I urge you not to look at floor plans online. They tend to box in your thinking. Make a list of your NEEDS and another of WANTS. Prioritize both of these and bring them to the architect/home builder. Let the architect do their job and create a beautiful plan. DO NOT try to draw out a floor plan yourself. Your home builder will not thank you for it and it makes the process a lot harder.

Brainstorm with an architect as you walk the site together. Then you’ll love what he draws up. Don’t fall into the plopping s house plan on a lot trap of trying to put a round peg in a square hole.

It sounds like you've identified your most important needs: aging in place, guest accommodations, recreational space and ease of caring for pets. It sounds like a modified ranch style might work well for one level living.

I understand Sina's point of view, but have to admit, I would be unable to resist the urge to look at floor plans if I had the opportunity to build a new house! You could take a look at some of the vintage mid-century floor plans to get an idea of how rooms relate to one another. I recommend mid-century, because so many of them feature the ranch/rambler style and also do a good job of integrating inside and outside spaces - which you seem to want.

But yes, good advice to list your needs and wants and then start looking at the work of qualified architects to narrow down which ones have a perspective you appreciate.

A few of things that I appreciate in a house are thoughtful storage, a well positioned guest bath or powder room and an actual entry with a coat closet.

Here's a fun site with lots of vintage mid-century floor plans, if you're interested.

Mid-century Home Style

Here's a real mid-century home: an Eichler in Palo Alto:

When we started our process, I did exactly what was suggested above. My list of must-haves and nice to haves. Some of our must-haves were:
-3 car garage
-ranch, split bedrooms
-3 bedrooms, 2 full baths
-office space
-fireplace

following... we are just finishing up our new build here.. yes start a spread sheet now as suggested..

Agree, write your list of must haves and you could look at plans to get ideas. Think about what you want for rooms, sizes, placement and then things like doorway sizes, storage, how you want to heat/cool your home, etc. There is so much more to it. We are also in the process of building and still changing things as we build.

many of the on-line floor plans are actually designed for a suburban lot, rather than 'acreage'. A licensed architect would be a huge value to you.

Thanks for the input! I'm definitely making lists and the builder asked me to get him lots and lots of photos.

We won't be building for about two years, just securing the lot. So I have loads of time to think, but your ideas and experiences are a huge help

Thanks Cheryl! I haven't used the message boards in years - since before Houzz bought out GardenWeb :) I'll go hunting!

I also created a Pinterest board to start gathering ideas, and it became a place to keep design selections and everything!!

Much, much better to develop a thoughtful and mutually agreeable list of needs and another list of wants, than anything else.

Going lookin on the Internet at plan factory designs is looking at "solutions". You can't have a workable solution until you have first identified what is needed to create a satisfactory solution.

And when it comes to considering property, always, always, always select property which allows your house's public spaces--living, dining, kitchen--to be oriented to the south. Always.

https://www.houzz.com/user/ayerg73

Make sure to check out ninday's link, new build simply stunning :)

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/cannot-procrastinate-any-longer-with-hardware-choice-dsvw-vd~5106472[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/cannot-procrastinate-any-longer-with-hardware-choice-dsvw-vd~5106472)

Warning;it is a very LONGGGGGG read, but worth it.

Is your builder going to design the house for you? Do you have the opportunity to bring in your own architect & plans to the builder?

The building company helps us be the GC. So basically they have all the sub contractors and professional folks and help gear us to making the right decisions and helping.

The owner does monthly classes and really knows his stuff and we are the kind of people that want to know every single detail about things so this seems like a good fit. During my last bathroom remodel the tile guy told me I was overthinking the grout. EXCUSE ME?! Grout is important! LOL

He does work with an architect that will work with us to draw up our dream home. He told us to expect the actual process to take months.

It's a little daunting, but I'm looking forward to putting all the effort in on our own too.

yes we had a house all drawn up & once hubby reviewed it and made his changes (,he is PEng) we scraped that design & started over as he felt it had too much wasted space. we went for an ICF build.

Have you seen and toured houses designed by the builder's architect? Do you like the architect's work?

Consider hiring an architect on your own.

You may not be able to resist looking at house plans online. If so, do keep in mind that you'll have a lot of room for a house that works for you, but look for features and layouts that you like, rather than an entire houseplan.

We bought our farm then researched architects and contacted one. We’d been looking at online plans here and there for years and nothing ever felt “right”.

We’ve been trying to walk the site with our architect for months but unfortunately due to weather and scheduling conflicts we keep having to reschedule. Finally decided to wait until the snow melts so we can see the whole 100 acres, where the water runs, what trees we should keep, etc.

Once we decide where to plop the house, we’ll start meeting to design it. I sent him a document about a month ago about who we are, what we enjoy doing, how we live, what our needs are, what we hope to have, and what would be nice to have.

I am no pro (obv), but I don’t think it’s a terrible sin to look at floor plans online - as long as you do it from the perspective of looking for ideas you like. Start with your list of must haves, and then look at floor plans that have those must haves. Do you hate them all? Why? Do you love them? What do you love most? I found that browsing floor plans helped me a lot- but I wasn’t getting married to a random online plan. It was more like just getting ideas of things I liked or didn’t. Most importantly, HAVE FUN! (And stay within your budget, lol)

IMO online floor plans can help you start tor recognize wht you don’t want but honestly the best is to make your list of must haves and another of if we can haves. Then hire an architect and when the time comes a kitchen designer since in my experience architects suck at kitchen design.You have lots of time to make good decisions and I would get the design down first and then find a builder BTW I would strongly discourage you from being the GC on a first build.

Given that you're looking 2 years out for your build, you can afford to slow down a bit in time. Yes- I'm like many others who suggest that you get custom plans drawn up. This is to be your forever home, so best to make certain that your needs/wants and some desires are 100% represented, within the plot plan.

Also, to the 2 years out- technology changes very rapidly. What seems like the best way to go today (so many things) may not be what you actually do, in 2 years. So keep up on all that.

A very small thing that has made a BIG difference in my latest custom build. For certain things, I ordered extra parts as I brought it all in. Mostly, that was the kitchen. Little things like extra vent filters for my vent hood. The exact bulbs, for that model. Truly- extra burners/burner tops for my Wolf 6 burner dual flame. My thought was that "things happen", and the worst thing to do is wait for it, then run around on the Internet, searching for the right part. So we have them, at contractor's prices. I did the same thing with some fairly modern low-flow toilet seats, and a couple other things.

It was cheap, considering after market. If I ever want to refresh OR sell, I can make my kitchen appear brand new- like nobody ever cooked there. LOL- I cook a lot.

KateE - good points. Yes, that’s been my experience so far. Trying to see what style layout seems logical. I’ve built before from a ‘cookie cutter’ neighborhood years ago and have remodeled a kitchen and a bathroom. It’s been great experience as far as learning I’d rather NOT have a huge glass wall to keep clean in my shower or that I’m in love with a big island.

But the floor plan ideas I’m digging so far are the extra storage stashed in the garage behind the cars or the completely separate trash ‘room’ at the outside of the garage to keep smells at bay. Those little ideas help me know what I’d like to throw in my plan. :)

Laurie - we might be soul mates!!! :)

I love the idea of using the discounts to buy extra for the future. That’s awesome advice

Looking at house plans seems like a good way to educate yourself but the pitfall of copying the work of others is you never know where to stop or how to use the elements you like for your house. Modifying and combining shapes and ideas of others to meet your needs is much harder than you think. What is missing in such a collection of ideas is a hierarchy. Not all ideas are of the same value: that's the hard part of design.

So, look at those drawings if you must but don't save any of it; make sketches and notes of ideas you find interesting in a notebook. That forces you to understand an idea and make it a permanent part of your vocabulary. A good designer will have collected thousands of them. Like any learning experience, you must work at it.

My first design professor made us draw from life daily, not to develop drawing skills, but to learn how to see things.

Picasso said, "Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal". Printing a photo is copying, making a sketch is stealing.

I started with a list of must haves and wouldn't it be nice to haves, but I also started with something even more important. I started with how I wanted to feel.

I had spent my youth (well 6 months in college) in Cholula, Mexico and fell in love with their courtyard houses. They felt like a small oasis from the outside world and I knew I wanted to create something similar. I also knew that I loved the cozy feel of a craftsman/bungalow house. So while I didn't do a traditional courtyard, I did do a U shaped house that enveloped my backyard so that when I am outside, I do feel like I'm in my own private oasis.

I also made sure not to include anything that I knew we wouldn't use. So for me a large laundry or pantry were not priorities, while a separate office for DH and a studio for me was important. Build only what you need and not what you think you need. Build for how you actually live and not the fantasy of how you might live because trust me, you'll never live that way.

Picasso said, "Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal". Printing a photo is copying, making a sketch is stealing.

With all the stealing I do, you'd think I'd be rich!

Build for how you actually live and not the fantasy of how you might live because trust me, you'll never live that way.

This, times 1000. It is so important to tell your own story, when building. What's important, what is not. It speaks to so much- and each person gets to prioritize. Do you really think you need that HUGE glassed in shower- are you ready to squeegee until you die, or are you already hooked up with a patient housekeeper, who will keep it fresh? Do you really want/need the oversized master suite- ask yourself if you're one who lives in your bedroom. On and on.

Personally, I wrote a story for my architects, based on their questionnaire. Extensive, and specific. Guess what? Got "dueling" plans (partners) based on the story within 3 weeks. We "married" the two and created the love child. Boom. I was in design for about 5 weeks- decorated architects, both specific to certain aspects.

If you are truly considering a custom build, write at story about how you want to live. Be HONEST, and watch the magic

Ayerg..I may be losing my marbles but didn’t you do a kitchen remodel on GW a few years ago with stained cabinets, soapstone and green backsplash? Same pendants as the ones I had in my last house.

If not...oh well.

Why, yes! Yes I did!

How are you liking those pendants??

Lol, I thought so. I have a good memory for kitchens I love.

i put those new pendants up as well as a new fixture over the breakfast room. Same as yours. They were not cheap As you know. It was a very mini makeover to sell the house. New hardware for the kitchen As well. Sold the house without even listing it.

saw my house on FB. New owner took down the new light fixtures and used an entirely different style. What a waste of $$$. I should have kept the old ones up, lol.