Just reacting to the pic you posted...I do not like the garage door on the front of the house...rather have it on the side so as not to be a focal point

Nice sized laundry room!
Screened in porch

Not much could be done about the garage doors since this is the kind of 'suburban' homes that sells with most home builders. Also lot sizes are getting narrower. I've seen some home designs where the 'front' door is turned to the side after the garage.

Get a copy of 'What Not To Build' by Sandra Edelman, et.al. as most designs "fail" at the facade.

OldHouseGuy....I love you! :0)

You put a spotlight on my major pet peeve (garage as focal point) as well as so many others that were not so obvious.

My big issue with most new builds is that they have all lost what used to be a very important component to a home...the front porch!

A back deck is not the same thing. By having no porch, the home seems "blocked" from visitors. If it rains, most visitors are left at the stoop in the rain waiting for you.

Also...no porches actually keeps you from actually getting to know your neighbors. Everyone comes home & locks themselves away inside, never to see the activity in your own neighborhood & community.

And to think that many charming old homes are being bulldozed for this.
What a shame....

Some of these above comments are sooo wrong.
1) The garage is not designed to be a focal point. It's there for practicality. Most new neighborhood (actually something desired by many people, believe it or not) lots are narrow and force the garage to be placed right in the front of the house. If you're going to blame anyone for the placements of garages on homes like this blame the neighborhood developer. By not incorporating alleyways behind main neighborhood streets, where else do you expect a garage to go in a house with a narrow lot? And who are you to judge what people want in their new homes? Not everyone desires an old farmhouse on ten acres of land, or a historic beach bungalow. Different strokes for different folks. If you don't like homes like the one above, then don't live in one. But it doesn't mean that house is crap. There's a reason trends become so big - lots of people like them. So stop being so narrow-minded and open your eyes to what people other than yourself desire. Your dream home isn't going to be the same as everyone else's.
2) The house does have a front porch.. It's small but it's there. You wouldn't be left out to stand in the rain.
3) A front porch has never been an important component to homes at any time in history. For example, most old colonial homes don't have front porches and they look pretty inviting to me. A front porch doesn't make an old home.
4) I've lived in houses with front porches. Very rarely did I spend the day sitting on them and talking to my neighbors. I don't know where the ridiculous claim came from that having a house without a porch means you're going to lock yourself inside. I know more of my neighbors now in my house without a real "porch" than I did in houses with. That idea makes no sense. Not to mention many people don't want to associate with their neighbors.

I could go on but all I see in these comments are people trying to control other people's wants and opinions. Let people like what they want & move on. End of rant.

What makes the garage the focal point is that horrible "look at me" door...it does nothing to integrate into the multiple thematic statements the rest of the house is trying to make.

Bring character back. New houses, no matter how different, all look the same. They all look like they came from Lowe's or Home Depot, and belong in Florida.

And here I thought the house was kind of cute in a suburban way. I've seen a lot worse. Recently. On my street!!!

There's nothing appealing when a garage door and driveway take up half or more of the front of a home. So many lots here in SoCal are small with large homes. Some have 3-car garages making the front 2/3 garage and driveway with a little patch of lawn. Also, they build homes ridiculously close together. You better like your neighbors...a lot!!!

I love formal dining rooms. Not fond of homes with dining areas incorporated into a living room...especially if the LR is small to begin with.

Our minds are hard wired to respond positively to certain shapes. Traditional architecture is based on rules and principles that stimulate our inner senses. I explain this in more detail here at http://www.oldhouseguy.com/aesthetics . Unfortunately some people minds are accustomed to seeing such poor design they no longer can tell the difference and sadly blame others.

Hate to say it, but the houses on your site don't "stimulate my inner senses" any more than my own home, built in 1998. What is a good design or a poor design is completely subjective.

I've been noticing the vast majority of commercials and tv shows are using Craftsman, Arts&Craft, Bungalow styled settings. Monk, Castle, Psych, Bones, Big Bang Theory, etc. all use them. It makes me wonder if someone formed a focus group to determine which style conveys a sense of "home".

When it comes to "Christmas architecture"....it's definitely Queen Anne Victorian.

acroteria; Like your user name, classical.

No matter how nice they look or how big they are, there always seems to be something lacking in a new home. Maybe it's the lack of detail, I'm not sure. I don't mean it needs to be a grand center hall Georgian colonial, or a highly detailed Victorian. But there's a coldness that comes with most new homes. Maybe it's all the plastic on the exterior, or just perceived by me. Then when you walk in, you always see the same stuff. Engineered or laminate floors, granite counters, kitchen cabinets that you can see in hundreds of other houses in the area, and on and on. They seem to be all flash with no quality detail. I always wonder what condition the house and neighborhood will be in 50 -100 years from now. Will it be something that someone will want to restore to its original character? Or, will they just bring in a bulldozer and build another throwaway house so they can be trendy?

The question is, will the new house designs withstand the test of time like Georgian, Federal, Craftsman, Arts & Crafts, Victorian, etc. have? What will they contribute to architecture history, garages as a focal point? Craftsmanship needs to be put back into our residential (and commercial) architecture.

@ andj32...The original post states this verbatim:
"We are asking for your help and input into a new home design. Tell us what you would want in a new home! What are some of the things you would change about your home?".

I did just that!

If you love what you have, fine. I love what I have and that's fine too.

They asked for opinions & I gave it. You don't have to agree, but to blast me and say my comments were SOOOO wrong is just being over sensitive and defensive. That was my opinion, which I am fully entitled to share here. I wasn't talking about you. I don't even know you.

The façade can be made to the likes of the buyer. I will tell you what I want inside.
Bedrooms that are bigger than 10x10
A mudroom between the garage and the main part of the house that is separate from the laundry room
A master with a walk in closet and a bathroom with a tub, sink shower and a double vanity. It doesn't have to be 20x20, who wants to clean that?
A family room with an alcove for an office area, don't need a completely separate room for the office.
An eat-in kitchen with a pantry.
Laundry room on the main floor with access to outside (I like to line dry when possible)
A formal dining room.
I'm in my 5th home now and each move helps me to refine my idea of a dream house (which we did build prior to this last move). Trust me, dreams change, kids grow up, hobbies and interests change, etc.

I'm just tired of the constant bashing of new construction homes on this site, as if everyone should live in a house built 100 years ago! Sorry if I seemed rude, I was just trying to show my point of view and clearly I must have been in a crappy mood.
To clear things up: I hate the thought of historic homes being torn down for new construction when they are salvageable, but I think people should be able to build whatever house they want on a vacant lot of land and not be judged for their taste!

Anyway, back on topic:
If I was building a house I would consider several things first and foremost:
1) An office in the back of the house, in a more private spot than right off the foyer. I'd rather look into the backyard than onto the street.
2) Tall doors. Looks so high end & very practical for furniture moving, etc.
3) A large pantry as well as a butler's pantry with wine coolers, etc.
4) A wine cellar/pantry. Nothing too large, the size of a linen closet would work especially if the house was a smaller size.
5) Formal dining room is a must for me as well, hate the new trend of only one dining area.
6) No two story rooms. The foyer is an exception but 2 story great rooms don't do much for me.
7) Crown molding in every room. Always seems there's something missing without it.
8) Hardwood floors throughout except laundry/mud room and full baths.

In my personal opinion, this is an extremely unattractive house. There are far too many materials, shapes, angles, and designs. The house looks like a "leftover" house. That is, a house put together with materials and ideas left over from prior projects. There is no coherence or core identity.

In terms of what I would want.... I would want a simpler house or a different house.

Sorry, I'm not intending to be mean, just offer my iimpressions, as requested by the poster.

Actually, good design is not subjective--the details of a design certainly are, but the essentials of design have to do with proportion, form, function, etc. and these are driven by principles. Sadly, in the race for dollars (a "fix that fails" shift occurring over several decades shift in western societies) expedience trumps quality--and planned obsolescence is is the norm. On the upside, I suppose, it ensures that designers and better architects and builders are of increasing value to those who see beyond the (majority) trends.

What I want in a new home is pretty much what I got with our new house. A garage that is separate from the house with enough room for all the miscellaneous stuff, a porch, a real entryway, two offices, tiny bathrooms, and lots of windows looking at beautiful views. Needless to say we didn't build in suburbia.