First home, with Ventura, comments on draft floorplan please

Hi, we found ourselves a block in Wellard (WA), 1584sqm, and would like to get some input from you (far more experienced people, we never built a house and we are from Holland, emigrating to WA next year). Below you'll find the floor plan.
Background information: we are only with the 2 of us and would like some room for visitors from overseas. Bed 3 has it's own ensuite but we just decided to change this, otherwise we don't know what bathroom bed2 would use... Besides, we both work and study a lot from home, here in the Netherlands we spend far more time in our study than in the living room. Therefore the study is situated in the plan like it is.

Thanks for your comments!
Regards, Anne

Hi Anne =)

Congrats on your new home that you are about to build =)

Your plan hasn't shown up - perhaps you were trying to upload it direct to homeone? It is generally best to upload your pics to photobucket or flickr or the likes, then link them in from there. Good luck, and can't wait to see your plans! =)

Thanks somewoman, it works now via photobucket! Can't wait to hear your comments....

Hi Anne,
I like your floorplan and you're right about the bathroom for the guest bedroom.

I especially like the WIR in master bedroom.

My main thought is whether the 1/2 height wall separating the study from the double door hallway to the outside might mean that hallway creates some space that could be wasted and better used. (that's if I've read the plans correctly). Somewoman is the person who seems to have the best insight and ideas regarding this though.

Good luck

Hi Robinred, thanks for your input, we also like that very big WIR in the bathroom.

Regarding the 1/2 height wall and the hallway: we thought of using the kithen there for a breakfast bar so there will be 2 high chairs in that hallway. Will think it over, maybe someone has a better idea to use this space?

Thanks!

That's a ventura plan, yes? We almost built that, but a 4 bed, with theatre version. I loved it, and would have gone ahead, but DH wasn't happy with how it sat on our block

I have been in the display home, and it really is a lovely, different layout and I loved the study. It was open, but also separate enough to be a separate area.

Yes Rizzo, that's right and there is a 4 bed as well, with the same number of sqm as the 3/2. As we don't need that number of rooms, we chose for bigger and less rooms. On our block it's perfert (north is on the left (bit to the front) side of the block) and that's the reason why we choose this: we'll have the evening sun in the living room.

We added one meter to the left side, one meter to the garage to use for our bikes and stuff (yes, we are Dutch! ).

On first (and very quick) view, it would be very simple to move the doorway to the main bathroom from that bedroom to the hallway. It is still extremely close to the bedroom for any guests staying over, but also useful access for anyone staying in bed2 or visitors over for dinners or parties. I agree - having the entry via bed3 would be a massive intrusion of privacy for any guests staying there if everyone needs to tramp past them and/or their personal belongings to use the loo.

Too late to think past that at the moment. Overall, I think it is a really interesting plan! Not just a box, and really quite a nice design. Will take a better look tomorrow =)

Congratulations again on your new project =) I hope you have a really smooth run with your build.

Congratulations on making the move to western Australia. Lovely sized block.

That's a really nice ensuite and wir set up for the main bedroom. I love the location of the wc for privacy.

I also like the positioning of the main wc. Great for guests without disturbing anyone sleeping and it's really good to see you have an internal door on the laundry.
I'm assuming when you said that you'd get the evening sun in your living area it works with your plan. Sun sinks in the west here.

I too would shift the doorway to that bathroom into the passageway so that the bathroom was accessible from outside of both bedroom 2 and 3.

Having another look at the plan, the display we went into had the toilet inbetween the bathroom and laundry and the bathroom door opened facing the laundry IYKWIM?

The 4 bed that they showed us was actually bigger as all the rooms were the same size as the 3 bed, plus they added a theatre The only reason DH didn't like the way it fitted our block was because of the shape of our block, but the house we ended up getting drawn up, sits on our block much the same lol

@somewoman: yes, changing the door of the bath is really easy, we'll give that message to Ventura. Great if you could have a more detailed look at the plan as I read that you've a very good eye for it.

@kexkez: thanks, we cannot wait to move over! In fact we changed the laundry and the position of the WC in order to have a door to the laundry and a WC with vanity. And I think that the sun sinks everywhere in the West, also here in the Netherlands.... .

@Rizzmo: yes the position of the WC etc. was a bit different, we like it more this way, moved around some walls with the result that we've an extra linen in the laundry because we used up the hall between the laundry and the WC. Where did you see this 4/2? Would be great to have a look there as well (we'll visit Perth again in June).

Thanks, Anne

Hey Anne,

We had a look at the 3 bed version in Busselton WA, I think it's called the Bunker Bay. It features the ceiling a bit different, but the layouts the same. We told the salesman we love it, but not big enough for us (3 kids) and he said they were currently drawing up the 4 bed with theatre version. He e-mailed it to us, but it's on my old computer. I'll see if I have it on the external hard drive and I'll post it for you.
Basically, the ensuite and WIR was moved to the back of the master bed, and another bedroom put on in it's place, but down the separate hall. But they were able to move the bedrooms all up a bit in line with the new ensuite and place a theatre behind the garage off the entry hall. The garage did stick out a bit further if I recall though.

But, if you don't need the extra space, then that is a lovely home as is. I still would've loved to build it, so I will be looking forward to seeing you build it.

Hi Rizzo,

Yes, lovely house as well, the Bunker Bay. We didn't have a look at it yet but it would be great to see that as well. If you have the plan still somewhere, it would be nice if you send it to me.

We don't need the extra space for the 2 of us and sometimes guest from abroad. But it's nice if the house can be resold easily once we want/need to move somewhere else. That could be the only reason to look for a 4/2. What do you think? Are there also many Australians interested in a 3/2 like we'd like to build?

Thanks, Anne

Hoi Anne,

hardstikke leuk dat jullie naar Western Australie gaan verhuizen. Ik woon inmiddels bijna 8 jaar in Perth en ben met mijn Australische partner ook een huis aan het bouwen (zie link onderin)! We wonen momenteel in Bertram dat naast Wellard ligt. Het is een rustige gemeente met nog veel bos in de omgeving waar je lekker in kan wandelen en fietsen. Jullie hebben een geweldig mooi lappie grond. Kavels van die grootte kom je niet vaak meer tegen. We vinden jullie bouwtekeningen erg mooi. Vooral de "raked ceiling" zoals ze dat hier zo mooi noemen (en die wij ook in ons huis gaan krijgen)! 3 x 2 zijn hier erg gewild, vooral bij jonge koppels en oudere mensen die de kinderen uit huis hebben en kleiner willen gaan wonen, dus daar hoef je je geen zorgen over te maken! Als je vragen hebt over de omgeving, verhuizen naar Australie of andere vragen laat het ons dan weten!

Groetjes

Lars en Fi

Hi Lars en Fi, wat een verrassing om een Nederlands mailtje te ontvangen! Ik stuur jullie een pm-etje om mijn draadje niet al te veel met Nederlands te vermengen. Vind het zo leuk om input van iedereen te krijgen inzake ons plan!

Thanks and yours looks great as well!
Anne

Other than what was said about the bathroom access to the bedrooms my only comments would be that the garage appears to be only a single? I'd make it a double without hesitation as it looks like you have the room for it and from a resale point of view a single garage is about the worst thing you can do. Also is the main bathroom having the shower in the bath? This isn't a popular one either but it depends what sort of bath it is I guess. Otherise I think its a great plan thats not too big but has all the room where it counts.

Thanks Mozzie, for your input. The plan isn't that clear I suppose. The garage is a double one, we added one extra meter for storage, therefore it looks a bit different. But it's 6x7, big enough we think. Regarding the bath: we actually don't have a bath, only a very big shower. We'll make it a bit smaller probably, to have some storage room for guest towels etc. Now it looks a bit funny, I agree.

Regards, Anne