Pre-drawn house plans are those that are drawn by architects or home designers and then offered for sale, as opposed to those that are drawn for an individual, with input from the client. While this method can be a great idea, there are definite benefits to purchasing pre-designed house plans. Architects and home designers who do custom home designs also do many of their own designs, and it is these plans that are offered for sale.
They are experts at making plans that make the best use of available space and at designing a floor plan to optimize curb appeal.
Custom designing your home can take months to complete and is extremely expensive, often up to ten times the cost of pre-dawn or storage house plans. Using custom plans can delay the construction of your home by many weeks. There are dozens of home styles and literally thousands of floor plans to choose from, so you’re sure to find the home of your dreams.
If you find a house plan that you love, but want to make minor changes, most companies can have their designers do it for you, for an additional fee. It is also possible to reverse your plans, for example, if your breakfast nook faces west but the view from the north side of your lot is more attractive, you can reverse it. Many of the sites that sell house plans will allow you to see a reverse view of the houses you might want to build.
Another service provided by companies that design and sell house plans is the one that allows you to estimate the cost of building a particular house in your area of the country. The south is the least expensive area to build and the west has the highest cost.
There are dozens of house plan styles for you to explore and hundreds in every category, from A-Frame to Victorian, small to large, you can find the right home for your family. There are magazines, books, and websites galore that you can search
Beach houses are small one-story houses, raised above the ground and usually have an open floor plan, with lots of windows, to get a good view of the garden. These casitas make excellent vacation retreats and are also suitable as a starter home or as a retirement home for the empty nesters.
The bungalows are houses from 1 to 1 and ½ stories. They often incorporate features of the Craftsman-style house, such as natural building materials, exposed beam ends, and gable ends. They also sometimes borrow features from the country or Victorian style. A lower end two bedroom one bath can be built for $52,000 to 70,000. These cute houses are ideal for newlyweds or retirees
Large front porches, dormer windows, and a roof line parallel to the road are the main distinguishing features of country houses. French country and country house plans can also be included in this category. Open floor plans are not common in this type of home. A small farmhouse, 576 square feet, with one bathroom and two bedrooms, can be built for less than $60,000.00 and erected on site for less than $60,000.00. A three bedroom, 1 and ½ bath building will cost an average of around $84,000.00 to erect on your site. .
Craftsman-style homes are characterized by the use of natural materials such as wood or stone for exterior walls, and rock foundations that slope down to the ground. They may also include dormers, exposed beams, and overhanging eaves. A two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in the Craftsman style will cost between $52,000.00 and $62,000.00 to build a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a 2-car garage will cost around $96,000.00.
Another popular house plan style is the French country house. They are similar to the Country style in that they feature front porches, dormer windows, and roofs that run parallel to the road. A two bedroom two bath home with volume vaulted ceilings, walk in closets, covered back porch with pantry and two car garage can be built for approximately $112,000.00 to $133,000.00 depending on where you live.
Log houses are the perfect vacation home, as they evoke feelings of comfort and peace. These houses come in various styles and sizes. Wooden logs are the main construction material. A one story, two bedroom, one bath log home, with a covered front porch, will cost around $90,000.00 to build.
Victorian-style houses are generally two stories, with pitched roofs, dormer windows, octagonal turrets and, of course, the characteristic gingerbread trim. A two-story, three-bedroom, three-bathroom home of this style, with an open floor plan and an unfinished basement, can be built on your lot for around $100,000.00.
Luxury houses are huge houses with at least 3000.sq. ft. of living space, they are characterized by large master bedrooms en-suite, 1 walk-in closets, and additional rooms that can be used as a library, music room, media center, or home office, to name a few. A three bedroom, two and a half bath luxury home with a two car garage with storage, breakfast bar and covered front porch. It will cost you between $180,000.00 and $240,000.
There are dozens of other categories of home plan styles, such as A-Frames, Mission, Contemporary, Southwest, and Tudor, to name just a few. A web search for house plans yields a mind-boggling number of searchable sites. Most of these let you search for house plans, by style, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, with or without a garage, or by square footage. foot of living space.
Please note that the estimated price to build does not include the price of the plans, any changes you make to the plans, or building permit fees. Despite these fees,
Building your new house from pre-designed plans will be cheaper and probably quicker than having your house plans made to order.
