My architectural critic in me, to answer your question, says "I hope not".

Eeeeek, ok.....is that just a horrible plan? My husband and I have looked at thousands of plans and we only know what we want in a house, not what is a "good" plan. If we do hire an architect, we were trying to find something to give them an idea of what we want. Any advice or insight?

I just looked at it and have to agree with Mark. It looks like a McMansion with all those peaks, etc. There are quite a few threads that talk about what makes a good house plan, etc but right now I don't have time to look them up. I will later if someone else doesn't beat me to it. :)

Haha, I just looked back at it and you are right! Funny how we overlook things until someone else points them out. So, its mainly the exterior that is a problem?

http://www.archivaldesigns.com/home-plans/aspen-house-plan#

Lovely; Nothing is more welcoming than a huge, looming mass of masonry over the front door seemingly devoid of support.

This is actually seen a lot here in Texas. But, I am having such a hard time finding a house with the plans we want and liking the exterior, too.

Thank you! Very good advice, we are going to sit down tonight and go over our lists.

Oh, it's not just the horrid outside. Inside, everything funnels through the working areas of the atrocious kitchen. The secondary bedrooms are relegated to behind the kitchen, next to laundry and garage. Really? Is that where YOU'D want to be?

Guests who arrive in the driveway enter...where? In the side door? And it's not a pleasant guest entrance. Or walk aaaallllthe way around the garage to the front door? Unless you add a circle drive in front.

The side entrance offers only a tiny place to drop backpacks, rain gear, etc. And the lucky occupants of the bedrooms get to see it as they walk out the bedroom.

The FR offers no easy way to place furniture.

BR 2 shares its bathroom with...everyone else? But it's a jack-n-Jill. The occupant will lock the doors, and unlock only one of them, leaving someone out hopping on one foot later.

people on the FR can see into a MBR, just a bit, but still. The MBA has a lot of wasted space in the middle but no storage, and an odd closet, and they want the ironing board in the doorway?

There's really not a lot of storage at all, for seasonal items or activities, unless you use the extra garage for that.

i do like the game room and one-car garage, that could be handy.

Keep looking! You can find better!

The plan is one I've seen with various modifications on the GW many times. It tends to generate large lumpy houses with little interior light. Aspen, CO should get a court order to prevent the use of their name.

This is a houseplan an architect designed for us a few years ago. We are still considering it, but we were looking at smaller options. Sorry, its a door schedule, so it's hard to see. Any comments would be appreciated....

Go back to the architect and ask them to make it smaller.

And ask them to put the dining room nearer the kitchen. Personally, I'm not a fan of either one. The architect one also looks like it would have a complicated roofline and lots of jigs and jags. Plus that kitchen needs LOTS of help.

I think what you need to first do if figure out what exactly you need. Now and for the near future. What is your family makeup now?

When we made these house plans we planned on 4 children in the home, but our youngest passed away and our teen has moved on to college. So, now we have 2 in the home that are 8 and 9. We do, however have older children that are married and grandchildren that come to visit often.(yes, we started over;) It almost seems like we need to start over completely, maybe with someone new? I am terrible at visualizing the plans and didn't even realize the kitchen had problems:(

First my condolences on the loss of your child. I can't even begin to imagine.

I can't say I'm in love with your original house either with all the roof angles. I personally prefer more simple lines.

I would reassess your needs for now and for the future and yes, I'd start over. I would start looking online finding styles of houses that really speak to you. I might also look up some historic houses to see how they managed to create beauty and simplicity. :)