Well, this is a very "architectural" house and striking in its geometry. As an architect, it's immediately appealing. But there are lots of questions about its livability, depending on your family situation, as well as on your particular site. For example, is there a reason for a MBR on both levels? Will you use the "office" on the second level. Is the completely open space for first floor living, dining, kitchen (with its lack of visual, auditory and sensory smell privacy) workable for the way you live. Can you afford the price of all the porches? If all of your answers are yes, then build this design and rock on!

Love it - but mostly for just 2 people. I can totally see this plan on a great piece of property and spending a lot of time outdoors!

I love that house and am pleasantly surprised to see what nice house plans can cost. That house has a lot of very nice features.. having windows on both sides of the great room that open up is something we are trying to do too. It looks like those might be steel windows which are pretty expensive, but a similar look can also be done with aluminum.

I love the porches! This is a great plan if you have great views!

But, the Kitchen...

Why is the DW on the island next to the range? Why is the range in the island at all??

The as-built is a better layout, but the DW should be to the left of the sink so it's not b/w the range and sink and then both the sink and DW should be moved to the left a foot or two to provide at least 42" b/w the sink and range. Or, rearrange the back wall to be, right to left: refrigerator, DW, sink, at least 42" of workspace, range, at least 18" of emergency landing space to the left of the range.

Also, be sure the island is deep enough to accommodate the seating. If you have standard depth cabinets (24"), then the island should be at least 41.5" deep (assuming you have decorative doors or end panels on the back of the island cabinets - if not, then it only needs to be 40.5" deep.)

1.5" counter overhang on the front + 24" deep cabinets + 1" decorative door/end panel + 15" overhang = 41.5"

15" of clear leg/knee space is the minimum recommended seating overhang for counter-height seating.

For linear space, you need a minimum of 24" per seat. And, b/c the island isn't open on the ends, add another 6" for each closed end to provide room to maneuver in & out of the end seats.

I have to ask, though, if the table is right there, do you really need island seating?

Oh and be sure you have at least:

• 45" (preferably 48") b/w the counter edge of the back wall and the front counter edge of the island
• 42" b/w the refrigerator handle and the front counter edge of the island
• 54" (preferably 60") b/w the back counter edge of the island and the table

Finally, be sure you have adequate venting over the range. With a space this open, you don't want odors, smoke, steam, fumes, etc., traveling through the entire space. The hood should be 6" wider than the range, at least 24" deep, and a fan at least 600 cfms.

Nice farm house.

We own the farm and this structure is no way practical in my opinion. Battery of expensive porches, expensive modern windows, numerous exterior doors that can and will be broken in. You are fully exposed [most likely have to apply film to windows doors]. There are expensive steel windows on the front, and expensive [and very cool] complete sliding door system in the family room. 24' Steel beam [most likely] hidden in the ceiling above the kitchen. With 3374 sq ft it has only 3 bedrooms and little closets.

Love the exterior. The interior spaces as mentioned leave a lot to be desired.

I really like this plan, it reminds me of the ranch buildings William Turnbull did in Sonoma County. There's a whole "California shed style" up there that came out of the Sea Ranch project and related stuff. William Wurster and Charles Moore did houses along those lines too. IIRC, the Turnbull ranch houses are available as stock plans, and they are somewhat smaller, so I'd google that as well.

That huge great room area will be hard to heat or cool, and the window will either be drafty or a roasting oven.

Layout is inconvenient. It's wasting an astounding amount of space.

This could easily be extended lengthwise to increase room sizes and storage. The porches could be reduced in size. They don't need to extend the entire length of the building. It's an intriguing design and I am the queen of traditional. The fact that it doesn't have multiple gables and valleys is refreshing. I like it with a few modifications.

Thank you all for your feedback.

It is striking in its simplicity and yet consistent geometry. The site location works for the home as do the overall dimensions. Currently the existing house faces West on a gentle slope out looking over acreage and pasture and out towards the Coast Range in Oregon's Eola Hills and backed by old growth White Oak, including a very large one that anchors the existing location in the circle drive directly South of the home. This limits what we can do footprint wise.

This plan is slightly narrower that the existing home and slightly longer, but very close on both sides. We would probably make it 28 wide to minimize backfill and yes, the house would have a basement, simply because we already have one and this would be slotting into the same space. Parking is currently under the house in the basement and would continue to be so. This is simply due to constraints with the site setting.

The questions around whether a great room space with shared kitchen/dining/living vs more closed off space is a valid one and I'm not sure there is a right answer there. Clearly that has been the trend in modern housing, although I'm not sure if it is the right one.

I know for us, we would in fact modify the floor plan. Instead of the large vaulted space in the great room, we were thinking of making the second story complete without the loft. That gives us more square footage, storage space, and room for kids and would keep heating and cooling costs in check.

We like the double masters just because we have aging parents and aren't sure if one is going to end up with us. Plus, it allows us to gracefully age in place.

We would do away with the giant sliders that roll back into the walls. While we love them, they aren't practical for our acreage. Instead we would use a double set of French doors on each side.

Se like the idea of porches on both sides to provide symmetry and more importantly to shade provide shade to the main floor and to provide outside space to enjoy the views. Is porch space on slab really that expensive?

Are we sure the windows are steel or alumnum framed? Perhaps they are darkly colored vinyl or painted fiberglass?

As for the kitchen, I would definitely change the layout and location of appliances.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback and food for thought everyone. Any other input, we would love to hear it!

If you plan to extend the second floor over the LR, consider this:

The first floor ceiling is 10', the LR is two-story, the second floor ceiling is 9'. If your extended space over the LR were a couple of steps up, you could have an 11' or 12' ceiling in the LR for a little more drama and differentiation from the kitchen, and still have plenty of vertical space on the second floor extension, because of the vault. But it's differentiated from the rest of the second floor by a couple of steps.

Interesting thought! That being said, if we went up a step, we are dropping to 8 foot in only part of the house on the second story and to go up 2 we are at 7' ceilings which are going to feel terrible. With 10 foot on the main floor already, it should feel pretty airy I would think. I'm 6'2" and 9 foot feels great. An extra foot on top of that should feel really good. Certainly not as dramatic as a big vault, but as stated, gives us a lot more room for minimal cost, keeps heating and cooling in check, etc.

When the plans said 9' on the second floor, I didn't know that meant all the way to the peak. Don't overestimate the step height; a step is only about 8", not 12, so you only reduce the ceiling less than a foot and half, not two feet. Anyway, maybe the area over the living room can be kid space then, if you have (short) kids. If not, cozy library or handy attic! :)

If you want to modify the second floor plan, you may also have to modify the plate height of the exterior walls accordingly. I haven't gone back to restudy the plan, but since the geometry is simple, it should not be difficult to add another foot or two to the plate height if advantageous.

Did anyone ever build this house??

I’d like to resurrect this discussion seriously considering building this house on a beautiful lot with a stream running through it.

Your lot sounds like it is worthy of building your own dream, not someone else's.

I love this house and it is a finalist that we may use for our NH lot at 1400 feet elevation with views of the White Mountains. The porch overhangs really cement the look of the design but we want unimpeded visibility. I just don't know how to adapt this design without losing the porches or some kind of pergola outside. I don't think this house has been built and I'm wondering if it can even be built with all that open space and no trusses or cross bracing. I think a local structural engineer will have to rework the plans. As for the layout, it is very interesting and simple but worthy of customizing or even shortening on the end. Again, I don't think the interior has been built and it is not meant to be a final room layout.

That ceiling has trusses behind it. The inside pitch is different from the outside pitch. And it has clearly been built. Those are actual pictures.