The home we are building right now that I designed (only 2466 sq feet ranch) - when you walk in the foyer it is pretty wide which i like a lot since I can put a bench for guests. To the right is an open concept dining room and straight ahead is the great room with a fireplace that has stone to the ceiling. That is the view you see coming into my home. We don't have a 2nd living room since we have 4 bedrooms instead. The main living area (kitchen, dining, great room) are all together in an open concept area and each room can see the fireplace and the tv which I really like since those features are what we wanted to enjoy as a family. We have a patio door (DH didn't want french) off the kitchen leading to the future deck and that deck will join up with the master bedroom deck which is to the right and down the hall from the kitchen. We designed the home to be a split ranch with all 3 of the kids bedrooms and bath on one wing of the house and the huge master suite & bath on the opposite side. We placed the garage and mudroom closer to the master suite so my DH can go to work in the morning and not disturb the children while they sleep.

The trend for upper end homes in my area has turned from open entries to the straight-through look with the stairs off to the side, with a landing and reverse stair. At least for those under 5,000 s.f. For larger homes, central staircases, the more spectacular the better, are still preferred.

I prefer that my own home bear no resemblance to a TV-sitcom setting, where every door-to-door-con man and pizza delivery person who knocks at the front door gets the full monty.

We are going to start building soon and we have a fairly wide entry foyer (7') that lead directly into the Family room/Great room. You can see straight through to the back yard when you walk in-which what we were going for. The stairs are tucked to the side of the home.

I've always found the placement of a stairway near the front entrance somewhat strange. In the majority of homes, the public spaces are on the main floor and the upstairs are reserved for private (bedroom) spaces. Also, since the advent of the automobile, most people enter their homes from a side/rear/garage entrance, with the front door now being reserved for guests. In light of this, I feel a stairway located near a front door says "Welcome to my Home, c'mon up to the bedroom!"

My current home, although not small, is narrow and quite deep. The stairs are in the front hall, and the nice thing about the placement is that it forces us to use the front part of the downstairs - where the dining room and entry are located - since we go through it many times a day to get to the upstairs!

I have read in books that a staircase is a visual delineation between the public and the private - but I think your point is so good too, about how it draws your eye up to the private spaces and is almost like a welcome to go up there!

I love it when homes have a front stairs and a back stairs. My MIL's former home had a front stairs that was tucked to the side, and a back stairs that was off the kitchen. I probably only went up the front stairs once or twice - I always used the back stairs!

We like Frank Lloyd Wright and did what he did in many of the homes he designed which is have a low ceiling foyer (more like a hall)that leads you and your eye to an "explosion of space and light"--in our case the two story living room. OK, at our house it's probably not an "explosion" of space and light but it does make the two story living room more dramatic and I think it invites people in. The foyer/hallway wraps around our open staircase which is open on all four sides and leads to the second floor and to a finished basement. Our basement is finished living space so it is fine by me to have the staircase invite people down, and we have our office and a loft library/seating area on the second floor, so it is ok with me to invite people up the stairs too. Unless you have an unlimited budget, you don't always have a lot of options for locating the stairway. Another thing that I like when I enter a house is to be able to see clear through the house to the backyard, but I live out in the country and I might not like that so much in the city where you would be looking at a neighbors house and backyard.

Yes I agree that looking into the backyard is wonderful especially if you live in the country like we do. Our home is designed that way as well with a great view of the fireplace and backyard all from the foyer and dining room.

the plans we just approved from our city has our entry way with a nice little foyer and a straight shot view to the window facing the backyard. We personally hate how some doors enter straight to a staircase, so this is more just our tastes.

This has been a source of many sleepless nights for me. At first, I wanted a very grand entrance. 2 story foyer, grand staircase with curved balconies(to the tune of $17k) then looking directly through to the 2 story great room, and right out the back deck to the new pond and field where we keep our horses.

Then in researching online, I learned of the stair alignment with the door, how it isnt a good feng shui thing. I ended up getting a feng shui consultant, who taught me of the front door-back door alignment, how it isnt good for your flow of energy, door or window even.

I turned my stairs (only $7k) and added a fountain in the foyer and I was finally at a place where I was feeling happy about my foyer and I was able to get some rest at night. It was literally keeping me awake, thinking about it all.

So I was content, but as the house plans progressed, and I was shopping for this and that, I began to realize that I really didn't need to impress anyone else. Initially, I really wanted to go for the big "WOW" when you walked in.

So then, I began to think of how we will use the space, once the visitors who may have been wowed at the front door are gone. So I decided to close in the 2 story great room, and make that a 2nd floor great room instead. Which allowed me to remove some dormers I had bummed out in the FROG. I was also going to make a wall and do some stone work and live plants on the foyer/stair side, but this would also give more privacy to the great room. I figured with my kids and their friends coming and going all the time. Either in and out the door, or in and out of the kitchen... I just wanted more privacy and I thought it would also help more with furniture placement.

So I have been pretty content. I hadn't changed my floor plan in weeks. Been busy with excavation and foundation. So just this week I thought I was ready to really tackle my kitchen layout and talk to a designer since I finally knew what that space would be, which got me starring at my foyer again. It was just such a sizable space, and while I really liked it, just seemed like it could be laid out better.

So I moved the fountain, straightened the stairs, worked the space to give me more space on the back side in the great room and on the side for the kitchen. Both rooms that we will be living in when visitors are long gone, or even when they stay and move on through the house, it just seems like a better use of the space.

I may still have some feng shui no-nos, I am still working on it, but as it is now, you walk in with a fountain to the left. My staircase is on the right side. It will be open stairs to balcony above, and it will be open stairs to the finished basement. I will still have a 2 story foyer, with some balcony space on above. As you pass on through the foyer, straight ahead is the great room which you will see the fireplace on the back wall.

This will add about 4+ feet all the way across my great room. I am able to add a nice size pantry, and coffee center in the kitchen which will keep it all together and out of the main traffic, and then I am going to do something probably non-traditional in my kitchen but that is a differen thread ha.

So while I havent worked out all the kinks and the whole feng shui energy flow, I am coming to the conclusion that I don't need to impress anyone. I just want a warm and welcoming entrance, a foyer that wraps it's arms around you and hugs you as soon as you walk in the door. The tranquil fountain with balcony above should be awesome, and even though it is going to be much smaller, I think the simplicity will be beautiful and I can use the extra space that was part of my "wow" factor, in other areas of the house for friends and family to actually use and enjoy. The money I am saving on the staircase alone, is making me rethink the swimming pool that we would all really enjoy :-) Then everyone will skip the front door anyways, and head straight to the pool :-))

I love that Frank Lloyd Wright concept - having a small foyer, then a room beyond that explodes with light. What a beautiful image.

It has been very interesting reading everyone's perspectives, and I enjoyed reading gopintos story about the thought process behind the entry. When building a house, it is easy to get wrapped up in the 'wow' factor - how people will be 'wowed' when they see this, and when they see that. But, ultimately, a house needs to be a home - a sheltering place, a place of refuge, a place designed for its inhabitants. Now, I must admit, often when I am thinking of the 'wow' factor, it is a 'wow' for me personally - I love houses, architecture, axial views, windows, light - all of that - not a day goes by in my current home (where I have lived for 12 years) that I do not appreciate the view from the upstairs window over the big tub in my bathroom - when I saw this view over 12 years ago, when my home was on the market, I knew then and there that I wanted to buy it. When it gets light, I am going to take a picture and post it!

I read about the lower ceiling foyer, then opening up to a larger space - The article stated people feel more welcomed, secure, etc when entering a home and having a smaller space with a lower ceiling. I'd have to agree.

We have a small foyer - 6x9 - with arched openings into the DR (16x12, to the left) and great room (24x19, ahead). You see through the great room, out three sets of french doors, across the back veranda to the lake/mountain ridge. People who enter the front doors are immediately drawn to the great room, comment on the house and then the view.

I also would rather have stairs out of the foyer/front hall.

It's funny, but one of the most amazing houses I've been in (my aunt's) has about the worst entry I can think of. Part of their house is an old authentic log cabin, and they've added on to it extensively over the years. It was even featured on the front page of an architecture magazine. But the entry actually goes in to the bedroom half of the house, and there's only room for about 4 very chummy people. It dumps into a bedroom hallway if you don't immediately turn right into the kitchen. The only good thing I can say about it is that visiting their house for the first time is an adventure of discovery, going from one impressive room to another as the house slowly reveals it's secrets. I never thought twice about their foyer, or lack thereof, until just now!

I have to admit, I'm not out to wow anyone. We have a small circle of friends, plus a few close family members, none of whom could care less about our house. Hopefully, they're there to see us, not the house. The homes in the pictures are certainly impressive, though. I'm trying to have at least a small foyer, since I don't really like front doors that enter straight in to the living room.

I like center hall colonials. I don't know about the feng shui front door back door alignment, all I know is that in Colonial times the cross ventilation of a house with a center hall would make the steamy Virginia summers possibly bearable. See Mount Vernon, for example.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mount Vernon

Our current/final build will be a take on the Frank Lloyd Wright style - covered porch outside - old cabin-feel with inside vaulted and open. View upon entry will be to the great room/family room and large window - view of valley and trees beyond.

Did I overlook the link?