Plans, plans and more plans!

In response to increasing demand, we are working hard and fast to put more and more of our home designs on our plans library page for you to peruse.

Building a new single-family home is not a one-size-fits-all effort.

The above is especially when rebuilding a home lost in wildfire. Building on an individual lot comes with an individual set of nuances and complexities.  The land and local rules can certainly dictate choices that are made early on in preconstruction, not the least of which is the size of home that can be built.

When looking at our plan library page, you might start off feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of plans that are available. Don’t worry! You have the option to sort the home plans by size, style and number of bedrooms.

Sorting Function #1:  Home Size

Home size is very intuitive, that is simply the square footage of the home.  A good footnote here though, is the fact that we are referring to the interior heated and cooled livable areas.  So, if you are looking at a home that is between 1,200 and 2,000 sq. ft. for example, that dimension does not include the garage area and any outdoor covered spaces such as a front porch or a covered rear patio.  If you need to build a smaller sized home but would like to live more expansively, looking at plans that offer those covered outdoor features are a great option.

Sorting Function #2:  Bedroom Count

Bedroom count, also straightforward. This is a very basic filter, but is one that speaks to how the home will live, and is fundamental.   Another side note, many home designs have an office/den in addition to the official bedroom count. The difference between a room that is considered an office/den or bedroom is whether or not there is a closet designed in the room. Closet equals bedroom. No closet equals den/office. There are many plans in which the office/den is sufficiently large to accommodate designing in a closet, so there can be some flex in the number of bedrooms in a plan.

The same is true in reverse. We have had customers omit bedrooms in the past, in order to expand bedroom size or increase closet size.  Is your lot on septic?  If so, bedroom count is pivotal.  The capacity of a septic system dictates how many bedrooms the home can have.

Sorting Function #3:  Type of Home

The final sorting filter on our plan library page is the type of home.  We are not talking about the style here, because any of our plans can be built to any exterior style such as craftsman, cottage, ranch, modern, farmhouse, etc.  In this category we are referring to the structural and foundational design.  There are plans for single story homes and plans for traditional two-story homes.  And there is a there’s category called “sloped”.  This category consists of home designs that are specifically for lots that are not flat.  They can be lots that slope upward from the street, slope downhill, or slope sideways.

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  Modern Minimalist Style

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If your property has some slope but not a huge degree, then the best bet is to bring us in early on to help you evaluate what to do, well before getting started on any architecture and engineering. Sometimes the cost to level a lot in order to accommodate a slab foundation greatly exceeds going with a raised foundation. Sometimes leveling land might be a better option than building a plan that is designed for a slope.  Circling back to the fact that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to building, this evaluation is truly key in taking steps in a logical order.  Doing so preserves as much of your equity as possible for the home build itself and the interior design.

Now to the plans.

The fun part is figuring out what the exterior of the home is going to look like.  It is 100% true that any plan can be made to look anyway on the outside – with one exception.

The exception being a new line of plans that was very recently added to our website. These are the Plus:Plus line of plans, and they have been designed by a Los Angeles based architect with specific intention to adhere to the Mid-Century Modern style of home.  The Plus:Plus plans incorporate structural and architectural elements that exemplify and are particular to the Mid-Century Modern home (aka MCM).  We can see these plans as being great options for rebuilding in heritage areas, such as in the Park Planned Homes neighborhood of Altadena.  Or, if you simply love the style.

All of the rest of the plans on our website can be built to any exterior style. Where we have multiple renderings for a particular plan, we have added them for proof of concept.  Like putting on a different outfit, the home’s wardrobe is easily changed.

Experiencing your future home, before it is built.

When looking through our plans you might also notice that we sometimes offer links to virtual walkthroughs and/or photos and videos of homes that have been previously built using that plan.  We try to do this as much as possible, in order to give you a clear example of what the home plan will look like when completed.   That is an awesome way to be able to experience the plan, long before your home has been built.  In the event that we do not have a virtual walk-through or other media available, this is a service that you can consider adding.

We hope you enjoy exploring our plan library,  and that it brings some excitement for what is yet to come. Please keep in mind that the very best thing to do to take care of your preconstruction discovery (which includes plan evaluation) before getting deep into architecture.  If you need help determining which of our plans will suit your needs and the needs of your lot, please do not hesitate to reach out!