the porches and deck areas:
- Living room
- Family room
- Lounge (which appears to be a TV room?)
- Study
- Laundry /clutter area (appears to be a craft room?)
- Playroom upstairs

Do you actually need these all to be separate areas?

I'd think twice about all those French doors in the living room. They're expensive, inefficient in terms of energy, make furniture placement difficult, and are easy for a thief to kick in. I'd consider going with banks of windows instead.

You have two powder rooms -- why? The one near the semi-circular stair doesn't appear to have a sink, but I assume it's tucked under the stairs? That's the one I'd lose -- make it into a nice closet for the study.

I agree that you're spending BIG on two separate fancy staircases . . .but you've tucked them away into space where they won't really be show pieces.

The dining room is a LONG WAY from the kitchen. Think of how many steps you'll have to take to move all the dishes, glasses, food to the dining room . . . and then move it all back for cleaning. I think you'll never use this too-far dining room.

If the dining room ends up not being used much, that means most of your meals are going to be at the island. While that's okay for a snack or an occasional "gotta get out the door, just swallow this sandwich" meal, I'd want a real table in a more convenient location.

The porches around the house seem to be rather narrow -- so they're really just for show, right? They'll be lovely, but that's very expensive option.

Personally, I'd say cut out some of the repetative items, reducing this house down by about 40% and you'll still have a comfortable house for a family of four.

Hi everyone, Thanks for the responses. Sorry I'm delayed, but I was away all weekend. I'll try and clear up some of the questions...
-mvjc, Thanks for the comment about lovely spaces, thats one of my goals.
The FP and door aligning. Good call. I love the look from the door when I render in 3d. Would simply sliding the door over to center on the FP be enough, or do you think the door off-center of entry would be weird then?
Hmm. That living room wall. I don't really think I ever noticed that, but you are absolutely right. It really is in the way. What if it were just a post?
I'd love a more private half bath entrance.... thoughts?
Lots of comments on dark stairs. See below. I need to think more about it.
Garage. Hmmm... I actually moved it up more because my wife didn't want people parking in the back and coming in through the service area. Detached could work. I'd like to hear more thoughts on garages and making sure people use the front door of your house. We plan to have a second 2car (minimum) in the future.

-nini804, Thanks for the compliment on the plan.
I originally was thinking master on the first floor, but we have decided against it (I think). My thought on this plan is that the clutter area could be a bedroom and the rear entry bath has a shower. Then other consideration is that the alcove the rear stairs creates should be enough to house an elevator should we decide on it later.

-pixie_lou,
The coat closet is under the main stairs. I can't get it to hide half of the stairs like I see in so many plans (anyone know how to do this in chief architect?).
Hmmm one large open space. I'll have to think about it. I was trying to keep part of the house very open, maybe I went too far?
Doors on the LR... yeah, I think I may nix some or all of them. I've noticed several comments above them. From a design standpoint I think they are cool, but I'm seeing them as way too impractical.
Oooh. French doors taking over the front entry. I need to work on that- Great catch! (though I think getting rid of them may be the option).
Extra porch access? Where were you thinking?
Yes, Stairs above the laundry go to the basement.
As far as the stairs tucked away.... I certainly understand the desire to keep them grand and well lit. But, I also feel like you give up some of the best views and such to do so. How much time do we all spend actually on the steps? I think I'd rather dedicate those areas to rooms we live in. I'll have to think about this some more....

-MrsPete,
Ah Living areas :) My Wife and I have been waffling about what we need and what we want, over and over :) Living and Family rooms are important. The playroom upstairs is VERY important as we'd like to keep the clutter that is currently in out family room out of the main entertaining areas as it is in our current house. My Wife is very excited about having a clutter/craft room. The Study is to actually be my office, but I'd like to have it be available for large parties and shut off (with that 5' pocket door) for smaller gatherings. The Lounge is just a cozy mingling area. a couple chairs, fireplace, and bar window (pantry will double as a serving bar). I'm a home brewer so having an area to serve my beer from without running down to the basement is one of my few wants :)
As above, I hear ya on the french doors. While I think they would make for a gorgeous picture in a magazine, I think their function is questionable after reading all the comments. I think I'll dump them. Windows will be nice.
Two powder rooms. I just put that one by the study in! LOL. Yes the sink is under the steps. I thought it helped to get one in the 'public' portion of the house. Do you think it would be weird to have people go through the hall to go to the bathroom? They have to go through the mudroom which I can tell you from experience sometimes isn't pretty with two kids :)
Hmm. the two dark staircases thing again. I really have to think more about this. Thanks for bringing it up.
Dining room to kitchen distance... I've played around with this a lot. And I measured the distance in our current house (an 1896 victorian with a butler pantry). It is shorter in our current house for certain. About 11' in our current house from DR to Kitchen and about 15.5' in the current plan. The downside is that to the sink/dw in the current house is another 5-6' whereas in the new plan it is another 18' to the sink/dw. I tried to minimize this by placing sink/dw in pantry as well. Thoughts on this idea? Having a second dw will certainly help for the bigger parties. I'd love to improve the kitchen region dining. Either getting the bar seats more facing each other, or perhaps a banquette. I have to see where I can steal some room.
The Porches are drawn at 8' deep. I thought that was reasonable? Should they be deeper?

Thanks everyone for commenting. I hope to see more comments! I really appreciate input from the differing viewpoints. It is very easy to fall in love with what you are drawing thus overlooking some flaws.
Keep 'em coming,
Quinn

I think the lounge isn't going to end up being the cozy space you're hoping for-- it's in the middle of everything, and well away from windows-- I think it could end up feeling like a space in hotel lobby. I'd be inclined to swap the dining room and lounge (taking over the butler's pantry corridor for dining room space), and to make "the lounge" a room of it's own with walls and doors.

I would take some space away from the staircases and multiple living areas to have a proper mudroom. This house is plenty big enough for that.

I'm wondering if you could move your stairs to where your lounge is and incorporate your lounge into the former stairs place. That would feel less isolated for light and be useful for parties.

As you talk about all these living spaces, I think you're considering all the rooms you could possibly use . . . when, in reality, these could easily be combined. For example:

Your office could contain a loveseat or a couple of nice arm chairs, which could double as a "lounge" when you have company.

You could include a couple built-ins to hide craft-y stuff, and your wife could work on one side of the family room . . . while watching the kids.

And I didn't hear anything about how you intend to use BOTH the living room and the family room. I'm kind of thinking you're glossing over the living room as a "gotta have".

I really think you could combine some of these rooms. Remember, you're not ONLY talking about building these rooms: You'll also be filling them with furniture, paying taxes on them, cleaning them, heating /cooling them. These extra, superfluous rooms will be very expensive over the years.

No, I don't think it'd be odd to have people go down the hall to reach the powder room. I think most people would prefer it over a very "visible" powder room entry.