We would nee to see the layout of the house as well.

I like it as it is now, but to determine if an angled would be better a plan and a site plan would really be the best. The latter is how the house sits on the property along with driveway/walkways etc.

It would be more complicated to frame it with an angle so unless the builder gets paid more I could see him pushing back from that perspective.

Thank you for the comments. Here's the first floor. I know angling will be more money-how much could it be $20K?

Angled garages are like too many pocket doors. Builders hate them... for good reason. The angled truss system is very complicated and wasteful. If it's important to you then go ahead, but I feel there are better ways to make the plan fit your style preferences.

Thicken your skin, there will likely be several commenters critiquing your plans. Are you married to this layout?

Thank you for the comment. I'm negotiating with the builder now, so I'm open to suggestions. We have 5 children and this layout works for us, but open to ideas. Thank you!

Here's a sketch on the plan which doesn't involve taking the exterior location etc. into consideration or how it would work with the upstairs and how the roof would look etc. You'd be adding quite a bit of square footage and you'd need to work out how the roof would tie in to the main house etc. I think your current elevation looks nice. I'm afraid the roof and how it connects into the house would be messing that up.

BTW you do have what I see as a bit of an issue right now with your roof as it is too. The water will flow down the garage into a wall of your house. I would think you'd need a valley to bring the water forward and maybe your elevation isn't detailed enough to show that so I would verify it on your roof plan to make sure you don't have any water issues. See the highlighted area.

Thank you. We will definitely ask the builder, but the sketch is not to scale. Are there any other options to create the courtyard effect? Would you leave the wing walls? I just don't want the house to look like everyone else and I like elongate the footprint.

Gird your loins for a lot of comments on that floor plan.

You're going to hear from the folks who will tell you that you can absolutely never walk through a bathroom to your closet and all the mildew issues with that, etc.

I'm seeing that the main traffic pattern is going to be through the dining room from the stairs to the kitchen, and through the kitchen (I think that's in front of the fridge or maybe wall ovens) and that last part is bad.

And your laundry room is so far from all the bedrooms - that's going to be lugging it across the same traffic path.

I'm sure you think everyone is going to go up through the great room for this traverse, but with this set up, I don't see that happening in reality.

Thanks for the comments. We don't really care about the traffic patterns. This floor plan fits our family of 7.

@Lillian Rose - you could make the garage free standing and pull it forward. This solves any roof issues as well. However you no longer have an attached garage. Not sure if that is an issue in your climate or not. You could build a covered walkway.

Other ways would be to have a circular driveway in front of the house and then use landscaping to create a courtyard effect. I think this would be my choice as garages aren't really a feature IMO.

BTW the sketch took your garage as already drawn and turned it. It is the exact same size as on the original drawing so very close to scale. I turned it so that any driveway approach wouldn't interfere with the house. However with the garage angled and entered from the front with 3 doors it means you have a lot of driveway right in front of the house.

See the first picture under courtyard designs as an example how it is a courtyard but not framed by buildings.

http://landscape-ideas.net/Ideas/driveway-landscaping-ideas-photos

@lyfia Thanks. Yes, this makes sense. We are in the mid-west, so not ideal for a free-standing garage. I see what you are saying about all driveway, I just thought the curve of the house would go with the curve of the driveway and I can landscape around. Similar to this,

/\ That is really pretty and I think that's a nice thing to try to do (your OP) and if you can angle the roof like that picture, it'll eliminate that drainage issue that @lyfia pointed out.

But please, please care a little bit about traffic patterns, unless you literally don't cook at all. Especially with all those kids, you're not going to be happy with them traversing through the kitchen in front of the fridge when you're trying to cook. If those are wall ovens there, it's actually dangerous.

This inspiration pic is a much better solution than to have the garage doors in the front...we have the garage doors in front and it feels like everything in front of the house is concrete.

@Lillian Rose - that looks very nice, but it is a 2 car garage so the approach is a little different. Do you want the garage doors to be the first thing you see when you drive up? Consider how the driveway would need to be for the house to work well with any of the options you are considering. If turned this way you want the driveway to be so you can easily access the garage too.

Here's the garage turned that way. Still have issues with how to tie in the roof to your house. It is hard due to the raised wall area you have.

@lyfia Thank you! No, I'm still wanting a 3-car side entry. Maybe it won't work.:( If not, would you keep the wing walls and circular drive and landscape around?

Are the wing walls angled?

I don't believe so, but I can ask. Maybe I could angle those?

We designed a house with an angled garage, but it wasn't an aesthetic choice - it was a lot limitation. I wanted a side entry but we couldn't fit it on the lot, so my choice was either angled or front and center. Unfortunately, you can't just angle the garage and have that be the only change - it affects the entire house's layout and roof. We had a designer who managed to do it and still keep our roofline simple, along with keeping the interior spaces similarly sized, but generally you end up wasting space with the angle, and our costs were likely much higher than they would have been if we'd kept things at 90 degrees.

Honestly, I prefer the current elevation. But if you really want the angle, you could separate your garage and connect it to your house through a breezeway mudroom. You're looking at a lot of plan changes to do that, but that would be the case regardless.

If I were you I would get a site plan where you place the house on the site and plan out the driveway and walkways and then you can use that to figure out how to get it more towards where you want it to be. If you don't feel confident doing so yourself I would hire a Landscape architect to help you out in creating a plan.

As to c9pilots comment - I don't have time to review the plan itself, but traffic patterns are an important part of how well a house lives. When we build a custom home it is something that should be considered as it can make a huge difference in how the house lives vs. how annoying certain things are in the house. It's not just about having the space we need it is how those spaces relates to one another and work with our daily life.

I'm just giving a random example and not necessarily related to your plan, but say the stove is placed in the kitchen which is also the main walkway through the kitchen - this is going to get annoying for the cook, but is also a burn hazard.

Another example is how far does a person have to walk to do everyday tasks. For example we fired our last architect and among the things that got us there was how far his design made me walk in the morning to do my regular morning task of waking up the kid and managing them while also cleaning up in the kitchen and making myself and the house ready to leave for work and school.

One more that is often not considered for kitchens is if you want helpers ie other people to help make dinner is how to plan so that there are convenient spots available to do that as in having work surfaces that have easy to access a sink and stove from more than one spot. This applies to spouses helping other as well as kids helping out.

Planning for chores to be as easy as possible is another thing. Consider how laundry/dishes etc. are handled in a persons household and plan the design to make those easier.

Just something to consider as you spend a lot of money on building a house that I'm assuming you want to live in for a long time. Getting these things right means you won't want to move in a few years because some things drive you crazy.

Those walls could be an option to create an angle. Maybe straight out and then an angled portion at the end of that to sort of frame the house.

Yes, and thank you for the detailed feedback. I appreciate it! The home isn't entirely custom just a few things. Here's the link to see the entire space. We've added a 16 ft. Hearth Room and 5th bedroom. I sincerely appreciate all your comments-they are valid and we are spending alot of money, so I want to make it right, as we'll probably never move again :) Westbrooke

Thanks for the comment but it was less than helpful or intelligible

I see it is more of a production home. Not much that can be done. However I do see an option that would make your kitchen work so much better and that is this one. It makes the dining a little further, but you get a kitchen that multiple people can be in and it is also not a walk through area. It is also larger for a large family. Would it be an option? The Hearth room would be very nice off of there too.

I doubt seriously that the builder is really going to allow that change. If they do, they will charge an outsized fee for it. As in, probably double the 40K of foundation, framing, and driveway changes.

If you want to make changes, focus on the things that need changing. That list is a lot longer. Changing the garage adds nothing but expense, plus water handling issues. Changing the kitchen changes how the home lives. For the better. That is the type of change to fight for. Once you start down the road to improve how the home works though, you might just go with a different house.

Here's an angled wing wall by a garage although it also has a gate for a path so a little different than what you have drawn. From http://designingdomesticity.blogspot.com/2015/02/architectural-inspiration-wing-wall.html

@Lillian Rose - "You're going to hear from the folks who will tell you that you can absolutely never walk through a bathroom to your closet and all the mildew issues with that, etc." And you'll also hear from folks, like me, who love master closets that are accessed through the master bathroom. Ours is like that, and we love it.

One nice thing about your master closet is that it doesn't show clothes "going around the corners." The clothes rods on the long walls are great, and I like that it has shelves just inside the door to the right (as you walk in). You could have double rods/shelves for part of it, increasing the amount of clothes you can keep in there.

One thing I'd modify, if possible, is the doors to the master shower and toilet room. It's better for the toilet room door to open outward, in case of the person inside having a medical emergency but his/her body blocking the ability to open the door inward. As it now is shown, though, the door opening out would potentially interfere with the shower door. So, if the shower door (and shower head) could be moved to the other end of that side shower wall, it would be out of the way of the toilet room door.

I agree with Lyfia that the alternate kitchen would be a better layout. It would allow the stove to be easily be vented to the outside. I don't think the small extra distance to the dining room would be an issue, because I'm guessing your family would eat most of your meals at the table in the breakfast area, and only use the dining room for holiday meals or when you have company over for meals.

Thank you and we didn't chose the alternate kitchen because it's identical to our current home and you lose the small gathering area around the fireplace. My current home is very open and after 8 years I wanted something different. Everyone brings up good points, so I'm considering.

You can’t get both the alternate kitchen and the hearth room? That would be lovely.

I didn't realize it was a production home. I would place a huge bet that the contractor would never let you make that sweeping of a change (angle the garage). We just looked at doing a production home with a builder who also does custom and they wouldn't even let me rearrange a bathroom within the same footprint.

I agree that the alternate kitchen layout is much better. I would think alternate kitchen + hearth room would be available. You still get the lovely cased opening if you do the alternate kitchen layout.

Can you do the alternate kitchen layout, then put an actual hearth in the hearth room?

IF the builder allows the angled garage, it’s going to require a complete re-design of the floor plan.

Yes, I can do the alt. kitchen and Hearth room, but It's similar to my current home. The builder allowed us to add a 5th bedroom for $1900 and we've changed a few other things, but it sounds like the angled garage may not happen. I'm waiting to hear back from the Engineer.

I avoid:

1. Angled walls without damn good reasons.

2. “Hearth Room” without a hearth.

3. Living room labeled “Great Room”. “Great Room” is a term reserved for an open space with an area for lounging, dining, and the preparation of food.

4. Laundry rooms without doors to contain noise.

5. being able to sit in a powder room where you can watch someone walk in the front door.

6. Double main entry doors.

7. Masonry only on the front elevation.

8. Poor kitchen designs.

9. Overhead garage doors wider than ten feet.

10. Garages without a man door.

11. Side elevations with the only window at the master bathroom tub.

12. Views into bedrooms from public spaces.

13. Clothes closets directly accessible from a bathroom.

14. Gas Chambers.

15. Jack & Jill bathrooms (betting there’s one upstairs)

16. More than three exterior finishes.

17. Board & Batten with boards wider than 12 inches.

18. Fake shutters.

19. House designs that do not take the site into consideration.

Thank you for the comment. I happen to LOVE..

1. Angled walls

2. “Hearth Room” without a hearth.

3. Living room labeled “Great Room”. “

4. Laundry rooms without doors

5. being able to sit in a powder room where you can watch someone walk in the front door.

6. Double main entry doors.

7. Masonry only on the front elevation.

9. Overhead garage doors wider than ten feet.

10. Garages without a man door-because this is a bit sexist

13. Clothes closets directly accessible from a bathroom.

15. Jack & Jill bathrooms (betting there’s one upstairs)

16. More than three exterior finishes.

17. Board & Batten with boards wider than 12 inches.

18. Cedar shutters

@Lillian Rose, one thing I noticed in your floor plan is that it could use a couple more windows. I would add a window in the laundry area and another window or two in the master west wall. I would bet that you could probably use a few more upstairs too.

The other thing I noticed is the electrical plan that was drawn in. For me, that would not be enough lighting in a house. I like lots of lighting, all on dimmers, to be able to adjust to different activities. So much easier to add these upfront!

If you go forward I like the idea of a detached garage with breezeway. I think that’s the only way to avoid roof wonkiness with the angle.

id also go to the site and stand approximately where key windows will be and think about what view might be blocked by the angled garage. Depending on situation this may be desirable or undesirabke! a garage that sticks out can really make a yard feel compressed and you can almost “lose” parts of it. On the other hand it can be a great way to block an undersirable view. I’d go physically to the site.

Mark Bischak, my neighbors’ son had something called opposition defiance......

Thank you to everyone who had constructive feedback. We all have different opinions. The original question was on angled garages, so while appreciate everyone's feedback, if you don't have anything to say regarding the exterior-don't comment. :)

An angled garage will not improve the look or functionality of your house.

I get that it’s tough to hear negative feedback on a plan you were happy with, but there are improvements that will help the functionality of the house any may reduce cost if you’re open to them.

@lyfia @c9pilot I did go with the alternate kitchen and moved the FP back in the Hearth room. Thank you you both for providing great feedback. Happy Sunday :)

That is going to be terrific. Did you decide on the angled garage or just angling the wings? Be sure to post a finished product someday!

Will do. I'm actually adding more brick and stone to the exterior above the doorway and window above, so I'm not going to do the wingwalls-may be a little much-lol! I'm still waiting to hear on the angled garage, but I'm expecting they won't do it. I'll keep you posted for sure :)

What do you mean “adding more brick and stone”?

What value would the angled garage have? I quite like the garage as is. I personally would not fight for the angle and would earmark that money elsewhere.

I know you didn't ask about the layout or other things. I have no negative comments but some questions to consider below...

Will you use the space off the kitchen as a rec room or family area? How will it suit your families needs?

With a bigger family think about where people will be. Where will you be when all together and how comfortable will that be? What if a child needs to study or has a friend over and wants to be away from the group? What does it look like if you have company over? Where will kids go?

On the elevation. I've added a porch which isn't pictured in the rendering, but it's just a simple herringbone and fieldstone on the floor and two steps to the porch. Thought the siding behind the door looked odd, so bricking that and to the top of the window above the door. This is my inspiration picture..

Thank you. I worked with a builder who did angled garages and I just like the look. It creates a different look you don't see very often. This builder was a $1M+ builder, so I'm assuming he was used to doing whatever you asked. We've changed the kitchen layout to be reflective of the alt. layout @lyfia posted. With that change, I move the FP back to the Hearth room and added a vault. Currently with Covid, My husband and I WFH, and my children attend school 3 days a week and have 2 "home days." My plan is to use the Hearth room as a "study area." My youngest 3 are in Kindergarten and 1st grade. We are assuming most of my family will be in the Kitchen/Hearth room area, but with the new layout that opens to the Greatroom- they could also be in there. There is a small loft area upstairs, so I'm sure as they get older they could use that too. Hope that answers your questions.

OP great! That will be very helpful. In our old home we had a small gathering space playroom off the kitchen and it was a dream when the kids were little especially 6 and under. :)