Less ... the closer to a square or cube you get, the shorter the HVAC, wiring and plumbing runs will be. And the lower the heating and cooling bills.

Also, bump-outs and funky roof lines add expense.

Corners cost more, reduce the number of corners. Roofs with gables and dormers cost more. Hipped roofs cost more, they need more materials. Porches cost, it's built like a room without four walls. They are expensive to maintain, too. Vaulted costs more, it needs more materials. Staircases cost more, but much of the cost is offset by stacking bedrooms above living spaces. Kitchens and baths cost more due to complexity and materials. Can you live with three baths instead of four? Walk-in pantries are less costly than lots of cabinets. Basements cost more than crawl spaces. Some building materials will cost you more due to the labor involved installing them. You get the idea. Rectangles are the most efficient shape. Each additional corner is another expense from framing to finishing.

From a strictly money /efficiency viewpoint, a rectangular /ranch house is the most efficient house:

- Only four corners

- Doesn't drive the roofline upward like a square house does

- Allows natural light to most rooms

- Kitchen and baths can be positioned together in the middle of the house, meaning that plumb lines don't have to run so far (this also cuts down on possibility of leaks and expensive repairs)

- Typically contains a hallway down the middle, meaning that the walls provide support for the upstairs /roof ... no big expensive structural beams necessary to span wide open spaces

However, that's all hypothetical. Your lot may suggest (demand) a specific shape, a driveway location, or basement (or no basement). Hypothetical always gives way to reality.

How many other things can we name that help with a budge price?

- Build on a flat lot

- Build on a lot that has utilities in place; for example, hooking onto city water is cheaper /more certain than digging a well ... less upkeep too

- Build a straight driveway and a front-facing garage

- Keep everything standard size: windows, doors, appliances, tubs, garages ... once you start "supersizing" things, you add in extra costs like a second water heater for that oversized tub or additional floor support for a commercial stove

-Build more windows and fewer doors

Well...actually a circle contains the greatest volume with the least perimeter enclosure. So folks on an extremely tight budget, who want to build, should investigate circular structures.

Folks on an extremely tight budget should probably not be thinking of a custom home. An existing home often sells for less than a new, custom home. A double-wide is even less expensive.

That said, it's useful for folks who are early in their journey of selecting land, designing a home and building it to consider issues which may add to the cost of a house. For example, in many cases, a similar 2-story plan may be less expensive than a similar 1-story plan.

Rules of thumb, however, are simply hypotheticals which don't take into account any of the specifics of a given family, land, design and construction.

But it's important to understand...and it's a really, really important but...the design, construction and living in a custom home is more--much more--than simply "what is the cheapest thing I can build?"

Cost, of course, is very important. But so is site selection, home orientation, function, aesthetics, plus all of the intangibles--how does the house make me feel; is it a joy to come home to even after ten years; do I feel sheltered, refreshed and invigorated by living here?

If cost is the major and overwhelming priority, far outweighing any other issue in the selection of land and the design and construction of a new home, then a custom home may not be the best selection option.

A custom home is many, many things. Cost is just one very important element in the puzzle. The goal should be to create a custom home which supports all of the important priorities for living and avoids all the non-essential, faddish ones.

Le Corbusier said, "Design is a patient search". A patient search is what is required. There are no surefire shortcuts or simple 1, 2, 3 and 4 solutions. It's just not that simple or easy! :-)

Lazygard, homechef. Thank you so much, your advice is helpful.

ilmilgirl, thank you for taking the time to look up and post the plan. We absolutely need a single level with basement. And would like the principal rooms to have views to the backyard.

Mrs. Pete...your list is comprehensive and makes sense. Due to set back restrictions and that we will need or want a single level abt 2sq ft , I think, 2 rectangles to form and L will make the most economical sense for us. Keeping to standard sizes makes sense.

Well...actually a circle contains the greatest volume with the least perimeter enclosure. So folks on an extremely tight budget, who want to build, should investigate circular structures.

And yet, whenever I sigh over an eyebrow window or ogle a barrel vault, Dad chimes in with, "Curves'll cost you!!!" *sigh* He's right, of course, because they're more difficult. But often really good looking!

Holly..."And yet, whenever I sigh over an eyebrow window or ogle a barrel vault, Dad chimes in with, "Curves'll cost you!!!" *sigh* He's right, of course, because they're more difficult. But often really good looking".

I love curves, arches and semi circles and they are indeed, more expensive.