I love cross-gable houses! I was going to build one for us, but it proved to be too complicated and expensive for our shoestring budget. Ours was going to have a separate 'wing' for the LR, kitchen, and MBR. Each room would have had windows on three sides.

Thanks Mush. This one's very simple. Two boxes 30'x50' and 26'x27' and no beams and no interior bearing walls. Simplier framed than most tract houses! When I do these things I usually options stuff in like here the dormers which are "cool" but really not needed to carry the design. Don't know if they're building those or not.

I love it.

I particularly like the dressing room area. My Mom had that in her house and it was a nice plush area for her to get ready. I also like that now the piano really has it's own area of importance.

(BTW: Is there a spot for the dog? ;) )

Love the look and sited correctly - it will be stunning.

My one nit to pick is the master bath water closet. You'll be doing a very narrow move to the side to get around the toilet and the door swing. I have this situation now with (what looks to be) a slightly wider WC and it's a PITA.

Nicely done, and the "see-through" entry area is wonderful!

The Kitchen Forum is going to eat you alive for putting the cooktop in the island. It's a ventilation issue. You should post that section of the house in the KF and let them save you from yourself before the cabinets are ordered.

Kitchen design is it's own subset of skill and architect's are rarely proficient at it. In this case, it's a pretty simple fix, the cook top needs to be along the wall so that the ventilation is neither floating in the middle of the ceiling or a downdraft. The reason is neither way really works. This kitchen isn't made for more than one cook at a time, either.

I applaud your bravery in posting the final design. I hope I wasn't too rude in making my point. It's going to be a lovely home.

Very nice!

I wouldn't put the entrance to the master closet from the master bathroom.

(you were waiting for that weren't you?)

It's a beautiful design.

Thank you Architect Runner Guy for posting this. I've been crazy busy with end of year school stuff and we've spent a lot of time in our safe room hiding from tornados here in East Texas. I have honestly wanted to post something but haven't found the time.

As many of you know we thought we had a good floor plan and I came here to get honest feedback. I was ready to listen and thankfully I did. We realized quickly that what we had was an OK plan but not a great plan. It didn't flow well, had odd spaces, and no soul. We are soulful people and wanted 'more'.. not in terms of space or things... just in the feel of our house. During this time Architect Runner Guy posted an amazing conceptual drawing - both floor plan and front elevation and from that point I could only think about that plan. Literally, I couldn't think of anything else. This caused DH and I to put everything on hold until we could decide what to do and how to proceed. I say we were in frozen-house-build-mode. Architect Runner Guy to the rescue!

We are on a modest and tight budget so hiring an architect was a very hard decision for us. It meant starting from scratch, costing us extra money and extra time! But, we feel it's so worth it. We didn't think we needed an architect yet I'd not build again without hiring one. I strongly encourage anyone who thinks they can't afford one or don't think they need one, please reconsider. Do whatever you can to put that in your budget. It wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be. Plus your architect doesn't have to follow your plan to the end of the build which will save you a good amount of money.

We made a few minor changes from the plan to make it function better for us but overall kept the same design and foot print.

The things I love the most at this point

1. The visual from the entry, to the piano, then beyond will be a lovely view of the lake. There is a large lake across the street from our lot.

2. The kitchen with a prep sink and great pantry!!! LOVE!!!

3. The charm it will have, both inside and out.

The few small changes we are making:

1. Change the main bath layout to allow for linen storage and a little more space since the kids will be sharing. (See #2) Counter/sink and toilet on one wall, tub and linen cabinet on opposite wall.

2. Removed the 3rd attached bath and changed closet layout to expand the kitchen and dining space. DS wasn't happy but this made Mamma happy, so all is good. We spend most of our time in the living areas so that money will be better utilized there.

3. Added 2 feet in width to the living area.

4. Due to cost, we will most likely not include the interior windows from the school room (or maybe one with the french door) or the upper garage windows in the gable or the sloped ceiling over the piano. Also, due to cost, we are changing the front steps which currently wrap the entire front porch to a 2 sets of steps, one wider set on the front leading to the French doors and a second set in front of the screened porch.

5. I've just posted the kitchen on the kitchen forum and got great feedback. Doug, you know I love this design but I want the island open. (SORRY) I want that space for prep and to serve. The kitchen layout will change slightly to prep sink on island, range on back wall with a shallow pantry next to the fridge that will open towards the hall.

6. Master toilet door will swing outward. (Closet door will swing in)

7. Reconfigured the pantry just a little by removing the linen closet at the end of the hall, moving that closet to where the school room closet is, moving the school room closet to the back of the pantry and next to the coat/entry closet. This shortens the pantry a little but will work for us.

We are closet in the bath people due to our schedules.

AND YES! a place for dog food and dog bowls in the laundry room. We have 2 extra kids - a German shepherd/ hound mix who's 11 years old, sweet, very laid back (read lazy - imagine an ol' hound dog in the heat of the summer laying on a country front porch and that's her) and then our crack head, totally adorable Australian Shepherd/Collie mix that was a stray who hid under our travel trailer for days. She'd been abused, was so afraid and skinny my kids thought she was a hyena. LOL. DH tried to run her off, other neighbors wanted her and tried to keep her but she would sneak out and come back to our house. After days of us ignoring her and trying to run her off we decided she chose us! So, yes we need a place for dog bowls. :)

We are so thankful to everyone who helped us get to this point. I will keep you all updated as things progress.

Take care,

Sunny

Sunny, your house will be fantastic.

If you can put off the decision until later (we didn't have to until much later in the process), you might try to keep the wrapped steps. Depending on your landscape plans, I think this is something that might really help "make" the house.

Good luck!

The Kitchen Forum is going to eat you alive for putting the cooktop in the island.

Well, given that it's the KITCHEN forum, one would think I would be at least be cooked first or at least lightly browned in a nice wine sauce!

Kitchen design is it's own subset of skill and architect's are rarely proficient at it.

And maybe surprisingly, I agree here. Really no different than entire house design being it's own skill subset where owners are r......... well, I won't go there.

Give them a shot at the kitchen. I've seen them do some really brilliant things and some great results. Just give them some boundaries and don't take it personally. After the kitchen forum, be sure to ask the folks at the appliance forum for some feedback, too. It's a never ending process:)

What a nice story. So happy that Sunny is going to get a well designed house with a soul and not some mindless box with a mish mash of styles, poor flow and some horrific exterior.

Go GW! And go ARG!

Yesterday I posted on the KF and have already gotten some great advice. As I suspected most over there prefer the range on the back wall with a prep sink in the island. For our style of cooking and entertaining this will work best for us. I might add a shallow bookcase for cookbooks or possibly a shallow pantry for things we use daily at the end of the long cabinet run (next to the fridge).

Thank you all for the comments. We are SO happy with how things have turned out.

Many years ago I saw the photos of the house ARG posted above (Tucker Bayou) and fell in love with that house so it's such a wonderful feeling to think I can live in a house like that.

I know many others here and in this world have stories to tell about their lives and things they have gone through. We are no different and that has made us truly appreciate what we have. We feel so fortunate and blessed to be on this journey. I've learned to take nothing for granted, especially not my tomorrows and although this house will be beautiful and well loved it IS just a house and it's the love we share as a family that together makes life worth while.

You all are so appreciated for the time you give in posting and sharing.

Sunny

Sunny...I love your house. How lucky you are to have found such talent right here.

I am so glad that you consulted over at the KF. I found the thread and read through it. I didn't realize you were such a long term lurker. FWIW, I liked number three. But, I really like Super Susans for corners. I would put drawers on each side of the SS. I am a convert to the drawer brigade. I used them exclusively in my kitchen remodel and it's the single best thing that I learned at GW.

I know you want a place for cookbooks, but the trend is away from books in the kitchen and towards recipes on line. So, your need for a cookbook shelf may prove to be wasted space that you could have used for something important.

Retain as much space as you can for the walk in pantry. They are worth every bit of space you can devote to them.

I knew they would come through for you. I'm so glad you went over there. I can't wait to see the finished product pictures. Enjoy the build.

ARG,

A very liveable, space-efficient plan with a great low country exterior. Well done!

With regard to Mark's comment about the master closet, our experience is that direct access to the master closet is preferred by roughly half of potential homebuyers; the other half absolutely do not want to have to go through the bathroom to gain access to the closet. If you are designing the home for a client, you can design it for their preference. If you are designing the home as a model, access from the closet is a riskier bet.

lots of windows I love the layout but find someone to do the load calculations, so you can get a good idea If the air distribution system will fit, and the rooms can be balanced.

LOVE it! So excited to see this come together. What a great functioning layout. I hope you'll share frequent updates here.

Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I'm waiting on elevations and will post them here.

Jannicone -You made me SMILE! Thank you so much. My family has been through so much and we have a huge story of very highs and some tragic lows so I feel like we're coming 'home' here. In some ways what you wrote was funny... but in the heart is totally true.

Oaktown - I sent an email to our drafts person and meet with her in the morn and told her we will make that decision about the steps later in the process. I agree that it will bring out the porch and set in front and center so we will see how things go. Keeping fingers crossed!

Virgil Carter Fine Art - that visual of front door - to piano - and straight on through is exactly what I couldn't stop thinking about. I'm so glad you took notice.

HVAC Consulting - We've got a good HVAC design and system towards the top of our list. In our previous house, the HVAC was never balanced correctly. Our daughters room was SO MUCH HOTTER than the rest of the house. Even our master bedroom which received blasting Texas sun from the west was cooler. We had so many people look at it and 'fix' it. Some came out to adjust it, add new saddles, re-did some of the ducts.... the company that installed it came back and put a small intake in the ceiling of her bedroom but .... GEE ... they put it about 4 feet from the vent so guess what.. what blew in - got sucked back up. So, thank you for the reminder of just how important this will be with all the windows.

I Love Red - I remember you posting on some of my previous thread as we were trying to sort things out. Thanks so much for your encouragement.

As soon as I get an update I will let you all know.

AGAIN... thanks for everyone, especially ARG for bring this to life.

Sunny

Sunny, I know I'm eagerly awaiting to see the building progress. When do you anticipate starting? My guess is we'll be tag teaming our builds. :)

The trick to a good system is to have your load calculations drawings and specifications done before asking for bids. This way every contractor quoting the job will be waiting on a level playing field.

OK Sunny what's happening with your build? Have you started?

It's been a wild few months but things are coming together. We've got the lot cleared and leveled. It was 4 feet out of level so I've sold a kidney and some home made bread to pay for that. I said I was prepared for the clearing but wow it still gave me a little shock.

We are still waiting/getting bids but it looks like we're going to be over budget so we will need to make a few changes. ARG, please don't fall off your chair but some of the exterior detail and the screen porch are off for now. Our budget is pretty modest and we are weighing each decision.

It's taken our draftsman about 12 weeks to get preliminary plans. This has been so frustrating!!

CP artist how are things going for you??? I've not been keeping up because I'm giving my mom an 80 1/2 birthday party (now a huge party with 100 guests) in Maine in 2 weeks. With time counting down fast I'm sort of panicking. I hope things are coming together and moving along well for you.

I'll post another update on my return from THE PARTY! We are doing our own cooking with foods from various countries she has visited, musical performances, home made photo booth, stories time, stories about her amazing adventurous travels, an all day event. My mom is truly loved by many! She's a peace activist, been arrested for protesting nuclear weapons, has opened her heart and home to many less fortunate, climbed to Machu Picchu (15th century Inca ruins) in Peru, sang a negro spiritual in the Parthenon in Greece, swam with anaconda, is in remission from a horrible, usually fatal cancer, and gets more done by noon than most people do in 3 days. I'm honored to be her daughter!

Wishing all a good night!

Sunny

Wow Sunny. I want to meet your Mom! And you too. She sounds like an incredible woman and you're lucky to be able to celebrate with her. Enjoy every minute. I must say it's been 2 years since I've lost my Mom and not a day goes by that I don't miss her.

My house is in permitting!!! Yeah! How long that will take? Who knows. So we wait. It's all good.

Maybe chat with ARG again about ways to save some money?