After months of study and research, we have just released 8 new house plans.  These homes range in size from 2800 to over 4000 square feet, each with a choice of four distinct elevations.  People love to look at house designs and the section on our website featuring our plans is consistently one of the most popular.

Each of these plans offers something different in terms of room count, function, and flow.  While each plan is different from the next, what they all have in common is they reflect the changing lifestyles and preferences of today’s buyers.  Though each plan is designed to appeal to a broad cross-section of the buying public, make no mistake, when it comes to house plans—one size does not fit all!

One example of this reality is the two-story family room.  Buyers seem to be clearly divided into two distinct camps: those who love the drama, light, and volume of this two-story room and those who see it as wasted space that is expensive to heat and cool.  For that reason, several of the new plans have the availability of a two-story family room with the option of flooring it in thus creating an upstairs game room or fifth bedroom at a very modest price.  It is the same basic plan that can be modified to appeal to two distinct buyer preferences.

Home designs often have floor plans with flexible rooms that have more than one use.  One example is the living room.  About half of the new plans come with a formal living room while the other fifty percent utilize the same space for a study.  As working from home increases and our lifestyles become more informal every year, the home office becomes more practical for many owners than the formal living room.  In plans with first floor owners’ suites, the same space set aside for the living room or study can be opened into the owner’s bedroom creating a private sitting room.  In larger floor plans, we often include the home office/study in addition to the formal living room and dining room.

One characteristic these new plans have in common is their ability to be customized to meet individual buyer preferences.  All of these plans have been designed to allow buyers to create additional bedrooms, add extra baths, or accommodate the third garage.  In some cases, the laundry room can be located on either the first or second floor or both.  Finally, several of these plans contain unfinished storage areas that can be finished now or later to create additional living space as the family needs change.

We invite you to take a look at our new house plans and vote for your favorite in the poll below. We encourage you to post your comments suggesting any changes in the plans that would improve their function and appeal.  We know, when it comes to homes, “one size does not fit all” but the right plan for you that fits your lifestyle is still the only design that matters.

• First Floor Master Bedroom Suite with Luxurious Master Bathroom
• Master Bedroom includes 2 Walk-In Closets
• 2 Formal Rooms – a Dining Room and a Study / Living Room
• 2-Story Foyer
• Flexible Great Room that can be 2-Story (open), or floored in to create a Game Room
• Loft Area at the top of the stairs
• The flexibility to build up to 5 Bedrooms with 4.5 Baths
• 2776sf – 3311sf

This new home can be built in Midlothian, VA, or in any other neighborhood where we are building new homes in the Richmond, VA area.  We offer new homes for sale in Chesterfield County, Henrico County, New Kent County, Powhatan County and the City of Hopewell.

Preparations are under way for the 2010 Homearama Event in Patriot’s Landing.  Sponsored by HBAR, and hosted by East-West Partners, the event will showcase 6 fully decorated, energy efficient homes and is expected to draw thousands of people.  Our home will have a number of creative and fun ideas.  The master bath tub was special ordered and delivered to our office today!

It will also utilize numerous energy efficient construction techniques, and it will be Energy Star certified by a third-party inspector.  One of the most innovative energy efficient features is the Links System from Schlage / Trane.  This system allows you to use your computer and/or smart phone to control door locks, lighting, cameras and thermostats remotely.  When someone enters your home while you are away, you are notified by text message.  You can adjust thermostat settings at any time, from any where.  Check out this video for a short overview of the system and it’s various components:

You can also learn more about the system on Schlage’s web site.

Stay tuned to our blog over the summer for more updates about our Homearama house, and some of the creative features!

• What part of town do we want/need to live in? Most often, the part of town is dictated by such considerations as school district, proximity to work or friends or family, or some other high level need that makes one area more desirable than another.  Before choosing a plan, eliminate at least 75% of the locations because they do not meet some or all of the requirements listed above.
• What type of neighborhood do we desire? Some buyers want subdivisions with full amenity packages such as pool, golf, or tennis. Other buyers specifically do not want a neighborhood with a Home Owner Association that dictates rules that each house must conform to.  Wanting a neighborhood with children the same ages as your own for playmates is often a major consideration for young families.  Age-restricted neighborhoods are often the perfect pick for the empty nester buyer and may be the driving force in the selection process.
• What price range of house do we want to target? Once geographic location and type of neighborhood has narrowed the search, the price range of the homes for sale should be used to further define the 2 or 3 neighborhoods that fit within the search criteria.  As we all know, the value of the location and the size of the homes being built has a direct impact on the price range of every community.  We may want a golf course neighborhood, but don’t want to pay the price these homes end up costing.  Price range is usually a consideration and can be used to limit the search.
• What size of lot do we want? Finally, we can narrow the search even more by deciding upon the desired lot size.  Some communities on well-located (and expense) land, often contain small lots that keep the price range of the homes within limits.  Communities with larger lots may be located further out from the central business district where land is less expensive.  In some cases the limitations of the lot size may eliminate certain types of houses such as single story plans simply because the house will not fit on the smaller lot.  If lot size is important, it can help eliminate some of the neighborhoods under consideration.

All of the above considerations precede the actual selection of a floor plan. By answering the four questions, you can eliminate a lot of the community choices and make the selection process much less confusing and more time efficient.