Modern House Plan Reviews – The Arbordale

The Arbordale is an award winning modern house plan, a stunning contemporary home design, which conjures up pure and honest feelings of family and love, with such an impressive frontage that it will make a wonderful statement!


Not lacking for space

This luxurious modern 4 bedroom farmhouse style home has a massive 3163 sq. ft. of living space, with an additional, bonus room of over 400 sq. ft.! There are three (and a half) baths, walk in cupboards and an over sized garage for all your stuff (and cars, I suppose) – you can find the floor plans for the layout in more detail here.


Fireplaces

For those cosy evenings in, there is nothing like a fire to warm the heart and spirit. With this home, you are bound to want to curl up in front of a roaring fire in this hearth. Check this out – breathtaking!


Decoration – balancing light tones

I know decoration really isn’t normally considered in the drawing up of modern home plans, but this house shows the advantages of thinking everything through carefully from the beginning. Their use of slightly-warm neutral tones throughout, contrasted with the abundance of cooler natural light gives the balanced lighting we so strive to achieve. It is really lovely to see an architect giving such thought to all these details!

Double height ceiling

When you want to create that soaring impression you get in the stately English homes of the 17th and 18th Century, a great way to do this is to imitate some of their architectural techiques. Look at this picture of the master bedroom.

See how they have a dual-level ceiling. As you pass from the lower to the higher ceiling, you feel the extra space, the extra height – just like walking into say Grand Central Station. Well, maybe I exaggerate but, you know what I mean! Check it out!

The Great Room – with Curved Balcony!

Don’t you just love the incorporation of Great Rooms in modern house plans? I think this is such a great concept – a place for partys, for the family to hang out and where you can build those massive Brio train sets….


This house does the great room with style and panache! It has beautiful double – level window, so externally it is charming and symmetrical while internally, there is a mezannine floor and curved balcony. (Does that make you want to act out Romeo and Juliette or what?!) Loving it!

U-Shaped Kitchen

If you are one of those cooks who hates having to dance around the kitchen when preparing your meals, it might be worth having a look at the plans for this kitchen.

It has an unusual U shape, and with the central island unit, you will not lack worktop surface space. Amply, naturally, lit by windows all around, you can get the positive effect of working in daylight (in the daytime…)

Master Suite on Ground Floor

If you are looking to building yourselves a home in which you can live after retirement, you may want to consider placing the master suite on the ground floor, as the architects have done in this plan. Practically, this makes things easier for the later years of life, and if you plan ahead now, you can live in your own home for probably the rest of your life.

Hopefully you will have been able to glean a few thoughts for the design of your own home from here. If not have a look at the two sites below for more inspiration for your own modern house plan.

All image and plans are copyright Donald A. Gardner Architects

Cool House Plans - Latest Modern House Designs

Donald Gardner Modern House Plans

Modern House Plans: The Ventana Design

First impressions are important in contemporary design

When building your new home, or even, before this, choosing your modern house plans, it is vital to consider the first impressions that this new home will provide to guests, visitors and in the future, potential buyers.

The front door

This is one of the great things about this house plan. As you walk up to the front door, you are greeted by an impressive entrance – both warm and welcoming, surrounded on three sides by amazing windows. Lovely! It immediately gives the sense of an expansive, airy and honest home.

This sense continues once you step inside. This design has a total living area of 1,929 Sq. Ft. which is very reasonable for a three-bedroom, two bathroom home. The house itself fits into a 59' 0" x 68' 8" space.

You can see that the designers of this single storey home drew from South-western and Mediterranean architectural styles in their plans – contemporising them with fantastic vaulted ceilings and extensive use of glass to maximise natural light.

Modern Kitchen Design

Many of us are now living lives where the kitchen really is the heart of the home. This house centralises the role of the family kitchen, whilst maintaining a clear separation between communal areas and private quarters – a must in any single-storey home!

The kitchen includes a desirable central island unit (excellent for the kids to chase each other around…. oh, did I say that???) Also, this is great for socialising with friends and a glass of wine after work whilst preparing the meal.

Finally, the kitchen has access to the back porch. This is a great idea for unloading all those groceries… no need to carry them all the way through the house, invariably dropping some on the way.

Need to look your best?

The huge 16' 0" x 13' 8" Master Bedroom suite has its own private porch, luxurious en-suite bathroom and, sky-lit, yes, a sky-lit dressing area – so now you will know if that scarf clashes with the rest of your outfit before stepping out the door!

The use of high ceilings to achieve a sense of space

After a feeling of space? Raise the ceilings! This was a typical design feature in the homes of the wealthy Victorians and Edwardians. This house is no different, with respectable 9 foot ceilings throughout the house, except in the master bedroom in which the ceiling soars to eleven feet!

Concluding Comments

So, in conclusion, this contemporary design is a perfect mixture of contemporary styles, efficient layout and perfectly chosen materials to give you a home you can, and will be proud of.

This modern house plan can be found, and even purchased online here.

All designs are copyright by the designer, Donald A. Gardner Architects.

If you are looking for something a little bit different, why not try the following sites:

House Plans from Cool House Plans

Donald A. Gardner Architects Modern Designs

Modern House Plans: Reviews – Kananagh Design

Wood and Glass Usage in a Modern House

The Kananagh modern house plan (Available here) is a fine example of contemporary design. This house design skilfully unites natural and semi-natural materials (wood and glass) and with the extensive conservatory-style wall brings the outdoors inside and seems to extend your living space as far as your eye can see.



Vaulted Ceilings in Modern Houses

One aspect of modern design which I’m thrilled with is the reinterpretation of ancient concepts in a new way. Vaulted ceilings have been around for hundreds of years, but not quite like this! The vaulted ceiling reaches from low down on one side, high up over the great room, and as this opens on to the deck, you really do get the feeling of incredible space (so useful in our frantic, stressful lives.)


The Master Suite

At the end of a long day, running around after the kids or at the office, having a space of your own to which you can retreat is such a relief. This modern house plan accommodates an amazing private master suite, with a luxurious bathroom, incorporating a massive whirlpool tub – you can feel the day’s stress already departing!

The master bedroom also (for those Romantics out there) has it’s own fireplace, access to the sun-room balcony and a huge amount of built in storage space.

I really like the incorporation of the fireplace in the bedroom. This was actually quite a common feature in Victorian times in England – as coal fires were used to heat the rooms. It is wonderful to see this contemporised in this modern home.

Floor Plans

Here are some floor plans to show you the layout of this house. They can be accessed in even more detail, along with specifications at the architect's site.


Upstairs


Ground Floor
One tip which might be helpful is to bear in mind that you can always reverse and mirror image such plans, often on the designer's websites themselves. This is good to do, so that you can fit the house best into your plot and landscape.

References and Sites

I hope these comments and images (all copyright Donald A Gardner) help you to select or draw up your own modern house plans. If you are looking for other, similar designs, I would encourage you to try the following sites:

this modern house plan – The Kavanagh


modern house plans from coolhouseplans.com


modern house plans from Donald A Gardner Architects

Modern House Plans: Reviews - Introduction

What I would like to do here is review a range of modern house plans which are readily available to purchase online.

How you use these reviews is up to you, but here are two suggestions:

You could look at each of the designs, identify the aspects and features which you adore, and then compile your thoughts, ideas and desires together in a scrapbook of sorts to create your modern home with the help of an architect.

Alternatively you can download or order your favourite home plans. It’s up to you.

At a conference in London last week, I was chatting with a Lecturer in Architecture from Cambridge University (and formerly of one of the better-known Boston Schools) and when I was telling him about the prices of these plans, he indicated the normal prices of such house plans – generally about 10% of the whole building cost – 8% on Architect Fees, and 2% on the structural fees. What this means is that on a (relatively small) project costing, say, $200,000, there is an additional $20,000 to pay for just these plans.

The more I think about it, if you like the house designs and architectural styles, these plans are a bargain. Depending on where you get them from they cost from something like $500 - $2000 for full structural plans, and some even include materials lists… Not bad compared to what you could pay!

Anyway, here are some sites on which you can find some modern house plans.

Modern House Plans From Donald A. Gardner Architects


Modern House Plans from Cool House Plans

Modern House Plans – energy efficiency

When drawing up your modern house plans it is now vital to consider energy efficiency. This is imperative not only to comply with more and more regulations, but also, and very importantly, this can save you lots of money! Just think about your annual fuel bills for heating your house – they come to what? $1200 annually? Perhaps more? Well, if you make your house more energy efficient, you can save 20% on your fuel bills (which is very achievable), and for our example above you would save yourself $240 each and every year. That is effectively saying you don’t have to pay a penny for your fuel every fifth year!

So it clearly makes sense to design your new house with energy efficiency in mind, not only for economic reasons, but also when thinking of the impact our use of energy may have on the world for our children.

So, how do you create your new home to be energy efficient? It really isn’t that hard.

First of all, get some great plans for your house. There are a number of excellent, value for money plans which I’ve found online - these a brilliant place to start (see links to these below). Have a look at the plans, choose one which is closest to what you want, and you are on your way!

Once you have your plans, it is time to consider energy efficiency. So, the technical part: it really is simple. There are 2 main factors to consider:

1. Heat loss and insulation.

2. Lighting.

If you can cut heat loss through good insulation and increase natural lighting you are well on your way to saving 20 to 50% of your fuel bills, each year!

Heat Retention

• Insulate your roof effectively (I’d recommend about 6 inches of insulation as an absolute minimum. The more, the better, generally!)
• Insulate your walls. – brick and cavity walls can easily be insulated, and this is so cheap if you incorporate it in your house plan.
• Minimise your use of single glazed windows. Windows are brilliant, but make sure that where you have windows, these are double or triple glazed. Argon filled windows don’t transfer so much heat, so are an excellent choice when building your new home. Put these in on your modern house plan, and they will save you so much money later on.

Maximise natural lighting

• Lighting affects our mental state; our moods, effectiveness and even our health. It is vital that your new home makes the best use of natural light.
• There are so many new ways to capture natural light. Obviously windows, but what about a glass roof, light well or roof lights?
• For those dark hallways, there are some brilliant tubelights which collect light on the roof and, with a tubular mirror, reflect 98% of it down into the house. These are excellent ways to accent light or add daylight to internal en-suite bathrooms, hallways or cupboards. Fitting these lights after your build can be expensive, but if you plan them in from the start, your overall build cost will hardly notice. (And you’ll save oodles on electricity over the years.)

So, in summary, approach this sensibly!

1. get your plans (here are a few good sites to look through)
• Donald A Gardner contempory designs
  
• Cool House Plans modern house plans
  
2. think how you can adapt them to
• achieve better heat retention
• increase natural lighting
3. Use the money you have saved by being energy efficient to really bless someone you love! (Think flowers, new clothes, a special meal out once a month…. use your imagination!)

We hope these notes and sites help you to find the perfect modern house plans for your new home.