Maple Forest Country Cottage 2

This second version of our most popular plan was created by the same architects who designed the original Maple Forest house. Their primary goal in creating this second version was to reduce the overall cost to build by approximately 20%. They accomplished this by reducing the overall square footage by 10%, and lowering construction costs by – among other things – changing the outline of the house to remove a number of inside corners, and changing the roof construction from stick–built to engineered trusses.

The entry now faces the front instead of the garage. Upon entering the house from the covered porch, the living spaces are to your left. As you enter the spacious kitchen, the wall on the right flanking the stairway includes built–in ovens, a pull–out pantry, and a long counter with cabinets above them. There’s an (optional) island in the middle of the room with a raised bar for casual eating and/or serving, and windows over the sinks and on an adjacent wall let in plenty of natural light.

You pass beneath a softly–arched opening as you enter the living room. There’s a large fireplace straight ahead that can also be enjoyed by folks in the kitchen. It’s flanked by windows with window seats beneath them on either side, and the wall facing the front has a pair of glazed doors that are also flanked by large windows. Like all the rooms on the main level, the ceiling is set at a comfortable 9′ height. The glazed doors open to a wide and deep deck that continues across the front of the house to the entryway.

Next to the living room, through another arched opening, is the dining room. There’s a single window on the left as you enter the room, large picture windows that wrap around the far left corner, and a glazed door that opens to a screened porch at the rear of the house. On the right, one door opens to the basement stairs, while a pair of doors open to a study. The study also has a corner wrapped in windows, and another pair of doors to the entryway.

The space between the house and the garage contains a bathroom with a shower, a mudroom with a coat closet and a built–in bench, and a laundry room.

A wrap around hall at the top of the stairs to the upper level provides access to the master suite, two additional bedrooms and the bath they share, and a playroom above the garage.

The master bedroom has a ceiling that vaults from 8′ at the edges to 11’6″ down the center. A gorgeous trio of curved windows at the far end of the room provide light and views to the front, and there’s a window seat built–in beneath them. The bath features a large soaking tub beneath two side–by–side windows, a shower with a built–in bench, and two vanities. And on the other side of the bedroom there’s a large walk–in closet.

The two bedrooms are identical in size and space, each has windows on two walls for light and ventilation, and each has a pair of doors opening to a lovely terrace. A hallway to the playroom passes two gabled areas that would be ideal for desks beneath the windows. (Please note that the hallway and play area are not counted in the square footage totals.)

Should you choose to build the basement, there’s room for a large media room with oversized storage closets, another bedroom with a sitting room and a 3/4 bath, a mechanical room, and a large storage room.