We have the second version and love it (house is almost 100 years old, and stairs are so steep they'd never come close to meeting today's code, but their footprint is small.) One thing we figured out from looking at many other old 1.5 story houses is that the space upstairs is very different depending on whether the ridge of the roof runs parallel to the long axis of the rectangle, or the short axis. There seems to be a lot more headroom if it runs with the short axis. We don't have a shed dormer, though, we have the gabled kind that matches the adjacent porch gable. Sorry if that just muddied things for you!

Your design is a combination of both types as most 1 1/2 story houses are. The main roof slopes above the upper floor bedrooms and the dormers penetrate that roof but the exterior wall of the dormers are placed directly over the first floor exterior wall as if they were short pieces of a second story.

To understand the design of the house house you would need several sections through it. Elevations are useful to contractors but not so much for owners. No one will ever see the house in true orthogonal elevation.

Which is more cost effective has to do with how much must be custom framed versus the use of trusses, in my understanding (not an architect).

I think, the less custom framing that needs to be done, the less expensive.

Looking at your other post with your floorplan, you have a LOT of corners. The cheapest shape to build is a rectangle. You have a bump out for your M/B bathtub for example. That's two corners right there. Straightening some stuff out should bring the cost down. Other than that, ask your builder what his suggestions are for getting in your price range. Good luck!

Thanks nostalgic! Excellent suggestion.