Customer Question: I Need More Information About Your Plans

We recently received a letter asking for more information about our Southern Cottages House Plans.

Island Cottage with Piling Foundation

All of our Southern Cottages House Plans have been designed by a licensed architect.  They are detailed, professional, architectural drawings.  Our construction plan packages are complete and ready to ship.  The house plans we sell include foundation plans, floor plans, building sections, wall details, interior elevations, structural design, and mechanical and electrical layouts. That's everything your contractor needs to build your house the right way.  They will save you many thousands of dollars over custom designed plans and save innumerable hours of time, money, and mistakes by your contractor if he were left on his own.

With our plans, you will be able to get accurate contractor bid prices since all construction items are specified and detailed.  We rarely have questions from a client's contractor and we welcome any questions that might arise.  Plus, we have been complimented on our construction plan quality.  We are confident you will be very happy if you decided to purchase one of our plans and with the outcome of your new home.

For additional information, please read “About the Plans” and “Terms of Sale” on our website.  If you have additional questions feel free to call our office.

Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitect.com. View our architect designed house plans at www.southerncottages.com.

What Size Lot Do I Need To Build My Dream Home?

If you are building a home, it is important to know the building constraints on your property.  This will tell you how big or small your house can be.  This can be looked at two different ways.  The first is if you have a house plan picked out and are now looking at property.  The second is if you have purchased the land and are now looking at house plans.

In order to figure out what lot size you need, all you need to know is the size of the house (length and width, including all roof overhangs, exterior stairs and porches) and the site setbacks for the particular lot you are looking at.  The site setback information can be obtained from your city or county's planning department and is dependent on the zoning of the lot.

We're going to discuss this using our 2470 sf Island Cottage with Piling Foundation as an example. The size of the 2470 sf Island Cottage with Piling Foundation (including all exterior stairs and porches) is 77'-2" L x 55'-8" W.  (The sizes of our Southern Cottages homes can be seen on the ground floor plan of each Southern Cottages house on our website.)

Ground Floor Plan of the 2470 sf Island Cottage with Piling Foundation

For example, if your lot has a 25' front yard setback, a 25' rear yard setback and 10' side yard setbacks you would need a lot that is 127'-2" L x 75'-8" W in order to build the 2470 sf Island Cottage with Piling Foundation.

Sometimes uncovered stairs and some roof overhangs are allowed to encroach into the setbacks, but that is something you will need to verify with your local planning department.  That could allow your lot to be a little smaller.

Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitect.com.
View our architect designed house plans at www.southerncottages.com.

Getting a Budgetary Cost to Build Your Home

This house is the Shelter Cottage, available on our website.

Construction costs vary from region to region and city to city.  This makes it difficult to get an idea of how much it will cost to build a home.  To get an idea of construction costs in your area, have a good local builder or two give you a budget estimate from something like the Study Plans we offer on our website.  (If you need help choosing a contractor, please read our post "Selecting Your General Contractor".)  He will not be able to provide a firm contract price, though, until he has the construction plan package. 

Have your contractor update his quote with the construction plans and specifications prior to signing a contract with a general contractor or any sub-contractors. Otherwise, you will constantly hear "I didn't include that in my quote.”

Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitect.com.
View our architect designed house plans at www.southerncottages.com.

Selecting Your General Contractor

There is nothing more exciting than building your own home!  After having an architect design your custom home, or selecting a plan you like from a website like Southern Cottages House Plans, the next step is finding a general contractor to build your dream house.

The best way to find a good contractor in your area is word of mouth. Ask neighbors or a local realtor if they know some good residential builders that you can contact.  You can also call local residential architects and ask them for some contractors they have worked with before.

When talking with a prospective builder, ask for several references that you can contact.  Then call the references.  This is to help you be confident that you will be working with a reputable contractor.  Here are some questions to ask:  What are their thoughts about the company in general?  Who was the superintendent they worked with (the representative of the construction company who is consistently on the jobsite) and how did they like him?  Did they have any problems with the contractor and what were they?  How did the contractor resolve the problems and was it in a way they were happy about?  Did the contractor stay on budget and finish their home on time?  And most importantly, do they love the way their home turned out?  People are usually happy to share both good and bad information.  Remember, this is your dream home and you do not want a negative experience while it is being built.  Checking references is the best way to try to avoid that.

Once you have decided on a contractor, ask for a construction quote based on your construction document set.  This will tell you how much they think it will cost to build your home.  Be sure to do this before signing a contract with any general contractor or sub-contractors.  If you are happy about the quote then sign a contract.  If you are not happy with the quote then you are free to take your plans to another general contractor for another quote.  Then you can compare two quotes to get a better idea of your construction costs. 

Once you have signed a contract it is only a matter of (construction) time before you can begin living in your dream home.  Good luck!

Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitect.com.
View our architect designed house plans at www.southerncottages.com.

Island Cottage Interior

We often get asked what the Island Cottage looks like on the inside.

To answer that, here are some interior pictures from a recent client.  Please note that the client has added some elements that are not in the standard construction document set.

The front door opens to the living room.  It is a wonderful gathering space with plenty of room for furniture.  The fireplace provides a focal-point for the room.

This is a view of the living room as seen from the dining room.  The abundance of windows provide a light and airy space.  The transom windows help to accentuate the 9 foot ceilings.

This picture was taken looking from the living room to the dining room.  As you can see, the wall of windows provides a panoramic view of your surroundings.  This is a wonderful feature if your lot is on a lake, ocean or any other beautiful location.

The dining room has plenty of space for a large table for entertaining.  Yet, it is also a perfect place for your family to share a meal while enjoying your surroundings. 

The dining room is right off the kitchen, making for easy serving access.

This is the kitchen as seen from the living room.  The kitchen is open to the living room and dining room, extending the views and creating an open floor plan.

This is the entry into the kitchen as seen from the front door.  Personal touches such as the selection of accent lights create a truly individualized space.

This picture shows the kitchen base cabinets and tall dish cabinet beyond.  There is plenty of storage and countertop space for all your essentials and non-essentials.  This client chose butcher block countertops with beadboard cabinetry, but the cabinets and counters are fully customizable to your tastes.

From this view you can see the gas range and sink.  The window provides more natural light and a view into the screened porch beyond.

The second floor is accessed via stairs near the front door.  The stairs open to the living room on the right allowing natural light to flow freely between levels.  The spiral staircase to the Observation Room is seen while ascending the stairs.

This picture is of the master bedroom before the final paint coat was applied.  As you can see, the ceiling height varies because the roof slope that gives the Island Cottage its distinctive exterior appearance is expressed in the second level ceiling.  Yet, there is ample ceiling height so that one would not hit their head.

This client combined the two bedrooms upstairs to create a master suite with a sleeping area and a sitting area.  This picture is taken from the sitting area (Bedroom 2 on the standard plans) looking into the sleeping area (Master Bedroom on the standard plans).  The glass door and windows not only allow light to come in, but also provide access to a private roof deck perfect for taking in the surroundings or watching the sunset.

This is a picture of the finished sitting area.  An adjustment to the standard floor plan has provided this client with the feature of an additional fireplace.  Again, the view is amazing from the windows.

This is a close-up of the client-added fireplace.

The Island Cottage is available with a crawlspace foundation, piling foundation and basement foundation to suite your site conditions.  It is also available in two sizes of heated area: 2,058 sf and 2,470 sf. 

Please see our Southern Cottages website for more information on the Island Cottage.