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I prefer a floor plan that is somewhat open but which has clearly delineated areas that are clearly used for different purposes. And if the floor plan is open, then I DEFINITELY want a separate TV and preferably separate office area.
What I can't stand is to have no place to hole up.
If you want a new house, you have no choice but to buy an open floor plan. That's all they build these days!
I get your issue, but if buyers prefer open floor plan homes that’s what they’re going to build. If buyers start demanding closed off plans, they’ll build those. You’re in a bad position because what you want isn’t what the majority of buyers in your area prefer.
Maybe you could find a builder who could add some walls to one of their existing floor plans for a price??
Go and find me 10 houses within Dallas city limits with asking prices between $250k and $500k, that were built between 1950 and 1980, and tell me how many of them don't have evidence of being converted to a pseudo open plan.
Then go and find me 10 houses in the suburbs of Plano, Richardson, or Frisco, new construction, between $250k and $750k, and tell me how many of them are not marketed as open plan.
I will be very surprised indeed if more than 30% of the first group haven't undergone massive remodelings to remove walls. I will be very surprised indeed if even 10% of the second group are "traditional" floor plans with a separate kitchen and kitchen door.
So what do you recommend for someone who actually has to work for a living and needs to buy a house, and has let's say $400k for a budget? They aren't going to be buying a lot and hiring an architect.
It's real easy for you to say "if you don't like A, then just buy B" but if you don't find any B for sale, then that statement's not productive.
Our solution to the home office need in DFW was to buy a home with a designated home office. The same in OK.
Maybe you could find a builder who could add some walls to one of their existing floor plans for a price??
Unfortunately, most open plan houses don't work with added walls, because you end up cutting off light or ventilation, or ending up with long sausage shaped rooms. It's easy to ensure good light and ventilation when you take a big open box and put a "kitchen" against one wall and a "den" against another wall and a "living room" against the third wall. In that case, any window anywhere in the big open box is contributing to lighting; and you don't have trouble walking between the back of the couch and the kitchen, because there's not a wall there - but if there were a wall there, then there wouldn't be enough room to walk - that kind of thing. No, open plans need to be designed as open plans, and standard plans need to be designed as standard plans.
Lots and lots of homes have rooms that can either be a dining room or a home office. Lots of those types of rooms, if they are not already walled in, can be walled in and have a door put on them. I mean, not in every case but in many cases.
What it means is that I used an example of a city I'm familiar with, to say that non-open plan houses are often few and far between. The non-responsive response to that was to say that he bought a house with a designed-in home office in the Dallas area.
In other words, a non sequitur (literally, "it does not follow") or a "non-responsive answer".
Telling me that you bought a house with a designed-in home office, does not answer my contention that houses being offered at the mid-price level are almost all open plan, either by original design, or having been subjected to remodelings that included removal of walls.
Originally Posted by Sunbather View Post
everyone who doesn't like open floor plans just doesn't have to live in one. Plain and simple
Not plain and simple is they are not available to buy. Duh.
We looked for a new-to-us home with a kitchen NOT facing the family room, could not find one in Charlotte NC unless we gave up a lot of other "must haves".
Our Florida home's floorplan is exactly what we love, kitchen not wall-enclosed but sight lines from family/living room make it a separate room next to dining room, built 1998. Not available in todays market because the floorplan is wider than most lots can accommodate.
Builders build what people buy. And people buy what they see on TV.
Parents in the kitchen need to see what their kids are doing so open kitchen floorplans are here to stay forever.
People wear headphones to limit TV and music noise in living room, have been doing so for many years now. I don't but spouse does when we share LR and I read and he watches TV.
As I pointed out in one of the other threads on open floor plans, they are not efficient in northern areas. Having lived in an open floor plan in VT for several years, it was terrible. All the heat would get drawn from the first floor to the second floor through the stairs. No way to close the rooms off from the stairs to stop it. With an open floor plan you also can't simply turn off or turn down the heat to a room not being used. You have to heat the whole place.
I am single but have relatives and friends with kids with open floor plan houses. It's unbearable trying to visit with them at times. The kids have the TV going in the living room open to the kitchen/dining area. Or the kids are just being loud. Impossible to hold conversations over that. The only quiet places are their bedrooms or the basement. It may seem nice to a parent to keep an eye on their toddler but when they're teens I'd say it's just a little less important.
Needless to say the house I'm slowly building has a very closed floor plan.
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