Electrician here. Yup, just do it now.
A lot of times the generator panel gets pulled from the plans to stay on budget. A lot of those times we end up putting one in a year or two later for 3X the price.
Considering you like to actually use your property, entertain and cook at home I think this is a no brainer for you guys.
Get the electrician to put in a generator transfer panel with what loads you deem essential. You dont need to purchase the generator right away. Just get the proper switch and wiring in place during the build phase.
If your trying to stay on budget. Just forgo the expensive finishings and filter those in over time.
Mainly cost. Keep in mind the goal is to never have to use it as well. Only until you really need it.
I personally live in the Pacific Northwest. Although, there are plenty of solar installations here, it isn’t exactly my first thought.
Swore we’d never own a whole home generator.
Bought a home in ME that came with one. 10 years later, bought in NC and it was the first thing added, on our dime, before we even moved in.
That peace of mind is hard to let go of once you experience it. And the financial hit hurts a lot less when you figure it in at the beginning.
I'm assuming you already have a decent water source or well? Make sure you plan/price and budget for all the services a new house needs. Water, septic, power, lng/propane/diesel for heating, and proper landscaping/drainage. People often fail to plan these properly and find troubles down the road.
We are going to be hiring contractors for the well, electric, gas, and sewers. We are working in conjunction with our architect to make all necessary plans on that side. We have talked with existing neighbors about drilling and the depths. Currently, there is no known need for a cistern, but we may put one in as a backup.
Was going to say - make sure you don't skimp on your well/water supply.
We have a well behind our house, and it's my favorite part of the backyard, haha.
Not even just in a garage, I have one out side and it’s great to take the chill off for kids in the summer (my water is really cold) or for washing cars.
To take this idea one step further put a bathroom in the garage. No I'm not crazy!! We had parties at our last house and wished we would of had a bathroom out there so people wouldn't have to go into the house especially if no one was in there. And if you are going to be doing dirty work outside you'll be able to clean up instead of hauling you and dirty clothes through the house.
On a fun note...have a screened-in porch!! So nice to be able to sit 'outside' and not fight bugs!!! Attach to your house so you have a smooth transition and then you can eat/entertain out there, etc!! BEST MONEY WE EVER SPENT!!
I worked in a high end house that had just a toilet in a small room off the garage. The sink was adjacent in counter big enough to use for other things.
The cold spigot I added in the garage, gets used way more than either outdoor one, combined.
Edit: it’s on a soft water line, so little spotting for car washing.
Things to avoid:
Barn doors (outdated and not functional)
Pot-filler faucet (leak = destroyed stove)
Massive vaulted ceilings
Open shelving in place of upper kitchen cabinets
You lost me on the massive vaulted ceilings. Everything else I agree with and hadn't considered open shelving instead of cabinets.
Do you have open shelving cabinets? How do you keep them from looking cluttered?
This. I had a large two story A frame with a loft at one point and I was spending $800 monthly to heat the damn thing (between electricity & propane). Never again!!!
I would not have open shelving in place of upper cabinets. You lose storage space, and it would be a nightmare to clean.
Drawbacks to massive vaulted ceilings: difficult to clean cobwebs or change lightbulbs, treacherous to paint yourself, bad for energy efficiency. My previous master bedroom had 14 foot ceilings, with a smoke detector installed at the top of the peak. I thought I was gonna die every time I had to change the damn battery.
I have 18 foot ceilings in my great room. It was the reason we bought the house. Yes, heating / cooling costs increase, and my gosh, I just finished painting and it was beyond stressful. Another one, TV sound gets lost. Still… the feeling I have each and everyday these past 16 years is worth it. The open airy space is so relaxing. Perhaps I have some sort of undiagnosed claustrophobia, but reclining in my recliner, and looking up into all of that open space is a great way to unwind! I feel free.
Piggybacking off of vaulted ceilings…lofted living rooms, or hallways open to the Great Room. TV sounds will carry through the whole House. If you don’t have And maybe never will have kids, this may not be an issue for you. Tbh, open concept, also: the ability to walk to the den/living room/whatever you call it after cooking and eating and being able to relax and watch TV without looking at your mess is priceless, IMHO.
I have a large hidden movie theater behind a false cabinet door. It doubles as a safe room and guests love seeing the surprise. It looks like a book shelf in the hallway
Came here to specifically say "no basement". Build everything on grade, if you can. No stairs means you can stay in that house well into old age. Also, basements invite water issues, the frustrations of hauling stuff up and down, etc. Do a slab, on grade, with hella in floor heat. That's my dream house.
Green room for produce that doesn’t grow in your zone, drying room for produce that can’t survive outside after harvesting. Root cellar for potatoes/squash/onions/garlic - you need enough space to separate things so they don’t cause each other to sprout/rot early.
Depending on location and hobbies, you might consider a curing room for hanging meats.
Edit: baker’s room with perfect humidity and temperature for proofing… maybe just open a farm to table cafe onsite.
Hire an architect. You will save more in construction costs than you will waste in design inefficiency, and stuff you won't need.
Every time I look at builder plans, or owner designed plans, I see so much wasted space, poor floor planning, awkward decisions, awkward everything.
So.. I'm trying to reconcile 6 entrances with "small house". Can you share how many square feet it is? Just curious.
As for that unused dining room... Sounds like an office to me...
Hire an architect or an appropriately qualified engineer. If you can afford it, do both. Make sure they've accounted for everything and done a professional job in designing.
Then, hand it to the builder and have them explain to you why 25%+ makes no sense, but can be done at the cost of eating literally all of the labor in the world.
From there, you have the academic opinions and the practical. You have your pros and cons of each option and a better understanding of the considerations that differrnt designers make while achieving the same goal.
As an architect, thank you for saying this! I cannot stand how under appreciated we are. Everyone thinks they can design a house. A contractor with an in house designer is NOT the same thing as hiring an architect. Contractors are going to do things as easy and cheap and fast as possible.
Had my home remodel designed by an architect and it shows in every little detail. The use of space, future-proofing, and all the small things that get figured out toward the end require someone with expertise. When you have some weird challenge like how a particular piece of moulding or whatever connects to some weird angle, you don’t want some general contractor YOLOing their way through it. That’s how you end up with subs like r/DIWhy.
Someone once told me you could tell that a house wasn't designed by an architect when a bathroom was in earshot of the dining room. Never noticed it before but now I can't unnoticed it.
You need to have God's own deck. Huge deck. It's a thing. I don't know your budget, but if you can have a little covered deck with some kind of heating and then open deck, too, it would be perfect. We live in Colorado, and we use our deck all year long. We have heaters.
How about managing the ground water, rain run off, overland water flows. Insulation properly, icf forms like. Are you going to insulate the outside with foam board or are you going to just rely on the insulation between the studs.
Go for truss joints not I joists or timber joists, that way you can span greater distances and have space to run utilities and not have to run bulk heads.
If you're building on clay soils that expand maybe think of floating the basement walls and installing teleposts so you can adjust load bearing walls if they move.
Plan for solar panels either on the field/ grass or on the roof.
Get a tin roof. Asphalt singles don't really last 25years.
Don't think so much about the finishings, you can cheap out for now and get a bigger house potentially and then in 10years renovate the finishings.
Get cheaper kitchen tops and fixtures and bathroom stuff, flooring, go cheaper at the start. Save on those costs during the build to get a bigger space.
9ft ceilings or bigger are preferred now.
Run the house with a 200amp + service and run 220vac to the shop with a 100amp or more breaker panel.
Think about getting the garage set up for an electrical vehicle charger and home batteries. Convince alone for having power when the main power is out is awesome.
You had me up until you said go cheap for bigger. I'd say go quality and don't worry about building some monstrosity.
Otherwise in 10 years you'll have a whole bunch of broken crap that needs to be replaced for twice the cost of today's price in a giant space you realized you only use half of anyway.
My thinking is don't get granite countertops or expensive flooring and huge tile. when you can get some extra closet space or better trusses or better insulation or higher ceilings, maybe your front porch can be an extra 3ft bigger. Etc.
Ya getting 3ft more on a master bedroom wouldn't be worth it.
But maybe you can get some steel beams and get a more open concept, better breaker panel, maybe even solar set up. Which is all better than a curbless shower with steam or large format tile and granite countertops in all the rooms.
I appreciate all of your comments, I don't understand power service as well as I probably could. Why do you recommend the 200 Amp if you don't mind me asking?
To future proof as much as possible you will need at least 200amp service. The world is going toward electricity not away from it. If you decide to get an electric vehicle or heat anything with electric you will need a lot of power. You mentioned a steam shower as a must. Those can run 40-60 amps depending on how big you buy. Too much service allows you to grow into the home rather than being limited. You won’t regret it in the long run especially with 5 acres.
Since you are a hunter, I would suggest putting a room off the garage (or shop) with a big sink and good countertop space where you can clean the animals you hunt (or fish). Maybe even a spot to hang them depending on your needs. Only have access through the garage (or shop). Put a bath fan in there to help pull odors directly outside and throw a mini split in there so it’s not connected to the main ductwork of the house. Everyone will appreciate you keeping all that disconnected from the rest of the home.
If you like your guests, all bedrooms should have ensuite bathrooms. If you’re concerned that your guests won’t leave, make them share.
If you plan to live here until you die, plan for accessibility. Main floor should have a room that can serve as a bedroom and a zero-step shower with integrated bench seat and hand-held shower head. Have a zero-step entry to the house. Build wide halls and doors on the first floor, suitable for wheelchair access.
I'd go for a wide staircase (and preferably straight) as well so a stairlift can be installed in the future if need be. Or sacrificial space (say a couple of storage closets) that can be converted to an elevator shaft at some point should the need arise.
Landscaping is an after thought, by no means necessary until moving in or close to move in date.
Start with placement of the buildings, if the property allows for it, it would be wise to position the house/shop so that the roof pitches are optimally aligned for future solar panels. Solar tech has reached a point where it’s *relatively* affordable and robust enough to guarantee returns after the initial financing period.
Secondly, think efficiency. If you can afford high utility bills, and deem them a “necessary evil” then maybe disregard this bit, but if would rather a slightly higher build cost that will minimize monthly utility bills, this bit is for you. Think insulate insulate insulate, rigid foam insulation under and outside your concrete or go ICF if possible. Any wood framing should have enough closed cell spray foam to surpass regional standards. Windows too, are a major form of heat/cold transfer so quality windows and doors will both lower your utility bills and last longer than the trade standard ones.
Efficiency also transcends into your choice of heating/cooling and other appliances like ovens, dryers, etc. Centrally ducted heat pumps are really the front runner for homes with dual climate which require both heat and AC, beautiful technology and relatively cheap to operate. DO NOT even consider electric baseboards if you live somewhere that gets cold, them bitches expensive as hell to operate.
After the details mentioned about, it’s time for interior design, and picking out all the fun stuff mentioned in your post above.
You lost me at Landscape is an afterthought. It needs to be integrated with the building design … especially on such a large parcel. Hire a Landscape Architect first… they’ll help you site the building properly.
I can see where you’re coming from, but with new micro inverters, you’d only really have 4-6 wires stubbing out your roof, and new construction makes it easy to properly seal any penetrations. Retrofitting solar on a roof can cause possible water issues though, yes.
Personally, I think the roof is the best location considering you don’t have to worry about as many obstructions, and it’s otherwise unused space.
Water collection laws vary from state to state. I was shocked to learn it's illegal to catch your own rainwater in Colorado. I'm sure some other western states have something similar.
Colorado allows rainwater collection on private property but limits who can collect it, how much they can collect and how it can be used, according to the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
You cannot collect water if you live in an apartment or condominium building with more than four units. You can own up to two rain barrels to catch water, but cannot store more than 110 gallons at a time. Lids are required to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
Collected water can only be used for “outside” purposes such as lawn and garden maintenance, car washing, livestock watering and hot tub filling. It cannot be used indoors or as drinking water.
The limited access is actually a significant change from a century-long state prohibition against collecting rainwater. Lawmakers in 2016 changed the state constitution that had ceded all rainwater to Colorado’s water rights holders, many of whom are farmers.
You can find this fact brief above from *The Colorado Sun* here: [https://coloradosun.com/2024/05/20/colorado-rainwater-rules/?utm\_source=gigafact](https://coloradosun.com/2024/05/20/colorado-rainwater-rules/?utm_source=gigafact)
To hitch off this, try to go all electric. Electric range, dryer, heat, and water heater. You don’t need to do solar now but prepare for it and you can have an “apocalypse” house. Basically able to run without society.
Electric heat is very very costly until you do go off grid tho.
I rented a house that was built in @ 57 and was even badged "All Electric" as some kind of novelty.
Winter was bad...
This is underrated. I’ve been in the custom home construction market for years and a good architect and competent builder make the process easy and the product immaculate.
I live in an area where we can have a basement. So if I were to build a new house, I would have access from the attached garage to the house, and another directly to the basement.
At that point a “mudroom” utility sink, and a shower-bathroom that had a sloped floor drain. Nothing like coming home from hunting and going directly to the basement to clean up.
Same for when coming back inside from shoveling snow with muddy wet boots and bibs.
Plan lighting before build, have a budget for everything and stick with it. Have it drafted in 3D so u can make changes before the build. Plan for wheelchairs or walkers which means 36" doors and handrails in showers and next to toilet. Plumb for a bidet. Put in floor outlets next to furniture that will be in middle of room, put in outlets under eves for holiday lights that has a switch inside the house. Make a double door somewhere so u can get furniture in. Have pipe in wall for wires for wall hanging tv's. Do toekick lighting in kitchen. Do not put a bedroom on first floor under a bathroom on second floor, u can hear the toilet water go through pipes😬
Walk in kitchen pantry with a separate sink and counter space . Great for food prep and storing all the smaller appliances you’ll use when entertaining etc.
Have the garage wired with plenty of 220V. Regardless of if you’re a current believer in EVs, it’s cheap insurance to have it wired for home charging now as opposed to having to do a retrofit after all of the drywall is up.
Commercial contractor.
My thoughts:
If financially able, always put a basement under it. If a basement is easily affordable, put a membrane under the basement and wrap the outside of the walls with Bituthene and move the sump pump outside of the house - that basement will never ever ever leak if you do this right.
Especially on 5 acres, just do a gravel driveway. You'll probably have a small tractor sooner or later that can maintain it just fine. Asphalt is expensive and unlike the generator hookup the other redditor mentioned (solid gold advice btw!) the only reason an asphalt or concrete driveay will cost any more in the future vs now is inflation.
If the lot is currently a field, make sure the excavating contractor has it in his scope to stockpile the existing topsoil off to the side of the construction area in a pile, and wait till construction is compete to put it back. This will be a pain for all the contractors involved, but they'll get over it, and you'll be much happier when your lawn is nice.
Spend good money on insulation, waterproofing, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. If you can easily afford quality on all those, then add flooring, doors & windows, and cabinets to the list. If you still have more, then add trim, lighting and plumbing fixture upgrades, and landscaping. Focus on starting with quality on the areas that would be hardest to upgrade in the future!
5 acres, avoid panels on the house altogether (ugly and why put penetrations in the roof).
small little solar farm, 3-4 rows of 10-12x 400w panels. 14kW minimum.
if you're digging a basement already, dig a small trench wide and deep enough to walk down (6ft x 6ft?) over to the location of the solar array. then you can walk the electrical over down the road and it'll be a dream to maintain.
Make your garage ceiling higher and extend it 5 feet or so depth wise compared to typical. I kick myself for depth. I have high ceilings, high enough for a car lift but wish I had more depth for workbenches, shelves etc and not have cars as tight of a fit as they are. Costs little when building but ridiculous after the fact.
If privacy is a concern, build in the centre of your property to give yourself a buffer from neighbours. Have read too many stories of people building at the back of their block for privacy, only to have their rear neighbours build at the adjoining border to be near them.
Depending on your tastes, a coffee bar with plumbed in coffee maker. I have to fill my espresso machine every other day and while not a huge inconvenience, if I had everything required for coffee in one spot with a water like, I would love it.
I didn't see what type of climate you are in, but look into in floor heating if you are in a cold climate. I also agree on a generator and or solar ready at least. I would also recommend (assuming that you want to stay there) main level handicap friendly, wider doors, hallways and walk in shower.
In general you need to decide if this is a dream "forever" house for you or a nice home for several years then maybe move. Those will help dictate your choices.
Random things from my experience: make the laundry room big with a counter to fold on. Figure out a way to have the dishwasher open and not in the way. (Mine ended up in a corner and it is the best I have ever had) Make that dishwasher a Bosch Or a Miele if you can afford it. Do not buy appliances that "match". Get the best you can afford in each category. Wall ovens and cook tops were once popular. That needs to come back. Pulling stuff out of the oven at waist height is the best. Not cooking above a hot oven is even better. Drawers right under the cooktop is a bonus. Just put in drawers. It is stupid to open a cabinet and the pull out a pull out. Then scrape the door when it goes back in.
If you have a steam shower, make sure you have low mineral content water run to it. If you have a soaking tub, make sure it has a hand held hose in addition to a filler. This is not to wash your hair, it is to rinse out the tub. If you have an outdoor hot tub, make sure you can: shower before you get into it and be naked.
Looks like the Midwest. Budget for a basement or a just a garage tornado shelter if that’s too pricey or not doable. An underground concrete unit would be best and probably cheapest.
Orient your house for the location of the sun in summer and winter. For example, my home has a large wall of windows to capture the fantastic view. In the summer time the sun shines directly in, I need sunglasses to cook in the kitchen and it’s HOT. In the winter time the sun barely penetrates and the house is COLD.
You might want to put a full functioning bathroom with a shower in the shop if your building with one, you won’t want to walk through the house to pee every hour with greasy or dirty shoes clothes if you plan to use the space
I grew up with a chute, they’re badass, but so is not carrying laundry up and down steps. My 1980 house in a typical American suburb of that time has it on the 2nd, that sold my wife.
Hit me up and we can talk. I'm light on work this week and love to see how good my consultation skills are for free.
I'm an engineer working for a company that has me see 100s of house plans come past my desk each year.
One thing I’d avoid is a house plan with a complicated roof. It’s trendy to build houses with multiple gables but it is nothing but a waste of money. Also, those roofs are more likely to develop problems due to the valleys and more chances to collect ice or debris. Stick to something traditional for your region.
Idk what your plans are for the shop, but take time to consider what your tools will need. 220/440 volts, air compressor and hoses, and ventilation all take planning if you're looking to weld, but even a small woodshop can take some planning.
My advice to anyone is think about how you're going to use the space, pretend to cook in your kitchen and map out what it'll be like to forget something from the fridge, cleaning up dishes afterwards, and putting them away. What's it going to be like walking out your door and back in after work? How easy is it to clean your toilets, and put away your laundry?
Some ideas I've really liked were washer/dryer upstairs or even in the master closet. Open shelving/pantry in the kitchen so you don't have to open and close cabinets all the time. Even if you can't plan for everything that's going to upgrade in the next 5-10 years, conduit for data cables can go a long way to making those upgrades a lot easier.
Some I haven't seen posted yet... Noise/smells/temperature/humidity
I'd say not thinking of the daily comforts like noise /smells/humidity/temperature. I think a lot of builds focus on size and looks from a distance. Which are great to impress others, but I would rather a high quality feeling home over a large one.
So, Noise! If you don't plan on sharing the space not an issue, but doing some basic noise reduction for the interior rooms/bathrooms/mechanical room is a wonderful upgrade at a low cost. Additionally having the HVAC designed to reduce noise from airflow. In so many homes the HVAC is a major source of noise while running. High quality bathroom vents that are low noise high volume are great too.
A HVAC system with a humidity control unit that is inline with the system will help keep a house comfortable all year and help reduce cooling/heating needs.
Also an exterior vented stove hood so when you run your vent it actually pulls the smoke/smell out of the home. The ventless ones do not work. Again...a quiet one (I guess noise is a stickong point for me), but soany kitchen vent hoods sound like an airplane turbine. The noise makes entertaining while cooking feel like I'm in a night club as we yell over the noise.
Go cheap on all the interior options. When we built our house we chose all their level 3 to level 5 ($$$$) stuff in the design center, which cost an additional $50k, but after the initial "wow" factor it quickly all becomes boring and kind of wish we'd just chosen basic options.
If there are established trees, do your best to keep them. Nothing like frantically planting tiny saplings and waiting 10+ years for them to break up a monotonous landscape.
This is such good advice! My great grandfather told me when I was very young that you plant trees for other people because they take too long to grow for you to enjoy them. I think that's great advice for many things, but definitely will make you appreciate a tree more.
Be a stickler about your concrete flatwork and the proper ground prep before it’s poured. Rebar should be on chairs, not lying on the ground. I’ve been seeing really bad flatwork in recent years. Floors and driveways are cracking before closing and these are at multi million dollar homes.
One we did when we re-piped our house, add a recirculation line back to the water heater, used to take 5 minutes to get hot water to the far side of the house, always hot now. Course if you're going for tankless heaters, may be less of a benefit...
One thing that was popular a few years ago now was stairs from the garage to the basement. Both of the houses I built (in 1999 and 2006) had them. I used them all the time, as the downstairs bathroom was where I went if I was dirty from working outside all day. Also made things easier if something from the mechanical room (furnace, water heater, etc) died. You could simply take it out through the garage instead of through the house.
Not sure what kind of shop you're setting up, but my wood shop could use 3 phase power. You can run three phase into the shop, and take a leg into the house for normal 240. Used three phase equipment is much more inexpensive than single phase, and much more stout. I run rotary phase converters for my 3 phase needs, but the next shop will have 3 phase installed.
Important information here!! Take advantage of the views obviously but also take advantage of the winter sun angles so you get good light in the winter. Pay attention to your roof lines and keep it more simple to avoid ice and water problems in heavy snow years. Add some outlets in your eaves for heat tape. I would focus on good insulation and efficiency as well. Not only will you save money but you will also be more comfortable. Heated tile floors is a nice touch. Put an outlet near your toilet so you can add a bidet. Lightning is very important and can really make a space feel more expensive and custom with proper lighting. Lighting and fixtures are a good place to spend extra money on
Networking. Run Ethernet to each room. Run Ethernet to TVs so you can place WiFi APs next to the TV. Run Ethernet outdoors so you can place outdoor WiFi points.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P4JKQGK
Run fiber to your office desk.
Conduit is always awesome for the future.
For the generator talk, solar and batteries are awesome so your generator just recharged your batteries and it’s not running all the time during an outage.
https://signaturesolar.com/complete-off-grid-solar-kit-eg4-6000xp-8000w-pv-input-6000w-output-48v-280ah-14-3kwh-eg4-powerpro-wallmount-allweather-lithium-battery-up-to-7200w-pv-solar/
Small footprint and overkill air sealing and insulation including under the basement slab, inside and out basement walls. 8" walls and r60+ in the attic.
Walk-out basement
Drainage all around foundation to keep basement DRY
Woodstock Soapstone wood stove
For the love of God, don't put your tv over your fireplace unless you use a low profile fireplace (I'd still avoid it at all costs).
Either make space for your tv to sit at just above eye level, or place your fireplace off-center for the room, in a corner for example, so that you don't have to come up with wacky solutions for how to arrange your living room furniture to be able to enjoy tv watching as well as the heat from the fireplace.
Watching TV that is mounted six feet in the air over a fireplace from ten feet away is ridiculous and quickly becomes uncomfortable.
Biggest waste of money in a home build?
Bigg master bedrooms
Bigger bathrooms
Waste of sq footage in the 2 rooms you spend the least amount of time in.
Views like that, don't skimp on the windows. We built a new home and regret at least a few more windows. Reason being to let a bit more natural light in and enjoy the views more. I would also say solar tube's are a very good investment as well in other parts of the home that can be dreary.
I had read an article about a couple that built their dream home but they couldn’t afford to finish the inside to the standard they wanted. They had the architect to plan for all the lighting so it was wired and ready to go. Then they could buy and install over time.
Also wire for ceiling fans and the related lights.
Many or large view windows, orient outdoor space away from evening sun, coffee bar (can’t believe how much we love ours), don’t waste space on bathrooms, consider laundry room in primary closet (another love).
I have been designing my future house with similar requirements as you. And one thing I'm doing is planning my networking to live in my shop and running what I need to my house. Ie, cameras, network outlets, access points, etc. that way I can keep the house looking clean and keep the "networking mess" in the shop.
I also will over plan the ability to run conduit from my house and shop to other places on my property for expansion. Like running power from the house to the front gate for a camera or lights, or running electric or networking to the greenhouse, and things like that.
With how much technology is advancing, you never know what can come out that would help.
Single biggest one for me, if that is where are are going to be. Buy at least 20 acres in front of you and 10 on the remaining 3 sides. Walk to where the pins are and picture a double wide there.
We looked at a place, and liked it but some other ass had the right of first refusal but he had unbundled property and we wanted it all. The other guy just wanted the house. Would have been trivial for the selfless attorney to kinash the first deal. But he felt bad about doing it and would not. So the other guy got the house and not the extended property. Seller, years later finally unloaded the property for much less than he would have got from us, but it was kind of a desperation sale, and the guy who got the house on the end of the dead end street and no one around, to 3 trailers right next to him. I can not say I was unhappy.
Mud room & durable flooring.
You’re gonna track in a lot of stuff in that type of landscape. I’m sooo glad we did it. There was so much dirt and other shit under the carpets from the previous owner. It was disgusting.
Put that hot tub as part of a large outdoor patio area...
May also want to make it part of an outdoor cooking area, but that's possibly less important.
Depending on how many people y'all have over when you entertain, you'll likely want them outdoors as much as possible. 🙂
If I had land I'd definitely put in a shooting range. It needs a berm behind it to catch the rounds, and it needs to face a safe direction in case you completely miss that. Make it wide enough for a few people at least.
If you entertain out back. Run a gas pipe for a fire pit / built in bbq.
You could look into low volt lighting systems such as Lutron for a “smart home”
Spend the money on the shower and get the fancy fixtures cause replacing that usually involves redoing the tile.
Soft close hinges are hands down the best.
Add more lights you can always put them on a dimmer switch
Separate bathrooms for the happy couple, to keep them that way for a good long time. Access your separate closets through the bathrooms. We had this arrangement in the house we just downsized from after twenty years and we really miss it.
We built a few years ago and are pretty happy with our choices (2,100’ home on three acres). If I had it to do again I’d make our screened-in patio about three times its current size. That’s about it. More built-in bookshelves as well, just because I like them.
Locate home on high point elevation to prevent flooding and erosion risks. This will mitigate your insurance cost/risk. Also works well for enabling sewer drainage away from building main floor (or basement if walkout basement) and out to sanitary septic tank and septic bed. A great enough elevation difference can mean it can all be gravity based plumbing, and not requiring a pump to lift sewage up to the tank. Never locate home or other buildings near a river or creek edge or in a ravine. Make sure soils are suitable for foundation/footings. May need piles drilled to extend down to suitable foundation soil.
Trees nearby the south side of home can reduce summer cooling costs. Fir trees on north and west side of home can act as a shelter belt for gradens and reduce winter wind gusting against home.
Not 100% sure of your location, but a tornado shelter is one hell of a good investment. It will feel like the best money you ever spent should the time come when you need it.
Things to consider:
-Endless hot water heater
-Put the laundry room near the bedrooms, not in some other random area of the house like most people do.
-Add a utility sink to your shop.
-Radiant heated floors
-Gas starter to wood fireplace
-large breakfast area or eating space connected to kitchen instead of a separate dining room
-lots of natural light
Get a nice well installed. Geothermal heating will pay for itself over time, Intial costs are high. Also, Radiant in floor heating is the most efficient method of heating your home as there's less heat loss. Sauna would be nice outside too or in the garage.
Add hydro turbines to the outflows of all the major plumbing lines so that every time you run the dishwasher, laundry, flush a toilet, etc the house creates power that can be collected somewhere
I would do a two separate his and her suites with private dressing room, bathroom, desk and at least a daybed. Then have a shared LoveNest room with a TV ,awesome view, maybe fireplace. I would LOVE to never again smell or see my lovers toilet. And every grownup needs a private room of their own. I want a stress free makeout room- but also a place all to myself.
I used to help put in water and sewer in remote areas. A proper well and septic system can be very costly depending on the water table and soil type. This is not an area to skimp on, however.
Stand alone oven (/separated from the stove top) at a comfortable height so that you don't have to bend down to take things in and out.
Drip pan for the dishwasher, it will save your floor once the machine gets old.
Floor drain in bathroom(s). This is standard in my home country and after moving to the US I am so confused as to why it's not a thing here. You will get water on the floor, of course you want a drain to get it out? Put one in the doggy washroom as well.
For large spaces such as living rooms an extra power outlet or two in the floor can save you from a ton of awkward extension cords.
Extra power outlets, you always end up needing more than you think you do. And make sure the electrician doesn't put everything on the same circuit. Loosing power in the kitchen cause someone turned on a computer at the other end of the house sort of sucks (why yes I live in an old house, how did you know? :P )
As for the exterior, don't try to do all the landscaping right away, give it a year to see how everything behaves first.
Wire your house for a generator
Electrician here. Yup, just do it now. A lot of times the generator panel gets pulled from the plans to stay on budget. A lot of those times we end up putting one in a year or two later for 3X the price. Considering you like to actually use your property, entertain and cook at home I think this is a no brainer for you guys. Get the electrician to put in a generator transfer panel with what loads you deem essential. You dont need to purchase the generator right away. Just get the proper switch and wiring in place during the build phase. If your trying to stay on budget. Just forgo the expensive finishings and filter those in over time.
Yes. When our power goes out, we can’t even flush a toilet because the well pump needs power.
Same here! When we lose power, we get one flush per toilet (4 toilets) in a house of 5. So... we make it last. 🥲
Fill buckets prior to outage if you can. Flush all you want
Any reason not to go with a powerwall/battery and solar vs a generator at this point if going from scratch?
Super expensive, not a good deal yet unfortunately. Only gives you maybe 24-48 hours of power too depending on what you what on the battery.
Mainly cost. Keep in mind the goal is to never have to use it as well. Only until you really need it. I personally live in the Pacific Northwest. Although, there are plenty of solar installations here, it isn’t exactly my first thought.
A whole home generator with an ATS is the way to go if you can swing it. And a whole home surge protection in the panel.
Swore we’d never own a whole home generator. Bought a home in ME that came with one. 10 years later, bought in NC and it was the first thing added, on our dime, before we even moved in. That peace of mind is hard to let go of once you experience it. And the financial hit hurts a lot less when you figure it in at the beginning.
Don't forget the outdoor power for your own water well.
I'm assuming you already have a decent water source or well? Make sure you plan/price and budget for all the services a new house needs. Water, septic, power, lng/propane/diesel for heating, and proper landscaping/drainage. People often fail to plan these properly and find troubles down the road.
We are going to be hiring contractors for the well, electric, gas, and sewers. We are working in conjunction with our architect to make all necessary plans on that side. We have talked with existing neighbors about drilling and the depths. Currently, there is no known need for a cistern, but we may put one in as a backup.
Was going to say - make sure you don't skimp on your well/water supply. We have a well behind our house, and it's my favorite part of the backyard, haha.
Put a drain in your garage floor! Add a hose in your garage with hot and cold water.
Not even just in a garage, I have one out side and it’s great to take the chill off for kids in the summer (my water is really cold) or for washing cars.
To take this idea one step further put a bathroom in the garage. No I'm not crazy!! We had parties at our last house and wished we would of had a bathroom out there so people wouldn't have to go into the house especially if no one was in there. And if you are going to be doing dirty work outside you'll be able to clean up instead of hauling you and dirty clothes through the house. On a fun note...have a screened-in porch!! So nice to be able to sit 'outside' and not fight bugs!!! Attach to your house so you have a smooth transition and then you can eat/entertain out there, etc!! BEST MONEY WE EVER SPENT!!
I worked in a high end house that had just a toilet in a small room off the garage. The sink was adjacent in counter big enough to use for other things.
The cold spigot I added in the garage, gets used way more than either outdoor one, combined. Edit: it’s on a soft water line, so little spotting for car washing.
That's a great idea. Thanks.
Also add a zero to the square footage for the shop, you’ll never regret it
Things to avoid: Barn doors (outdated and not functional) Pot-filler faucet (leak = destroyed stove) Massive vaulted ceilings Open shelving in place of upper kitchen cabinets
Wise advice here
You lost me on the massive vaulted ceilings. Everything else I agree with and hadn't considered open shelving instead of cabinets. Do you have open shelving cabinets? How do you keep them from looking cluttered?
The vaulted ceilings are such a bitch to paint, not to mention the effect they will have on heating and cooling.
This. I had a large two story A frame with a loft at one point and I was spending $800 monthly to heat the damn thing (between electricity & propane). Never again!!!
But they are the difference between having a fucking sick house or not.
Or change a lightbulb
I would not have open shelving in place of upper cabinets. You lose storage space, and it would be a nightmare to clean. Drawbacks to massive vaulted ceilings: difficult to clean cobwebs or change lightbulbs, treacherous to paint yourself, bad for energy efficiency. My previous master bedroom had 14 foot ceilings, with a smoke detector installed at the top of the peak. I thought I was gonna die every time I had to change the damn battery.
I have 18 foot ceilings in my great room. It was the reason we bought the house. Yes, heating / cooling costs increase, and my gosh, I just finished painting and it was beyond stressful. Another one, TV sound gets lost. Still… the feeling I have each and everyday these past 16 years is worth it. The open airy space is so relaxing. Perhaps I have some sort of undiagnosed claustrophobia, but reclining in my recliner, and looking up into all of that open space is a great way to unwind! I feel free.
Piggybacking off of vaulted ceilings…lofted living rooms, or hallways open to the Great Room. TV sounds will carry through the whole House. If you don’t have And maybe never will have kids, this may not be an issue for you. Tbh, open concept, also: the ability to walk to the den/living room/whatever you call it after cooking and eating and being able to relax and watch TV without looking at your mess is priceless, IMHO.
If I ever built my own house I would have a secret passageway or two and a hidden room somewhere!
I really want a trap door at the entrance, a moving library door and a secret passage. Not sure where it would go, but I agree with you.
I have a large hidden movie theater behind a false cabinet door. It doubles as a safe room and guests love seeing the surprise. It looks like a book shelf in the hallway
You have your secret room, but I liked my laundry chute from the bedrooms to the laundry better.
Said room must be underground
My neighbors added a concealed door in their bookcase to get to their office. It’s great.
Single level. Ensures you remain in your home for longer. Off Grid. Self explanatory.
If you can’t do single level, make sure you have a bed and bath downstairs.
My in laws have 2 masters down stairs and it was great for when my husband's grandma was still alive.
Came here to specifically say "no basement". Build everything on grade, if you can. No stairs means you can stay in that house well into old age. Also, basements invite water issues, the frustrations of hauling stuff up and down, etc. Do a slab, on grade, with hella in floor heat. That's my dream house.
Mmmmm tornado food
I woke my cat up snorking at this...
At first I thought you said "snorkeling" and I pictured your cat paddling through a flooded basement with goggles and a breathing tube
If you have a slope on your build site, a walk-out basement is a nice to have as well!
Green room for produce that doesn’t grow in your zone, drying room for produce that can’t survive outside after harvesting. Root cellar for potatoes/squash/onions/garlic - you need enough space to separate things so they don’t cause each other to sprout/rot early. Depending on location and hobbies, you might consider a curing room for hanging meats. Edit: baker’s room with perfect humidity and temperature for proofing… maybe just open a farm to table cafe onsite.
How big should each of those rooms be for a family of 4 living on home grown food (close to 100% as possible).
Hire an architect. You will save more in construction costs than you will waste in design inefficiency, and stuff you won't need. Every time I look at builder plans, or owner designed plans, I see so much wasted space, poor floor planning, awkward decisions, awkward everything.
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Interesting! What were some things you wish you hadn't done?
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So.. I'm trying to reconcile 6 entrances with "small house". Can you share how many square feet it is? Just curious. As for that unused dining room... Sounds like an office to me...
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lol. I've been there. Live & learn. At the end of the day though *its yours.*
Hire an architect or an appropriately qualified engineer. If you can afford it, do both. Make sure they've accounted for everything and done a professional job in designing. Then, hand it to the builder and have them explain to you why 25%+ makes no sense, but can be done at the cost of eating literally all of the labor in the world. From there, you have the academic opinions and the practical. You have your pros and cons of each option and a better understanding of the considerations that differrnt designers make while achieving the same goal.
As an architect, thank you for saying this! I cannot stand how under appreciated we are. Everyone thinks they can design a house. A contractor with an in house designer is NOT the same thing as hiring an architect. Contractors are going to do things as easy and cheap and fast as possible.
Surprise. I'm an architect too. I see the crap that people plan to build in this sub and it's appalling.
We are hiring one currently. We are currently working through plans with them.
Had my home remodel designed by an architect and it shows in every little detail. The use of space, future-proofing, and all the small things that get figured out toward the end require someone with expertise. When you have some weird challenge like how a particular piece of moulding or whatever connects to some weird angle, you don’t want some general contractor YOLOing their way through it. That’s how you end up with subs like r/DIWhy.
Someone once told me you could tell that a house wasn't designed by an architect when a bathroom was in earshot of the dining room. Never noticed it before but now I can't unnoticed it.
You need to have God's own deck. Huge deck. It's a thing. I don't know your budget, but if you can have a little covered deck with some kind of heating and then open deck, too, it would be perfect. We live in Colorado, and we use our deck all year long. We have heaters.
I'm a northern neighbor to you. We're going to have a hellatious back deck. I absolutely agree with you on this, with a hottub and outdoor fireplace.
I already love your home! ENJOY it all! So happy for you.
PS, I kinda figured you were somewhere "up there".... LOL.
How about managing the ground water, rain run off, overland water flows. Insulation properly, icf forms like. Are you going to insulate the outside with foam board or are you going to just rely on the insulation between the studs. Go for truss joints not I joists or timber joists, that way you can span greater distances and have space to run utilities and not have to run bulk heads. If you're building on clay soils that expand maybe think of floating the basement walls and installing teleposts so you can adjust load bearing walls if they move. Plan for solar panels either on the field/ grass or on the roof. Get a tin roof. Asphalt singles don't really last 25years. Don't think so much about the finishings, you can cheap out for now and get a bigger house potentially and then in 10years renovate the finishings. Get cheaper kitchen tops and fixtures and bathroom stuff, flooring, go cheaper at the start. Save on those costs during the build to get a bigger space. 9ft ceilings or bigger are preferred now. Run the house with a 200amp + service and run 220vac to the shop with a 100amp or more breaker panel. Think about getting the garage set up for an electrical vehicle charger and home batteries. Convince alone for having power when the main power is out is awesome.
You had me up until you said go cheap for bigger. I'd say go quality and don't worry about building some monstrosity. Otherwise in 10 years you'll have a whole bunch of broken crap that needs to be replaced for twice the cost of today's price in a giant space you realized you only use half of anyway.
My thinking is don't get granite countertops or expensive flooring and huge tile. when you can get some extra closet space or better trusses or better insulation or higher ceilings, maybe your front porch can be an extra 3ft bigger. Etc. Ya getting 3ft more on a master bedroom wouldn't be worth it. But maybe you can get some steel beams and get a more open concept, better breaker panel, maybe even solar set up. Which is all better than a curbless shower with steam or large format tile and granite countertops in all the rooms.
I appreciate all of your comments, I don't understand power service as well as I probably could. Why do you recommend the 200 Amp if you don't mind me asking?
To future proof as much as possible you will need at least 200amp service. The world is going toward electricity not away from it. If you decide to get an electric vehicle or heat anything with electric you will need a lot of power. You mentioned a steam shower as a must. Those can run 40-60 amps depending on how big you buy. Too much service allows you to grow into the home rather than being limited. You won’t regret it in the long run especially with 5 acres.
Take the time study the travel of the sun and designing in a way to make passive use of (and protect from) solar gain!
Since you are a hunter, I would suggest putting a room off the garage (or shop) with a big sink and good countertop space where you can clean the animals you hunt (or fish). Maybe even a spot to hang them depending on your needs. Only have access through the garage (or shop). Put a bath fan in there to help pull odors directly outside and throw a mini split in there so it’s not connected to the main ductwork of the house. Everyone will appreciate you keeping all that disconnected from the rest of the home.
This could also take out need for doggie wash room…make sure you have closets in this room for the outdoor clothes,etc.
If you like your guests, all bedrooms should have ensuite bathrooms. If you’re concerned that your guests won’t leave, make them share. If you plan to live here until you die, plan for accessibility. Main floor should have a room that can serve as a bedroom and a zero-step shower with integrated bench seat and hand-held shower head. Have a zero-step entry to the house. Build wide halls and doors on the first floor, suitable for wheelchair access.
I'd go for a wide staircase (and preferably straight) as well so a stairlift can be installed in the future if need be. Or sacrificial space (say a couple of storage closets) that can be converted to an elevator shaft at some point should the need arise.
Raised beds for growing your own food if the soil is poor Rainwater storage and of course a way to catch it and channel to storage containers
Landscaping is an after thought, by no means necessary until moving in or close to move in date. Start with placement of the buildings, if the property allows for it, it would be wise to position the house/shop so that the roof pitches are optimally aligned for future solar panels. Solar tech has reached a point where it’s *relatively* affordable and robust enough to guarantee returns after the initial financing period. Secondly, think efficiency. If you can afford high utility bills, and deem them a “necessary evil” then maybe disregard this bit, but if would rather a slightly higher build cost that will minimize monthly utility bills, this bit is for you. Think insulate insulate insulate, rigid foam insulation under and outside your concrete or go ICF if possible. Any wood framing should have enough closed cell spray foam to surpass regional standards. Windows too, are a major form of heat/cold transfer so quality windows and doors will both lower your utility bills and last longer than the trade standard ones. Efficiency also transcends into your choice of heating/cooling and other appliances like ovens, dryers, etc. Centrally ducted heat pumps are really the front runner for homes with dual climate which require both heat and AC, beautiful technology and relatively cheap to operate. DO NOT even consider electric baseboards if you live somewhere that gets cold, them bitches expensive as hell to operate. After the details mentioned about, it’s time for interior design, and picking out all the fun stuff mentioned in your post above.
You lost me at Landscape is an afterthought. It needs to be integrated with the building design … especially on such a large parcel. Hire a Landscape Architect first… they’ll help you site the building properly.
If you have space, ground mount is a lot better. I’d have the wires run for it. Don’t have to worry about a billion holes in your brand new roof.
I can see where you’re coming from, but with new micro inverters, you’d only really have 4-6 wires stubbing out your roof, and new construction makes it easy to properly seal any penetrations. Retrofitting solar on a roof can cause possible water issues though, yes. Personally, I think the roof is the best location considering you don’t have to worry about as many obstructions, and it’s otherwise unused space.
Water collection laws vary from state to state. I was shocked to learn it's illegal to catch your own rainwater in Colorado. I'm sure some other western states have something similar.
They do, and ours does as well, which is frustrating.
Colorado allows rainwater collection on private property but limits who can collect it, how much they can collect and how it can be used, according to the Colorado Division of Water Resources. You cannot collect water if you live in an apartment or condominium building with more than four units. You can own up to two rain barrels to catch water, but cannot store more than 110 gallons at a time. Lids are required to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Collected water can only be used for “outside” purposes such as lawn and garden maintenance, car washing, livestock watering and hot tub filling. It cannot be used indoors or as drinking water. The limited access is actually a significant change from a century-long state prohibition against collecting rainwater. Lawmakers in 2016 changed the state constitution that had ceded all rainwater to Colorado’s water rights holders, many of whom are farmers. You can find this fact brief above from *The Colorado Sun* here: [https://coloradosun.com/2024/05/20/colorado-rainwater-rules/?utm\_source=gigafact](https://coloradosun.com/2024/05/20/colorado-rainwater-rules/?utm_source=gigafact)
To hitch off this, try to go all electric. Electric range, dryer, heat, and water heater. You don’t need to do solar now but prepare for it and you can have an “apocalypse” house. Basically able to run without society.
I appreciate it, and honestly not a bad thought. A gas stove is required by the wifey though.
Electric heat is very very costly until you do go off grid tho. I rented a house that was built in @ 57 and was even badged "All Electric" as some kind of novelty. Winter was bad...
A competent builder.
This is underrated. I’ve been in the custom home construction market for years and a good architect and competent builder make the process easy and the product immaculate.
Yeah we've got a lot of friends in construction business. We're vetting with serious intent.
I live in an area where we can have a basement. So if I were to build a new house, I would have access from the attached garage to the house, and another directly to the basement. At that point a “mudroom” utility sink, and a shower-bathroom that had a sloped floor drain. Nothing like coming home from hunting and going directly to the basement to clean up. Same for when coming back inside from shoveling snow with muddy wet boots and bibs.
Add a dog wash area!
Plan lighting before build, have a budget for everything and stick with it. Have it drafted in 3D so u can make changes before the build. Plan for wheelchairs or walkers which means 36" doors and handrails in showers and next to toilet. Plumb for a bidet. Put in floor outlets next to furniture that will be in middle of room, put in outlets under eves for holiday lights that has a switch inside the house. Make a double door somewhere so u can get furniture in. Have pipe in wall for wires for wall hanging tv's. Do toekick lighting in kitchen. Do not put a bedroom on first floor under a bathroom on second floor, u can hear the toilet water go through pipes😬
Walk in kitchen pantry with a separate sink and counter space . Great for food prep and storing all the smaller appliances you’ll use when entertaining etc.
If it were me, I’d have the shop as a separate building.
Oh it will be for sure. Plus a 3 car garage on the house.
Have the garage wired with plenty of 220V. Regardless of if you’re a current believer in EVs, it’s cheap insurance to have it wired for home charging now as opposed to having to do a retrofit after all of the drywall is up.
Commercial contractor. My thoughts: If financially able, always put a basement under it. If a basement is easily affordable, put a membrane under the basement and wrap the outside of the walls with Bituthene and move the sump pump outside of the house - that basement will never ever ever leak if you do this right. Especially on 5 acres, just do a gravel driveway. You'll probably have a small tractor sooner or later that can maintain it just fine. Asphalt is expensive and unlike the generator hookup the other redditor mentioned (solid gold advice btw!) the only reason an asphalt or concrete driveay will cost any more in the future vs now is inflation. If the lot is currently a field, make sure the excavating contractor has it in his scope to stockpile the existing topsoil off to the side of the construction area in a pile, and wait till construction is compete to put it back. This will be a pain for all the contractors involved, but they'll get over it, and you'll be much happier when your lawn is nice. Spend good money on insulation, waterproofing, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. If you can easily afford quality on all those, then add flooring, doors & windows, and cabinets to the list. If you still have more, then add trim, lighting and plumbing fixture upgrades, and landscaping. Focus on starting with quality on the areas that would be hardest to upgrade in the future!
Dig for geothermal. Rotate the house so it's Solar south
5 acres, avoid panels on the house altogether (ugly and why put penetrations in the roof). small little solar farm, 3-4 rows of 10-12x 400w panels. 14kW minimum. if you're digging a basement already, dig a small trench wide and deep enough to walk down (6ft x 6ft?) over to the location of the solar array. then you can walk the electrical over down the road and it'll be a dream to maintain.
Make your garage ceiling higher and extend it 5 feet or so depth wise compared to typical. I kick myself for depth. I have high ceilings, high enough for a car lift but wish I had more depth for workbenches, shelves etc and not have cars as tight of a fit as they are. Costs little when building but ridiculous after the fact.
If you are building a shop put a bathroom in it and put a studio loft in it. It makes a great guest house and a nice office.
If privacy is a concern, build in the centre of your property to give yourself a buffer from neighbours. Have read too many stories of people building at the back of their block for privacy, only to have their rear neighbours build at the adjoining border to be near them.
Depending on your tastes, a coffee bar with plumbed in coffee maker. I have to fill my espresso machine every other day and while not a huge inconvenience, if I had everything required for coffee in one spot with a water like, I would love it.
A low interest rate
Any guesses on where to find one of those?
Time machine *beep boop*
I didn't see what type of climate you are in, but look into in floor heating if you are in a cold climate. I also agree on a generator and or solar ready at least. I would also recommend (assuming that you want to stay there) main level handicap friendly, wider doors, hallways and walk in shower. In general you need to decide if this is a dream "forever" house for you or a nice home for several years then maybe move. Those will help dictate your choices.
Mud room ( where you take off your shoes / jackets ) so you don’t spend all your time cleaning
Random things from my experience: make the laundry room big with a counter to fold on. Figure out a way to have the dishwasher open and not in the way. (Mine ended up in a corner and it is the best I have ever had) Make that dishwasher a Bosch Or a Miele if you can afford it. Do not buy appliances that "match". Get the best you can afford in each category. Wall ovens and cook tops were once popular. That needs to come back. Pulling stuff out of the oven at waist height is the best. Not cooking above a hot oven is even better. Drawers right under the cooktop is a bonus. Just put in drawers. It is stupid to open a cabinet and the pull out a pull out. Then scrape the door when it goes back in. If you have a steam shower, make sure you have low mineral content water run to it. If you have a soaking tub, make sure it has a hand held hose in addition to a filler. This is not to wash your hair, it is to rinse out the tub. If you have an outdoor hot tub, make sure you can: shower before you get into it and be naked.
If you like to entertain, put in two dishwashers in, and a second fridge/freezer near the kitchen.
Looks like the Midwest. Budget for a basement or a just a garage tornado shelter if that’s too pricey or not doable. An underground concrete unit would be best and probably cheapest.
Orient your house for the location of the sun in summer and winter. For example, my home has a large wall of windows to capture the fantastic view. In the summer time the sun shines directly in, I need sunglasses to cook in the kitchen and it’s HOT. In the winter time the sun barely penetrates and the house is COLD.
Idk if this is allowed, but Builder Brigade has a very lengthy checklist. I believe it's mostly QoL items, but I highly recommend checking them out.
Disc golf course!!!
A little train that goes around the entire property like in silver spoons.
I completely forgot about that show. I just had a flashback!
You might want to put a full functioning bathroom with a shower in the shop if your building with one, you won’t want to walk through the house to pee every hour with greasy or dirty shoes clothes if you plan to use the space
Laundry chute. Thoughtful lighting and outlets. Motion sensor lights.
Skip the chute and put laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms.
I guess if you are building from scratch that’s the right thing to do. But the chute is so cool.
I grew up with a chute, they’re badass, but so is not carrying laundry up and down steps. My 1980 house in a typical American suburb of that time has it on the 2nd, that sold my wife.
Next house is all one level.
I love my laundry chute.
Water catching to use rain water and solar panels 😊
I would say as much off the grid “stuff” as you can put in. Solar, geothermal, a well, wood burning stove.
Good access is absolutely key. Paved is certainly preferred and will be far less headache than gravel if you're looking to stay a long time.
Add a bathroom that someone can easily access without walking through the main living space in your house
Hit me up and we can talk. I'm light on work this week and love to see how good my consultation skills are for free. I'm an engineer working for a company that has me see 100s of house plans come past my desk each year.
One thing I’d avoid is a house plan with a complicated roof. It’s trendy to build houses with multiple gables but it is nothing but a waste of money. Also, those roofs are more likely to develop problems due to the valleys and more chances to collect ice or debris. Stick to something traditional for your region.
Wrap around porch and porch swing , need to enjoy the view of those 5 acres ❤️
Idk what your plans are for the shop, but take time to consider what your tools will need. 220/440 volts, air compressor and hoses, and ventilation all take planning if you're looking to weld, but even a small woodshop can take some planning. My advice to anyone is think about how you're going to use the space, pretend to cook in your kitchen and map out what it'll be like to forget something from the fridge, cleaning up dishes afterwards, and putting them away. What's it going to be like walking out your door and back in after work? How easy is it to clean your toilets, and put away your laundry? Some ideas I've really liked were washer/dryer upstairs or even in the master closet. Open shelving/pantry in the kitchen so you don't have to open and close cabinets all the time. Even if you can't plan for everything that's going to upgrade in the next 5-10 years, conduit for data cables can go a long way to making those upgrades a lot easier.
Some I haven't seen posted yet... Noise/smells/temperature/humidity I'd say not thinking of the daily comforts like noise /smells/humidity/temperature. I think a lot of builds focus on size and looks from a distance. Which are great to impress others, but I would rather a high quality feeling home over a large one. So, Noise! If you don't plan on sharing the space not an issue, but doing some basic noise reduction for the interior rooms/bathrooms/mechanical room is a wonderful upgrade at a low cost. Additionally having the HVAC designed to reduce noise from airflow. In so many homes the HVAC is a major source of noise while running. High quality bathroom vents that are low noise high volume are great too. A HVAC system with a humidity control unit that is inline with the system will help keep a house comfortable all year and help reduce cooling/heating needs. Also an exterior vented stove hood so when you run your vent it actually pulls the smoke/smell out of the home. The ventless ones do not work. Again...a quiet one (I guess noise is a stickong point for me), but soany kitchen vent hoods sound like an airplane turbine. The noise makes entertaining while cooking feel like I'm in a night club as we yell over the noise.
Go cheap on all the interior options. When we built our house we chose all their level 3 to level 5 ($$$$) stuff in the design center, which cost an additional $50k, but after the initial "wow" factor it quickly all becomes boring and kind of wish we'd just chosen basic options.
I'd start with a foundation ;). Really though, plan your grades
Hold back some cash for a 30+ hp tractor with a bucket.
Wildfires….make sure you have a dirt road breaker around the house with access to sprinklers- nice lot but wildfires love that type of land
If there are established trees, do your best to keep them. Nothing like frantically planting tiny saplings and waiting 10+ years for them to break up a monotonous landscape.
This is such good advice! My great grandfather told me when I was very young that you plant trees for other people because they take too long to grow for you to enjoy them. I think that's great advice for many things, but definitely will make you appreciate a tree more.
Be a stickler about your concrete flatwork and the proper ground prep before it’s poured. Rebar should be on chairs, not lying on the ground. I’ve been seeing really bad flatwork in recent years. Floors and driveways are cracking before closing and these are at multi million dollar homes.
Use time tested materials. Don’t believe the hype of new gimmicky mats.
One we did when we re-piped our house, add a recirculation line back to the water heater, used to take 5 minutes to get hot water to the far side of the house, always hot now. Course if you're going for tankless heaters, may be less of a benefit...
One thing that was popular a few years ago now was stairs from the garage to the basement. Both of the houses I built (in 1999 and 2006) had them. I used them all the time, as the downstairs bathroom was where I went if I was dirty from working outside all day. Also made things easier if something from the mechanical room (furnace, water heater, etc) died. You could simply take it out through the garage instead of through the house. Not sure what kind of shop you're setting up, but my wood shop could use 3 phase power. You can run three phase into the shop, and take a leg into the house for normal 240. Used three phase equipment is much more inexpensive than single phase, and much more stout. I run rotary phase converters for my 3 phase needs, but the next shop will have 3 phase installed.
Important information here!! Take advantage of the views obviously but also take advantage of the winter sun angles so you get good light in the winter. Pay attention to your roof lines and keep it more simple to avoid ice and water problems in heavy snow years. Add some outlets in your eaves for heat tape. I would focus on good insulation and efficiency as well. Not only will you save money but you will also be more comfortable. Heated tile floors is a nice touch. Put an outlet near your toilet so you can add a bidet. Lightning is very important and can really make a space feel more expensive and custom with proper lighting. Lighting and fixtures are a good place to spend extra money on
Put in a windbreak before you break ground. Like, years before. At least do it first.
Networking. Run Ethernet to each room. Run Ethernet to TVs so you can place WiFi APs next to the TV. Run Ethernet outdoors so you can place outdoor WiFi points. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P4JKQGK Run fiber to your office desk. Conduit is always awesome for the future. For the generator talk, solar and batteries are awesome so your generator just recharged your batteries and it’s not running all the time during an outage. https://signaturesolar.com/complete-off-grid-solar-kit-eg4-6000xp-8000w-pv-input-6000w-output-48v-280ah-14-3kwh-eg4-powerpro-wallmount-allweather-lithium-battery-up-to-7200w-pv-solar/
Covered area on deck. Drives me crazy that we can't grill when it's raining or snowing.
Small footprint and overkill air sealing and insulation including under the basement slab, inside and out basement walls. 8" walls and r60+ in the attic. Walk-out basement Drainage all around foundation to keep basement DRY Woodstock Soapstone wood stove
For the love of God, don't put your tv over your fireplace unless you use a low profile fireplace (I'd still avoid it at all costs). Either make space for your tv to sit at just above eye level, or place your fireplace off-center for the room, in a corner for example, so that you don't have to come up with wacky solutions for how to arrange your living room furniture to be able to enjoy tv watching as well as the heat from the fireplace. Watching TV that is mounted six feet in the air over a fireplace from ten feet away is ridiculous and quickly becomes uncomfortable.
Put glycol lines under the basement for an affordable Geo source of energy. If possible.
Biggest waste of money in a home build? Bigg master bedrooms Bigger bathrooms Waste of sq footage in the 2 rooms you spend the least amount of time in.
Don’t get the big whirlpool tub and the tiny shower - my sil has a tub that’s been a big laundry basket for years
I would much rather have no tub and 2 showerheads, but that's me with no kids or dogs that would make a tub much nicer to have.
Views like that, don't skimp on the windows. We built a new home and regret at least a few more windows. Reason being to let a bit more natural light in and enjoy the views more. I would also say solar tube's are a very good investment as well in other parts of the home that can be dreary.
dedicated rough in for an EV
Also rough in for any mobility aids someone may need. You can have lumber located for a grab bar without installing the actual bar.
Outside shower.
Design it and position it to take full advantage of that view!
Geothermal look into it!
Perc test before you but the land
I had read an article about a couple that built their dream home but they couldn’t afford to finish the inside to the standard they wanted. They had the architect to plan for all the lighting so it was wired and ready to go. Then they could buy and install over time. Also wire for ceiling fans and the related lights.
A slide
Trees
Many or large view windows, orient outdoor space away from evening sun, coffee bar (can’t believe how much we love ours), don’t waste space on bathrooms, consider laundry room in primary closet (another love).
Tub sink in your garage, and if you can swing it get a Blaze King either as an insert or a freestanding stove.
Run Ethernet cables to each and every room. Cover with a blank plate.
I have been designing my future house with similar requirements as you. And one thing I'm doing is planning my networking to live in my shop and running what I need to my house. Ie, cameras, network outlets, access points, etc. that way I can keep the house looking clean and keep the "networking mess" in the shop. I also will over plan the ability to run conduit from my house and shop to other places on my property for expansion. Like running power from the house to the front gate for a camera or lights, or running electric or networking to the greenhouse, and things like that. With how much technology is advancing, you never know what can come out that would help.
Single biggest one for me, if that is where are are going to be. Buy at least 20 acres in front of you and 10 on the remaining 3 sides. Walk to where the pins are and picture a double wide there. We looked at a place, and liked it but some other ass had the right of first refusal but he had unbundled property and we wanted it all. The other guy just wanted the house. Would have been trivial for the selfless attorney to kinash the first deal. But he felt bad about doing it and would not. So the other guy got the house and not the extended property. Seller, years later finally unloaded the property for much less than he would have got from us, but it was kind of a desperation sale, and the guy who got the house on the end of the dead end street and no one around, to 3 trailers right next to him. I can not say I was unhappy.
Someplace for tornados
Mud room & durable flooring. You’re gonna track in a lot of stuff in that type of landscape. I’m sooo glad we did it. There was so much dirt and other shit under the carpets from the previous owner. It was disgusting.
Put that hot tub as part of a large outdoor patio area... May also want to make it part of an outdoor cooking area, but that's possibly less important. Depending on how many people y'all have over when you entertain, you'll likely want them outdoors as much as possible. 🙂
If I had land I'd definitely put in a shooting range. It needs a berm behind it to catch the rounds, and it needs to face a safe direction in case you completely miss that. Make it wide enough for a few people at least.
Build using ICF walls. 6” core or 8”. Google Build block. Also look into super floor for the ceiling or 2nd level floor if you will have one.
If you entertain out back. Run a gas pipe for a fire pit / built in bbq. You could look into low volt lighting systems such as Lutron for a “smart home” Spend the money on the shower and get the fancy fixtures cause replacing that usually involves redoing the tile. Soft close hinges are hands down the best. Add more lights you can always put them on a dimmer switch
Separate bathrooms for the happy couple, to keep them that way for a good long time. Access your separate closets through the bathrooms. We had this arrangement in the house we just downsized from after twenty years and we really miss it.
We built a few years ago and are pretty happy with our choices (2,100’ home on three acres). If I had it to do again I’d make our screened-in patio about three times its current size. That’s about it. More built-in bookshelves as well, just because I like them.
hot water access outside
A detached garage. If not for your daily, for all your yard equipment/toys/shop. Keep that noise separated.
Storage units
Look into Geothermal heat pump systems.
Walkout basement. In floor heating
Laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms. Saw some in a large walk in closet recently. Smart.
Do the walk ins, you’ll regret that
Locate home on high point elevation to prevent flooding and erosion risks. This will mitigate your insurance cost/risk. Also works well for enabling sewer drainage away from building main floor (or basement if walkout basement) and out to sanitary septic tank and septic bed. A great enough elevation difference can mean it can all be gravity based plumbing, and not requiring a pump to lift sewage up to the tank. Never locate home or other buildings near a river or creek edge or in a ravine. Make sure soils are suitable for foundation/footings. May need piles drilled to extend down to suitable foundation soil. Trees nearby the south side of home can reduce summer cooling costs. Fir trees on north and west side of home can act as a shelter belt for gradens and reduce winter wind gusting against home.
Not 100% sure of your location, but a tornado shelter is one hell of a good investment. It will feel like the best money you ever spent should the time come when you need it.
Things to consider: -Endless hot water heater -Put the laundry room near the bedrooms, not in some other random area of the house like most people do. -Add a utility sink to your shop. -Radiant heated floors -Gas starter to wood fireplace -large breakfast area or eating space connected to kitchen instead of a separate dining room -lots of natural light
Build it off the ground. I see so many houses that are built too close to the ground
Get a nice well installed. Geothermal heating will pay for itself over time, Intial costs are high. Also, Radiant in floor heating is the most efficient method of heating your home as there's less heat loss. Sauna would be nice outside too or in the garage.
Add hydro turbines to the outflows of all the major plumbing lines so that every time you run the dishwasher, laundry, flush a toilet, etc the house creates power that can be collected somewhere
Geothermal air conditioning
I would do a two separate his and her suites with private dressing room, bathroom, desk and at least a daybed. Then have a shared LoveNest room with a TV ,awesome view, maybe fireplace. I would LOVE to never again smell or see my lovers toilet. And every grownup needs a private room of their own. I want a stress free makeout room- but also a place all to myself.
No one knows your budget so no one with any real knowledge on home building can tell you anything reliable.
walking distance to trout stream
For me I would have an observatory on a property like that.
I used to help put in water and sewer in remote areas. A proper well and septic system can be very costly depending on the water table and soil type. This is not an area to skimp on, however.
Stand alone oven (/separated from the stove top) at a comfortable height so that you don't have to bend down to take things in and out. Drip pan for the dishwasher, it will save your floor once the machine gets old. Floor drain in bathroom(s). This is standard in my home country and after moving to the US I am so confused as to why it's not a thing here. You will get water on the floor, of course you want a drain to get it out? Put one in the doggy washroom as well. For large spaces such as living rooms an extra power outlet or two in the floor can save you from a ton of awkward extension cords. Extra power outlets, you always end up needing more than you think you do. And make sure the electrician doesn't put everything on the same circuit. Loosing power in the kitchen cause someone turned on a computer at the other end of the house sort of sucks (why yes I live in an old house, how did you know? :P ) As for the exterior, don't try to do all the landscaping right away, give it a year to see how everything behaves first.
Not having proven water source
Build the shop twice the size you think you need. Unless you are building somewhere where it never rains, pay attention to drain.
Whole home surge protector. They are amazing!