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Need opinions on reverse story 1/2 floorplan

AdamInKC
9 years ago

My wife and I are in our early 30's and looking to build our first home. We do not plan on having any kids and are hooked on a reverse story 1/2 floor plan. After looking at over 50 different floor plans for builders in the Kansas City area, we have found one that meets all of our needs. The home is around 2900 square feet and we are looking at doing a lot of custom features including a screened in covered porch, see through fireplace to covered porch, whole house audio system, installing a custom 52" copper hood that I built, etc.

We would love to get opinions on the layout from people that have experience in building homes since this is our first go around.

Comments (14)

  • AdamInKC
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Lower Level

  • lafdr
    9 years ago

    There are nice things about the plan. It is a lot of bedrooms if you are not planning any kids. You can each have an office plus a guest room?

    The 3 doors to the downstairs bath would drive me batty. Imagine walking in and needing to close 3 doors to go to the bathroom in private, and lock them for more privacy. Then unlock and open 3 doors upon leaving. I would just do the one hallway door so no need to enter bedroom to enter bath.

    I am not a big fan of Jack and Jill baths so I would make the main floor bath also have just the hallway door.

    Would one of you ever be up in the greatroom watching tv when the other is asleep? There could be a lot of sound transfer to the master through the shared wall.

    I like the 2 door pantry and laundry room. I love the huge pantry.
    : )

    lafdr

  • kirkhall
    9 years ago

    See the "Ice, water, stone, fire" post in Kitchens.

    While some might like the 2 door pantry, I am not a fan. It really isn't that much further to get to the main door of pantry (and you'll likely want to set your bags down anyway, so you'll go to the island). You are losing some nice wall space on both sides of the potential wall there, with a door.

    I also, don't like 3 doors in the downstairs bathroom.
    And, I think it is weird that anyone coming into your house will have a view of the toilet... Consider reversing the front door swing? Or, change the location of that front bathroom.

  • GreenDesigns
    9 years ago

    Way too much space for 2 people. Space that you have to pay to construct, to heat and cool, and clean. That's a lot of costs over even a 5 year period.

    Eliminate the basement and just add another bedroom to the main floor for resale. And rework the kitchen. It's not good.

  • rrah
    9 years ago

    Review what others have said about bathroom doors.

    I would also eliminate the pantry door from the mudroom. I would not use a double door into the pantry from the kitchen. Often coming/going from a walk-in pantry hands are full. That just makes one more door to open.

    Personally I would want a door to shut off the mudroom area.

    I also suggest switching the tub and shower locations and the window near the tub. I assume the larger vanity will belong to your wife. As a woman, I would appreciate the natural light coming from behind me rather than from the side.

  • kcinkc71
    9 years ago

    what part of KC? I like it over all and 4BR's will always help with re sale. I would pocket door BR 2 to bath. flushing master toilet might be loud in MBR. In basement, I would lose hall door to bath and try to add a half bath for basement entertaining. From experience, put a door at bottom of basement steps. We have kids, and sound is funneled straight up the stairs (our big mistake!) A big pain to add later when basement is finished. Your money, your house, if you can afford it, and maintain it, build what you want. It's not like it is 6000 sq ft.

  • mrspete
    9 years ago

    I do agree that it's an excessive amount of space for two people, but most of the houses proposed on this board are too large.

    The oversized garage facing the front will set the tone for the whole house -- and it's not really the house's best feature.

    The footprint is pretty complicated, which adds to the cost without adding any real benefit to the house.

    You have nice sight lines throughout the house.

    I do like the garage entry and the pantry. I agree with the poster who says do away with the double-doors between the kitchen and the pantry. A sudden set of double doors that don't match the other doors are a bit odd. Since this door will probably be open most of the time, I'd go with a pocket door that can disappear.

    I think the kitchen island ought to be turned -- it seems it ought to be parallel with the living room.

    Your door to the backyard opens from the dining room. Once you place a table in this space, the door will be cramped -- if it can open at all. You can move the door just around that corner to the living room.

    I'm not loving two doors in Bedroom #2's modest bath. If you feel that bedroom MUST have a private bath, I'd consider putting in a pocket door that could block off that small hallway. When you have guests, they could close off the bedroom /bathroom . . . without the extra door in the bathroom.

    I like the connection between the utility room and the master closet.

    I don't like the master bath's cramped, dark toilet closet. I'd go door-less on the shower, which would allow you to avoid the shower door and the closet door bumping against one another. I'd give up the excessive vanity area for a linen closet.

    I clearly see a fireplace in the basement rec room . . . but is that a fireplace upstairs in the living room? If you're having two fireplaces, it will save MEGA BUCKS to "stack them" so that you only need one chimney. Of course, I'm assuming that you're looking at masonry. You do have other options. A wood stove might suit your purposes in the basement, and it's both cheaper and more efficient.

    Downstairs, I hate three-doors-in-one-bath thing. The two bedrooms are already set back in a small hallway, so one door from the hallway is plenty.

    This post was edited by MrsPete on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 22:20

  • liz_h
    9 years ago

    8 years ago we built a house that was very similar - i.e. main living on 2nd floor, with large open areas both up and down. We've come to realize that we would like to have a smaller den/library/parlor somewhere. With all the openness, sound carries well between upstairs and downstairs.

    There are just the two of us, so the openness seemed ideal. With 2 bedrooms used as offices, we'd have to do some remodeling to achieve that extra closed room. In a few years we'll probably close off the dining room for that purpose.

    I love the storage area! This is another thing we've come to miss.

  • lavender_lass
    9 years ago

    See through fireplace to screened porch....in Kansas City? Make sure it doesn't get too cold :)

    What about this? {{gwi:2134725}}From Kitchen plans
    {{gwi:2134726}}From Kitchen plans

  • HerrDoktorProfessor
    9 years ago

    Agree with most of the prior comments. Also why is the space for the mechanicals so large? Seems like a lot of wasted space.

    I'd flip the swing of the door on the garage to mudroom as it would currently block the bench.

    The floor plan has managed to oddly be both open and the land of 1000 doors.

  • sarahwoodard
    4 years ago

    I realize this post was five years ago, but my husband and I are scouring the parade of homes in hopes of falling in love with a builder/floor plan to build us a reverse 1 1/2 story. May I ask where you got this plan from?

  • AdamInKC
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Our builder was Gabriel Homes in the Kansas City area. The floor plan is the Savannah. https://www.gabrielhomesinc.com/

  • PRO
    Virgil Carter Fine Art
    4 years ago

    The entire basement is wasted space looking for a justification and purpose.


    You could save a ton of money by simply not building the basement, and the house would remain a good design for two people.


    Good luck on your project.