The kitchen will become a bottleneck with those two back bedrooms, especially when it's time to bring laundry to the laundry room.

We are considering 51746HZ as well. I would also love to see more pictures and any additional information someone may share.

What cpartist and Virgil said! You can do SO much better than this. OTT millwork in one part of the house, minimal in other parts, just screams subdivision builder home.

Is there really a window seat in the powder room? Does anyone, anywhere, curl up in a window seat in the powder room with a good book? Does anyone socialize in the powder room? (If you do, I might not want to know)

I don't think the kitchen works at all--and the kitchen is a throughfare to the back two bedrooms.

There's also a window seat in the master closet. I guess one might sit to put on one's socks and shoes, but it doesn't seem as if it'd get much usage.

Where in the master bath will you hang towels?

Why double doors in the bathroom and closet? How will those improve daily living?

The kitchen has no windows (that's a biggie for me)

I do like that the master faces the backyard and that the oversized garage recognizes the need for storage.

Some brick, some horizontal siding, some vertical siding, some heavy timber, a tall roof full of trusses ... what more could you ask for?

Omg. I missed the window seat in the powder room. I guess that's so you can sit and have a conversation with whomever is um, also sitting. What will they think of next?

Is there really a window seat in the powder room? Does anyone,
anywhere, curl up in a window seat in the powder room with a good book?
Does anyone socialize in the powder room?

I find that slightly troubling. Even more so since it's not in the master bathroom, where maybe a married couple that's particularly close would hang out together. Nope. They had to put it in the powder room your guests will use. The powder room anyone on the front porch could peer into, too.

Someone I know calls this "farm to gable"....

Very pretty! I think it would look beautiful in all white wood batten siding.

The comment that struck me was "you can do so much better" but where to look? I feel like I have looked everywhere online. Is there a go to place for good plans. We do like gabled roof and timbers.

Hello My little Arrows, you said "I feel like I have looked everywhere online. Is there a go to place for good plans." Though there are multitudes of online plans, finding one that works well and meets your needs is next to impossible. I believe that many on this forum, would encourage you to contact an architect or someone of design talent to help you. As well, there are architects on this forum, that may be open to you contacting them. Perhaps, my own story will be helpful to you. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4449548/the-journey-for-the-plan-has-finally-been-realized-long?n=40

Look up Allison Ramsey plans and The Bungalow Company plans

we are planning on using a local architect. I am have just been looking for stuff that I like {especially exteriors} to be able to show what I like. I know already how I want the layout to be so I have more or less been looking for exteriors that I like. Is that the wrong way to go about it?

Look for photos you like, not plans. Go around and if you find a house you like, take a picture. Start idea books showing exteriors and interiors you like. To give you an idea, you can click on my name and you'll see all my idea books.

Regarding the interior, I hope when you meet with an architect, you'll also be open to any new ideas the architect has in terms of laying out the interior too.

"I know already how I want the layout to be so.... "

Oh boy....let me C&P this AGAIN.....

A good architect, when given the chance, will provide a design that can give a client everything they want, but often in ways completely unexpected. But for that to happen it takes a critical element necessary on the part of the client in every successful project and that element is trust.

Often during our initial meeting, the client will reveal their ability or inability to trust others. If I feel the element of trust is not there they will likely be referred to a permit drafter. A creative person should explore other approaches with you in the spirit of "That's great but have you thought of this.......". But for that to be carried forward successfully it takes a trusting client to not only allow the architect to expand on alternative ideas but to objectively look at other approaches in a collaborative effort with the architect. And that's an intangible that all successful projects are born out of.

I can't tell you how many times a client sitting across the table from me has said "Wow! We never thought of that. We like your kitchen idea but how 'bout if we move the entry here and the pantry door there and...." As I hand them the pen. In some of those design sessions the client commands the pen almost as much as I do!

Just be ready to expect any preconceived ideas to be questioned. They may in fact turn out to be perfectly valid but at least they've been evaluated against alternates as any good architect should do.

Finally, regarding preconceived ideas, I've quoted on this board before these two quotes by two creative people.....

Henry Ford observed "If I had asked people what they wanted they would have told me "A faster horse".

And Steve Jobs mused “A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. Everyone wanted an iPhone when they first appeared, but no one could have described what they wanted before seeing one".

So put trust in your architect to carry you through the process in the spirit of Mr. Ford and Mr. Jobs and you'll have a home that is the very best.

And speaking of the best, here's wishing you the best of luck with your project. Exciting times!

I guess I did come off a little rigid. I am definitely open to ideas. I just have a few vague ideas of how I want house placement {example: master on opposite side from kids} I am however 100% open to suggestions and would not want to use anyone who wanted me to do all the thinking because I don't even know a lot of what I want.

I must be the only person on the planet who, upon investigating the link so that I could see the window seat in the powder room, said to myself, "Dude. That would make the most awesome baby changing area!"

(Note: All of my friends, as well as myself, have at least 5-6 kids, and everyone has somebody in diapers, so, I offer that by way of explanation. Lame? Perhaps. I am known to be a bit strange....)

This was the original plan that we were looking at https://houseplans.co/house-plans/1250/ I keep going back to it. But after looking at the "house of many gables" above this one seems plain...is it plain?

I wouldn't call that plain, no.....

Then again, I don't see anything wrong with "plain" if it's done well. I might or might not have told my architect that if he hands me something with a whole bunch of different materials on the facade and pointless gables that it will make my retinas bleed and I may bite. YMMV.

There is nothing plain about that at all. In fact it's overdone.

There are 3 different siding materials, (board and batten, clapboard and stone) 6 gables, a roof that looks like one side is a gable roof and the other side is a hipped roof, two different types of gable details in front, and 2 window styles.

Please go get yourself the book, What Not To Build. I found it helped me tremendously when I was designing my house.

Also take a look at this thread and notice the before and after. Her after is not plain at all, but is classic and beautiful in its simplicity.

Her before and what you're posting reminds me of how Julia Roberts looked when she was walking the streets in Pretty Woman. The after in the thread is how she looked when she dressed appropriately. Her beauty came through without the wigs, the extra makeup, the thigh high boots, etc. Just quality clothing simply designed.

In my area 90% of all new builds are the mixed material homes. I thought that was what was popular now. All of the really nice homes in my area have at least 2 different materials

"Popular" and "good idea" are not mutually inclusive. :-)
Then again, I seem to be WAY outside the box, so possibly that's just me.
I'm not saying that it's bad to have a bit of visual interest, but when you've got 3 different profiles of siding (sometimes in 4 different colors), brick AND stone, plus the trim... it gets too busy. The second plan you posted at least had only 2 types of siding and one type of stone that I could make out. But the stacked gables still give me double-vision.

Two different materials is probably okay, depending on how they're used. But all those gables and bump-outs, along with the crazy roof planes . . . that's way overboard. Just a bunch of random elements tacked on for no good reason.

Check out the book cpartist recommended. You may even literally be able to check it out -- I got a copy from my library. It's fine to have a "fancy" home -- a Victorian with gingerbread trim or whatever. But these examples are not attractive.

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance - Coco Chanel.

And it's true in architecture too.

Little Arrows, my area is the exact same way -- all of the bump outs, random rooflines, mixed materials on the facade, etc. It's one of the reasons I have been driven/inspired to build something different. Elegant, as CP just quoted. :-)

I am building this house. Of course way different than the plans. I took out the powder room and connected master bath with double entry shower. HUGE!!!! I also am doing columns in the flex room to open it up even more. Adding pine beams in the master. It will be beautiful when I get finished. Pics in three months

I love this from ARG.

A good architect, when given the chance, will provide a design that can give a client everything they want, but often in ways completely unexpected. But for that to happen it takes a critical element necessary on the part of the client in every successful project and that element is trust.

I love it when a client gives me lots of information. We have a robust conversation about their wishlist, the site, their lifestyle and their philosophy. Then... they let me do my thing. Those are always the best houses and the happiest clients.

It's fine to collect plans and pictures to give your designer a visual idea what your taste is. They don't have to be perfect and it's just as good to show what you don't like.

I would add to ARG's statement that the trust must go both ways.

I wonder how many folks collect photos of one or more various appendix(s) and then take them to their family doctor, saying, "I'd like mine to look just like this...but with a larger island and a 4-car garage!"...

The kitchen will become a bottleneck with those two back bedrooms,
especially when it's time to bring laundry to the laundry room.

To be perfectly clear, the red circle highlights the bottleneck spot -- a person sitting on a stool at the island will block entrance to the two back bedrooms /bath:

Is there really a window seat in the powder room? Does anyone, anywhere, curl up in a window seat in the powder room with a good book? Does anyone socialize in the powder room? (If you do, I might not want
to know)

That window seat is for when you don't want to curl up with a good book on the closet window seat. Window seats are lovely and everyone likes them ... but, really, why place them in these locations?

Then again, I don't see anything wrong with "plain" if it's done well.

When "plain" is done well, it become simple elegance.

In my area 90% of all new builds are the mixed material homes. I thought that was what was popular now. All of the really nice homes in my area have at least 2 different materials

That's true, but it's because today's trend is "stuff for the sake of stuff". More gables, add an accent of this or that, yes to a complicated roof. If you wee really crazy about those new builds that're going up in your area, you'd be buying one of them (cheaper and faster) rather than building your own house. So you can't really use those houses as a yardstick for what's good.

Other thoughts:

This is an often-discussed topic on these boards: Laundry patterns. Look at the path you'll have to take to move laundry to/from the master closet -- I'm tired just looking at it:

With the powder room backing up to the master bath, I'd lose the toilet-in-a-closet ... and I'd open a door in that spot into the powder room. This would give you the function of a powder room on one side /master bath toilet on the other side ... with only one toilet to clean, and that toilet in a comfortable sized room with a window.

Flip-flop the sink and the dishwasher. You want the sink near the fridge, and you want the dishwasher near the dirty dishes on the table.

Did anyone mention that the great room won't receive much natural light?

Overall, I don't think it's a horrible plan, and if you look at it as a starting point, it could become a nice house -- but as it's presented now, I side with those who say, "Eh, you could do better."

With the powder room backing up to the master bath, I'd lose the toilet-in-a-closet ... and I'd open a door in that spot into the powder room. This would give you the function of a powder room on one side /master bath toilet on the other side ... with only one toilet to clean, and that toilet in a comfortable sized room with a window.

Mrspete, you have tons of great ideas. Several times you've suggested that the homeowners share their toilet with the powder room. However many of us prefer NOT to share our master toilet with all the house guests. And what happens if a guest is using my toilet and I need to use a toilet?

I think the beauty of building a house is that if I can afford to build a house, then I can afford the luxury of having a toilet that only my spouse and I use.

I think the window seat in the powder room says it all. I have never seen that before.

I'm tellin' ya... No Window Seat... Diaper Changing Station!

Easy to clean top (granite, solid surface, whatever), with drawers below the window side to include padded changing pads, diapers, wipes, extra virgin olive oil for rashes, and small trash bags/plastic grocery store bags for wrapping and sealing soiled diapers. Trash can goes under the counter, in the void next to the toilet.

:-D

I would love to see other finished pics of this house.