Archive for the ‘Floor Plan Guides’ Category

Modular House Floor Plan Guidelines

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Modular homes are touted as the eco-friendly alternative to building a home of any proportion. When most landowners consider the modular house  floor plan, there tends to be a misconception that the module house floor plan is the same as the mobile home. Review some of the guideline and detailed pertaining to the the modular floor plan.

The construction of the modular house floor plan adheres to the same guidelines as stick-built homes.

Modular house floor plans are structures, which are manufactured off site in a factory and then transported in one or more sections. 

Modular homes must be architected, meeting the guidelines of the Federal Manufactured Construction and Safety Standards and  be labeled accordingly.

As long as the modular home construction is completed within 30 to 60 calendar days, the borrower may seek a lender, who can use a line of credit in conjunction with the FHA-insured home loan.

In order for the modular house floor plan to qualify for an FHA mortgage insurance, it must be in compliance with the proceeding regulations:

  • Occupy a minimum of 400 square feet
  • Follow the construction in conformance the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards.
  • Be manufactured as a place of residence, built according to FHA codes and include a permanent foundation.

To read more about the requirements for building a modular home floor plan, review the Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing (PFGMH), by cutting and pasting the following URL: www.huduser.org/publications/destech/permfound.html.

Also, House Plans and More includes a comprehensive library of  modular floor plans, builders, checklists, decorating ideas and more.

Resource: //www.nls.gov/offices/pih/ih/homeownership/184/processing/chap4.htm

Deconstructing the Victorian House Floor Plan

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Influenced by English architecture, the Victorian Home floor plan features a distinctive domicile. Turrets punctuate the crown of the home, authenticating a regal yet welcoming façade. A covered porch stretches from each extent of the  home’s exterior frontage. The garage boards two-vehicles.

The size of the Victorian house floor plan ranges in square footage from 1800 to 3500. In cases where the Victorian house plan includes a full attic, the top floor accommodates the family with teenagers, a full attic serves as a separate living space from the rest of the home (with a kitchen, bathroom, and living space).

Bay windows punctuate each room, revealing a different perspective of the exterior landscape.

On the main floor, gathering rooms transition into one another. Sometimes, rooms are separated by glass French doors.

On the main floor, a foyer dressed in a wood carved coat-stand, is conveniently located next to a built in mirror, shrouded underneath a lengthy stair case.

 

Directly off the kitchen, a breakfast nook assures a cozy sanctuary to read the paper, enjoy a meal whilst remaining out of the kitchen’s hubbub of traffic flow.

A vaulted ceiling is the showcase for an antique chandelier. In the living room, modern materials presented in bold pattern colors maintain a sense of the Victorian house floor plan’s attention to detail and tradition. Crown moldings delineate the wall space and area between far-reaching ceilings. At House Plans and More.com sort through a wide variety of Victorian house plans.

Other features of the Victorian house floor plan include:

  • Laundry Room/Utility
  • Breakfast Nook
  • Outdoor Kitchen
  • Vaulted/Volume Ceiling
  • Crawl Space
  • Basement
  • Bar
  • Fireplace
  • Family Room
  • Balcony – Indoor
  • Island

The Victorian floor plan requires a wide lot. For additional details, please click on  Victorian house plans to read more.

Bungalow Floor Plan Design Facts

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

What is the origin of the Bungalow home floor plan?

Bungalow home plans are the result of a rebellion, per se. Subsequent to the formality of the Victorian period, the Arts and Crafts Movement of 1860’s ushered in a casual, comfortable lifestyle.

 

What are the basic characteristics of the bungalow home floor plan?

The bungalow house plan is quite energy conservative. Comprised of intricate architectural details, the house plan epitomizes comfort, and charm. Lauded for its proportionately sized rooms, short on hallway space, the bungalow is touted for efficient space usage.

 

Which American city parallels the history of the bungalow floor plan?

In Chicago, the bungalow floor plan was in step with a burgeoning influx of immigrants. From 1900 through 1930, the Windy City’s population went from 1.6 to 3.3 million. Meanwhile to accommodate that rampant growth, the bungalow house plan supplanted the landscape of prairies and farmland from 1910 through 1930.

 

Is the bungalow floor plan passé architecturally?

Today, these house floor plans remain timeless in nature, assuring a decent market value. The interior emphasizes extraordinary concise rooms, where superfluous space is void of the floor plan. Bathrooms are often attached to the master bedroom. The kitchen, generally, affords ample space for food preparation, serving and gathering.

Designers recommend accentuating the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts style bungalow with today’s innovative sustainable materials. For instance, tiles, kitchen fixtures and counter-space manufactured from recycled goods are the elements that complement living green.

Which rooms are associated with the bungalow floor plan?

Although bungalows built in the 20th century pale in comparison to today’s floor plans, here is a list of rooms and features:

  • Breakfast Bar
  • Breakfast Nook
  • Covered Front Porch
  • Crawl Space
  • Eating Bar
  • Extra – bonus room
  • Fireplace
  • Great Room
  • Laundry Room/Utility
  • Loft
  • Main Level Master Bedroom
  • Media Room/Home Theater
  • Mud Room
  • One-Story
  • Open Floor Plans
  • Split Bedrooms
  • Two-Car
  • Vaulted/Volume Ceiling

Which online resources highlight a review of bungalow house floor plans?

Bungalow house floor plans are in ample supply at House Plans and More.com. Floor plans are categorized according to architectural style, size and other features.

 

Source: Historic Chicago Bungalow Association – http://www.chicagobungalow.org/

Featured Home Plan: Green Mansion House Plans

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Gargantuan, expansive, and exuding a myriad of design options, mansion house floor plans are greener and more luxurious than ever. Given the magnitude and cost to heat and cool a mansion, opting for the home with eco-friendly features is non-negotiable. Aside from expansive floor plans and high-end amenities, we found these luxury mansions to include a short list of wondrous architectural floor plans:

-    Colonial
-    European
-    Mediterranean
-    Modular Homes
-    Traditional
-    Victorian

In quest of more than guest suites, media rooms, cabanas, Best House floor Plan went searching on the Internet for luxury mansion floor plans, highlighting green qualities or eco-friendly characteristics. The criteria consisted of solar panels, eco-windows, skylights and anything proving to be energy efficient and environmentally conducive. Here are the reports of our findings:

Imagine closets the depth and width of an average-sized bedroom. Watch television from a media room, which closely resembles a movie theatre. In the sunken great room, far-reaching cathedral ceilings are punctuated by fireplace layered in stonemasonry. This is what we found with mansion house floor plan #592-001D.

At HousePlansandMore.com, we were captivated by the magnitude of this Green Home Floor Plan. With 4958 square feet of living space, the upscale arts and crafts home plan is divided between two floors, five bedrooms, and a three-car garage. The green interior boasts an A-list of amazing features. Outside of the entryway, maintained between an angular roof, affixed with skylights, stately pillars are constructed of river stone. A recycled glass countertop serves as a sustainable alternative to granite, marble and other types of kitchen work surfaces.

At this luxury mansion home floor plans, the see-through fireplace and solarium evoked covetous feelings. During the winter months, a solarium offset, by a u-shaped staircase depicts a warmth and picturesque view. On the main floor, a see through fireplace offers heat and warmth throughout the hearth and dining rooms.

But with so many mansion home floor plans to dream about, one must see the homes at HouseFloorPlansandMore.com.

Meanwhile, be sure to check back in several weeks, when we deconstruct hearth rooms.


Related Articles:

Build It Green

Green House Floor Plan: Build An Energy Efficient Home

Inside an Eco-Friendly Million Dollar Mansion

Southwestern Home Floor Plans: Featured

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

An overview of the best southwestern home floor plans

Southwestern home floor plans used to be architectural styles exemplary of housing in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Today, the Southwestern inspired floor plan knows no geographic boundaries. This week at BestHomeFloorPlans, we went on a virtual tour reviewing information about the Southwestern floor plan. Here’s what we learned:

The Profile: Generally, the southwestern home floor plan is a single level abode, shrouded by a flat roof. The     structure is often asymmetrically structured with brick cloaked in stucco walls and an, enclosed porch

Other Aliases:
The Southwestern home plan has several aliases, including: Dubbed, an Adobe, Mission, Pueblo and – or the Spanish Revival home.

Related floor plans The Southwestern floor plan is similar to the Native American and Spanish-Colonial styles.

Southwestern Home Factoid: If you switch placement of the letters, “B” and “D” in the word abode, “adobe” is a commonly used to describe the southwestern style of a home constructed from clay bricks.

Past and Present
In the past, the Southwestern floor plan was protected by dense walls to keep intruders out. On the exterior, walls from both sides of the home adjoined to create an expansive courtyard. Today, the courtyard is not entirely enclosed and highlighted with a fountain and pool, as seen at HGTV.

Best Southwestern Floor Plans:
At HomePlansandMore.com, this luxurious 3-floor southwestern floor plan was breathtaking. With 1300 square footage almost evenly split between two floors, the expansive space effortlessly accommodates four bedrooms, a 2-car garage, a full basement and more.

Statuesque windows, smooth-faced exterior walls in a light, earthy-toned stucco, this floor plan is representative of the architecture of New Mexico and Arizona.
As for a dwelling, reflective of the dream home, this southwestern home is to buy for.

Meanwhile, be sure to compare our other featured home styles.

Related Articles:

Southwestern Architectural Style

The Southwestern Style Wasn’t Invented

Best Cottage Home Plans on the Internet

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Featured Home Plan Style – Cottage Homes

Where to find the best cottage home plans on the Internet? Review these luxurious cottage home plans that we found on three top-rated home floor plan Web site resources.

Cottage home plans are commonly mistaken for domiciles short on style, space and luxury. Although these homes do not have the levels and depth of a Victorian home, these smaller abodes epitomize comfort and coziness. The history of the cottage home plan is traceable to the Middle Ages, where peasant farmers were housed.

Today, the cottage home plan has evolved into the ultimate vacation respite. Ideally, these dwellings are situated in close proximity to a forest, an ocean or even near a lake. But, regardless of the location, the interior features are just as important:

We found the best cottage home plans on the Internet:

At House Plans And More, we fell in love with this sprawling, duplex cottage home plan. An airy atmosphere of French doors, paneled windows and a portico leading to an exterior porch view of the lake, is so picturesque that it looks like a dwelling right out of Architectural Digest.

The “Church Street” Plan that we found at Cottage Home Plans was a manageable with 1470 square feet of space, two bedrooms, an observation sundeck, two covered porches and a built in fireplace. Regardless of what lays outdoors, this cottage house plan exudes eye-popping appeal.

Among the other best cottage home plans that we found on the Internet, the French, Tuscan, and English cottage homes that we found at VCHousePlans.com were to live for…and reminiscent of somewhere else in time.

In the weeks to come, we’ll investigate how to obtain financing for your dream home floor plan.

Related Articles:

Small Cottage House Plans

6 Basics to Cottage Style

Cottage Design Ideas

What is a Cottage-Style House?

Featured Home Plan Style – Victorian House Plans

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

The Best Victorian House Floor Plans on the Net

Victorian home plans possess distinctive architectural design qualities. The history of these massive floor plans is traceable to England’s Queen Victoria, whom the expansive homes were dubbed. Between 1837 and 1901[Source: Wikipedia], there was a proliferation of these homes in America. From the East coast to the West, the Victorian home floor plan was as a popular as today’s townhouse.

Nevertheless, the following features characterize these architecturally astounding single-family homes:

•    Two-stories
•    Turrets
•    Steep roof pitches
•    Eyebrow windows
•    Narrow-lap wood siding or shingles
•    Porches with turned posts a
•    Open, decorative railed stairways
•    Formal Dining Room
•    A solarium multitasking as a breakfast nook
•    Expansive verandas
•    Vaulted great room

In an effort to find Victorian house floor plans reminiscent of the 19th Century, Best House Floor Plans went looking for the best Victorian house floor plans and here’s what we found:

•    Featuring a dramatic 360-degree staircase, wraparound enclosed porch and an octagon shaped master bedroom; we stumble upon this Victorian house floor plan at HouseFloorPlans and More

•    This Queen Ann style Victorian house floor plan is characteristic of home built during the Industrial revolution.

•    At Architectural House Plans, this Victorian home photo collection provided a wealth of design ideas.

Nevertheless—for a variety of Victorian home floor plans to choose from — HouseFloorPlansandMore.com features a wealth of options. Next time, we’ll be looking for a plot of land to build your Victorian home floor plan.

Related Articles:

Queen Anne Architecture

Victorian Architecture

Victorian Station

Victorian Interior Design

Accessible Floor Plans Ensure Simple Living

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Which features are important facets of the accessible floor plan or conducive for the physically-challenged?

Accessible floor plans are not an innovative concept in the home design arena. The term, “accessible floor plan” is interchangeable with “universal design. Originated subsequent to World War II, veterans, returning home with an injury, renovated their homes to accommodate their disability.

Long after residing in a home for years, it is quite common for homeowners to modify their domiciles with an accessible floor plan. As 35 percent of the population approaches retirement, the accessible floor plan will emerge as a popular choice. Nevertheless, these handicap-friendly home designs are quite conducive for anyone and deemed intelligent architecture for diverse abilities.

Use these specifications to help you find an accessible floor plan:

Focus on floor plan with expansive entryways and rooms.
Consider each space’s functional attributes: Approachability (How easy is it to navigate from room-to-room?), purpose (What is the purpose of the room to sleep, shower entertain?), and the accessibility (Are the utilitarian qualities reachable, such as the closet doors, door knobs, outlets, etc.?)

Think in terms of accident prevention.
Accessible floor plans reduce the chances of having an accident, as well as the adverse outcome of any potential hazards. For instance, a low-pile carpet, not only prevents falls; but, is suitable for individuals who use a wheelchair or walker for mobility. No slip tile is another way to prevent accidents from happening around the home.

Ease reach and accessibility

To simplify the accessibility for opening drawers, cabinets, replace knobs with levers. Also, higher mounted electric outlets, coupled with lower placed light switches minimize the strain of adjusting lighting and plugging in electrical items. For the best accessibility in the kitchen, opt for cooking appliances with front-mounted controls.

Easing day-to-day mobility, functionality and assuring unobstructed navigation are the primary requirements of the ultra-accessible floor plan.

Design Your Own Home: the Rational Way

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

How to design your own home

Designing your own home is a voyage into the unknown. Everyone has their favorite space etched in their mind. For some, it’s a majestic media room fully loaded with wireless technology, gadgets and toys. Epicureans prefer to fantasize about the kitchen, featuring a Viking 8- burner stove, eco-friendly counters situated close to an outdoor terrace. For relaxing and entertaining, the great room and outdoor deck are other focal points.

Regardless of what your favorite room is — research, planning and decisiveness are the key elements to design your own home. Between the rising cost of building supplies, labor horror stories and mining through municipal bylaws and regulations, many homeowners find the process too overwhelming for consideration. To help organize the steps entailed in planning the design of your own house, Best House Floor Plans gathered a few details and tips provided by House Floor Plans and more.

Before you are carried away, reviewing awe-inspiring floor plans, start your research at city hall. Find out how much the builder’s permit costs. Inquire whether residential taxes are assessed according to the size of the lot or home. Investigate every single cost involved in building the new home.

Determine if there are any specific restrictions (i.e., electricity, plumbing water, etc). Make a copy of your town’s building codes and standards.

Next, review the budget. How much do you have put aside and how much can you realistically afford without delving into the savings account?

Plan for the worse case scenario. Can you afford to design your own home if the household income suddenly changes?

Budget and Finance Tip – To account for the unknown, add or set aside an additional 10 to 20 percent to the design your home budget.

Next, start familiarizing yourself with house floor plans.

Design your home tip: For more than 14,000 dream house floor plans, Houseplansandmore.com has a profusion of amazing home design ideas.

Mansion Floor Plans: Maximizing Space without Upping the Budget

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

How-to develop a mansion floor plan without hiring an architect.

Mansion floor plans minimize the additional financing costs associated with hiring an architectural firm. Despite the excitement of building a new luxury home, expenditures are exorbitant on many levels. There are the contractors, municipal building permit(s) or license(s), the original blueprint costs and the uncertainty of the mansion floor plan’s accuracy and precise completion date.

Find it. Fortunately, there is a straightforward tactic to forgoing the expense of building one’s luxury home. Unfathomable, but true, mansion floor plans do not necessitate hiring an architect. Given the resources of sites, such as HouseFloorPlansandMore.com, the dream home floor plan is more accessible then ever. Without compromising functionality and design, these mansion floor plans are not cookie cutter replicas. They are distinctive in architectural embellishments, presenting customized home design—for less.

For a quick preview of gorgeous mansion floor plans, please click the links below:

Customize it. Plan accordingly. With more than 3000 square feet to cover, the space possibilities are boundless.  In other words, you can customize each room to your discerning specifications. In the mansion floor plan living space, fireplace accents run the gamut: granite, limestone or other sustainable materials. Other space considerations and additions should not be overlooked, include the:

Fireplace Wine cellar
Sunroom Billiard’s room
Media room Ceiling height
Fitness room Design studio
Breakfast Nook Verandas
Foyers/Entranceways Floor-ceiling windows

Obtain assistance. The mansion floor plan has too many rooms and extras to detail in a single blog post. Nevertheless, don’t forget about your electrical and plumbing requirements. With a click of the following, you’ll find several mansion home floor plan ideas. As for a little direction and assistance in selecting the right home design, the House Floor Plans and More offers professional support – seven days a week.