I got inspired to play my with house plan ideas after visiting Phil Godenschwager who does architectural drawings. I want to have some basic plans in place for him to work with when he is ready. It is so much fun to play with floor plans. It helps you see glitches and research things like "how much space do you need around a kitchen island? How wide should useful doorways/walk-through areas be? Can you put a refrigerator next to a doorway?" And to think about cozy vs. open space.
Here is my initial plan at this point. It maintains the beautiful wide front door with sidelights (windows up both sides), the evenly spaced two windows to the right of the door, two windows to the left of the door...so the front of the house will look the same from the road. The sides just along the the corner from the front edge of the house will also be the same with those two windows on each side. Otherwise, from halfway along the side to the back, it will be slightly different from the original house (French doors into dining room on the south side, bathroom windows on the north side and a mudroom entry door). And all along the east side (the true back side of the house) it will have many more windows, but mostly matching those that were above the kitchen sink...the three smaller higher windows in a row letting light in from morning sun. Except the dining room on the east...where the door to the 2nd house used to be, it will have two windows that match the front window. More morning light there too with no garage in the way blocking light.
The porch can be reminiscent of the same house in the 1800s that had a porch: https://www.ridgeroadhouse.blog/post/the-original-land-grantee
Phil and I talked about the importance of the angle of the roof on a covered porch, the porch beam size and style and finial style. I want all of that to be appropriate to this house style (in the past).
