A House With Storage

If you are looking for a home with more storage space, the Woods Cottage is the house for you. This house has multiple linen & coat closets, a built-in china cabinet, sewing counter, pantry, loads of kitchen counter space, family room built-ins, office nook and more. In addition to all the storage space, it has four bedrooms, a den, a large bonus room, first floor master suite and a 2 car garage. And those are just features on the inside. If this sounds like your next house, please click this link. All of the Southern Cottages House Plans are designed by an architect to give you style with a comprehensive design at a price you can afford.

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.

Home Trend for 2015: Small Houses

According to articles on the internet, like this one from The Fiscal Times or this one from Slate, the small home is making a come-back.  Whether you're an empty-nester looking to downsize or a young couple looking for your first home, people are looking for smaller homes and smaller mortgages.

 

At 1,260 square feet, our Hip Cottage fits the bill for being small.  Yet, it still has everything you need!  Inside of this house you get two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open concept living & dining room, good sized kitchen, laundry room, front porch, rear screened porch, plus storage.

If 1,260 sf is too small for you, the Hip Cottage comes in a few different sizes: 

• 1,423 sf which includes a wrap around porch; 
• 1,545 sf with an attached garage; 
• and 2,497 sf with a basement.

What's great about our house plans is that all of the Southern Cottages House Plans are designed by an architect to give you style with a comprehensive design at a price you can afford! 

Let us help you create a building to serve your needs at www.mcleodarchitectpa.com.

View our architect designed house plans at www.southerncottages.com.

Step Back in Time

The Grand Gazebo Cottage will take you back to an age where time slows down and relaxation is a way of life.

Grand Gazebo Cottage

This is a grand and sumptuous house with four exterior gazebos connected by wrap around porches. Spend your evenings relaxing on the porch with a lemonade in hand. Inside you will find spacious rooms perfect for comfortable and tranquil living.

The gazebos provide a lot of outdoor living space.

All of the Southern Cottages House Plans are designed by an architect to give you style with a comprehensive design at a price you can afford.
  
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.

A Summer Home

Peaks Cottage from the street.

If you're looking for a summer home on a lake or the beach, the Peaks Cottage is the house for you! The livingroom, diningroom and kitchen are arranged for maximum views to the waterfront. In addition to the spacious deck & covered porch, there is an upstairs deck that overlooks the water. The Peaks Cottage also includes 5 bedrooms & 4 bathrooms so everyone has their own private space. All of the Southern Cottages House Plans are designed by an architect to give you style with a comprehensive design at a price you can afford.

Peaks Cottage from the beach.

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.

The Classic Look of "Home"

The Country Cottage is a roomy house with the classic look of "home".  It takes off where the Hip Cottage ends, giving you additional space on the second floor. Inside it features 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, open living/dining space, wrap around porch, 2 car garage, and more. The additional space in this house is great for visiting guests or your expanding family. All of the Southern Cottages House Plans are designed by an architect to give you style with a comprehensive design at a price you can afford.

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.

The Value of A Porch

 

A porch can make a world of difference if the sun is shining or if it's a downpour outside. A porch will provide a shaded place to sit, relax and watch the world go by. It's perfect for grilling dinner and spending time with friends and family. If this is your lifestyle, the Shelter Cottage is perfect for you. It has two large porches--plus a deck--available for "outdoor living". It would be perfect at a lake, beach or beautifully wooded lot. Inside you will love the open livingroom/diningroom/kitchen, four bedrooms and extra space. Check it out! All of the Southern Cottages House Plans are designed by an architect to give you style with a comprehensive design at a price you can afford.
 
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.

Porches Cottage Interior

The Porches Cottage is one of our coastal house plans.  What makes this house unique is that the design locates the living spaces on the top floor to maximize views, while the bedrooms occupy the first floor. This "inverted living area" arrangement works well for a beach community or other location where the view is a primary attribute of the site. 

This is the front of the Porches Cottage.  As the name suggests, this home has wonderful porches to take advantage of the outdoors.  Whether you are relaxing on the first floor porch or entertaining on the second floor porch, your outdoor living space will be the envy of your guests.   

The following are some interior pictures of the Porches Cottage that were sent to us from two different clients.

As mentioned earlier, the majority of the bedrooms are located on the first level of the Porches Cottage.  Each has a spacious closet, plenty of space for furniture and access to a conveniently located bathroom, which is usually attached.

The bedrooms provide a cozy space to retreat after a long day at the beach.  There are also plenty of windows that let in natural light during the day and make for an enjoyable sleeping space at night.

The living and entertaining spaces of the Porches Cottage are located on the top floor.  This provides a way to maximize the views, whether you are right on the ocean, or a lot or two beyond.  The livingroom and diningroom are arranged in one continuous space along the back of the house and toward your view.   A vaulted ceiling provides an airy feel and helps bathe the room in light.   

In another version of the house, the client added some wainscot, crown molding and decorative features to add an upscale feeling to the livingroom.  The fireplace is a central design element in the room and can provide a nice atmosphere during entertaining. 

The wainscot and molding were also continued into the diningroom, which is visually separated from the livingroom by columns.  Even though the ceiling is not vaulted, the atmosphere still provides an open feeling and a lovely space.

The kitchen is another exciting feature of the Porches Cottage.  It opens to the diningroom and livingroom to share in the exterior view and provide for a great entertaining space.  In this view from the diningroom, we look toward the kitchen and then beyond to the second level front porch door. In case you are wondering where the stairs to the first level is, it is located to the left of the porch door.  As you can see, there is still plenty of exterior light coming in through the front of the house.

In this upgraded and custom-modified-by-the-client kitchen, marble countertops, custom cabinets, and double ovens highlight what is possible in this versatile house plan.

In addition to all these features, the Porches Cottage works well on a narrow lot. Views are afforded front to back from nearly all rooms even if adjacent houses are close together on a crowded waterfront site.

There are four different versions of the Porches Cottage available.  Some of the options available are piling or crawlspace foundation, enclosed garage, a residential elevator, a roof deck and a range of three to four bedrooms.

The Woods Cottage

The Woods Cottage is similar to our Shingle Cottage with the added feature of an attached two car garage with bonus room above.  This is an extremely livable house with a cottage charm and many amenities suitable for a large family.  Below are some pictures of a built Woods Cottage sent to us from a past client. 

This is the front of the Woods Cottage.  From this view you can see the way the garage comes together with the main house.  The wood plank siding with white trim provide a comfortable look and feel to this cottage.

In this view we see the front of the cottage from the other side of the front yard.  The porch is a welcoming area with plenty of space for furniture, such as rocking chairs, to enjoy the outdoors.  The house reveals the dining room on the right as it steps away from the main volume, as well as the family room fireplace by way of the chimney.

When we walk through the front door we are greeted in the foyer by the stairs.  To the left is the living room, to the right is the family room, straight ahead leads to the remainder of the first floor, and up the stairs leads to bedrooms and additional family spaces.

The living room is visually separated from the foyer by four columns (two of which can be seen in this picture).  This is a great space to make a formal area to greet visitors.  Two sets of windows bring natural light into the room.

The family room is separated from the foyer by a pocket door, in essence making it possible to close off the family spaces from the formal ones.  This room features a fire place, built-in shelving (not shown), a pass-thru to the kitchen (not shown) and plenty of natural light.

The dining room is off of the family room and also opens to the kitchen.  There are windows facing three sides of the house: the front, the back and the side.  These windows provide beautiful views as you enjoy your meals.

The first floor also features a large kitchen, master bedroom suite with an enlarged whirlpool bath, a spacious laundry room, a powder room and an office which connects the garage to the house.

Upstairs, there is plenty of room for a family to move and grow.  There are three generously sized bedrooms (each with its own large window), two baths and a den leading to the large bonus room over the garage.

For more information on the Woods Cottage please visit our Southern Cottages website.

Pleasent Outdoor Living on the Wrap Around Porch

Weekend Weather Forecast for Hampstead, NC

Looks like it is going to be a warm weekend here in Hampstead, North Carolina. There may even be a chance for scattered thunderstorms on Saturday. Most people would agree these conditions make for a perfect evening to sit in their rocking chairs, enjoy a cold lemonade and take in the views from their wrap around porch.

Our selection of house plans with Wrap Around Porches are designed to enable you to enjoy the outdoor views and breezes. Wrap Around Porches are a great asset to a house because they extend the living space to the exterior, they shelter and protect the windows and doors from water damage and they shade the exterior walls and windows reducing heat gain and thereby reducing energy costs. You can also screen-in a portion of the porch for pleasant outdoor dining.

The Island Cottage House Plan is a playful, coastal cottage getaway. With it's wrap around porch, roof decks and roof-top observation loft, it's a great coastal house plan.

The Plantation Cottage draws upon the southern, coastal, low country vernacular and features large, wrap-around porches and a full basement.

The Country Cottage has all the amenities of a larger house designed in a compact space. Its wrap-around porch extends the living space to the outdoors.

The Mountain Cottage is a variation of the Island Cottage and illustrates one of the many customization's of this versatile plan. Its wrap-around porch is a key element in its design.

The Lookout Cottage is a magnificent treehouse with roof decks, balconies and a rooftop observation platform perfect for overlooking trees and rooftops to see the coastline.

The Nags Head Cottage draws upon the characteristics of the historic, rugged, beachfront cottages found along the coast of Nags Head, NC. The wrap around porches protect the walls and window and door openings while also providing shade from the heat.