How will a first time visitor get from their car to the front door?

What do you plan on using the basement for?

What is a “secret attic hideout”?

where are you watching TV?

Why so few windows?

I'd open the master bedroom to the covered porch.

I think that you need to share elevations to get the most helpful feedback.

You have these thick walls, but the windows are flat against the exterior. Are you able to recess them to give to depth, create shadow, and substance?

Which way is south?

Seems like a small dining area for a 4-bedroom house. And assuming you plan to have a TV in the great room, I would do the fireplace off-center to create a place for the TV so that it doesn’t have to be either over the fireplace (a necessary evil in many existing homes but no need in a new build) or scrunched in the corner beside the fireplace. Agree with comments above about coat closet and linen closet.

This is the front elevation. The house will face south.

We don’t have a basement. And we haven’t ever used a coat closet 🤷🏻‍♀️

The TV will go above the fireplace.

We will have a sidewalk from the driveway to the front entry.

We will have a dining table between the kitchen and living room.

I hope that makes sense!

Okay I admit to being a silly Canadian who may not know but I just googled your state and it says hot and muggy in summer and cold and wet in winter? If so that’s a huge variety of temps. So where do you put coats? Where do guests leave shoes and coats? Where do your off seasons belongings for?

Can you share a better pic of the size of tie kitchen, dining, great room combo?

It is hot in the summer but here it’s not too cold. We get about an inch of snow maybe every three years or so. It was 68 here earlier this week. We keep our jackets in our bedroom closets.

This is a closer look...

What about boots, shoes, guest coats and shoes?

Your main area is a really nice size. I think a lot of space for living and dining

If people come over they usually just leave their shoes by the door 🤷🏻‍♀️ I don’t think we’ve ever had someone come over wearing a coat 😂. Seriously. I guess they just run from the car when it’s cold out. Lol. I hadn’t thought of it. I’m not sure where I could put a coat closet either...any ideas?

We are going to have a mud bench with hooks for us right inside the door coming in from the garage.

This is our main floor plan. You can see our coat closet and mud room. I love it all closed off and out of the way. If you don’t need it no problem, but like I said originally, for a big house there is not a lot of storage for stuff (extra seasonal clothing, linens and towels, decorations, luggage etc)

Sorry sent cropped pic.

Very nice AS

Do you have linen closets for all of those bathrooms and bedrooms?

I live in FL and i don’t keep my jackets in my bedroom closets

The master bedroom has a long, narrow hallway leading to it. How do you feel about that? And in the master closet, there is a lot of space in the middle. How do you plan to use the open space?

The stairs go to a second floor or attic?

Where is the driveway?

Looks generally like a really well thought out plan!

I’d switch out the powder room and pantry so guests don’t have to walk past laundry & mudroom to use it. And a closet can be carved out of your coat hook area for guest coats or vacuum & other cleaning supplies.

If you have kitchen elevation, I’d love to see it.

One thought is that it would be nice to access the porch from nearer kitchen for outdoor cooking/eating - no need to carry raw chicken or marinated foods through the dining area to get to the grill outdoors.

The furniture layout in the great room especially will be very important to figure out now do that electrical outlets and lighting get installed accordingly.

Where in TN is your home being built? I have friends all around Nashville and a few other areas. Love it down there!

While i like swing doors leading into rooms, I see a handful of double doors leading into closets, which is a waste. Change them out for single doors or pocket doors, which is my preference into walk-in closets and en-suite bathrooms.

Your other username references home-schooling. Do you? If so, do you have enough storage for materials?

I plan on having vanities in the bathrooms for storage. The stairs lead to a huge attic with plenty of storage since this is a one story home. We are still working on the driveway layout...the house is set back 1500 ft in the middle of the woods so it is taking a little more planning. We might end up with a circle drive in the front as well as up the left side going to the garages. The master closet will have an in-ground storm shelter in the middle with a sliding hatch so we have to keep that area pretty open.

bpath, yes we homeschool. The study on this plan will be our homeschool room.

We live in West TN between Memphis and Jackson.

Do most homes in your area have a coat closet? It looks as if you could use the entry off the garage for family coats, etc. A coat tree would likely work by the guest entry.

We don't have a coat closet at our front entrance, either, and we live in southern KY :) Hooks in your mud area space will more than suffice. Heck, when my extended family gathers, coats have always been laid on beds or wherever we could find. No biggie.

Help me understand the point of the secret attic hideout.....

Why are you blocking your garage windows with shutters as shown in your elevations? I would welcome natural light into a garage.

Do you have kids? If so, is there a separate place for them to hang out, play games, etc.? We have four and we find our basement invaluable for that. Also, in TN, it's fairly common to have a basement when on acreage so is there a particular reason why you're not?

Different strokes - for different folks. We have a large downstairs closet where we keep our coats and and an upstairs hall closet. If you walk upstairs with your coat on, as my son often does, the rule is no coats in your bedroom closet.

There is a linen closet in every bathroom except the powder room. There's 2-3 sets of sheets for every bedroom and loads of towels. We could not keep all of that in our vanity which has storage.

I’m not sure if other houses have cost closets or not. I know our good friends who live near us do not have one either. I guess I haven’t ever paid much attention.

We do not have a basement and actually it is not common in our little area.

My husband didn’t want windows in the garage because when we’ve had them the windows always end up filled with dead bugs :(

I guess we must be minimalists at heart because in our current house our two kids have their owns bathroom and don’t have linen closets either. We also don’t keep a lot of extra towels or sheets though.

The attic hideout will be for the kids to hang out. We will have a TV up there to serve as a shared living space for the kids. We plan to have a ship ladder going up to it and have the entry for it from the hall with a pull out bookshelf to conceal its entry.

Is the attic hideout access only through the ladder? That's going to get old F.A.S.T. even for kids. Yes, it seems like a novel and fun idea but I'm foreseeing broken bones from falling off it. Is there a bathroom in the hideout? Imagine needing to make a potty run and having to climb down a ladder. How are they going to take popcorn or a drink up to the space and still manage to climb a ladder? So many things can go wrong here. PLEASE rethink this.

Edited to add: For the cost of future ER and doctor visits, an elevator might be less expensive.

My DSIL’s house outside Toronto — Toronto! — had no coat closet, and no door to the garage. Weird. But that was their neighborhood. And for years my son took his jacket to his room, not the hooks with the rest of ours. Whatever works.

I can see my brother and me trapping our little brother in a secret attic hideout like that! But I suppose he could come down the stairs by the garage.

In the bathrooms, is there storage in the vanities for anything they might need in the way of eye care (contact lenses), orthodontia, cosmetics, hair styling?

Is the attic hideout access only through the ladder? That's going to get old F.A.S.T. even for kids. I'm foreseeing broken bones from falling off it. Is there a bathroom in the hideout? Imagine needing to make a potty run and having to climb down a ladder. How are they going to take popcorn or a drink up to the space and still manage to climb a ladder? So many things can go wrong here. PLEASE rethink this.

Edited to add: For the cost of future ER and doctor visits, an elevator might be less expensive.

Wow, you can sure suck the fun out of a room! Don't be such a stick in the mud. It is a cool idea that the kids will love. I guess you never let your kids play in a tree house or climb a tree?

I don't think it would get old. I'm a grown adult and would hang out in something like this with my kids, and have ZERO concern about needing to go potty or breaking bones or carrying a water bottle up the ladder.

Sarah Susankah of The Not-So-Big House, sometimes has a ladder-access space in her designs. One that I visited was difficult for an adult to exit, but I can see how fun it would be for someone shorter/spryer. I can imagine kids assembling a rope-and-bucket system to carry things up and down.

It sounds like you really like the plan. You’ve thought about things and have a plan. I think there are some helpful tidbits in this thread worth considering vs just dismissing but it really sounds like you aren’t open to any changes. Enjoy the build journey. It’s a wild one

Overall I really like the plan. Only a few things jump out...

- There seems to be too much space wasted on the garage entry/mudroom area, while giving too little space to the laundry room. I would re-think this part of the house, making the laundry room more spacious, by stealing some square footage from the entry/mudroom.

- Will the Breakfast Area ever get used, since you plan to have a dining room table between the kitchen and great room? Seems like a wasted space, especially with two other dining areas (kitchen island & dining table), within just a few feet of one another.

- I agree that it is highly unusual for a house of this size to have absolutely no coat closets, hall closets, linen closets. Where will you put cleaning supplies, vacuum cleaner, sheets, bath towels, beach towels, extra toilet paper, hats, jackets, shoes, ect? At a minimum, I would take space from the garage entry for a closet to store some of the items noted above.

@booty bums, I'm not trying to suck the fun out of anything. I have four kids. One fractured her hip the first week we were in our house and her bedroom was on the 2nd level so she couldn't even sleep in her bedroom for a month. Stuff like that happens with kids. Things of this nature (hidey holes, etc.) are fun when kids are little but become a nuisance over time, especially if this is the only access. How do you get a large tv up there or furniture? Hopefully, there would be another way in and out. Imagine if one child breaks their arm and can't climb the ladder.

Building a house is an expensive endeavor and if one is building a house to span several stages of life, I don't think a hidey-hole with only ladder access is the wisest decision. At least make the hole big enough that you could install a spiral staircase if needed in the future. Better yet, take some space from the kids' walk-in closets and build a proper staircase that can still be hidden by a bookcase.

Things of this nature are fun when kids are little but become a nuisance over time. How do you get a large tv up there or furniture? Imagine if one child breaks their arm and can't climb the ladder. I don't think a hidey-hole with only ladder access is the wisest decision. At least make the hole big enough that you could install a spiral staircase. Better yet, take some space from the kids' walk-in closets and build a proper staircase that can still be hidden by a bookcase.

Good grief. You are WAY overthinking this!

Just think of it as a fun tree house, but not in an actual tree.

Treehouses don't have "large TVs" or "furniture". They don't need a "spiral staircase" or "elevator" or a "proper staircase". They don't require "bathrooms".

If a child breaks a bone, then they don't visit the treehouse for a month. Just like they won't be playing on monkey bars or lots of other things.

Just like a tree house, this isn't meant to be a formal room used at every stage of your life. It is a small, fun space that anyone in decent shape under 70 years old could use from time to time. My dad still climbs a ladder to work on the roof/gutters. This isn't any different.

@booty bums, to each his own. I wouldn't want to spend the money for a very expensive "tree house" inside my main home. I'd build them a tree house outdoors instead. My concerns, based on experience, are valid. Obviously, the OP will do what they want but suggesting they rethink certain things such as this is warranted. From experience, some things sound like really great and fun ideas at the time but don't pan out like we envision in the long term. I'm simply asking the OP to REALLY consider those things now. It's the same reason, experts tell you to make sure hallways and doorways are wide enough.

My point is...

If the OP were building a treehouse outside, you wouldn't suggest that he make it ADA compliant or express these other concerns (elevators, staircases, bathrooms, large TVs, ect).

So why are they relevant to building a fun little hideout inside?

Because this isn't some fun little hideout that will be used for a short period of time and then abandoned or discarded when the kids outgrow its usage. It's a permanent room inside their home intended to be used over a long span of time, I'm assuming. It needs to suit the needs of the kids (and the adults) for a longer time period than a treehouse would. I'm not saying it has to be ADA compliant. I'm saying that access to it needs to be more thought out than a ladder, which may prove problematic over time. At the very least, just make the opening flexible enough so that if the OP later decides a spiral staircase would serve better, the structure is already in place to switch from a ladder to that. I have no idea what the kids' ages are but I can 100% tell you that my kids would've thought a ladder to a secret room was fun up until about age 11. Now, at ages 11-17.5, they'd think it was a nuisance.

KP, I can't read your dimensions for the great room, dining and kitchen. When you put the TV above the fireplace the seating across from it needs to be back a bit to comfortably watch.

Just wondering if you have enough space to move a sofa back and have dining.

It's a permanent room inside their home intended to be used over a long span of time, I'm assuming. It needs to suit the needs of the kids (and the adults) for a longer time period than a treehouse would. At the very least, just make the opening flexible enough so that if the OP later decides a spiral staircase would serve better,

This isn't an integral, formal room of the house. It is not intended to be future-proofed to become a formal library (or whatever) down the line.

It is a 'hideout', just as the OP described. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that. Not much different than attic storage space, but with finished walls & ceiling.

Besides, don't you think those kids might grow up and have their own kids? Imagine how excited they would be to visit grandma/grandpa's secret hideout.

I have no idea what the kids' ages are but I can 100% tell you that my kids would've thought a ladder to a secret room was fun up until about age 11. Now, at ages 11-17.5, they'd think it was a nuisance.

Your kids must take after their parents. Very sad that a 12 year old would find a secret hideout room with a ladder to be a "nuisance". I'm in my 40's and would enjoy hanging out in such a place with (and without) my kids/grandkids. In fact, I can't think of any friends/family younger than 70 that would describe such a place as a nuisance.

A little late to this thread and didn't have time to read all the comments. The general layout of your plan works pretty well. I'm curious about which direction is north and how the sun moves around the house. I agree with the comments about a coat closet near the entry, but my biggest criticism is that all of the main rooms only have windows on one side. There is a HUGE benefit to having light coming from two directions in major spaces. You could easily accomplish this in all of the bedrooms. This will be a problem in your main living space, however, particularly if the back porch is covered.

With your large attic I can see why you would want to use the space up there. Since you say that The attic hideout will be for the kids to hang out. We will have a TV up there to serve as a shared living space for the kids it sounds more like a bonus room than a tree house type space.

No doubt your architect and builder will comply with fire codes for attic living spaces. https://www.thespruce.com/attic-conversion-regulations-1821299

Could you connect the bonus room to the storage space that is accessible from the garage stairs? Would make it easier to bring furniture, TV etc into the bonus room without having to find room on the main floor for a second staircase or elevator. I'm wondering if you're planning to have any heating or cooling in that room. I don't know your climate but if it gets too hot or cold it might limit the room's use to certain times of year. You may be OK with that but something to think about.

Your kids must take after their parents. Very sad that a 12 year old would find a secret hideout room with a ladder to be a "nuisance".

Not the room, but the access to the room being a ladder, especially if that's the only way up to it. That's all I've ever questioned or criticized.

Personally, I'd make the attic space over the garage a future bonus room and go ahead a put a dormer or skylights for lighting. A pulldown attic access ladder could be installed in one of the kids' closets and have attic storage on that end of the house. However, the house looks large enough to accommodate both attic access and a possible bonus room over the garage. I'd make sure the ceiling joists of the garage are beefy enough to support this. Having to go back later and add them is no picnic....ask me how I know.

Not the room, but the access to the room being a ladder, especially if that's the only way up to it. That's all I've ever questioned or criticized.

How sedentary/lazy would a 12 year old kid be to find climbing ladder rungs to access a secret hideout as a "nuisance"? It is crazy to believe that any kid would turn their nose up at a secret hideout unless they could access it via an elevator or escalator. A ladder makes it MORE cool/special/fun, not less.

Based on what you are describing, all children older than 11 would no longer use playgrounds, climb trees, explore barns, stay in cabins with lofts, ect. As those activities would be a considered a nuisance to kids.

I think we can move on from the attic. The OP seems to have the information needed to make an informed decision. I’m more concerned with the funky closet layout it creates.

Nice plan.

I wonder if you’d like the powder room and maybe pantry swapped to the opposite side of that space, so that the mudroom can have some natural light? I’d consider moving the laundry room, too, but I do like natural light in a laundry room as well as the easy dryer venting.

Curious how a more symmetrical elevation might look. This moves the breakfast room to the back, and the office to the left. Garage moves left too.

Maybe with a couple of dormers.

I didn't read all the comments, but I love having a vanity in our master bathroom.