Hard to tell detail and scale, but it looks like it will be a dark house. The sightlines and views seem to be blocked by other parts of the house. Your view from the main dining area will be ... the driveway and parked cars? I might have moved all the spare bedrooms to the second story to give my living areas more exposure to the back yard, more views and more light.

For reference:

There are a LOT of bathrooms in this house. Does every bedroom need its own?

That is a lot of space in the living room for not a lot of furniture, it runs the risk of feeling cavernous (assuming the furniture in there is to scale)

How many people will live here?

Lots of jogs in the foundation. Do you have drawings of the proposed elevations? Looks like it will be a complicated roof.

Do you have a separate clean-up kitchen/scullery? It gets natural light, but the rest of the kitchen gets just what wafts over from the courtyard. If you rotate it, so the cleanup backs up to the powder room, you might get more light flow.

what is the space above the garage? Is that more garages, or a workshop?

I try to set it up where one is looking through the house, especially if it has a pool as you do. Sure, you're looking through the house, but then across a large hardscape and then the POOL BAR! And as others have said, that kitchen may wind up being a tad dark. Also that hall going back to the bedrooms needs some serious help.

Look at the Pardo house in one of my "ideabooks" to see what I'm talking about (btw, we did the "low wall to hide the garage" trick there too).

I must be dense, because I can't figure out where the front door is! Are there 2 2-car garages? Is the front door the one between them that opens into the dining room?

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. To try to answer your questions - Yes, there ARE a lot of bathrooms. We've just always had en suites so included them again.

Though we are empty nesters, we both work at home and we have a lot of company, many parties, a ton of family and we have 5 close family over the age of 80. We need to plan to have at least some of them with us.

We wanted a one story because we like it but also out of necessity. The upstairs is storage over the work shop and over the secondary bedrooms is a bathroom (yes, another one!) and bunkroom with 4 queens and a sitting area. I know it sounds crazy but we often have more than 10 weekend guests and we love it. It's funny how families multiply.

The furniture placement is just something the architect put into the plans. Hubby is spacially impaired :^) so it was important

We thought about flipping the pantry but this worked out better. The side view is nothing special as it's mostly driveway - the little open space off the dining room will be my kitchen garden with raised beds but out the mudroom door is extra parking inside the gate, trash can storage, etc. Not sure if you can see it but we are pressed against our build lines on three sides. The lot is .7 acres but it's an awkward shape at best.

Natural light is a definite concern and this is what we've done so far: kitchen has large skylight, living and hallway have clerestory windows, south and east facing. Living ceiling is beamed and 18-20', kitchen and DR are 14'. 8' door with transoms. I'll try to attach the front elevation and a photo that is similar to the look we're going toward. Any other ideas gratefully accepted.

This is the hill country style we are going for.

thanks architectrunnerguy - I looked at your plans and they were very helpful. I think I'll make the outdoor kitchen just against the wall and take out the bar area, leaving room for a nice table and chairs.

I'm having a hard time reading the floorplan, so I'm not sure how accurate my comments may be:

- How much of this house is garage? I'm thinking way too much. And it's all attached to the house; that's what's causing the "too dark" problem. I'd consider detaching the whole monster-sized garage ... and connecting it to the house with a breezeway (either enclosed or open). That'll allow the actual house to become more compact. This will cause a number of positive things to happen: It'll make the house considerably more affordable as it decreases the jigs and jogs (and the ensuing complicated roofline). It'll also allow you natural light into your main rooms.

- You're talking about parties and guests ... but this is still an awful lot of bathrooms. For guests, I'd go with one bathroom between each two bedrooms.

- Still on the subject of bathrooms, the master bathroom has too much empty, wasted space in the middle. This is not only a very expensive choice -- it causes the bathroom to be cold. I also don't love the path to your bathroom. The route from your bedroom door to the bathroom is quite long -- inconvenient.

- Clearly entertaining is important. I wonder if that front room would be better off with its pocket door oriented towards the main living room (instead of the hallway)? It would give you the option to let that little room act as part of the main room OR be closed off.

- In the kitchen area, I see that you've placed your utility rooms and storage areas on the exterior walls ... giving them the nice light, while the kitchen itself and the dining area are pushed to the middle of the house ... in inferior positions. I don't see why this can't be reversed: Push the utility room towards the garage and bring the table up to the front door. This will also help you with a functional kitchen layout (i.e., food storage will be adjacent to the garage so you don't have to carry things farther than is necessary).

- I don't like the placement of the laundry. Yes, traditionally laundry is near the kitchen, but this laundry is FAR from all the bedrooms and requires threading your way through multiple rooms. Since guests are so important to you, and they're all oriented towards the back of the house, I suggest losing one bathroom in the "back 40" and replacing it with a laundry room ... then add a small laundry -- maybe a stack up -- IN your ample master suite. It'll place laundry where everyone actually needs it.

- That's an outdoor kitchen in the U-shaped patio area? Does it really need to be as large as your indoor kitchen? Typically people want outdoor kitchens to be big enough for grilling ... but salads and side dishes are usually still made indoors. I think you're over-kitchened here.

- Three bedrooms to the far back: On the positive side, they're very private. On the negative side, the hallway is long, dark, and uninviting. And if your elderly guests are going to use them, they may not appreciate the distance from ... well, everything. These are guest rooms -- do they really need walk-in closets?

- You say you and your husband both work from home -- but you're empty nesters. How many more years do you plan to work? I have the impression we're about the same age, and I'm retiring in 4-5 years. I'm wondering how much energy /how many resources you should put towards full-sized offices.

- Overall assessment: If it were an essay written by one of my students, I'd write "Good start, but needs significant editing". It looks sort of "inside out" -- I think you're trying to orient everything around the patio/pool and entertaining, but you're missing the mark on function and comfortable living. Think about routes from here to there. Think about storage. Think about function. Definitely consider sight lines.

Thanks for taking the time to give so much input, MrsPete. Love the overall assessment :^)) Actually the shape of the house was more dictated by the triangular property and trying to orient so we got the most use from it. Narrow at the front, it's not super deep with the longest side at the back of the house. We have to put the driveway on the left side and there is a seasonal creek in the far right back corner. Trees form the entire perimeter - there is no vista or view which is very different for us but there aren't a lot of views in northTexas <lol> So a courtyard facing the creek side made sense.

Sorry you're having trouble reading the plans. There are actually two 2 car garages. There is a car drawn near the kitchen - that's just showing some off-street parking, not covered, not a garage but I can see how that is confusing. I would love to figure out how to separate the garages from the main part of the house but as much as we played with it, it didn't work. Plus one of the garages and the workshop need HVAC so that was another factor in not separating them.

You and another poster were spot on re: outdoor kitchen. Very helpful.. I'll put everything on one counter instead and lose the bar stools. Much better use of space. Maybe move it to the side of the patio closer to the living area as well.

The small room off the foyer is my husband's office so coming off the foyer makes more sense than into the great room. My office will be in bedroom 4 and even when I retire, I'll want an office. It doubles as my work room for different projects I'm involved in but could be converted to a bedroom should we need it.

I hear you all on the windows and I'm looking at that seriously. What would your thoughts be on moving the prep and laundry to where the dining is now. Then pushing the kitchen into where prep is - gaining windows on two walls of the kitchen and putting dining table in between kitchen and living. It would put it probably off center with the foyer and not sure that is great either, but I do like the idea of the extra light. May be able to do away with the skylight then too.

Thank you all again. It's just lovely that so many people are so generous with their time and talents. Much appreciated.

If there aren't really any views to speak of, maybe the guest wing can be flipped, so that the bedrooms overlook the patio? Or, this: the plan you have, but the bathrooms are on the back side of the bedrooms. This way, when the door is open, it feels more open, with a view to the patio.

I would flip the end bedroom to give your office a patio view, but I suspect that bathroom may also serve the pool?

Just thinking, you are spending time in the kitchen with a view of the driveway. What if...the master suite is on the left, with the living spaces on the right to take full advantage of the patio? I suppose for ease of grocery-carrying the kitchen could be in the middle.

I think your thoughts on the kitchen, prep and windows are a step forward!

As for the garage ... how about something like this:

Imagine the green as the house ... the blue as the pool /obviously re-orienting rooms towards the back ... the red as the garage /one long one, if you really need that many bays? ... and the yellow is a covered drive-though area leading to the garage.

With the garage away from the house, the windows will work out better.

The garage doors won't show from the street.

And a straight line won't be as expensive to build.

I like the part of Mrs. Pete's concept where one would see the pool upon entry to the house.

Our feeling about a house is formed by how we approach and how we enter it. It's a critical part of design often overlooked. If that experience is poor, no matter how much better the house gets later, the house will always feel awkward.

A port cochere connecting a separate garage to house with rear motor court that also serves as an entertaining patio is a great idea! It maximizes the house and makes the Design about the People rather than the Cars. A 4 car garage is way too much for retirees. As is this house. It's built to an idea of always being 55, without considering the reality of Universal Design for the latter frailer years.

This is all really great stuff-thank you! I'm busy cutting and pasting to see what might work. I'll post for more input soon!

Here's another thought: You want all this guest space. Does it have to be IN the house?

Thoughts: What if you move the bunk-room to above the garage? It'd give the guests a bit more privacy ... and you're already building the garage, so it'd lessen your costs. Though I do agree with the above poster that a 4-car garage is overkill.

Or, what if you built some of those bedrooms into a pool house that'd sit across the patio from the "main house"? Bonus: You could turn on the heat/air just on weekends when you have guests, and there's no downside to lowering the cost of your utilities. I think I'd want such a guest house to be attached to the house via a covered walkway (or similar). Second bonus: You're talking about this a a retirement house ... if you ever need one of your children to live with you, or if you ever need live-in paid help, such a person would likely prefer to live "across the way" instead of actually IN your house. More privacy for all parties involved. This option wouldn't be cheap, but I think it'd be nicer.

For the record I question in my mind the 4 car garage also.

I only included it in my concept above because when I illustrate an alternate idea against the existing, either here or in real life, I try to keep the same as many elements in the two schemes as possible. It not only makes comparing the two easier for the client, it forces focusing on the conceptual differences in the two which is what I want and not on the program differences.

More thought provoking ideas- I love it! I also find it so interesting how we each have different 'must haves' in a home. For us, a large garage was near the top of our list. For now, this fits our lifestyle but if and when the house is too much, we can downsize and a 4 car garage is very sought after in the neighborhood. thanks again everyone!

"Plus one of the garages and the workshop need HVAC so that was another factor in not separating them."

My uncle build a workshop in his separate garage when he retired - in Minnesota, so both heating and cooling were desperately needed. He also added significant exhaust capabilities, for removing sawdust (with a filter), and fumes from staining/varnishing. Installing HVAC in a separate building is certainly not a deal-breaker - and probably a lot more efficient than increasing the size of the HVAC in the house. As Mrs Pete pointed out, the temperature only needs to be in a comfortable range when it's being used.

I like the way ARG organized the spaces and created visual connections. The original plan seemed to have spaces put together without regard to the experience of the space or the movement from one space to another.

I'm creative with one glass of wine.

It's getting there but there's still significant
trouble. Good design is a lot like solving Rubik's Cube, getting the last two
pieces in place takes MORE time than getting the previous 24 properly
positioned. And of course some designers hand the cube back to the owners and
are very convincing in that it's perfectly ok to have a yellow square in the middle of
the blue side.

In a previous post above I alluded to client trust. I
don't know what your relationship is with your current designer, or if this
person is actually creative or just a permit drafter or the current design was
generated from a collaborative effort or just yourself, but for you do be doing
all this heavy lifting now without collaboration doesn't bode well.

The best projects come from a trusting client.
During the initial meeting, a client will often reveal the degree that they
trust or don't trust others. As I said above, a good architect, when given the chance, will
provide a design that can give a client everything they want, but often in a
way that is completely unexpected… but that takes faith and lots of trust. If I
don’t think there’s trust, I usually refer them to a permit drafter.

So, with that said, I would suggest you sit down with
your current designer or, if there’s no trust there, another designer whom you
do trust and have a collaborative design session in what I call a design “charrette”.
I do these all the time and they typically last 4 or 5 hours. In lieu of doing
a bunch of retyping, I posted the whole process for another hapless homeowner.
It’s here (not my first post here but the one 11 down with all the photos. That's
me with pen in hand with the builder in the gray shirt flanked by the owners: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3178541/question-for-architectrunnerguy-or-others?n=24

I do like the detached garage in front however. I
have a detached garage myself. Done because with a lot only 50' wide it opened up the lot considerably by creating an inner court yard and gave the front of the house a lot more light than otherwise.

Yes, the only trouble
I had passing the architectural registration exam was that they made me leave
my glass of Chablis at the door! What’s up with that!!

I'm always amazed at others here who make comments like "retirees don't need 4- car garages", "the house is too big for 2 retired people", "it will cost too much money", etc.

If someone wants to build a 10k sq.ft house with ten garage bays, lots of foundation jogs and they have the budget to do it with their hard earned money ... shouldn't they be able to make those choices wthout others forcing their own needs, wants and budgets on them? Suggest how to best place that 4-car garage, but don't tell them they don't need it!

To the OP, with a tight lot, it would make sense to move some of the secondary bedrooms upstairs, to gain more openness and views on the first floor. An elevator would make it easily accessible for any age group.

Chispa, This isn't a "yes board" where people come for praise. People come here wanting real feedback on their ideas. Often questions and thoughts cause people to consider whether their initial thoughts and ideas are realistic, and ideas that can't stand up to questioning are usually bad ideas.

For example, it's a rare person who actually needs a 4-car garage, and most people welcome ideas on how to make a build more budget-friendly.

mrspete, I've been around these boards for probably much longer than you have, so I know how the boards work, but my point still stands, because YOU FEEL that you don't need a 4-car garage or 6K sq.ft doesn't mean others feel the same. Maybe instead of telling someone that "nobody needs a 4-car garage" ... you can say instead ... "do you really need 4 bays, what are you planning to do with them?". A bit less judgemental ... words do matter!

And yes, I do have a 5-car garage and use all of it, 3 for cars, one for storage and the last as DH's workshop. It will be one of several features that will make our house very desirable when we go to sell someday.

I agree with chispa. I questioned the four car garage only for reasons of site usage, not for reasons of need. A large house on a constricting site will almost always be better with flexibility especially when it comes to garages, who's geometry by nature is pretty much inflexible together with the large mostly rigid access areas required to get to them.

Working with a client now who desires a covered place for their 30' trailored boat. Very tiny site and it's come to the point where I'm literally inquiring "Are we designing a space for people to live or are we designing a space for boat storage?". I can do either very well but I can't do both very well on this site. Same here.