We’re building a custom 4-bedroom house in Noblesville, IN. Completion is expected in late April 2010, depending on how severe the winter is.

Background

This is our second attempt and second design for building our first home, after our first builder imploded and stopped working on our house. The first design (check it out here if you’re interested), while it was a great house and had what we wanted, was somewhat constrained by a variety of factors and our builder’s semi-custom nature. Hansen and Horn built good homes by and large and was very flexible, much better than large tract builders — at least until they went under and screwed over customers and contractors alike. The Chapel Woods neighborhood we were building in is a nice community, the houses all look different and are colorful, and we had already met some great neighbors. But it was not to be…fortunately, it appears things will turn out even better.

For this second design, we hooked up with a custom builder, Bedrock Builders, and started fresh. I love designing homes, so this was a great opportunity. We took the layout principles we liked and had managed to shoehorn into the first design and made them work even better here. I borrowed some great ideas from some of Bedrock’s stock plans and then went to town. Because of the larger lots in our new neighborhood we were able to make the house wider (I was never a huge fan of the 40′ width of the first design that was dictated by the side load garage; the new one is a more “normal” — for this price range — 53′), and because of the added width we wound up with a better kitchen and just a better layout overall. More windows, larger rooms, better flow, more storage, and a really cool staircase are just some of the things we were able to improve on with our new design. Are we paying more? Yes. Are we getting more? Absolutely.

Designs

The big things we were looking to accomplish with these designs:

• “Triangle” orientation between kitchen, great room, and breakfast nook — we’re not fans of those three areas being spread across the back of the house, as they traditionally are
• Study/office near the kitchen
• No formal living room — waste of space for our needs
• 4 bedrooms
• Upstairs living area (loft)
• Upstairs master suite
• Upstairs laundry
• Full basement for future expansion

Features

These are just a few of our favorite things…

• 1/3 acre lot, across the street from a common area/park
• 9 foot ceilings first floor and basement
• Wide-plank hardwood throughout all of first floor except study
• Craftsman style exterior and interior trim
• Dark espresso cabinetry and Santa Cecilia granite in the kitchen
• Butler’s pantry with built-in wine rack
• Gas cooktop, dual ovens, stainless steel appliances
• Vaulted entry with open staircase from second floor to basement
• Large master with vaulted ceiling
• Walk-through large master closet connects to upstairs laundry room
• Tile floor in master bath (around soaking tub deck and in the shower as well), hall bath, and laundry room
• Walk-in upstairs hall storage closet
• 3 car side-load finished garage
• 92% efficient furnace system