Hello Shaz B,

Not to be another cook in the kitchen of help you are receiving.... The Shell of the house, the time, the permits, etc. you may already have can always be salvaged. There's a Mies Van der Rohe quote, 'We know no styles, only building solutions.' Or something like that, wink emoji.

With that being said, if we keep the perimeter outline and look at the interior of the house from the view of - 'how do we function in the space? - where is my sofa in regards to my entertainment? how do I go from my master bedroom, to my changing area to my master bath?' then we can begin to define spaces that work for you. If those spaces really don't work well & change needs to be made - then you can go back to your Architect with an actual strategy and idea. If not, this architect - or the next - will continue to misinterpret what you want for something they think might get published, or just rush through it to get a deliverable payment.

You have some work & hard decisions ahead of you. We give a 15 minute analysis of any project for free. Hit us up on our profile!

Thanks,

-frank

Use a different technique to evaluate the next architect.

Unless you had a simple miscommunication about the two ensuite bedrooms plus master upstairs, this architect is not listening to the most basic things you're asking for.

Additionally, there are numerous weird things going on. Just one example is how do you get the third car in the garage. No garage doors are shown but the back side has a.c. units and the interior side is too tight to the guest suite to maneuver a car past.

Hate to nock a fellow architect, but I'd move on.

Looks like a nightmare to me! Did you get references? Did you look at homes this person designed? Did you do your homework? Did you record your meetings with them?

what the heck is that floor plan? It certainly isn't yours. Or anyone's. No, there is no salvaging that mess. (I'm not normally so brutal, but that is truly a mess and it's my birthday so I'll be as crabby as I want.)

You already know, you said it yourself: move on.

This is probably a crazy idea, but is there any possible way your plans got mixed up with someone else's? Maybe you got sent plans for someone who had completely different wishes and desires?

I'm grasping at straws here, I know. I'm just so confused how someone could be licensed and spend hours listening to you, and take your money, and not do the basic things you asked for.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Yes, we had several meetings with our architect and during the last one, she recited everything in writing and we signed off on it and assured us we’d be very happy with her product. We are baffled at this because we felt comfortable that we had asked enough questions, gotten enough references, etc.

We just can’t figure out the floating stove in the kitchen - is it on wheels? The curved wall in the master was a surprise. No bays drawn on the garage or how to get all cars in. The hidden dining room with adjoining powder room. On so on...

We’ve decided move on because this is a total re-do.

Normally i’m a fan of finding an architect, but like in any field there are good ones and bad ones. Looks like you got a dud

Whoa. There are, in usual scenarios with a good residential architect, SEVERAL rough drafts incorporating a wish list . Several meetings or more, with ordinary free hand sketching, circles on paper if you will. Lots of client/arch team work before THIS mess would come out of the computer. All of that is well before you'd be presented with a reasonably "finished" floor plan. What exactly, were the "several" meetings you had, about? What took place? Is this a large firm ?

This result looks like something that was handed over to a "newbie" at a puppy mill firm. Some apprentice with little talent or facing a huge learning curve, and then presented to you with no follow through from the expert at any time.It also looks like a situation where this firm may do mostly commercial work, and is not terribly interested in residential, and also has little understanding of same.

I would go back, and I'd express my disappointment. I'd want some money back as well. .......or give this one more shot and say to the powers that be, just what I said, ABOVE.

Do you ever cook? That cooktop in the island is so impractical. I do not like the location kitchen sink and really refrigerator in a hallway. Kitchen triangle is really odd. I hope the facade is phenomenal.... because the floorplan is pretty poor.

And you have to travel all the way around the upper hallway to get from the master bed to the coffee station. Just a bell and whistle with no reason or practical use.

And yeah, the hidden dining room.....

Do an internet search "architect license verification [insert your state]" and enter your "architect"'s name when prompted.

May be it is a practice... :)

Well...based on the OP's stated requirements, this design is not good.

Based on a simple architectural analysis of this plan as drawn, this design is not good.

We don't know anything about the communications and relationship between the OP and the "architect"...but...

I think it's time to move on find an architect who has better design skills and experience.

Is this the first time you've seen anything? As Jan said above normally there's a series of drafts where each defines the house a little further and some of the questions you had would have come up in the first draft.

What I'd suggest is a sit down design session with your architect, they're called charrettes, a three or four hour meeting where you know right off the bat if things are going different. And your architect can use it to float different ideas than what you have preconceived as he should while still in a "freehand" sketch mode. For conceptual design I do these all the time.

And here's what one looks like looks like:

And here's the drawing I'm working on in the photo. Detailed enough to illustrate concepts and a tool to discuss pros and cons with the client but not so detailed as to confuse forests and trees.

And only much later we get it to here. And when the client sees it there are no surprises:

Sounds like you guy went to the last step first.

But good luck with your project. Exciting times ahead!

It does seem strange that you are seeing a fully printed plan when you have not seen the hand drawn stuff first...

I would check to see if those are actually supposed to go to you - maybe it truly was a mix up. I would also ask for money back or dispute it if you paid with a credit card.

Let us know what happens

Sounds like your guy [attempted to go] to the last step first.

Sounds like you guys [attempted to go] to the last step first.

Thank you "runner guy" for the excellent visual of process ! Can I buy you a cheap roll of vellum and a box of Sharpies?

For doubters of this process ( I refer to a recent thread....) this is the dialogue that should happen !!

A couple of other suggestions. We're in the process of having our second custom house built. In both situations, we saw from the outside, and several from the inside, houses that each architect built, and the major reason we chose those architects was that we liked their style and their work. While each lot and site will be different, you can see how an architect addresses different items in a house.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience and I can see why you weren't happy. If you hate the design then I would suggest moving on to a new design with a new architect. Make sure you show them this so they know what you are not looking to have. This will save both you a lot of time and headache.

I love the label on the back of the house--Rear Porch (Lania). The 'architect' needs a proofreader.

This is a mess, not the least of which is the horrible front entrance with no clear, welcoming path into the living/entertaining area.

And thank you, Mark Bischak for lightening our day with the perfect, simple illustration that highlights the problems at the core of this: where's my red shirt? Priceless.

It does appear that they meant to put a bedroom over the garage based on the labels and didn't get around to drawing it? The second floor doesn't seem to be fully drawn with first the windows and then the walls disappearing toward the front of the house. It doesn't make the plan better though. And that further suggests that this was the first thing they drew, one floor at a time, starting in one corner and figuring things out as they went.

These types of closets are a favorite (in a negative way) pet peeve.

Too funny. When ISN'T a pet peeve negative? When it's a pet peeve pet peeve and they cancel each other out .... sorry Mark, I couldn't resist. : )

Pet peeves are bad; negative pet peeves are badder.

"Worser"............

Worstest

We’re still trying to make sense of it all but we’ve decided to move on to another architect. We’ll start looking for one next week once our headaches have subsided.

To those having a good chuckle at our expense, we understand.

Tell the new architect they may be exposed to some ruthless critics. It is a good sign if they accept the challenge, but the test is in the posting.

I just wanted to comment that I'm sorry for you because this plan is pretty bad. I hope you find a better architect (I don't know that you could do much worse than the person who created this plan) and get the exact home you are dreaming of. I know that no one wants to hear this, but it seems when one is building a custom home you are constantly taking two steps forward and one step back. This is one of those backward steps.

No step back should be THIS far back : ) That said, far better to find the trash can. Before it's a hugely expensive and disastrous result.

It is a good sign if they accept the challenge, but the test is in the posting.

I guess that's the reason why I'm the only one who regularly puts my "stuff" on here. It does take a little bit of courage, no question. Sometimes I smile at the thought that either I'm the only one with courage or the only one that has any work....LOL.

Still need to do a follow up on the last one which interestingly, none of the other regular architects/designers here bothered ringing in on.

It's a Passover and Easter collision! They rolled up the sidewalks! Everywhere .

What "last one"?

" Sometimes I smile at the thought that either I'm the only one with courage or the only one that has any work....LOL".

you'll enjoy this post

https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/dont-let-the-internet-design-your-project/

I remember reading that article awhile back and it's true. My stomach always churns a little bit when a house is posted but I encourage it because all it takes is one good suggestion for the effort to be worthwhile. I just council ahead of time to look past anything not helpful or posted in a insensitive way.

And in these everybody is looking for the perfect house, which doesn't exist. SINGULAR comments have been "But where's the dog going to sleep?", "Where are you going to hang your towel while in the shower?" and "I'd label it 'back entry' instead of 'mud room'". If THOSE THINGS are all that wrong with the design, we're, we're in great shape!!

And of course the "final plan" posting is an end of design snap shot of a dynamic and fluid process. A process where many compromises are made, the benefits of which are likely not apparent to the internet viewer. And then there's the group that always wants spaces bigger. I normally have a tight SF budget and to the best of my knowledge, no one has received a check to make bigger spaces happen.

Some of the worst experiences have been in the kitchen forum. I encourage the kitchen folks to look at it but the hazard there is while the kitchen folks preach "Don't let an architect design your kitchen" which has merit as the kitchen is their turf but some of those folks have no problem moving onto MY turf with moving walls, reconfiguring the 1st floor/rooms, adding/removing windows or redesigning elevations so we can get that perfect spot for the cookie sheets.

And coincidentally, while Bob and I have never met, we are good friends, exchanging private notes from time to time on matters of mutual interest. As a matter of fact, he asked me to take over his blog for a day to write about my design process (made a post about it here above) which I humbly accepted...it's here https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/design-in-a-day/ And my stomach churned there a little bit too but it worked out ok.

Oh, dear, OP. That's frustrating. Your architect ignored the program entirely. :-(

I hope your next foray offers something fabulous.

I had a certain degree of trepidation posting my house and I think Mark probably did, too. And there are some things that folks pointed out. However, most of the things in that plan are the way they are for a reason. So, yes I'm OK with being able to see the kitchen from the front door. Things like that. Then again, it's an unusual enough style for some very specific circumstances that it's hard for other folks to tell me what I do and don't need. OTOH, it did confirm that everything is functional and that the spatial flow and adherence to the program were all very good.

Everybody does have their own balliwick, and a tendency to fail to recognize the importance of everybody else's. I'm lucky that I started out with a good kitchen design to begin with. And any tweaking of more than cabinet layouts usually begins with my KD saying "ask your architect what he would think about X". (This mostly came up when we dropped the upper cabinets in favor of windows. The KD understood that this would affect the exterior symmetry, and therefore wanted Mark to do it)

There are also two extremes of design wonks: The function engineers and the aesthetic hyperesthetes. Too far in either direction gets you into trouble. Focusing solely on functionality an performance gets you, well, Brutalism. Focusing solely on aesthetics gets you any number of "masterpieces" that leak, lean, or just are uncomfortable to live it. Although in my experience, the creative designers are more likely to acknowledge to need for assistance from engineering experts. OTOH, the engineering-minded who can calculate efficiencies, design HVAC systems, etc. are less likely to admit the need for any assistance on the aesthetic and spatial design front. Mostly because they tend to disregard the entire concept.

I think the poor OP got one who was neither, and that's really unfortunate.

We are working with an architect and I have lost track of how many drafts and drawings we’ve gone over. Dozens or hundreds.

am sorry this has happened to you. However if this is your worst hiccup you are fortunate! And at least you trusted your instincts enough to question the situation

Here is a possible idea. does your town have an architectural review board? Or does a neighboring town? Find out who volunteers for those boards, or go to a hearing and listen to their questions and comments on other projects. That is what I would do if I were starting over. When our project went before the board I thought they were thoughtful and impressive.

"And in these everybody is looking for the perfect house, which doesn't exist. SINGULAR comments have been "But where's the dog going to sleep?", "Where are you going to hang your towel while in the shower?" and "I'd label it 'back entry' instead of 'mud room'". If THOSE THINGS are all that wrong with the design, we're, we're in great shape!!

And of course the "final plan" posting is an end of design snap shot of a dynamic and fluid process. A process where many compromises are made, the benefits of which are likely not apparent to the internet viewer. And then there's the group that always wants spaces bigger. I normally have a tight SF budget and to the best of my knowledge, no one has received a check to make bigger spaces happen.

Some of the worst experiences have been in the kitchen forum. I encourage the kitchen folks to look at it but the hazard there is while the kitchen folks preach "Don't let an architect design your kitchen" which has merit as the kitchen is their turf but some of those folks have no problem moving onto MY turf with moving walls, reconfiguring the 1st floor/rooms, adding/removing windows or redesigning elevations so we can get that perfect spot for the cookie sheets."

hey, great. I didnt know you know that architect. He is in my town and I have been reading his posts over the last few days.

Its sad that everybody on the internet is an expert and then people get the "disease to please" and start creating things for others instead of for oneself. One thing I've learned from looking at dozens of architectural designs online is architects break ALL the HOUZZ rules, ALL the time, and there is NOTHING wrong with that.

Helps to know what the rules ARE before one breaks them. When broken with INTENT a result can be terrific . When broken minus the knowledge, equally disastrous results can occur as multiple rules are broken in the same space, or minus an understanding of proportion , scale. symmetry, asymmetry and many other factors. Not to mention basic codes.......for function and safety.

as I said, everybody on the internet is an expert... or should I say a PRO

One first needs an understanding of the rules to break them. Picasso is an excellent example in the art world of knowing the rules and then breaking them.

Can someone come up with some synonyms for "go away" that sound really nice and polite? : ) : ) Lordylordylordylordy...........adding please comes to mind, but just a tad stronger.

DE polarizes every posting in which she makes a response.

Such a waste.

A friendly reminder to Jan Moyer, your continued pot shots at an outnumbered person can get OldCoop all heated up.

Debate all you want but quit it with the bandwagoning cheap shots

Fascinating.

There's no such thing as truly free advice. If you post here, you "pay" by having to have a thick skin, not having control of where comments go, not having control of how they're delivered, and having to wade through conflicting and bad advice to get to a few gems. That said, you're not paying actual dollars and you're getting professional and high-level amateur feedback, so I'm of the view that you shouldn't complain about the "price." (Idioms about gift horses and mouths and free lunches come to mind). Ignore the irrelevant, wrong, and insensitively delivered advice if you like, take what's of value, and be glad this forum exists. Or at least that's what I remind myself. When I've posted my plan I've gotten all sorts of comments; while the negative (especially the unnecessarily rude, irrelevant, and wrong) can be painful, it's more than outweighed by the valuable comments I've gotten.

Hello again Shaz B ,

It's upsetting that any professional is having a chuckle at your expense, or using this thread to highlight how great they are. Unfortunately, this is quite common on the houzz forums.

In the interest of actually being a professional that wants to help someone - I'd like to offer you (2) free rounds of home sketches for YOUR DREAM home. Shoot me a message on my profile if you'd like to take me up on my offer. Not to brag, only to let you know I'm not a joker - I've been published multiple times, won an international design award & also (2) architectural competitions - though I was only an honorable mention that time I entered a sculpture competition.

Your home is not a joke to me. Please feel free to reach out.

-frank

I take it Shaz didn't take the bait the first time??