I'd love a southwestern hacienda. Unfortunately, they're not part of the history of this part of the world. Only sleek "modern" fits in everywhere because it's of nowhere.

*****

OTOH, some homeowners throw tradition to the four winds and go with what they like...say the agglomeration of styles in this landmark reno. (Is that the Parthenon I see rising in the distance?)

*****

I'm going Georgian now because I like order, proportion, history and The Shining. And it's the core of residential architecture in this part of the world.

Worthy, what the heck is that?

You collect lots of pictures of homes you like. You drive around and look at homes and if you can imagine yourself in that particular home, you take a picture of it and add it to your list. Eventually a pattern will start to emerge.

You narrow it down further by thinking of the types of spaces you enjoy being in. Is it sitting in a sleek minimalistic room or in a room with dark woods and a brick fireplace? Do you prefer rocking on a porch or sitting under an awning in a cushiony chair. Is your idea of heaven reading a book while sitting in a window seat looking out at the world or is it sprawled out on a plush rug with newspapers scattered?

If you had all the money in the world would you build a marble mansion or would you want a cozy cottage? No answer is wrong. It's what works for each of us.

I have always been drawn to old homes. My first home was a craftsman house and I loved the wide moldings, the wood floors, and the relatively clean lines. My second house was a victorian/colonial revival. I thought it was my dream house, but the more I did, the more I realized I leaned more towards the cleaner lines of the craftsman house.

While I can appreciate french country, or contemporary, I need the feel of natural and hand made materials near me. I need wood and I love the low slung look of a craftsman house with a low pitched roof and a large porch.

Deciding on a house style is not putting rooms together but combining the exterior and the interior into a cohesive whole.

Try this: Sit down and list all the things you want inside. Door ways, types of windows you like when looking out of them, trim(base/crown/etc), types of flooring, and whatever else you want.

Then visualize coming home and how you want to come inside. A detached garage is only convenient when loud noises will be generated from it. Winter time is colder, cars get colder and so on.

An attached garage coming into a mud room/hall/kitchen is usually more convenient than coming into a hall with bedrooms/great room/living room/etc.

Visualize how guests will enter and come into the areas they will be welcomed. Foyer(with a coat closet) opening to the living room/great room is convenient.

Bedrooms away from the living/dining/great room is better so those wishing to sleep instead of visiting/watching TV/etc. is better.

Then think about what the house you most would be happy to come home and enter would look like.

Well, there are lots of good suggestions above, which deserve serious consideration.

I'll suggest a completely different approach for your situation (and for many of the lurkers here as well).

Start with your site, your local climate conditions, the direction of the sun across your property, and the topography/drainage/views on and from your site. Look at the direction and avenues of access to your site and the buildable areas on your site.

If you are in a cold, windy climate a compact house shape makes basic good sense (that's your compact plan 2). If you are in a warm, mild climate a more open, rambling house with high ceilings and the potential for constant cross-ventilation makes basic sense (that's your L-shaped plan 1).

Best house orientation in the Northern Hemisphere is always for the major public spaces and major glazed areas to face generally south. This also allows for linking indoor and outdoor spaces and uses.

Topography, natural drainage and views always impact where a house may be located on a site, the most rational type of house and foundation, and the direction(s) to orient the house for views (if there are any).

When these, and other important site considerations, are all considered together and carefully, they will play a major role in the types of design concepts which make sense and those which make little sense at all.

With a good understanding of your site, you are ready for making lists of needs and wants. You're ready to collect photos of houses which make sense on your property. And you're ready to talk to an architect or other design professional about designing your house and preparing the drawings and specifications for construction.

Good luck on your project.

Virgil makes a good point. For example, a timber frame house where I am in SW Florida would look quite out of place and especially out of character on my narrow city lot. Conversely if you're in the mountains of VT, a SW style house might look out of place.

So what materials are standard also for your area? That too will make a difference.

First of all, a house is OF a place. It used to be constructed of only local materials because shipping was either impossible or prohibitively expensive. What is a local material to you? Red clay brick made from Georgia clay? Spruce and fir of Oregon? Rocky Mountain rock? Where in the world is your spot in this planet? What is around you? What looks at home to the surroundings?

Second, what site considerations and climate consideration problems need to be solved? The Acadian style cottages of Louisiana solve the heat and humidity and high water table issues common to the area. The thick adobe walls and large overhangs of the Southwest solve the retreat needed from the sun needed to keep the heat at bay. Even a New England salt box solves a local climate issue.

Distantly third is personal preference. If your preferences do not align with the local materials and site and climate demands, the house will always look wrong in its surroundings. It's why you rarely see tile roof homes in the wet Northwest or a wall of steel and glass facing west in Arizona. Having too much personal preference against what local conditions deem sensible will cost you in additional upkeep and maintenance. Not just the awkward aesthetic of trying to have a Eichler MCM in a neighborhood of Cape Cods.

The biggest Big Idea Mistake that those building seem to have is that a home's "style" is a dress that is just slipped on at the last minute rather than the body under the dress. A home's style influences interior layout, product selections, and overall size. You simply cannot miniaturize a 6000 square foot 1880's Victorian into a 2000 SF suburban tract home. Nor can you take a square box, add a turret, and have a hope of calling it Victorian. None of us look good in clothes meant for a different body style or age. Neither do houses.

I figure out how I live and what I enjoy, then look at (or consult with an architect) as to which plans will fit that lifestyle. Do I want open spaces for entertaining vs. more intimate spaces for family? How many kids/bedrooms/offices will I need? Do I care for a "chef's kitchen," or just something basic? Do I want large outdoor living spaces, or am I in Maine and could care less? etc.

Start with your site, your local climate conditions, the direction of
the sun across your property, and the topography/drainage/views on and
from your site. Look at the direction and avenues of access to your
site and the buildable areas on your site.

Unfortunately, not all of us are sooners controlling massive acreages, free to build what we want, where we want, facing what we want.

Rather, size, setbacks, height and even styles and exterior colours are controlled by a raft of pols public and private. Let alone every interior dimension, room, layout, stair and rail design, access etc, etc. is strictly limited to the nth degree by our political masters, appointed bureaucrats and Codes and zoning enforcers. (At least, with all that thinking out of the way, we can agonize on kitchen layouts and marble vs. quartz countertops!)

Yes, Worthy makes a good point. Building, or remodeling, in urban areas (or even suburban areas) with tight sites and many regulations and approval processes is another ball game entirely, with it's own set of challenges. And while siting and site analysis are no less important in urban areas, there are many other issues which impact design and should be considered early in the game. For whatever reason, I got the sense the OP was not in an urban area. By the way, it's Sooners!...

Worthy, what the heck is that?

110 Maybourne Ave. Toronto

yes- that's an address- but what the hell is it???? LOL

What the heck is that?

I know exactly what it is, but I can't tell you because there are ladies present.

Worthy that is some structure and here was me worried about resale value if I don't build the norm for this area. That is just plain scary looking.

I am surburban but on a private road with no HOA. Lot is an acre and is actually zoned for 2 properties if desired.

CPartist I am more of a cozy nook kind of read gal.

I love to sit outside to read and eat and just relax (screened because of the bugs). I open the windows any time I can for those beautiful breezes and fresh air. Wouldn't it be so nice to be able to sleep outside on those perfect nights. The more I consider a sleeping porch it starts to become a must have. Small and cozy. Minimalist style. Clean lines.

This hopefully will be my forever home so I need to seriously consider the master down. Would love to have just the 2 bedrooms and a den but for resale I really need 3.

I love the look of this. Maybe something similar but put a garage under so its 3 levels. Homes locally are a mix up of vinyl siding, hardiplank, brick, stucco, shake.

With an acre lot (or even just a half acre, if you want to keep the economic potential for a second house later) why would you build a house like this (shoulder to shoulder with other houses) and consider a garage under. Sounds much too urban for your setting. Are there other such houses already existing in the area of your lot?

A "forever home", whatever that means these days, often is one which has all major living spaces on the ground floor, and doesn't require frequent or daily moving from one floor level to another. This includes the garage for many reasons.

Good luck on your project!

Yes, Worthy makes a good point. Building, or remodeling, in urban areas (or even suburban areas) with tight sites and many regulations and approval processes is another ball game entirely, with it's own set of challenges.

Whatever do you mean Virgil? (she asks sarcastically and then sighs mightily as once again the code enforcers want to meet with the builder)

I brought the lot for the privacy. There will be neighbors on one side but not the other. It is a deep lot so no neighbors even close to being seen behind and across the street there are no homes though i intend to build deeper into the lot and keep a large number of trees in the front.

On the street there are 3 bigger craftsman style homes, a couple of smaller ranchers, an old brick cottage with detached guest house, 2 BIG 3 level homes on stilts and a small farm with a barn, veggies and even a couple of goats. I also brought it because it has a community pier and gazebo so I have access to the ICWW. The architectural diversity appealed to me as everything is so cookie cutter in most neighborhoods.

I am looking for a home I can live in alone comfortably because I am sure in a few more years neither child will be living with me. I live simply. I don't entertain other than a couple of friends and when we do it is simple tapas food with a glass of wine sitting on the deck or the screen porch. The lot will be kept wooded except for a small area of lawn and plants surrounding the house.

I don't need or want a big house and I guess that is why the home I posted above appeals to me, it looks compact and manageable. I do need bedrooms for when the kids and their friends come visit and right now I would like room for the one still at home to have his own space, but achieving that without building big. For example:

To be honest most of the styles of homes that I have saved may be considered small (footprint) for the lot. The following would be ideal with the addition of a den/away room, mudroom/laundry, large 3 season room or screen porch and downstairs master bedroom & bathroom.

I hadn't planned on a log home, and first had a house designed by an architect but his plans were running too high for me to build. I probably could have found a second architect -- but instead my brother pointed me at a log kit company -- they had designs for modifiable kits. I made a few changes in the log kit design and so here I am... There are things I didn't think of that I wish I had when I modified, but they're water under the bridge -- at least I discovered GW when I was putting the kitchen together!!!

Both plans were to be built on the same location on my land, both were one level with walk out basements, three beds, two baths, and about the same square footage, although the rooms were/are arranged differently. But the pricing was 150K apart for the build. (My home is not finished yet, and I'm within budget).

Since I'm rural, I had few restrictions on what I could build -- and houses are all different in this area so I didn't feel any societal pressure to conform (in a town of less than 600 people, there are indeed four other log homes that I know of).

I also wanted privacy, and consider The Nature Conservancy to be a grand neighbor.

Lilysmom I can totally understand where you are coming from. I have saved some white farmhouse homes - mine are the more coastal modern style. This is one of my favorites, though I would make the upstairs a sleeping porch with a day bed.

Remember, the more ridges, gulleys a house gas on its roof, the more costly it will be to replace. New subdivisions are guilty of so many different roof lines that they're just a costly disaster waiting to happen. I live in a 1 1/2 story, 2800 sq ft house with a full former on the back. It cost me $8000 for a new 30 yr roof 2 years ago. Over $1500 of this was the cost of doing the dat walks around the dormer. My cousin in in AR was just wiped $12000 for a new roof on her 13 yr old house - a 20 yr roof. It is only 2000 sq ft but has all these roof lines. Worth thinking about as insurance companies are becoming far more fussy about storm/hail damage coverage these days.

ilmgirl2, every picture I see of yours is a related to a farmhouse type of style. Like you said more of a modern farmhouse. If that's what you like, then that's what you should build. The beauty of the style is that it's got a simplicity to it.

Can you post pictures and a topographical map of your land?

Have you considered doing a charette with an architect?

This one was posted from 2 years ago, but it made me think of you when I just looked at it. A detached garage or an attached garage could be added onto the rear left side.

Southern Living House plan

Thanks cpartist but I really don't like coming straight in to the living room and prefer plans with a foyer. I don't have a topographical map and the photos I have really don't show anything but trees. I need to wait until I clear some and then take photos.

Often, your county will have a GIS website. This usually has topographical maps available. You can screen-shot them to save the map. Also can print them.

Hope that helps.

Its easy enough to add a foyer.