Literally as I'm looking at this post I think we should flip it horizontally so that the master bedroom is on the SE corner of the house instead to catch the morning light. Houzz is already paying off haha.

That’s a deep lot. Have you considered an L-shaped plan?

Why are you placing beds in front of windows?

Your Great Room isn't so great when you have large walkways to the north, west and south, and your furniture is huddling in the center!

Make sure you scale everything correctly when trying out layouts or you end up with rooms that don't fit actual furniture comfortably.

Like bpath, I would try to stretch the house out a bit.

"They've asked us to bring any plans we like as a starting point."

@bpath We're definitely struggling with two opposing thoughts: A) take advantage of the deep lot and B) take advantage of the southern exposure. With our parameters in mind, the only rooms left to "stack" would be the living, dining, kitchen, and entry. We worried this would create a sort of dark corridor / light-at-end-of-the-tunnel effect, rather than the wide-open / outside-in feel we're aiming for. Definitely open to suggestions on creating an L-shape though!

@CHISPA Window placement on this mockup is very rough but that's a great thing to keep in mind! Thank you for the tip on scale with these layouts. I had read that having a 3ft walkway around the living space is good for flow, but I do not love that the master bedroom door is right there.

@Mark Bischak, Architect When scheduling the meeting we asked what we should bring and this was their response. Should we be concerned?

"Any information you have gathered, you can bring it along (or forward via email). I believe you had mentioned previously that you had found a few online plans that you liked. If you have bits and pieces of layouts from several plans or images that works too. Once we have an idea of your preferences then we can customize a plan to suit your needs. It’s always nice to have a bit of a starting point though and work from there. Any info you can gather regarding the land will also assist with knowing what we have to work with and choosing a design that best suits the land."

@Mark Bischak, Architect That's a helpful way to think about the approach! We do also have a written list of what we're looking for, so it sounds like we should lean more on that in our meeting and keep the visual aids more geared toward our Pinterest boards rather than a full-fledged layout. Cheers!

Very rough. no halls, doors, furniture, almost a ”bubble diagram”? And nothing to scale, not proportioned. But, nearly every room gets south or east light, maybe even a west window. (living with a north-facing garage in a northern climate, I might even have the garage be another L with side entry facing east, keeps the snow out. Then the house is more of a T. But, keeping snow out of the garage is another concept or ”problem” as Mark says, to bring to the architect to solve.) Btw, that’s a foyer separating bedroom wing from public wing. Walk in the front door to a view of the back yard.

I am not familiar with architectural designers IMO you get an architect they do a site inspection and design a house that includes things you need and a home designed for the site . I agree that bringing plans of houses with no context as to the site is not a good idea ever.

It all depends on the experience and skill of the "designer".

Giving the designer a complete design would be appropriate for a draftsman. I don't recommend it.

I've only had this happen a few times and it delayed the beginning of a serious design process by a few weeks. It didn't affect the final design but it was an unnecessary expense and delay for the owner.

I'm afraid I agree with other posters. A house design should very much be informed by the site. A house should respond to the site and site conditions. As to the plan you have presented here the thing that strikes me the most is the small area allotted for your living space. The only furniture I see is the sectional. That should accommodate seating for a couple but it would seem if you have guests over there wouldn't be anywhere for them to sit. If you do present this to your architect hopefully he will take the best of your ideas and combine them with his own based on his experience. Good luck!

Thanks all! We did do our layout with the limitations/features of the lot in mind, but agree it should be left to the professional to come up with the details. We're scrapping the idea of bringing our reference drawing to the meeting and will instead rely on our written wish/need list and conversations with the designer. Really appreciate the feedback and hope this will result in a smoother process!

Now that I think more about it, the list of wants and needs is usually compiled during the first meeting. I ask questions and take notes. They ask questions and I respond. I share some ideas and it stimulates discussion. They show me pictures and I explain my opinion of the pictures. They get offended and take away the drink they gave me earlier in the meeting and I tell them, "Your mother is a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries"; to which they reply, "Ni !" . . .

In the end they build a real nice house I designed with them that I can not afford.

Your plan has one deficiency in my mind--no window in the kitchen. I'd include a requirement for a window in the kitchen in your list of needs.

Random thoughts:

- The living spaces, where you'll spend most of your waking hours, seem small ... especially the living room.

- Where will the TV go?

- You're talking about giving the best light to the master bedroom. Personally, I'd rather see the best light go to the living spaces. With the covered porch, the living space won't have great lighting.

- I think the refrigerator would be better on the other side of the "L". This would allow you more counterspace in the main working area.

- I like the layout in the master bedroom. Good traffic flow.

- The vanity in the master bedroom cannot really support duplicate sinks; that is, you'll have literally no drawer space, and that means constant clutter on the vanity. Storage is important.

- The secondary bedrooms and bathroom look basic but workable.

- I'd like to see a pantry and a broom closet.

Since you're going to let the architect help you figure it all out, may I suggest you also keep in mind this list below. Doesn't mean you'll get every single thing on the list but if something has to give, know why and how it will impact everything else. :) Best of luck.

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 kitchens have natural light, meaning windows so one doesn't have to have lighting 24/7 to use the kitchen. (And no, dining areas with windows 10' or more from the kitchen will not allow for natural light.)

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 do not have diagonal interior walls making for odd spaces.

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 use the kitchen as a hallway to any other rooms.

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

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

The best houses do not have roofs that are overly large, and dominate the exterior of the house.

The best houses do not have stick on exterior materials only on the front façade.

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. Meaning they don’t have meandering circulation paths.

And added from Architectrunnerguy:

-The best houses enrich their owners souls.

-The best houses are timeless.

-The best houses incorporate the intangibles of good design.

-The best houses have strong organizational concepts.

-The best houses have owners who understand what good design is….and isn’t.

-The best houses are shaped in response to the Sun.

-The best houses have all its parts in good proportion to each other and to the whole.

-The best houses enhance the street.

-The best houses balance function, aesthetics and construction.

-The best houses recognize there are always design tradeoffs.

-The best houses break some “rules”.

-The best houses are a joy to live in.

Appreciate the continued support, folks!

Wow, what a great list @cpartist. It's really important to us that the home be functional & practical as well as aesthetically pleasing, so we're taking these tidbits to heart.

"-The best houses have owners who understand what good design is….and isn’t."

This one is honestly a struggle haha. I've tried my best to research & learn about design principles but it gets overwhelming and I default to an "I know it when I see it" sort of mindset.

One of the first things I noticed was the small garage. When you talk through your list of wants and needs with an architect, keep in mind the number and size of vehicles you have (or plan to have), as well as things like bikes and any yard tools you might need for your big yard. (And whether you'll want a shed for any of that stuff.)

This one is honestly a struggle haha. I've tried my best to research & learn about design principles but it gets overwhelming and I default to an "I know it when I see it" sort of mindset.

Do a search on here for books to read. One I highly recommend is Sarah Susanka's book, The Not So Big House. There is another who's name is escaping me now.

and do some research on passive solar heating/cooling.

So I took my list and anything in bold is what is an issue with the plan you drew up. This hopefully will help you to start truly visualizing plans.

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 kitchens have natural light, meaning windows so one doesn't have to have lighting 24/7 to use the kitchen. (And no, dining areas with windows 10' or more from the kitchen will not allow for natural light.)

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 do not have diagonal interior walls making for odd spaces.

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 use the kitchen as a hallway to any other rooms.

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

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

The best houses do not have roofs that are overly large, and dominate the exterior of the house.

The best houses do not have stick on exterior materials only on the front façade.

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. Meaning they don’t have meandering circulation paths

If you want to see some examples of well designed houses with organizing spines, I highly recommend you look up architectrunnerguy in users. :)

I think @Mark Bischak, Architect 's approach is the best, honestly. It's the architect's job to solve design problems; that's what you're paying him for. So present him/her with a list of what you'd like to achieve with maybe a few images of homes you like the style of, and a real budget. You don't want the architect going off to design something that will be unaffordable, so get serious about what you think you want to spend. If you really have no idea, then pay him to do feasibility studies, i.e. rough concepts with numbers attached so you can adjust from there.

Create a Houzz board, a Pinterest board with house images. Send photos of your lot and give him the plot number of your site so he can look it up the site plan on your local government web site.

Have you given any thought to having a detached garage that is behind the house and possibly has a covered walkway/breezeway to it? (Or maybe the basement won’t allow that.). That may allow a totally different floor plan, one that would enable window(s) in the kitchen/family room and one that is wider. Just a thought.

comelyhomely: "the master bedroom is on the SE corner of the house instead to catch the morning light."

My main bedroom is on the north side of the house, and I would not have it any other way. I like the cozy feel of soft northern light and do not like early light that wakes up the dog. We have room-darkening drapes on the window near the bed and shears over wood blinds on the bathroom window that is seen through an open doorway.

ILoveMyLife, the OP has a new plan as she met with the designer.

Yes the first draft of our new plan & discussion can be found here: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6285788/first-draft-back-from-architectural-designer-what-are-your-thoughts#27899226 We're so grateful for all the feedback provided so far!