Meet with a local architect. How the house design relates to its site is paramount. A house design based upon your specific site will make the best utilization of the views, among other things.

( As far as the plan posted, I am prescribing to the advice my mother gave me, "If you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all")

Well... all your intentions for fixing this plan address definite problems with it. But you're missing the point. A house is a 3 dimensional space. A floorplan tells you very little about the requirements for building that house. You cannot cannot substantially change the footprint of the house (e.g. straightening the garage) without affecting the roof. You cannot add windows from the inside only-- you have to look at them from the outside or you'll end up with an un-balanced looking house.

Dreaming is fun. Wandering around houseplan sites is fun. But if you're ready to start doing, a pre-made houseplan is not the place to start. Either go through local model homes until you find something you like and then talk with the builder. Or, if you have the cash to go custom, take your wants and needs to an architect (and leave the houseplans at home!).

You need to work with an architect. What is obvious is you don't know what you don't know. Sorry to be blunt.

Can you select a different builder who might have plans that would work? I have never built a house from the ground up but I know enough to know that the modifications you're talking about are like designing a whole new house.

"We have an appointment with an architect but after talking to a builder we are not sure our budget will allow for a custom home."

Talk to the architect and then a different builder maybe? From what you have posted so far I do not see how you can't afford to not use an architect (and quite possibly another builder). You realize why the builder is telling you these things don't you?

Thank you for all of your comments. I really don't think the builder is trying to pull something over on us. I've reflected on it and I really think it is my insistence on a walkout basement. I'm the one who asked the builder if it was possible to adapt one of their plans for a walkout not them. At this point I am exploring possibilities. I will see what the architect has to say and how much it is. My fear is that the architect will design something that is over our budget. I will, of course, stress that we want to stay within our budget to the architect but I have heard stories (on houzz and IRL) of people unable to build the plans architects have designed because of budget.

Talk to a few local architects; not all architects are the same. Their ability to design to a budget is important, their fee is important, and their ability to design something that meets your needs and fits the site is important. Express to them the important feature you desire the design to have.

Thanks Mark! I need a little encouragement. Oh I've got my list of needs and wants. Been working on that for ages.

And as i posted in your other thread, also think how much house you really need and how you can make rooms do double duty

The last thing you want to happen is to be sitting in the living room of the builder's plan and say to yourself. "Boy, if that roof for the covered porch wasn't there I could see the tops of the mountains", or something along those lines.

Even if you decide not to engage an architect, talking to a few will give you piece of mind. Either way you will benefit from it. Don't be discouraged if any of them have a poor sense of humor.

cpartist - Yes I've given it a lot of thought and read the Not So Big House. We are trying to keep it to 2500 - 2800 sq ft. I live in a 3500 sq ft house now and don't want such a big house. Of course when I had five kids it was great. We are also thinking of remodeling a downstairs bedroom into a master so trying to keep the summer home reasonable so we can do both projects.

Great you are going about this the right way. Try and make all rooms do double duty. Trust me when I say you won’t regret that.

And again I repeat to make the house accessible as you age and that probably should include an elevator since it’s an upside down house. A basic elevator is not that expensive and for now can be used as extra storage. Lol

BTW our house is only 6/7 rooms but is 2870 sq ft.

we have 5 adult children and grandchildren that would come regularly to visit.

How many families would you expect to visit you at once? I'm assuming you aren't planning to host ALL those children and grandchildren at once? Several things I'd do to this plan to make it adult-children-and-their-families friendly:

- Perhaps those secondary bedrooms should become bunk rooms? You can find lots of examples online.

- A pocket door to "close off" the secondary bedroom wing would provide privacy for the children's families, and it would save you heating /cooling costs when no one is visiting.

- Do you need walk-in closets for the guest rooms?

- Is the dining room big enough for all those guests?

and agrees a walkout basement is the best type of house for our site.

If you have adult children, I assume you're not young? (No offense -- we're probably about the same age.) Keeping everything on one floor might be a wise choice.

Convert closets for BR 3 and linen for stairs and make BR 3 a sunroom or away room.

The closet doesn't sound like a big deal ... but the stairs don't seem realistic. Likewise, if you're planning to host guests frequently, I don't see how you can give up a bedroom.

Straighten out garage

For what purpose?

Other thoughts:

- I'm not in the camp of "either you have a custom design by an architect, or you basically live in a double wide", a philosophy that is oft-touted on this board, but I do have two overriding concerns about the plan you've chosen: 1) You describe the lot as picturesque /filled with views, yet you've chosen a plan that sandwiches your public spaces /the spaces where you'll spend your waking hours into the middle, which robs them of the best light /the best views. 2) You're talking about making major changes to the plan you've chosen. It's very possible to find success with a standard plan, but it'll work best if your changes are minimal ... and you're not talking about making a tub into a shower and altering the kitchen cabinet layout ... you're talking about adding a whole basement level. When you're looking at this many changes, the benefit of using a stock plan go out the window.

- You say this is a summer house, and you're concerned about budget. As such, cutting the garage could save a good bit.

- I'd lose the tray ceiling in the master. I just don't like them.

- Is that a pantry in the hallway between the garage and the kitchen? Outside of the master closet, I don't see a lot of other storage in the house (no coat closet, no broom closet), and this might be used for more than just kitchen goods /food.

- Speaking of the master closet, if this is a summer place, do you really need a closet that big?

- A door between the laundry and the master closet would be a nice luxury.

- 2500-2800 is a big house.

we have 5 adult children and grandchildren that would come regularly to visit.

How many families would you expect to visit you at once? Most likely one or two at a time but could be everyone. We would have air mattresses if that happens. We are used to that.

- Do you need walk-in closets for the guest rooms? No

- Is the dining room big enough for all those guests? I was trying to have a dining space where we could put an extra table (foldout from Costco) if needed. Even if we have to temporarily move furniture. That's what we do at our main residence. Maybe 3-4 times a year.

and agrees a walkout basement is the best type of house for our site.

If you have adult children, I assume you're not young? (No offense -- we're probably about the same age.) Keeping everything on one floor might be a wise choice. Not young but not old either ;-). I am not opposed to one floor at all or a two story. The site lends itself to a walkout so that's why I was going in that direction. My thought was to put two/three bedrooms (one a bunkroom) and family room in walkout. We could shut that up when kids aren't there.

Convert closets for BR 3 and linen for stairs and make BR 3 a sunroom or away room.

The closet doesn't sound like a big deal ... but the stairs don't seem realistic. Likewise, if you're planning to host guests frequently, I don't see how you can give up a bedroom. I wondered if there was enough room for stairs. We were going to have the bedrooms in the walkout. Maybe lose the wall by the fireplace??? After I gave the okay the designer/draftsman (is there a gender neutral name for this occupation???) was going to work on what he could do.

Straighten out garage

For what purpose? I don't like the angled closet.

Other thoughts:

- You say this is a summer house, and you're concerned about budget. As such, cutting the garage could save a good bit. I thought of this as well and maybe build a detached later if we felt like we needed it.

- I'd lose the tray ceiling in the master. I just don't like them. Agreed

- Is that a pantry in the hallway between the garage and the kitchen? Outside of the master closet, I don't see a lot of other storage in the house (no coat closet, no broom closet), and this might be used for more than just kitchen goods /food. I was going to have him carve a closet out of BR2. Storage would be in walkout or garage but if no garage...

- Speaking of the master closet, if this is a summer place, do you really need a closet that big? No. Don't want a tub either.

- A door between the laundry and the master closet would be a nice luxury. I was going to do that!

- 2500-2800 is a big house. I should have qualified that statement. I am trying to get the smallest house I can and still fit my needs/wants. Because we have a big family and we want them to visit a lot I want to be able to accommodate them within reason. I thought we could do that in 2500sqft but have my husband and my footprint much smaller. We are trying to do that in our main residence by converting the downstairs bedroom into a master. We would then set AC at a higher temp (we have three AC units (ridiculous but there was an addition by previous owner so we have two down and one up.) We live in FL so we can't shut off completely or we couldn't keep the humidity under control. Trying to do the same for the summer home.

I may missed this in the discussion, where will the summer home be built?

Mark - Western North Carolina

I’ve used an architect twice....wasn’t that expensive (10% of project cost) and well worth it. A good one should know where $ can be saved to help you get what you want, in budget (stock windows, sizing of rooms, roofline. If second home would def give up garage if that’s what is needed to get what you want in the house (a very nice shed can be gotten for $5k and can hold all the toys). Your idea for the walkout as a guest space is great; I would think about adding a little kitchenette as well (some day those grands will be teens you will really appreciate them not traipsing upstairs to get a snack at midnight). Best wishes on your project!

Thank you. For a while there I thought Florida grew mountains.