Most Popular Mod Requests of 2019: Part 1

Searching for the perfect house plan can be hard sometimes, especially if this is your first one. There are literally thousands of things to consider when you are looking for your dream home and I’m sure you find yourself scrolling through site after site and picture after picture of home designs trying to find the one that fits you and your family the best. We get it. We understand. One of the things that we want to make sure of for our customers is that your house plan fits you like your favorite pair of jeans. One of the ways that we can ensure that is to customize a house plan for your family.

Tailored to Fit Your Needs

Often a client will tell us that they absolutely love the house plan, but they need it to be smaller. Or they need it to be bigger. Or they need it to have another bathroom. We can handle all of those. What we have found is that there are a few plans that tend to get customized more than others. If the modification gets asked for often or if it something that we think would make a great addition to our plan collection, we add it as a new stock plan.

This week we are going to look at some of these plans. We’re going to look at the original or, in gamer’s terms, the vanilla version and then we are going to look at the modified version which grew up and became its very own stock plan.

Oak Forrest, NDG 1379, is one of those plans that gets requested a lot for modifications. In real estate terms, this plan has excellent bones.

Oak Forrest (NDG 1379)

I love a good farmhouse plan. This particular farmhouse is just over 2,100 square feet of living space and gives you 4 bedrooms with 3 full bathrooms. Unlike most farmhouses, this plan gives you a 3-bay garage to hold your modern horse and carriage. This house plan has one of the prettiest wrap-around porches. I can just see someone enjoying a nice glass of iced tea on this porch on a hot summer day. Besides the porch, this house plan also gives you an enormous master suite and an open floor plan that includes the great room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast nook.

As you approach the home, the first thing that you notice is the wrap around porch. I love wrap-around porches. They bring on a level of nostalgia that is pretty hard to beat. And this one wraps on three sides of the home with steps on each side.

As you enter the home, you find yourself in the large great room. This space is part of an open floor plan that combines the great room, dining room, breakfast nook and kitchen. The great room opens up with high ceilings and windows that face the front of the home. The great room gives you access to the stairwell and a under the stairs nook that is perfect for storage or for a room for the boy who lived. The great room also features a brickwork fireplace on the left wall.

Moving further into the plan, you find yourself at the back of the kitchen counter. This is what “separates" the space between the great room and the kitchen. The kitchen gives you plenty of counter space and features a corner pantry and an island with bar seating for five with a prep sink.

The dining room is adjacent to the kitchen and features an entrance to the separate grilling porch on the side of the home and large windows on two of the walls. There is also a breakfast nook that is perfect for an informal meal or for a quick bite.

Between the breakfast nook and the laundry room is a small hallway that is perfect for a mudroom. This space comes in from the garage and has a small closet at the end. The laundry room is large and features plenty of counterspace, as well as a sink for soaking stubborn stains. It can also be used as a bathroom in a pinch with a small shower stall and toilet.

Moving further into the home, you will find bedrooms 2, 3, and 4. Bedroom 4 can also be used as a study and gives you a small closet and a window facing the rear of the home. Bedroom 3 has a small closet and features a double casement window that faces the rear of the home. Bedroom 2 has two windows, one that faces the porch and the other that faces the side of the home. All of the bathrooms share the hall bathroom.

The master suite finishes out this floor of the plan. The master suite is right in off the front door. The master bedroom features high ceilings and two windows that face the front of the home. There is a small hallway that moves between the master bedroom and the master suite.

This hallway is closed off from the bedroom by a sliding door and separates the two walk-in closets. The master bath is through this hallway through French doors. The master bath features both a whirlpool tub and a glass shower and has room for a linen closet.

Now we are going to look at the younger sibling of Oak Forrest. This is Broken Arrow Farms, (MEN 5170). This plan started out life as a modification. The customer loved the floor plan but wanted some changes made to it. Broken Arrow Farms has become what we refer to as the “Luxury" version of Oak Forrest.

Here are the changes that were made to the plan:

• Added a bedroom upstairs
• Created more of an open concept
• Added square footage in the mudroom
• Changed the dormer style

Take a look at it below.

Broken Arrow Farms (MEN 5170)

This lovely farmhouse house plan from award winning designer Michael E. Nelson gives you just over 3,400 square feet of living space with 4 bedrooms and 4 full baths. This modern farmhouse home design has everything you want in a modern family home with enough traditional elements to lend it a serious case of nostalgia. On the exterior of the home, you can’t help but notice the large wrap-around front porch which just begs you to sit down with a cool glass of sweet tea. On the interior of the home, you will find all of the amenities you are used to finding in a contemporary house plan including a large kitchen and perfect master bath. If you are looking for a great house plan, be sure to check this one out!

This house plan is modern farmhouse through and through. The first thing that you notice about this plan is the large wraparound front porch. This gives you ample space for you and your family to relax on those hot summer evenings and enjoy the cool breeze.

This home gives you 3,400 square feet of living space with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths. Unlike a traditional farmhouse, this home also gives you a Garage with room for 3 vehicles. Once you step inside from the front porch you immediately find yourself in the Great Room.

This is a feature that is typical with farmhouses. The combined living areas were traditionally in the front of the home and the “work" areas were in the rear of the home. The homes were laid out this way to keep the heat away from the sitting areas and the bedrooms.

The Great Room features a sloped ceiling and built in brickwork fireplace and gives you access to the Kitchen, the Master Suite and the staircase to the second floor. If you move toward the rear of the home from the Great Room, you find yourself in the Kitchen.

The Kitchen features a large “L" shaped island with seating for 6. It also has plenty of counter space and a corner pantry. From the Kitchen you can make your way to the Breakfast Room which can also serve as Office Space. This room features built in shelving and large picture window. Moving back into the Kitchen you can make your way into the Mudroom.

The Mudroom gives you access to the side-loading Garage located at the rear of the home and features a large closet for all of your coats and winter gear. The Mudroom opens up into the Laundry Room. The Laundry Room gives you plenty of counterspace, a built-in hanging rack and a doggy sized shower for your furry friends.

The Kitchen also opens up into the Dining Room with its gorgeous coffered ceiling. The Dining Room has two large windows and opens onto the Grilling Porch at the rear of the home. Moving further down the small hallway, you will notice there is a large pantry with built in shelving.

This pantry was made for the mom who loves to have all of her ingredients on-hand. Moving further down the hall, you find Bedrooms 2 and 3. Bedroom 3 is the larger of the two bedrooms and features a walk-in closet and a private bathroom with a tiled shower.

Moving back to the front of the home, you can find the Master uite. The Master Bedroom features 4 large windows that open onto the wraparound porch. The Master Suite is separated from the walk-in closets by a hallway framed with barn doors. The hallway leads to the Master Bath. The Master Bath features a large tiled shower with a seat, a free-standing tub (a hallmark of the farmhouse style), and his and hers sinks.

The second-floor features Bedroom 4 with its own Sitting Room, walk in closet and connected bathroom. The loft balcony opens up to the Great Room below and gives much needed openness to this space. This plan is perfect for large families with pets!

Maybe you're looking for something in particular? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Come check out Nelson Design Group’s collection of over 1,800 house plans. And come check out the past blog posts in our house plan series:

• Farmhouse style
• Farmhouse House Plans
• Contemporary Modern style
• Contemporary Modern House Plans
• Rustic Style
• Rustic House plans
• Mountain and Cabins House Style
• Mountain and Cabin House Plans
• Examining House Styles: Pool Houses
• House Plan Spotlight: Pool Houses
• Examining House Styles: The Florida Collection
• House Plan Spotlight: The Florida Collection
• Outdoor Buildings: Garages and Pool Houses
• American Style House Plans
• Starter Homes Spotlight: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Here at Nelson Design Group, we are always ready to make your dream home a reality. If we don’t have the plan that is right for you, we’ll make one. We are experts in our field and have been doing this for over 30 years. Give us a call today and we will be glad to help.

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