VERY simple house plans

[The Girls' Mom]

Anyone know of a good place online to look at super simple house plans? I love the older style farm houses that were basically divided up boxes. Seems like all the plans now have weird angles and tons of wasted space. :glare:

[gardening momma]

Are you wanting to build? Do you need specifics or just layout ideas? I've lived in a couple of farmhouses as a kid.

[Tracy in Ky]

We had a simple home built. Basically a rectangle with a basement under it. You can draw it yourself. Once our builder realized what we wanted, he just drew it on graph paper. We made a couple of changes, and he built it even without blue prints!

[Kathy in MD]

Anyone know of a good place online to look at super simple house plans? I love the older style farm houses that were basically divided up boxes. Seems like all the plans now have weird angles and tons of wasted space. :glare:

 

I grew up around old farm houses. My impression of them? Tons of wasted space. :lol:

 

Super simple house plans tend to be rectangles or boxes. Old farmhouses tend to a series of tacked on rooms without organization.

[The Girls' Mom]

I think we've found something like we want...more cape cod style I suppose. We are looking to build...but want something simply laid out, and not super expensive to build. We are hoping to be able to do some of the work ourselves.

 

http://www.familyhomeplans.com/plan_details.cfm?PlanNumber=89558&src=search#image-slideshow

 

Dh and I are trying to get on the same page on everything..lol. Sometimes I think we speak a different language :confused:

[The Girls' Mom]

Or this one

http://details.coolhouseplans.com/details.html?pid=chp-3005&ArchStyle=Farmhouse&FoundID=7&sid=chp2

[Carrie12345]

I've been searching for years for a simple 5-6br floor plan online with no luck. They're all 7,000sf of air designed to be covered in marble. :glare:

 

If we ever build new (and I hope we don't) we're going to have to sketch our own in order to keep it simple and under 3500sf.

We're getting ready to gather estimates for a project that will give us 2 new bedrooms, for a total of 5, in under 2,000sf. Sketched by me, of course!

[gardening momma]

http://www.familyhomeplans.com/plan_details.cfm?PlanNumber=89558&src=search#image-slideshow

 

This one doesn't have a master bath...are you ok with that?

[The Girls' Mom]

Yeah, as long as we have two...we're good. We only have 1.5 bath right now.

[Heather in WI]

I like The Hamilton. :)

 

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm

[gardening momma]

I like The Hamilton. :)

 

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm

I like the "toilet or store room" as if (nowadays) we'd choose anything but bathroom.

 

It is a nice layout for upstairs, if you need 4 bedrooms. The hall downstairs is "wasted" space. If you had the hall/entrance be one story instead of two, then you could have a larger bedroom upstairs for the master bedroom. I like having a walk in pantry (don't have one now).

 

You could probably rearrange the first floor a little bit, make room for a 1/2 bath (or larger), eliminate the hall if you want, and it's a nice house plan. Not what I think of when I think "farmhouse." The farmhouse I grew up in was two rectangles placed perpendicular to each other, packed dirt floor for the basement, and a wood burning furnace (we slid the chopped wood down a board through a basement window).

[The Girls' Mom]

Those are cool....my dh said "I'll take two" noting the building costs listed. :lol:

 

We need 3 bedrooms at least, with space for two offices. One would probably be in a basement though. 2 full baths. A large-ish kitchen/living room area (I would like to be able to have my kids and their families over later :) )

Edited July 15, 2009 by Apryl H

[Stacie]

I grew up around old farm houses. My impression of them? Tons of wasted space. :lol:

 

Super simple house plans tend to be rectangles or boxes. Old farmhouses tend to a series of tacked on rooms without organization.

 

 

:iagree: I agree. I like a house that flows well with our family activities.

 

Plus, old farmhouses tend to not take into account modern conveniences such as full bathrooms, master suites, garages, large closets, and enough storage spaces.

 

However, one thing to look for when evaluating and building are designs that capitalize on natural air movement. Old farmhouses tend to do this better due to lack of air conditioning. A few years ago we were hit with over a week without power and found out that our home was designed to capitalize on an air conditioner and not air flow from wind. Next time we move we will look for a home with windows and hallways to maximize air movement and hopefully reduce the need for air conditioner at certain times of the year!

[Heather in WI]

I like the "toilet or store room" as if (nowadays) we'd choose anything but bathroom.

 

 

It tickles me to no end that the buyer is given the choice between a toilet or a store room! :lol:

[The Girls' Mom]

Reminds me of how my mom always liked to tell me the story of how she hugged the toilet when they got an indoor bathroom!

[gardening momma]

However, one thing to look for when evaluating and building are designs that capitalize on natural air movement. Old farmhouses tend to do this better due to lack of air conditioning. A few years ago we were hit with over a week without power and found out that our home was designed to capitalize on an air conditioner and not air flow from wind. Next time we move we will look for a home with windows and hallways to maximize air movement and hopefully reduce the need for air conditioner at certain times of the year!

Oh yes...I forgot to add that one of the things I remember the most about the house we lived in was that you could go through rooms and circle back around to where you started--all rooms connected to each other. It's what drives me crazy about the house I'm in--I would love to be able to go from my kitchen to my bedroom, since it's only on the other side of the wall, but I have to go all the way around. And it's not laid out in a way that we could just have a doorway put in there--the shower is there on the other side.

[Liz CA]

Anyone know of a good place online to look at super simple house plans? I love the older style farm houses that were basically divided up boxes. Seems like all the plans now have weird angles and tons of wasted space. :glare:

 

Check out "The Not so Big House" by Susanka (can't remember her first name)

She is an architect who makes you think more about principles that actual plans. I found it very helpful.

 

[newbie]

Check out "The Not so Big House" by Susanka (can't remember her first name)

She is an architect who makes you think more about principles that actual plans. I found it very helpful.

 

 

I was just going to post this.

[Doodle]

I've been looking at lots of home plans. This website is my favorite.

 

http://natalieplans.com/index.htm

 

We've chosen one of the log home designs and modified it a bit to have two master bedrooms.

[Ottakee]

Try to think how YOU will live. Some of the plans posted are really cute but would not work for our family.

 

There is NO mud room, no closet by the door, etc. You walk right into the kitchen or living area. We are rural and have horses. We need place for boots, etc. that isn't in the main living area. Also think if you need a garage or not, how much storage space, etc. Picture yourself getting groceries--where will you put them, how easy is it to get them into the house, etc.? How about your mops, brooms, etc.---is there a place to store those?

[Kathy in MD]

Try to think how YOU will live. Some of the plans posted are really cute but would not work for our family.

 

There is NO mud room, no closet by the door, etc. You walk right into the kitchen or living area. We are rural and have horses. We need place for boots, etc. that isn't in the main living area. Also think if you need a garage or not, how much storage space, etc. Picture yourself getting groceries--where will you put them, how easy is it to get them into the house, etc.? How about your mops, brooms, etc.---is there a place to store those?

 

And when you think that you have a good plan, layout it in masking tape full size and go through the motions of how you'll really use it. Do you plan on having two kids use the bathroom at the same time? have them pretend to do it with the elbows flying as they brush teeth and wash faces. For kitchens, maybe even get boxes to help you go through the senario.

[The Girls' Mom]

We've lived in a lot of houses, in many sizes and shapes, so we have a pretty good idea of what we need. We have too much house right now. It's 3000 sq feet and I'm tired of the sprawling mess. I've lived in smaller, and found I can function better. Two bathrooms are plenty for us. I grew up in a one bath house, and we've lived in essentially a one bath for 8 years now. We plan on a basement for storage, some office space and the laundry.

 

I like the natalie site...gonna have to browse that. I think I just will have to sit down and draw what I want and take it to a builder.

[Ottakee]

It is an older book (unless there is a new edition) but the book, How to Make Your House Do the Housework by Don Aslet has a lot of great ideas on how to make cleaning, storing, etc. easier. Many ideas are easy to put into action when you can build your own house.

 

If we build, I also want simple but functional. My friend is an architech that designs 1 million plus houses. I told her she will have to think SMALL and SIMPLE for us:)

[Jugglin'5]

Try this site:

 

http://www.historicaldesigns.com/

[Stacia]

You might like taking a look at house plans on this site:

http://www.newworldhome.com/

(They do have .pdfs of the various models/floor layouts.) I think most of them are approx. the sq. footage you wanted too.

 

I walked through 2 of their model homes earlier this week & they had fairly simple layouts/designs.

[PollyOR]

http://www.cusatocottages.com/

[kalanamak]

Look around here:

 

http://www.houseplans.com/

[LizzyBee]

I think we've found something like we want...more cape cod style I suppose. We are looking to build...but want something simply laid out, and not super expensive to build. We are hoping to be able to do some of the work ourselves.

 

http://www.familyhomeplans.com/plan_details.cfm?PlanNumber=89558&src=search#image-slideshow

 

Dh and I are trying to get on the same page on everything..lol. Sometimes I think we speak a different language :confused:

 

We looked at several houses with dormers. A major disadvantage is that you can't put tall bookcases in the upstairs bedrooms. And since our kids have as many books as dh and me, that would be a problem. :001_smile:

[LizzyBee]

I like The Hamilton. :)

 

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm

 

I love the Hamilton! But I grew up in a big ol' farmhouse, and they still give me warm fuzzies. We did have indoor plumbing, though! By the time I came along, one of the bedrooms upstairs had been converted to a bathroom. It used to be my Uncle Elmer's bedroom, which always made me picture him sleeping in the bathtub!

[The Girls' Mom]

ok....we found a plan we love:

 

http://details.coolhouseplans.com/details.html?pid=chp-40626&ArchStyle=Cottage&FoundID=4&sid=chp2

 

We'll do a few minor modifications on it...but I think with our land layout, and what our family needs this is a perfect fit for us. We will ditch the 2nd floor balconies, and extend the deck. We are also going to remove the fireplace and make it a built in entertainment center. And in the chimney space upstairs we'll enlarge the closet, and make the 2nd bath room a full bath instead of a 3/4 bath. Our laundry room and pantry will be in the basement (like our current house) along with dh's workshop.

[Melinda]

I've been searching for years for a simple 5-6br floor plan online with no luck. They're all 7,000sf of air designed to be covered in marble. :glare:

 

If we ever build new (and I hope we don't) we're going to have to sketch our own in order to keep it simple and under 3500sf.

We're getting ready to gather estimates for a project that will give us 2 new bedrooms, for a total of 5, in under 2,000sf. Sketched by me, of course!

 

Here is the one we are planning to build. It's more than 3500 SF, though:

http://www.homeplans.com/exec/action/plans/browsemode/details/hspos/hsnet/planid/12226/section/homeplans

 

Edited July 17, 2009 by Melinda

[MBM]

I would also recommend checking out The Not So Big House books. Sarah Susanka's advice will help you think through your decisions before you begin building and show you how to use space wisely. You can also get house plans from them as well.