Thanks in advance

Don Gardner Chesnee:

Have a look at Mascord's Manitoba plan as it has a similar kitchen which in my opinion is a better use of space.

Also, you can have a look at our plan (link below) which has some similar elements.

You know, though, this plan does not have a large island at all. It has a quite small one that's taken up by the stovge.

What do you think of the plan Laural linked?

All your public rooms have huge porch in the front. If you live in the subtropical or tropical region, they will be great because you will use the porch year around. Otherwise, you will have a dark house for 9 months of the year for 3 months of outdoor rooms at the expense of light in the rest of the house. Where do you live?

I am seeing this more and more in house design. Outdoor indoor connection is good. But people have taken it to the extreme and pretend that they all live in the tropics where they have outdoor access 12 months of the year. Most of us living in the USA is not so lucky.

Since many of these designs have not paid any attention to where it will be built, the occupants have to turn artificial lights on all day.

If natural light is important to you, this is a terrible house. The only room that will feel welcome in the midst of winter is your sitting room off of master. The location of the kitchen makes no sense since the whole point of the house is to use the outdoor rooms by devoting so much of the design to them. You have to cross the DR with huge plates to get that BBQ going.

They have wasted fenestration (window) opportunities by placing things like closets and bathtubs next to the exterior walls. This is where the bedrooms and other rooms that benefit from the light need to go. You have the master bathtub, shower, toilet with windows facing the front of the house. Is that for real? How will your house be sited on your lot? if that faces the street, you don't need anyone to tell you why that is stupid.

Your master bath where you will spend about 30 minutes each have 4 windows. Your GR where your family will spend most of you day has 2 window that look out to the porch that has a covered roof. Wow! Who designs these things.

Which direction does the porch face? If S or W, it maybe too hot to be useful in the heat of the summer without proper shading. These are really important questions in designing a good functional house.

Sorry to be blunt but this is a forum to gather pros and cons of what you are looking at.

Sorry, just trying to come up to speed. I'm confused.... thanks.

That said, we do live in California and spend a lot of time outside year round. Even in the winter the majority of the afternoons are nice enough to sit outside, and we do BBQ year round.

To solve the problem our builder recommended a clear story set of windows above the top of the patio to let in additional light.

Regarding mostly unusable, often badly positioned, expensive, high maintenance, interior darkening porches front and rear, boy have I noticed them. They're as undesirable as usable, well-positioned porches and generous roof overhangs are desirable--in hotter and/or wetter climates.

In all but cool northern climates think overhangs that let the sun stream it in early and late but shade when it's high--most particularly on the east and west exposures--and that allow windows to stay open while it rains.

Active living rooms and windows if at all possible are best on the south exposure, where the sun streams in all winter but arcs too high to come in in the hot months. Thus, a south exposure would be a very good location for clerestory windows in any climate, east and west only in climates that tend to crave more heat and sunshine.