Does option B have a basement at all? The problem with walkout basements, is your living level is on the 2nd floor in the back yard, so to access the yard you have to go up and down stairs or have a huge 2nd story deck, which is quite expensive.

No, I do not think you are over valuing the extra 350 sq. feet. If it is truly 5K more for 350 sq. feet, that is less than $20 per square foot???

The fireplace is another matter!! Can it be added later??

Generally, if you have kids, the larger house CAN be the better option for a lot of reasons.

Only you know which floor plan you can live with.

I could live with both, the big difference is Option A has a great layout with an open floor plan. B is okay. The 2nd flex room eats up some of the family room so it’s not as open. Option B‘s master is 3 feet wider, the rest is about the same.

We have 2 kids at home but should be empty nesters in 5 to 6 years.

Yes, both Lot A and B have basements. I have the optlon of going to a non walkout basement for A and/or B, the difference would be 17K, it only drops to 5 when A gets the walkout and I drop the fireplace in B.

Post floor plans for better advice.

Oh, and the reason why the fireplace was not added to option b is because of the size of the family room. It fits fine in option A, but option B is a bit smaller and the fireplace take up a corner. I’m hoping, cause I’ve not seen it, that option B without the fireplace makes the room look bigger.

Here are the floor plans of both options. I can not change these floor plans.

Option A

First Floor

Option A

Second Floor

Option B

First Floor

The gathering room loses a foot and a half in one direction and a half a foot in the other, not much but it’s enough to make me drop the fireplace to open the room a little bit more. Both A and B are about the same width so flex 2 eats up the gathering room and the kitchen is moved to the side.

Option B

Second Floor

I like the floor plan for Option B, you have a larger and more functional looking kitchen with a dedicated pantry space, a nice large dining area plus a great entry space. The Upper layout is nice too, with a very large loft (media space!) and you don't walk up the stairs directly into a door.

Option B seems like it will have the highest resale value as well with an option for a 5th bedroom and formal living space, plus the larger bedrooms upstairs. With that price difference it is a great value.

Option B for sure. The flex room in the front could be used for dining or office space and the additional flex space could be for a children's play room or guest bedroom. Option B just has more flexibility.

Option B, without basement or fireplace.

It’s interesting that no one so far values the walkout in A over the floor plan in B, and everyone thinks B would have more resale value.

A flex room will be used for my office. In option B the other flex room will be used as a play room. The wife and I would never use a dining room but at most once a year.

Whichever option, resale in your community will be enhanced by adding a shower to the half bath to allow for a first floor bedroom in the future.

I prefer to walk into an open space over a closed-in foyer, but which do you prefer - a dedicated entryway or the more open feel? If the you go with option b and flex space 1 is your office, would it be a pain to keep it clean since it’s the first thing people see?

I would pick option B. I have 3 young children and we moved into my current home when I was pregnant with the youngest. I realize open concept is popular, but I like having separate spaces. 2 flex areas on the main floor are great. I love having a music room (with a few toys) off my dining room where I can enjoy a cup of coffee or listen to music as well as a study with a door since my husband and I have a business. If kids are playing or watching tv in a common room it is nice to have these other areas to retreat to. I habe a two story with a walkout basement. I like the walkout basement but the main reason it is important to me is because our guest bed and bath are down there so it doesn’t feel “basement” when the in laws stay with us and they can have a nice view.

@Kirsten

I also prefer to walk into an open space.

Yes, Flex 1 as an office will be a pain to keep it clean. The office will get doors either way.

Personally I like the openess of A, but see more value in B. If this were the last house I owned it would be A, but it’s not. Expected time here is 5 to 8 years. But you never know, could be longer.

@Dan

I can add a shower to the half bath, it also comes with a closet in flex 2. Now it’s a 5 bedroom and that would slightly change what we did on the first floor. I would have to put the office in flex 1. Now as you walk in you go directly to the kitchen.

This option also means no need to create the in-law suite in the basement.

Option B, hands down.

Out of 30 or so lots taken, 20 are option A, 6 are option B, the rest are the other smaller options. Why are people overwhelmingly going option A?

"...Why are people overwhelmingly going option A?..."

Do you think the $5G difference in price has anything to do with it?

Apples to Apples, it’s about 17K. The extra 350 square feet cost about $50 bucks per, it’s only 5K for me because of the two I am considering. .I’d give up the walkout basement and fireplace on B.

I guess people are going with A because it’s a better layout, and it’s the model so you see it furnished.

Do you need a loft and two flex spaces? Is your family prepared to clean, maintain and heat/cool the larger home? Sometimes less is more. I vote A.

Sorry, I think they're both ghastly floorpans.

If I only had to choose from the two plans then I would vote A but no corner fireplace. I don't like the flex room open to the foyer in B. I don't like where the kitchen is placed in B and think it's weird walking through the foyer right into the kitchen.

I think I may rule out option A with the walkout basement, opting for just a standard basement for either choice. The only reason why I considered it was because when I talked to people about the walkout basement, EVERYONE said, if I had the option I’d choose a walkout basement. Once I add that cost it gets too close to a similar speced option B. even 10K is too close.

A walkout basement will make the rear of your house crazy tall. You will be very disconnected out the back and will have one of those small, really high decks that no one uses.

The idea of a walkout seems great - but it has to be executed well. Most builder neighborhoods I have seen use the walkout for a sloped lot (sometimes very sloped) and the back "yards" look terrible and are completely useless.

A ranch plan, integrated into a hill with a partial walkout can be idea - you walk out at ground level from a kitchen and gently slope down to a patio area outside a basement rec room or similar.

If I were going to be an empty nester in a few years I am not sure either plan would be for me - as the plans appear to be focused on young families who need many bedrooms and spaces and none of those bedrooms are on the main floor.

I fear both plans have "flex" space that won't function well as anything - and that's why the designer called them "flex".

I prefer the walkout from the house to be closer to the kitchen for summer grilling. I’d go with b and I’d keep the fireplace. The front room can be a small tv room, office or quiet lounge to escape the kids.

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need.

We received our tickets for Soldier Field June 25th No Filter Tour.

I hope 'the choir' doesn't screw up the ending this time.

As janni points out, a walk-out basement is often a crazy idea. It means constant two-level living, and often three-level living if the bedrooms are on the second floor. Imagine a BBQ where everthing must be taken from the kitchen and pantry, down the stairs, through the basement and out onto the back patio. Then the journies must be reversed to get the food, utensils and trash back to the kitchen and dining room. Every day!

Plus, it's often the case that the back yards of homes with walk-out basements are virtually unusable due to slope of the land, and/or it's just too far to get the lawn mover and hedge clippers to the back yard from the garage.

Plan B, with no basement. Get all your living on one level and an easy indoor-outdoor relationship.

Neither plan has a front hall closet or a mudroom, but you have school age kids who will need a space for coats, shoes, sports equipment, etc. You and your wife might want room for your own coats, umbrellas, vacuum, etc. I'd think about how you live, what you need, what paths you typically take through the house (garage to kitchen with groceries; yard to mudroom or powder room for kids after outdoor play or you after yard work; kitchen to outdoor grill; bedrooms to laundry...) and see which plan accommodates your needs best and allows for addition of closets or mudroom hooks or cubbies. Lay out your furniture to scale and see which plan allows a better set up.

Personally I wouldn't want to have the same house as 60-70% of my neighbors, but then again I live in an older town where every house is different.

einportlandor, I certainly did not get the house I "wanted" when I had one weekend to find a house when we moved from LA to KY in 1984. I looked at a lot of houses on that long weekend and we decided on the one that had the best neighborhood and best floorpan. Is it my "dream home"? Not at all! It's a 1 1/2 story 1948 house when my dream home would be a pre-WWII Georgian full two story (with a 3rd floor attic).

But there is compromising and then compromising. Compromising on location is always a mistake in the long term. Compromising on the floorpan will be as well. No matter how much remodeling is done, one can only move so many load-bearing walls in order to achieve what they want.

And compromising on a new build is a very bad idea. One assumes that the location is what the buyer truly wanted but to go through the hassle of building a house and ending up with a ghastly floorpan is just self-destructive.

If we had not found anything that was doable, we would have rented until we did find something. I've spent most of my life compromising on various things but I've learned which ones are NOT a good idea for compromise and which ones can be made to work.

Have you selected your lot? Might that not drive your choice of a walk out basement?

The shortage of windows in the main living areas in Option A would drive me crazy, so that would instantly disqualify it for me, unless the builder let you add more.

I like option B and I think you should get the basement and I think you should think about the fireplace.

And if possible I would have the half bath plumbed for a shower. When the parents visit, they won't have to go up and down stairs, they can bunk in the back flex room. Be sure and insulate between the flex area and the family room!!

The basement will be nice for when the kids are older, you can throw them down there for all their video game playing and sleep overs.

The fireplace is nice for the ambiance. I burn candles in mine at $9 per week during the winter months....November to March in central Indiana.

Hello everyone. Eric didn‘t mention that the ”kids” are 19, 17 and 14. Our 19 year old is moving away to college and will only be home a few times per year. Plan A is an open floor plan that feels cozy and almost has a small feel. I love it!

ptreckel yes we have picked the lot with the walkout basement but have time to change to a different lot and home.

Anglophilia, neither floor plan is ghastly to us so that is not the case.

Chicagans, Plan A has a small closet in the front right near the powder room. And I do mean smaaaallll.

"Café" and "Gathering Room"? Oh, Puhleeaze!

And 2 flex rooms? That designer ran out of ideas and punted on that floor plan.

Both plans are too McMansion-y, with a huge amount of wasted space.

Cafe just means area to put a kitchen table. Gathering room is a family room. Yes I agree 2 flex rooms are silly.

Yes, I know what Café and Gathering Room mean. My point is that somebody is putting on airs by using those names (which is also a McMansion-y thing to do).

If you do go with option B, I'd flip the powder room by the garage so that the door opens across from the stairs rather than being open to the FR, for more privacy. I'd do away with the corner pantry in the kitchen in favor of a longer counter run on each wall, and use the open space between the stairs and the dead space for pullout pantries. For sure post on the kitchens forum for a better layout (e.g., no butt-to-butt sink across from range; etc.) I'd steal space from the flex room for a proper front hall closet. For either plan make sure you get really nice garage doors that blend in with the rest of the facade since the garage is so prominent and you don't want it to be the focal point.

Sounds like you prefer Plan A, so why not go with that? Decide if the basement and/or fireplace are important to you and go from there. Don't talk yourself into something you don't really like just because someday/resale/someone said . . . listen to your heart. Good luck.

I would go with plan A.

First, the kitchen in plan B has no windows and when you are standing at the sink you are looking up the stairs. In plan A you will have a window to the back yard. The plan A kitchen is much closer to the garage which will make bringing in the groceries a lot easier.

Second, the living room in plan B seems very small. The living room in plan A appears much bigger, it flows into the kitchen better, and it has a fireplace.

Third, a basement is a great thing to have. I've never had one until now and it's so nice to have the room and storage down there. Mine is a walkout on the side because half of it is used as a side-loading garage. Our grading contractor built a retaining wall and brought the back yard up to within five feet of the finished floor, so our steps down to the yard are not bad. Also, if you have a basement, then you don't need the flex spaces on plan B.

Fourth, fireplaces are nice things to have just for the ambiance.

Last, if you will be an empty-nester soon, you really don't need all those bedrooms.

Good luck!

@Suru,

Thanks for the comments. Option A is preferred and all options come with a basement. It’s deciding is we want a walkout basement or regular one. There is a three bedroom option but the cost is only 5k lease than Option A.

We will be empty nesters in 5 years, but you never know.

I have not read all the comments but, depending on where you are located, a lack of basement can be a huge negative.

I would definitely go with a walkout or at least a daylight basement with either floorplan. In my area (Midwest), it's a negative to have no basement. Plus, a daylight or walkout will provide room to grow (ie future bedrooms/baths) if finished. (I realize that you don't need the additional bedrooms, but it would be good for resale.) I would add a fireplace if it wasn't a corner one. I'm not a fan of corner fireplaces and the trouble they bring with furniture placement.

We chose option A with a walkout basement and are very happy! Thanks everyone!