So you are only going to have one tiny window in your family room "north" wall?

Your dining table half way under the vaulted ceiling is going to look weird and unplanned.

I think you will need to plan on spending a fair amount of money after you move in to block off the vault (make it a regular 10 ft ceiling) and add some window facing the back yard.

Is this the right house for you and your only choice?

@chispa Thanks for commenting! I should have mentioned that the windows will be different. We will be maximizing the windows on the north wall. It's just the location of the walls that we can't move.

And yes, I'm sadly coming to the realization that the vault might not be a good idea as much as I would really like the natural light. We can make it a 10ft ceiling if we want at no cost since it's not built yet.

re: is it the right house for us? That could be argued either way. It's a near custom house for a spec home build price in a ridiculous real estate market. So I really want to try to make it work.

Ten foot ceilings are plenty high. Flatten the ceiling, put in as many windows as feasible.

Have you considered having a house designed that meets your needs and fits your site?

The best houses orient the public rooms towards the south for the best passive solar heating and cooling

The best houses are L, U, T, H, or I shaped.

The best houses are only one to two rooms deep. And covered lanai, porches, garages, etc count as rooms in this case.

The best houses make sure all public rooms and bedrooms have windows on at least two walls.

The best houses do not if possible put mechanical rooms, pantries or closets on outside walls

The best houses keep public and private spaces separate.

The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room.

The best houses do not have the mudroom go through any of the work zones of the kitchen.

The best houses do not put toilets or toilet rooms up against bedroom walls, family rooms or dining areas.

The best houses do not have walk in closets too small to stand inside.

The best houses have an organizing “spine” so it’s easy to determine how to get from room to room in the house and what makes sense.

@Mark We definitely considered it but for a couple reasons didn't go that way. Aside from this vaulted ceiling, this house on this property checks all the boxes. And we don't actually own the site. The site is owned by the builder with this house being built on it. This is more of a pre-sale with the ability to make some structural changes.

If you post the floor plan and all the elevations for input, some Houzzers may point out some empty boxes; but as always . . . .

WARNING: Posting your entire floor plan opens you up to facts you may not want to know, but should. Be prepared for suggestions that will make for a better design. Keep a thick skin, open mind, sense of humor, and a glass of wine within arms reach. You may not enjoy it, but everyone else will and you will be better off in the long run if you heed well the advice.

Ha ha ha! Those are wise words for the internet in general! I know nothing about home building so I welcome (almost) all suggestions ;)

@HALLETT & Co. You're absolutely right. 10ft is more than high enough. I'm overthinking this. :)

For me it would depend on the design of the "valulted ceiling"i.e., whether it has a center ridge or a shed ceiling and if there are window/skylights. For important decisions you need to provide adequate information.

IMO the vaulted ceiling is the sissue and why with 10' ceiling already that vault is not even a good idea.

@res2architect In hindsight, I'm embarrassed at how few details I included in my post. I apparently assumed the internet would know what's in my head. And you can imagine how that goes.

I'm going to get this terminology incorrect but the east and west sides of the vault slope together to meet in the middle. (Cathedral vault?) The full back wall is windows and the vaulted ceiling/roof is extended to cover the deck. There are no skylights in the vaulted part. The plans originally had this vaulted area open to the upstairs hallway but I wanted to close that to keep the upstairs bedrooms quiet (I have small kids and cherish our sleep). Unless I hear convincing arguments for keeping that open from those who know better....

Based on your spelling of centre I assume you are a northern neighbor- vaults are just a place for all your precious warm air to go all winter.

@HALLETT & Co. Impressive attention to detail! Yes, this vault is off-centre and all those windows will give us a view of our neighbours. Not sure what colour we're going to go with yet but I'm sure it will be one of my favourites. ;)

I'm in the Vancouver, BC area where it doesn't get that cold (I realize "cold" is relative) and it's actually more rainy and grey. So I'm looking to maximize the natural light over the challenge in heating a vaulted room, though that is definitely a consideration.

This may not be ideal for you, but have you considered rotating the table such that you could center it?

Your call to not do a vaulted space open to the upstairs bedrooms is the correct one. All the downstairs noise would have echoed up into the upstairs rooms. By closing that off, it doesn't make sense to keep the vault and the windows. Just make sure you have tall windows and the headers are at 8 ft. so you get plenty of light into the rooms. Go with 8 ft interior doors too.

Something looks funky with that roof.

@patrickaz I wonder if that is the simplest way to solve this issue. Not ideal no, but not awful. Thanks for the suggestion!

@Mark Bischak, Architect The lack of roof in the middle section lets in a lot of natural light. Makes us susceptible to the elements for sure but that's what umbrellas are for.

Because text is tricky for interpreting tone, the left side is looking straight at the vaulted area and the right side is the roof line looking at it from the side. :)

No, that's not it. There appears to be valleys where water and leaves would accumulate. Eaves do not line up. Floor lines do not line up. It is hard to tell without all the elevations and all the floor plans. But somethings do not look like they are graphically represented accurately.

Is there an existing house built with this plan that you can visit? It seems there are some strange choices in the basic design (about this roof situation) and discrepancies in the drawings. Like the 2nd floor layout requiring some structural framing that a spec builder would not choose to do. There may be some bearing walls and columns not shown.

The original vault in the Great Room is shown as a pyramid, and does it list a 12' peak(?) height? However, on the exterior it shows transom windows about 18' high, inside a gable cathedral. The gable location makes for odd roof transitions adjacent to it as mentioned already. On the patio the roof's steep pitch (which doesn't appear to match any pitch on the rest of the house) and high peak may make for a disproportionate volume.

@Mark Bischak, Architect @3onthetree Here's the drawing of the back of the house. I'm sure you've guessed already that I know nothing about roof pitches and what is considered normal.

And sorry, I shouldn't have said 'spec builder'. This is not a house that is going into a sub-division with 30 identical houses or anything. This builder has 2-3 houses going at any given time in various stages of completion. Depending on the lots he was able to acquire.

And I'm actually going to view a house with not exactly this floorplan but almost the exact 'vault' this week. Though I'm not sure how complete it is. I don't believe it has doors/windows yet.

Oh and yes, my understanding is that the 'X' over the vaulted area can't possibly be a pyramid because how would that open to the upstairs hallway. But I'm waiting on confirmation on that.

Thank you both for taking the time to comment :)

The other 3 full elevations are needed to explain the structure

How about this? It's kinda hard to see but I hope this gives enough info.

How does the water, indicated by blue arrows, flow between the red ridge and the green ridge in the images below?

Is that a flat roof question marked?

Here is the roof looking down. I *think* I colour coded the peaks correctly though I'll admit, I am getting confused. The 'flat roof' is apparently slightly graded and I'm waiting to hear back on what that grade is. We live where it can snow so I can't imagine a flat room is ideal.

Also, I am going to continue to take your help for as long as you'll give it. So if you ever feel the need to stop replying to an internet stranger I won't be offended.

Michel I am in your area. This home looks like many others around here. Having gone through a custom build I can tell you it’s not at pricey as you think to design the home with a competent skill person vs plunk the time on a lot. They really need to be planned for each lot. How did your builder create this plan? Was it for this lot alone?

Thank you for the roof plan, it shows a lot more.

As I see it there are three problem areas. Where water will run down the roof and hit a wall square on, creating a horizontal valley. Where water running down two roofs that form a horizontal valley. And flat roofs are always a problem.

Consider a different house design by a different designer.

There may be more problems, but I have to get back to work.

@westcoasthopeful thanks! Yes the home was designed for the lot. It’s actually the only way they can get permits in this area of town. Especially with basements and the slope.

Where is it?

@Michel W if you are open to setting your profile to receive messages I would like to email you about this vs post here.

@WestCoast Hopeful Messaged you.

I am hoping the private message encourages the OP to start over with their own local competent designer.

Mark I think you sometimes forget that not everyone is going to design their own home.
Many people buy from a builder and get what they get. So they work with that to make it work. They do this because of budget, location, timing and more. They can still be exceptionally happy with the end result.

I provided some more regional feedback and feel like Michel is well on their way.

That roof is extra especially for somewhere it snows...

I realize not everyone will not design their own home, even with the assistance of an architect; but I try not to encourage mediocracy as an end goal and try to avoid potential problems when I see them.

Thank you for providing the OP with "regional feedback", I know it will be most valuable even if it is contrary to what I would provide.

Definitely not scrapping this plan and starting again at this point but I am going to chat with the architect later this week to ask some questions that I didn’t know I should ask. So thanks for pushing me to do my due diligence!

Back to the original question -- also consider a square dining room table. My sister just did this and it's surprisingly better at allowing conversations with the whole family.

Halett barely any snow to speak of

@LH On the Move I almost forgot what the original question was :) Thanks for the suggestion. My designer suggested a round table but it feels too much like a knights at the round table. I like the square idea!

@HALLETT & Co. Surprisingly less snow than you would expect. We don't actually live in igloos up here :)