This is an exterior photo of the plan.

Can you post the pic of the plan in the thread? More responses come that way.

I noticed something in your message that caught my eye. I was just researching the other day why houses don't sell & was surprised to read that potential buyers are turned off by the stair case facing the front door. Apparently that's feng shui (which I don't know anything about) & means that all the luck of the house flies out the front door? I kept reading about it on all the real estate blogs...so how front & center will your staircase be? :) Just kidding...I'll take a closer look at your plan & get back to you.

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Hi :)
I'm still thinking but here are a few things that I like/don't like or have a few questions about. First, it is a GORGEOUS house & actually a very well laid out house plan. Those are very rare. You have great sight lines & good flow between all rooms. Here are some thoughts:

1. If you know how to pull off a 2 car garage with 3 kids I'd like to know what you know. There is no way between all the lawn mowers & snow blowers, 4 wheelers, motorcycles, boats, mini vans & SUVs & another car in 3 years for your oldest? I would ever be able to make it work. There are only 2 of us & we have a 3 car garage & still have stuff parked outside & a basement full of STUFF. And mind you I'm a purger. Is there a shed I'm not seeing? So, of course, this is your decision & is probably affected by cost but I'll be forever in awe if you can pull it off! With such a beautiful exterior would you really want things parked in front of it to take away from the architecture?

2. Would you have a mudroom? Her study/work space would work beautifully for it for organizing all the back packs, homework etc. And they put in another powder room which is awesome. You'll always have a clean one for the guests & not so clean one for the family :)Great distance between the garage entrance & the island to put the groceries on.

3. Honestly, there is really not much NOT to like about this plan. I think it's great that there is a revolving door? from the kitchen to the dining room but I would take out the door & just make it a walk through. Maybe sacrifice a little counter space & make it like 3.5' wide. HOWEVER, if you reverse the staircase - what would happen to the dining room & it's grand entrance with columns? If you would like guests to notice your staircase first, simply switch the front door hinge to open in another direction. I'd totally do it feng shui or no feng shui - if I don't know about it - it doesn't affect me :)

4. I'm not sure what is to the left & to the right of the revolving door, whether it's a fridge or a tall cabinet but there is a potential door conflict. If it's a double oven on the right you should be OK but I think a door to the dining room in the middle of the kitchen breaking up the counter would just look odd.

5. Give some thought to having a washer/dryer in your master closet. It is a life saver. There is a good place to put it & HIDE it on the wall adjoining the master sink. And I would definitely put the kids' laundry upstairs with all the bedrooms.

6. Where would the TV go? Give some thought to your sitting arrangement in the great room. It might be a bit hard to decorate.

7. What will be your guest room?

8. Our plan had doors going from the garage to the outside but we took them out since we use the garage door. Saved on door costs & helped streamline the look of the house in general.

9. Probably just an error but the "door" from bath 3 to the porch should be a window. Also great idea to have a loft - 2 story rooms are overrated sometimes.

I have questions regarding the 2nd floor...

1.Each child gets their own room, correct?
2.Two daughters don't mind sharing the same vanity if it has 2 sinks (where did you get your daughters, i want them:) but one would walk through half the house to get to the bathroom?
3. Would the girls fight if one got the view & the other the porch? I would think to keep the peace you'd want both of them to have the porch & give the view to the boy. Thanks!

@Floppy-Wow, thanks for all the feedback! We do live on a farm, so there are some sheds on the property(away from the house). I am trying to conserve on the square footage some because of costs. I hate having a lot of unused space and bathrooms once the kids are in college and on their own. I know they'll be returning periodically:) I'm thinking the TV will go either above the fireplace or to the right of the fireplace where shelves are shown(probably a built in bookcase of sorts). I do want a mudroom and a larger pantry-I hope to incoporate all that in the "her study" area. I considered making the study/library area a laundry room and making the powder room a closet for my husband. I might use your idea and do the laundry in my closet-but I have a lot of clothes and shoes:)I am planning on extending the master bath to the end of the master bedroom. I want a linen closet in the master bath as well. The staircase would remain on the same side, just going up from the front of the foyer instead of the back. I would also take out the door between the kitchen and dining area.

That's a beautiful house!

I'd rethink taking out the door between the kitchen and dining room. Imagine carrying the Thanksgiving turkey or holiday roast all the way around the peninsula, through the great room, and finally into the dining room. Be sure to post your plan on the kitchens forum, too - great minds over there for layout help.

Like you I'm not a fan of 2 story great rooms so I'm glad you're changing that. You have an opportunity to re-do the upstairs to do things like get the closets and bathrooms on interior walls so you can add windows to the bedrooms. (Windows on 2 sides would be really nice - cross breezes and more natural light.)

With 3 kids I'd maximize my mudroom space. After the kitchen it's the most-used spot in our house (and I only have 2 kids, but we seem to have thousands of shoes and pieces of sports gear. Plus dog gear.)

In addition to the jaw-dropping curb appeal, I really like a number of things that might seem mundane but will add to livability IMO: closet near front door; side entrance is great for kids (and you after yard work etc.); 2 powder rooms - one for kids coming in the side door and one for keeping nice for guests.

Very nice!

I have admired this house. It is a smaller version of the Verandas on the Poole website. Nice curb appeal. The contrast between the white and the grey in the pictures is a little too harsh. But, overall really nice.

I would leave the front stairway as is. I would eliminate the round windows in the back.

Did you notice the kitchen changes in the pictures? Nice changes.

I have only one real problem with this house and I think it would be hard to fix. I love houses with two stairways. We had a fire and I look at that as another exit. Plus, love the kids having a way to run upstairs from the informal entry. That second stairway does not allow access to the upper level.

Love the side entrance that does not go through the garage or the laundry room (like mine does now).

@chicagoans I didn't mean to imply that I would take out the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, just the door:)@red_lover I would also like 2nd staircase-don't know if I can make it work with the upstairs floorplan. I thought about relocating fireplace in great room to center of back wall, so that there could also be a fireplace on the back porch?

You have a conflict between the front door & the entry closet door. If people keep coming in you'd have to constantly keep shutting the door behind them to open the closet. Maybe switch the front door to swing in another direction?

I do like the family powder room where it is. You'll use it. Otherwise no one is going to bother taking their shoes off &/or putting them away..they'll just run across the house to use the other one. Most houses have one powder room & it's a pain to always clean it for drop in visitors. All of us want that picture perfect house all the time - this is a good step in that direction.

I like the idea of extending the master bath.

I'd keep the study though. It's a nice office & lots of people sort of expect that room in larger houses. But if it'll be a really multi use room for hobbies, paying bills, laundry then it's a good. Check out the link below. You can google multi use laundry/hobby room & gets lots more ideas. idea.http://www.houzz.com/photos/laundry-room/multi-use-room

I would still make a nook inside the room to hide w/d so the room does not have a feel of laundry. I'd add a laundry room upstairs maybe? for the kids? That's a lot of walking you're going to have to do with heaps of clothes to put it all away.