Main Level Floor Plans For Great Side Views

Upper Level Floor Plans For Great Side Views

Floor Plans 1 For Great Side Views

Lower Level Floor Plans For Great Side Views

Total Above-ground living area | 2624 |
Main Level | 2201 |
Upper Level | 423 |
Lower level living area | |
Footprint The dimensions shown are for the house only (indicating the smallest area needed to build). They do not include the garage, porches, or decks, unless they are an integral part of the design. |
44 W x 58 D |
Above-ground bedrooms | 2 |
Above-ground bathrooms | 3 |
Master suite | Main |
Lower-level bedrooms | 0 |
Lower-level bathrooms | 0 |
Stories | 2 |
Parking | garage |
Number of stalls | 2 |
House height
Traditionally, the overall height of a house is determined by measuring from the top of the finished floor on the main level, to the highest peak of the roof.
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28 |
Ceiling heights Raising or lowering the height of the ceilings on one or more floors of a house is often a simple change that can be made by your builder. However, if you want to raise the ceiling of the main floor of a two-story home, there has to be room to add steps to the existing staircase. |
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Main level | 10 |
Upper level | 8 |
Vaulted ceilings
We consider a room to be vaulted if the ceiling - whether flat, angled, or curved - is above 10 feet at its highest point. If you prefer that one or more rooms not be vaulted in your new home, this is a very simple change that your builder can make for you.
KEY TO SYMBOLS: LR = Living Room/Great Room DR = Dining Room FAM = Family Room FOY = Foyer STU = Study/Library/Den KIT = Kitchen SUN = Sunroom MBR = Master Bedroom MB = Master Bath LOF = Loft OFF = Office/Guest Room REC = Recreation/Game Room ALL = Entire Level |
LR, DR, SUN |
This unique home actually has a working fountain in the middle of the house, set beneath clerestory windows that protrude from the roof. If your property dictates that you build a house with a side view, this house features 6'–tall windows with transoms above them lining one entire side of the house, along with a pair of glass doors that open to a wide and deep deck. The house itself is only 58'–deep without the garage, which is a separate structure (connected via a breezeway) that can be located wherever it works best. It can be a passive solar house if it faces south.
As you step into the house off the covered front porch, you enter a narrow foyer with coat hooks on the left and double doors on the right that then widens to reveal a sunny atrium with a fountain or an indoor garden. The double doors you passed open to a room that can be used as a study or a guest bedroom. If used it as a study or office, you could move the laundry into the space behind the closet and enlarge the master bath area. There's a bumped–out bay filled with windows looking out to and through the front porch, and another window next to a small closet for additional light.
There are up and down stairs just off the atrium, but if you don't need a lower level (which is actually a very small area with a mechanical room and some storage spaces) you could replace the stairway headed down with a deep coat closet, and remove the hooks in the entryway. The center of the atrium space soars to a height of 27' in the middle. Three sides of the clerestory are filled with windows that can be opened automatically or with a long pole, so sunlight pours into the middle of the house while hot air is sucked out on hot days and nights. The original homeowners actually installed an indoor fountain with a 16" wall around it in the middle of the atrium space!
As you pass through the atrium you enter the living spaces of the house. The far wall of the great room and dining space (which are open to each other) is lined with windows and glass doors. Each window and door is 3'–wide and 6'–tall, and all are topped by 2'–tall transom windows, all of which provides a truly spectacular side view. One of the glass doors opens to a 42'–long deck that wraps around the corner and continues along most of the rear of the house. The ceiling at this side wall starts at 10' – the height of all the ceilings on the main level that are not vaulted – and rises to 18' at the edge of the atrium space. There's a gas fireplace in one corner of the great room that can also be enjoyed by family members and guests in both the dining area and the kitchen.
A long counter with angled sections at each end is all that separates the kitchen from the living areas. The center section has a range on top – and an oven below it – so that the person doing the cooking gets to enjoy the activities in the living areas, and the entire counter has a raised outer edge for casual dining and/or serving. In the corner of the kitchen, there are two 4'–tall windows flanking the sinks, and the ceiling vaults up all the way to the roof, where two skylights are located.
Another unique feature of the kitchen is that it includes an extended area with pantry cabinets, another oven, and a vegetable sink below a window. At the end of this space there's a door that opens to a mudroom that also functions as an airlock family entryway. One door in this space opens to the area at the front of the house, while another opens to a two–car garage. The garage has lots of windows for light, and pull–down stairs that provide access to attic storage.
Just off the kitchen and next to the dining area is a lovely morning room with a 10' ceiling and views in two directions. And on the opposite side of the house, next to the great room, is a sunroom with a vaulted ceiling. Six–foot tall windows look out to and through the side and rear decks, and a glass door provides access to these decks.
The remainder of the main level is devoted to the master suite at the rear of the house. Double doors off the atrium space open to the bedroom, which features an angled wall that gives the room an interesting look and feel, a lofty 10' ceiling, and windows and a glass door that look and open out to a wide portion of the rear deck, where the homeowners installed a hot tub. You pass a large walk–in closet on the way to a bath area with a double shower in the corner, two sinks next to a tall window, and a small laundry room.
The first landing on the way to the second floor has a plant shelf with a skylight above it. The upper level has a large and unusually shaped loft area. A 42"–high wall zigzags around, providing views into a portion of the atrium and the living spaces below, and another low wall looks down to the kitchen. At the end of this walkway there is a door that opens to an attic storage area. There's space in the loft to accommodate a bed and furniture for guests, and this space also has a built–in seat beneath a trio of windows. A door in this area of the loft opens to eave storage.
Other doors in the loft space open to bedroom 3 and a small bathroom. The bedroom has a pair of windows for views to the rear, and a door off the closet that opens to a huge eave storage area that wraps around the side of the house. A narrow door in an angled portion of the bedroom provides access to a plant shelf overlooking the sunroom below.
Modification Ideas
Move the laundry to the airlock entry and then enlarge the master bath. Make Bath 2 a half bath and expand the laundry.
This house has a covered porch in front, and a deep wrap around deck that runs nearly the entire length of the rear and one side. This side of the house has side–by–side windows that wrap around a sunny morning room, along the dining and living room, and completely around a sunroom. And all of these rooms except the morning room have vaulted ceilings. A clerestory atrium allows sunlight to fill the middle of the house as well – it rises to 27 feet in the center, and operable windows allow heat to escape on hot days.