How many people, kids, will live here?

Would you turn the pocket office into a full bath, for the seniors?

You‘ll want to take the kitchen over to Kitchens for improvements. I’m thinking the refrigerator should go to the right of the range (move the range to the left), so you can improve the pantry access.

Upstairs, who will have Bedroom 2? Their bathroom is in direct view of everyone coming up the stairs! Unless they keep the bedroom door closed, which they probably will because “Mo-o-o-m, everbody barges into my room every time they come up the stairs! Make them stop!”

Thank you @bpath! Just two young adults in the house -- no kids. We are actually planning to turn the pocket office into a full bath; for exactly the reason you mentioned (aging parents). Good thought on the kitchen!

We are planning to use upstairs bedrooms 2 and 4 as offices (but our builder suggested designing them with closets so they are still technically bedrooms; for appraisal purposes). We are toying with the idea of keeping the master bath upstairs and eliminating the second upstairs bathroom altogether; since it's just two of us and we'll have a full and half bath downstairs also. TBD on that, since our builder mentioned it might also have implications for appraisal purposes (which we're trying to be moderately mindful of, for our construction loan).

First: Do you and the design/build firm understand Architectural Designs' Copyright Notice?

Second: How does any plan you "select" relate to your site?

Third: I do not recommend small windowless gas chambers, small walk-in closets, bathrooms with more than one entry, exterior walls without a window in a room, angled walls, laundry rooms located where it is a chore to change loads, kitchens with overly large work triangles, double door main entries opening into a narrow space, and barn doors.

Thanks for the feedback @Mark Bischak, Architect! Welcome any other thoughts!

I think we are good with the copyright/license; the plan we purchased came with a license that specified the purchaser could modify for a single build.

The site (14 acres) is flat with an imperceptible slope down the back, so we aren't foreseeing any issues. Most of the other homes in the area are colonials, so we'll be a little out of the norm, but we're setting the house back anyway, so it won't stick out too much.

Finally -- great list, thank you (especially about the barn doors - I grew up working in a horse barn, and find barn doors in houses to be inconvenient (if functional) and off putting (in any case)..).

Thanks, @devonfield. Our builder seemed confident and they are a reputable local company, but I thought it seemed optimistic too. Might have to have another discussion to confirm.

Hope your build/planning is going well, and you're feeling less stressed than we are!

The website is all renders, albeit really good ones, not actual photos of a home built to that plan. If this is just the architectural 3D render of the design, then cost to build is going to be somewhere between DC to Light. I would want to see actual built homes by the original architect or designer before I'd want to use this plan with a builder, unless that builder has built at least one of the original designer's homes. Best Wishes

If your appraisal indicates keeping both secondary baths upstairs, I assume you’ll just shrink the laundry from a small room to a closet with doors facing the landing?

Consider arranging the new master bath so that, if you must have a toilet room, have a pocket door. I don’t imagine you are always both in the bathroom at the same time, so you may not need to closet the toilet door every time. A pocket door saves you space.

Just a thought about the bedroom closets. We used a bedroom as an office in our last house: we had the builder put in shelving and a few drawers instead of hanging space in the closet. Very useful for storing books, supplies, files etc and could always be converted back to a regular closet for resale.

So you don't need all the bedrooms upstairs. You don't need all the bathrooms. You don't need the breakfast area.

You do realize when you change one thing it also impacts how the exterior looks too.

Wouldn't you be better off getting exactly what you want by working with a qualified architect? They are great at giving you exactly what you didn't realize you want and need,

If you're planning for a forever home, why not aim for something one level?

Similar aesthetic, similar size, one floor:

https://houseplans.co/house-plans/1258/

"We view this as a forever home."

I have had two "forever homes" so far. The older I get the higher the probability of getting one increases. The "forever homes" posted here on Houzz I have seen have been designed by someone that never had to use crutches or never confined to a wheelchair. Life is uncertain and things change over time, and sometimes in an instant, and your health is a big thing. I could not stay in the home I lived in after my car accident, I had to stay in an assisted care living facility for two months (I designed it). The design you are considering does not look like it will meet your long range plan or you need to think harder about your potential future. And I doubt the designer in the design/build firm is qualified to truly meet your needs.