Luxury Living 4

Starting 6 years ago, when we first added Luxury Living to our portfolio of homes, we started receiving requests for a smaller version. Jon Rentfrow (the designer) really wanted to satisfy this demand, but it required a full new set of plans, starting almost from scratch. Recently, however, a client hired Jon to do just that, so now we can offer plans for a visually identical house with much less square footage.

Since it is so similar to the original house, this description will deal primarily with what’s been changed. If you have not already read the full description of Luxury Living 1, please click here.

The curved staircase on the left as you enter the foyer – which matched the one on the right, but served no particular purpose – leads to a pair of connected sitting spaces on the upper level. These spaces look down to the vaulted great room, and the bridge between them looks down to the great room and the vaulted foyer. And all three spaces look out to the rear of the house through ceiling height windows in the living area.

The living spaces – great room, dining and kitchen – have the same open relationship to each other, but are smaller than the original. However, with the elimination of the extra staircase, the dining room now has a tall, vaulted ceiling. An (optional) elevator has been added between the main and lower levels, and a cased opening between it and the kitchen brings you to a walk–in pantry and a built–in desk across from a combination mudroom and laundry, and a door that opens to the 3–car garage.

The right side of the main level, which used to include a library and a bedroom with a full bath along with the master suite, is now occupied exclusively by the master bedroom and bath. The bedroom has windows facing the rear, along with sliding glass doors to the rear deck. The bath features a larger soaking tub in the corner flanked by windows above it and separate vanities. There’s also a large shower with a view, a private toilet room, and a huge walk–in closet with drop–down attic access in the ceiling and a small window for natural light.

The (optional) lower level is accessed either by elevator or by a curving staircase running beneath the one to the upper level. This version has two bedroom suites instead of one and a home theater, along with an open family room that walks out to the rear, and sitting area with a view to the rear. If you want to build a one–bedroom home with no lower level, the down staircase on the main level would become a deep closet, and the elevator would not be needed.

The square footage on each level drops from 3,936 in the original version to 2,303 on the main; from 649 to 408 on the upper; and from 2,817 to 1,391 on the lower.