I think you summed it up well when you used the term "hole". I think you will be better off without it.

Get rid of the barn doors.

It is best if the door with sidelights is installed within the stud exterior wall and not in the brick veneer.

You shouldn't try to design this part of the house separate from the rest of the house. You know what is beyond the boundaries of the small drawing but we don't.

Why doesn't the front door swing to reveal the path into the house?

If possible I would probably try to make the stair a single straight run with a hall next to it. The switch back stair seems to be blocking the path into the house.

I would leave it walled up. Sometimes you want to pretend you are not home and having an open staircase in direct view of your front door sidelight would make it harder to do!

Should the front door swing be reversed? I know it seems to make sense with the closet, but if you have a group of 4 guests you are letting into your house, you will kind of trap them between the door swinging open and the closet. It would make more sense for you to be able to step back and have them funnel into the foyer and hallway. You can then close the door and get their coats to put away.

The purpose of a font foyer is to welcome people to your house and this one won't do that even with a balcony-like landing. What's to the left of it? It feels like a back door.

I would close up the ”hole”. And reverse the front door

I like it opened because it feels airier. More custom. Brighter. Lighter. Nicer. But you stated that you don’t want a grander entry. This is a grander option. It’ll look more custom and less townhouse builder grade. And that’s why I’d personally pick it. But I’m not sure that’s what YOU want

Thanks everyone. I agree that the door should be switched, I barely noticed. I guess it was that way to be accessible to coats, but it makes more sense to open it to the house. To the left there it opens up to the kitchen and a breakfast nook. When people come over, we are usually visiting in the kitchen but I also didn’t want it open concept with the dining room and living areas, those are towards the back because we are on a hill of a forest. The back walls of the living room and grand piano is going to be all windows to the back. The dining room and living room are more open to each other. It’s also a walk out basement with a large entertaining area and patio downstairs. Guests will essentially be walking “by” the kitchen though it’s separated with an island with seating. I have gone back and forth on putting a hallway between the two, but also that is why I wanted the back end of the stairs to be exposed to make both the foyer and the stairwelll a bit more “open” or breathable. The opening of the stairs is closer to the garage entrance which the family will be mostly entering from, and we wanted access to the basement immediately from the garage to take down hockey equipment, etc.

I didn’t show the kitchen and breakfast area as that is one area we are ironing out details yet and I didn’t like the layout. I didn’t want to open it up to criticism when I was already in the process of getting it changed, haha.

I noticed that the front door has the wrong swing also. You need it to open into the main space rather than into a wall so guests don't have to squeeze around the door to get in. That's an easy fix on the plans now.

Without knowing much about your lifestyle or site restrictions, etc. all I can say is I would avoid forcing guests to enter the house through the kitchen. I would redesign the stair and foyer so people could enter into the main part of the house wherever that is.

I understand RES2 and appreciate your thoughts. I will say that it is an isolated farmyard. My previous farmyard my kitchen was at the front of the house as well, with a breakfast area so I can have coffee and look out the front yard. I like seeing out the front and see the lane from the kitchen, and see when company is coming up the lane. The side yard is also where a lot of the kid activity would be, as the back is all forest. Maybe it’s because my previous house was like that, and that is why I’d like it the same configuration, somewhat. I do know that a lot of people want their kitchen at the back, or out of view, though a lot of those same people have open concept where you can see your entire kitchen from the living areas anyway.
Maybe I’m alone in those thoughts, still, but maybe that makes a little more sense seeing as there are zero neighbours, but maybe it still would seem strange to you (or most) people. I don’t know.
The one thing I’m considering as I mentioned was putting a hallway between, so the “guests” pass through the hall to get to the living room, rather than full view of kitchen (again they’re not going to be walking “through” the kitchen but it will be visible). I don’t know if that’s “better” from a design perspective. My precious house there was a wall, though no “door” to close off the kitchen either. But you basically entered in foyer into a hallway.
I don’t know what else I would have at the front of the house, I don’t like opening up close to a bedroom either, and the living room definitely has to be at the back for those tree views and sunsets 🙂
I do appreciate your feedback and I’m not trying to argue with you!

You could move the door to the right a little, and put the closet on the left of the door. Hinge the front door on the right. Then, easy access to the closet AND to the house. Room on the right for a console table and lamp, or a bench.