link didn't work for me

I believe you need to change your view...so it's no longer private, but open to the public. Not sure how to do that though, since I have Photobucket.

However, I like the way you describe your home, the passive solar especially, so I look forward to seeing your plan :)

I am so sorry about that. I changed permission now. I am a first time Picasa user...

Hope you won't be too disappointed with the "passive solar" aspect of the design. All we have done so far is to make sure that the front is south facing and that the house layout is really wide to increase south facing area. Additionally, we put garages on the west side.

I like to see unusually shaped plans, but...there's almost nothing I like about this.

There's a lot of wasted space with a hallway running the full length of the house.

Anyone enetering the foyer sees directly into the dining/kitchen area.

It's quite a haul from the family entry (garage) to the kitchen with groceries. The laundry is far removed from both MBR and kitchen.

Odd to walk past two bedrooms from garage to kitchen.

Odd to be 'penned' into a vanity area by a walk-around tub in the master bath.

(When you say the 'front' of the house faces South, do you mean the 'rear', at the top of your drawing?)

Every desired angled wall in a house creates creates an awkward space on the other side. Therefore they should be used very carefully. In this plan I don't see that the benefit of the angles outweighs the awkwardness.

I see many issues but none that can't be resolved. Is this something you've drawn up yourself, and do you know what's going on with the roof? Is there room to change the footprint a bit or are you locked in due to site constraints?

Ian

I would switch the locations of bedroom #3 and your mud/laundry room. That way the mud/laundry and garage entrance is closer to the kitchen (think about hauling in groceries down that looooong hall). Then you can put bedroom #3 in the back left corner of the house and enter it straight on from a shorter hallway. Maybe move the entrance to bedroom #2 to the angled wall near the bathroom and then the entrance to bedroom #3 can be further up the hallway.

If you do that, you can completely eliminate the hallway between the kitchen and what was bedroom #3 and is now the mud/laundry. You can enter directly into your kitchen from your mud/laundry and have a short hallway off the kitchen to the bedroom/bathroom wing. Once you figure out your basic floorplan, I would post your kitchen layout on the kitchen forum for advice on how to make it function best.

I can't really see the dimensions very well, but obviously your master bedroom is huge compared to the other rooms in the house. Your master closet doesn't really have much usable space due to the triangular corners... you really won't be able to hang clothes all the way to those corners. I would try to somehow steal space from the master bedroom to make the family room bigger and the master closet in a shape/space that more usable.

Obviously, a house design has 3 dimensions and all of them are important. Drawing a "Plan" is an convenient but arbitrary way of recording a design in two dimensions. Technically it is a Section drawing taken at 3 ft above the floor.

In my experience, when a house plan gets complex (angles other than right angles inevitably lead to greater complexity in all 3 dimensions) it is best to keep the overall massing of the house constantly in mind as you develop the plan. In other words, you should either roughly look at the potential changes to the elevation and roof plan drawings when you change the plan or update a 3D rendering of the house (3 point perspective or 3D computer model). Given today's drawing tools I would recommend using a 3D computer model from the beginning to the end. It's more work but the results will be better.

It would also be helpful for the members here to see the exterior drawings/renderings/models of the building in order to determine in a general way if plan changes will be compatible with the overall design.

You may surmise from my comments that I anticipate that solutions to some of the design issues will involve moving the exterior walls. I may be right or I may be wrong about that.

It would also be helpful to know the climate and applicable building codes for your area.

Thank you so much to all of you for such constructive comments!!

Plans have been drawn by an Architect, although in his defense, I haven't been giving him enough time due to time constraints (an important DEP permission called LOI expires on Sept 26, so some work such as clearing, has to happen on the lot before that) . I had given him a bubble chart indicating where all (approx.) we would like the rooms to be. Mostly, dictated by our attempts to build a passive solar home.
BTW, entry into the house is from south side. Location is in new jersey. There are restrictions because of proximity to wetlands. Front of the house is set back about 100 feet from the road and there is septic and well in the front (far apart from each other of course). Lot is 10 acres but less than an acre can be built. We do want a small house. It is preferred that there is no basement and no second floor but we could have a room/bath on the second floor if we can get rid of some of the shortcomings pointed out here - such as a long wasteful hallway towards the mudroom.

Outer boundary is not locked in, it can be changed to some extent. So, please feel free to make suggestions.

I will try to get 3D rendering from the Architect. Admittedly, neither of us has given much thought of the actual kitchen design, what is there is basically to mark off the area for it.
Chisue - please tell me more - if you can spare the time, please critique is in detail so that I can make changes. Constraints, of course are, passive solar, open design, lot is rectangular with depth being the shorter side.

renovator8 - could you please give an example with some other drawing if possible where angle has been used better - I like angles but obviously, they haven't been used very well in my design.

my2sons - I have been looking for ideas to reduce the hallway - I will try sketching it up and show it to the Architect. Thank you for those ideas.

I agree with all the comments made by you all - I had noticed some of them myself but not all. I will bring these ideas to my Architect on Tuesday and have him address them.

Thank you so much for your help. Please do comment more in light of the some more information I provided in this posting.

I am puzzled by your references to "passive solar". You must be thinking of another energy saving idea because I see nothing on the south side of the house that might collect, store, and distribute winter heat from the sun. (Could the garage doors be all glass and the concrete floor a heat reservoir?) Perhaps you are thinking of solar shading and/or super insulation. Perhaps you meant to say the entrance door is on the north side of the house instead of the south.

Here again, without a view of the exterior of the house we can't know what your intention is.

IMHO putting the Family Room in the front of the house next to the entrance is an idea that might work in an apartment but not in a house. The entry appears uncomfortably narrow and the small piece of wall should be a foot thick so people are less likely to walk into the end of it.

If you are going to have a hallway that runs almost half the length of the house, make it a foot wider so it can be used be used as a well lighted gallery for artwork, photographs, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: passive solar design

The only way this could be passive solar is if the TOP of your plan faces south. That's why we're confused.

I would try to group together:

Kitchen/back hall/laundry/family entrance (garage).

Public spaces -- Foyer/LR/DR/porches.

You can group all BR's and baths or separate the MBR suite.

I think my2sons suggestion of swapping bedroom #3 and mudroom/laundry is an excellent one.

Where will you eat? you have 2 living areas and no real dining area. The breakfast area looks awkward and will be very tight.

pps7 - that is a mistake in the drawing, that whole area is for a regular sized dining table. Living area is to the front of the house only.

chisue - I was hoping that all of the area that has covered porch in the front will be facing the sun and we will get the heat in from there. In summer, porch will prevent the sun from hitting the windows. We also plan to clear the lot in a way so that we keep trees that will provide summer shade but not block the winter sun. So, renovator8, you are right - thanks for that link - in the strictest sense of "passive solar" we don't incorporate enough of the characteristics to be called passive solar. We were thinking of cement floors to absorb the heat and/or have windows into the crawl space - which will have cement floor as well. I would like to be able to create chimney effect so that this heat moves around. I had also thought of roof shape to be done in a way so that we could bring the sun to the back of the house a little bit. Do you have any ideas in the context of this kind of house that we could implement without incurring significant costs? I will make changes to the wall you mention and also make sure that the hallway has ample width after I make other changes to reduce the length of this hallway - not sure how though, yet.

chisue - could you possibly make a bubble chart to indicate the connections of the groups you mention?

Thank you so much - all of you - for your comments. I know it will make a big difference in the design.

AJ

Okay, that makes a little more sense.

A few suggestions for the master. I can't really read the dimensions, but the master bedroom looks way too big. Personally, I think a 14 x 17 master is adequate if you want a king sized bed, 2 nice sized nightstand, plus a tv, bench or chair. Bigger than that and you just end up needing to buy furniture to fill the space. I'd rather use the square footage elsewhere. Your vanities are only 36". There's not much drawer space there. Where will you put your hairdryer, shaver, makeup etc? That tub is taking up alot of space- wouldn't you rather have a bigger shower? There are too many doors going in and out of the bedrrom too. Do you want those 2 little separate closets or are they there b/c you need more closet space. I would get rid of them and make your WIC bigger. One way to do this would be to angle the wall separating the master and family room to run parallel to the master wall(once you get beyond the counch). And to take some space from the bedroom. Also, I would line up the door into the bedroom with the door from the bedroom to the porch.

The floating wall in the entry across from the coat closet looks a little odd. I would close off the family room a little bit and have a large 7' framed entry.

I would eliminate the door from the master to the sitting room. Is the sitting room going to be the main tv watching room b/c there really no good spot to put a tv in the family room.

why the wierd angled walls in the hall bath and bedroom 2? I would straighten that out.

Just my 2 ents based on my preferences- they might not be pertinent to your lifestyle.

Good luck!

All the house plans that architect Debra Coleman designs are passive solar. You might want to check out her website to see if you can find a few ideas you can incorporate into your house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sun Plans

pps7 - thanks - all of your suggestions make sense, I had also noticed couple of them but hadn't thought of solutions yet. Just one question - I was assuming that angled walls make for interesting spaces unless of course they are messing up furniture placement and such.
In this specific design - because the garages are at an angle, I could make the workshop (third garage - rightmost) walls at angles such that the rooms attached to them are rectangular. I will definitely try that out if that is what you are suggesting.

AJ

Angled walls do make for interesting and often more "sociable" spaces but your plan doesn't make use of them and instead it looks like you're trying to achieve rectangular rooms.

I completely understand that the lack of communication with your architect can hinder the design development process but there are many things that simply don't make sense and/or do not work that have nothing to do with what you want in your design. At the very least an architect should take your ideas and make them work and I don't see that happening.

Can you repost the image with legible dimensions (even if you just pen them in yourself)? Do you know what is going on with the roof? Do you have any elevations?

Ian

Ian - thanks - I will post an updated plan tomorrow - I will make sure that it has the dimensions. I will have to talk to the Architect, then about handling this better.

He hasn't drawn anything else besides what I posted.

Thanks again.

AJ

AJ,

Where in NJ are you? I would LOVE to talk to you about your LOI... We just finished the application process (after a year of engineering, etc), and I am so nervous. It would be a blessing to be able to talk to someone else who knows the exact boat I am in.

Please please please email me. You don't seem to have your email enabled here so I can't email you - only give you this shout out.

My email address is jenswrens@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Hi All,

I have a revised version of the plan. I am also reviewing it. I have found some issues - mostly minor. Kitchen needs work for sure and I will post it on the kitchen forum as some one had suggested earlier.

We are okay with the kitchen being right in front of the main entry.

Please do review it at your convenience. If you zoom in, you should be able to see the dimensions of each room.

Many thanks in advance.

AJ-

Here is a link that might be useful: updated plan link

The only "plus" that I see is that they moved the mechanicals away from the workshop.

Now instead of a hallway effect you actually have a hallway throughout the entire house. Still too many angled walls that do nothing for esthetics and looks like a framing and finish nightmare. Do you really need a four-foot-eight hallway?

What is the overall look you are trying to achieve?

Ian

Ian,

I would love to remove the hallway effect. We don't like it and have no need for it. Given that the lot is rectangular and that we want only one floor, I could use some pointed ideas, how to go about removing the hallway completely.

I am at a loss, how to go about using the angled walls to enhance aesthetics. I would really appreciate if you and/or others can guide me a bit more specifically and give ideas.

Thank you so much for commenting on this plan.

AJ

You were headed in the right direction in the LR area but then created too much wasted space in the MBR. The MBR door opening from that angle from the LR is also very awkward and the full wall that ends at the knee wall hides it anyway. In the MR area you have all types of angles going on that ether have no relationship to another and those that do are only noticeable in plan. I do like the MBR to study openness but aside from the Kit., LR and MR you lack "public areas in the house.

I will try to take a better look at it tomorrow. I'd like to know a few more things though.

1. What you will be doing in the workshop. Are you a woodworker, machinist, mechanic or a mad scientist? In other words, what kinds of machines, materials, chemicals or dust will you be storing, using and/or creating?

2. Is your lot flat and do you have room to situate the house in the build-able area or are the rear corners "clipped" for reason?

3. The roof. "Flat" and "slope" isn't much of a plan and that appears to pertain to the porch only . Are you open to suggestions? Personally I would avoid a flat roof if you don't plan to walk on it except to shovel it off in the winter. I'd just extent the roof of the house over the porch instead.

Ian

Thanks Ian. I will look forward to more suggestions from you. I agree with what you said about wasted space in the MBR.

I am a woodworker, although I don't do a whole lot any more. But I do have floor standing table saw and other tools. Also need space for mower etc.

Lot is mostly flat. There is no reason to clip the back corners. I think that was a side effect of angling in the garages (which in turn was to facilitate the circular driveway + we like that more than straight or garages opening on the side of the house).

Architect hasn't done the elevations yet, so indication of roof design may be misleading. I don't expect to have any part of the roof flat - it just isn't practical in NJ.

Thanks again.

AJ

I was trying to post the other night but the GW server kept disappearing. I'm surprised that no one else is responding to your post.

There are some things I preferred with your first plan but I will just address your current one.

I would straighten out the wall between BR 3 and BR 2. Extend walls on the hall sides until the meet and adjust the closet size to accommodate a door. You could probably even shorten up BR2 on the entry side as well.

I'd put the bathroom in the upper left corner, probably bump out the exterior wall for the tub similar to the MBR in your first sketch. For the utilities I would consider putting those in the "attic" somewhere then lose the pantry and use that whole area as a mudroom/sitting room. The washer and dryer could go in a 36" deep cabinet.

Having a covered porch also negates the need for the jog in the front wall too. Just pull that out and keep it flush with the front of the house. I'm not a fan of knee walls so I would get rid of those and maybe do something like built-ins between the columns where there is nothing now.

Continue the wall between the MBR and FR straight until it hits the master bath wall and do the same with the study wall on the FR side. This will cut off the access from the MBR but I think it will be a better option. Then I would pull the kitchen forward utilizing the space that makes up the hallway as part of the kitchen.

Is it possible to separate the garage from the house?

I can think of a few different scenarios but they all depend on what you are doing with the roof.

Ian

We live in a house that is slab-on-grade, and don't miss having a basement at all. But I don't think you have compensated your plan with nearly enough storage. Think about seasonal clothes, holiday decorations, college kid stuff appearing and re-appearing. We have a walk-in closet near our back door and a storeroom (approx. 6'x 8' with shelving floor to ceiling) that is part of our garage. Unless you're very minimalist you're going to be very unhappy.

Thanks Theisma.

We are not quite the minimalists but we collect very little. Having said that, I did not take into account - my son bringing stuff back from college. Even though, I do plan to have couple of large steel shelves in the garage.

I will look into creating some more storage.

Thanks for your comment.

AJ

Yeh - not sure why more people haven't commented, Ian. It is a boring/simple plan. BTW, I had missed your posting somehow - just saw it. Thanks for the valuable comments. I agree with front door and knee wall comments. Other comments - I will have to draw them on the plan and see how that works out - I just haven't understood them yet.

I wouldn't say it's a "boring plan". Maybe it's just too challenging for those who are usually quick to post alternate schemes. I may have a free moment tomorrow and I'll try to sketch out a few ideas if you're still checking this forum.

Ian

Thanks Ian. I do read the forums every couple of days. I am also trying to learn about things such as

crawl space vs. slab
ICF vs. SIPs vs. stick built etc.

And I must say that there have been some good discussions here and people have actually arrived at good conclusions!!

I still don't understand the passive solar aspect of the design. You should ask the architect to explain how it works.

Hi aj,

Unfortunately time didn't allow. I won't make any promises but will try to sketch somnething up over the coming weekend.

Ian

No worries Ian. We are going ahead with the permits and such assuming that this is the final design BUT we will continue to work on the design and not get into building till we are totally satisfied with the design. We do have to deal with the permits now because of some deadlines with DEP permissions. I will look forward to your ideas if you are able to find time.

Renovator8 - I had studied the sites suggested by you. This design indeed doesn't adhere to significant number of solar design principles. What we have so far is the fact that the front of the house is wide, south facing, enough overhang to prevent summer sun from hitting the windows, but, let in the winter sun. I talked to the Architect about concrete floors but didn't get a clear response as to its feasibility due to crawl space. I have to bring it up again. So, it definitely lacks a major component, i.e. storage of solar heat. We still should be able to use the sun's heat during the day. I will continue looking for more ideas/more aspects of solar heating to incorporate in the design.

I was hoping to retain some high deciduous trees near the front of the house, so that they don't shade the house in winter but provide shade in summer. Due to solar panels, I don't think I will be able to do it.

BTW, Ian - Garage can not be detached from the house due to condition imposed by the township at the time of subdivision.

aj - Your front may face south, but not in the way that is needed for a solar designed house. Solar designed houses have south facing windows. If your front door faces true south, then you only have two south facing windows. The rest of the windows on the front of the house face either southeasterly or southwesterly. Ideally you want your windows facing within 5 degrees of true south. Also, the front porch may provide too much overhang for bedroom 2 and the family room to receive much in the way of the direct sunlight you want in the winter.

if you offset the entrance and foyer , you could have a much better living room arrangement ...

dekeoboe - You are absolutely right. I did have plans to make sure that I get 12% (if I remember right) glass in the front once I received the elevation drawings. Summerfield's posting following yours might have addresses some of your comments.

Summerfield - After just a glance at your plan - my immediate reaction is "amazing". I have to see it in detail at home tonight. Don't know how to thank you for the time you took to do this!!

AJ

Summerfield - I really liked -
all the changes you made around the second bathroom. Hallway is mostly gone.
Dividing laundry and mudroom
Entry from Laundry to pantry - another excellent idea.
Steps from garage side onto the front porch - love it.
Took care of all angular walls!!
Not walking into the kitchen any more - from foyer!!
Kitchen, living and dining seem perfectly sized.

I would like to work on couple of things:
Entrance to MBR - we now have a TV where the door is in this plan.
Find another place for mechanical room because it will be noisy for the living room.

I love this plan. Thank you!!

you're very welcome :-)

relocated the air handler to the garage ...

door to master bed can possibly be relocated ... i did , however , build the tv in to the wall to the right of the door , with cabinets below ...

let me know ...