Over the last year, the HPG-2200C-1 – The Avondale Court house plan has become one of our most popular home designs, and our customers have told us that there are several reasons for that..

Here are a few reasons why:

- Front exterior design is very attractive and unique

- Extremely large two car garage which is situated at the rear right of the home

- Optional and large bonus room that can be built out initially or later on as their family’s need arises

- Large front AND rear covered porches with great views out the breakfast area windows

- Highly-flexible floorplan layout that can evolve to better fit needs over time

- Walk in pantry

- Large laundry room with half bath

- Large master suite with oversized his and her walk in closets

And here is a happy customer testimonial from Ann in Cleveland, Mississippi:

“We were so happy to have found the HPG-2200C-1 house plan. It met all of our needs and has absolutely no wasted space. We have already started the building process and its coming along great. The team at House Plan Gallery was a pleasure to work with, and we can’t wait to move in!”

And remember, if you like this plan but would like several modifications made to the design, give us a call at 601-264-5028, and we’ll be glad to give you a 100% Free, No-Obligation modification quote…

Have a blessed day, and let us know how we can help,

Mark

Popularity: 5% [?]

Every single day, without fail, we speak with people who are looking for unique house floor plans to build their dream home, but they become frustrated that they cannot find a stock plan that fits ALL of their wants… as-is.

Many times, they end up discounting a group of plans, altogether, that would actually be quite easy to modify to their specs.

Its a common misconception, but ALL house plans can be modified.  In addition, many “modifications” can actually be done onsite, with your builder, however its always best to confirm this by talking to your home designer and tell them what you want changed…. specifically.

The best case scenario is that the builder could make the changes onsite, or if the modifications need to be implemented into the actual house plan documents, you’ll prefer to have the actual designer of the home plan complete the modifications.

House Plan Gallery is one of the few home designers in the entire United States who offer full modification services on ALL of our plans. In addition, we offer every single option on every plan including materials lists, CAD files, PDF files, Reproducibles, and much more.

If there’s a plan you like, but would like several modifications made to the design, give us a call at 601-264-5028, and we’ll be glad to give you a 100% Free, No-Obligation modification quote…

And if you have any specific questions, feel free to call us or send us an email, and we’ll get that answer to you directly..

Its a great time to build!

Mark

Popularity: 8% [?]

 This is an transcribed excerpt from an interview that I did with Home Ideas magazine a few months ago.  In the interview, we talked about flexible home living spaces and about what the current trends are in using more flexible floorplan layouts in residential home design.

What follows below are the questions from the reporter, and my responses…  I hope you like it, and please be sure to send me an email with any other questions you have…

Lets get started…

When you design a new home plan how important is it to design a floor plan that allows the homeowner to choose how they use the spaces provided?
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Its extremely important, and one of our primary considerations on every new plan we design.  Since our homes are typically in the 1400 to 2500 sq ft range, we want to make sure that the home can fit the needs of a growing or changing family, and to make sure to minimize wasted space in the floorplan. 

In addition, we want to make sure that the home fits the needs of, not only a family, but also retirees, empty nesters, or just single individuals in a way that makes sense for them…

In homes of this size, every square inch of the living space is needed and we’ve always tried to provide a very flexible floorplan layout where the usages of the spaces can evolve to meet the current and future needs of the homeowners…

How important is it for the house plan to be flexible enough that the homeowner can make changes as their life changes i.e children, empty-nest, office space, additional bedrooms (in-laws) etc.
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Very important.  Over time, every person’s life changes and every family’s needs change.  We realize that, and thats why, in our designs, we try to minimize the “labeling” of different living spaces to a particular usage, at least where possible. 

For example, in the past, we might have labeled a room off the great room as a “dining room”, and even though that room could certainly be used for that purpose, we’ve found that labeling that room in that manner is actually a turn off to many younger homebuyers..  Dining rooms are not important for many of our buyers, which are many times younger families with children, so they would much rather use the space as a kids playroom or a home office, for example.   

For whatever reason, when we label that room as a dining room on the floorplan presentation, many people seem to get that usage stuck in their mind and sometimes its difficult to get that specific “dining room” usage out of their mind so they might automatically discount the house plan and move on…

What we try to do, to better illustrate the versatility of the space, is to label that type of space as a “flex space” which then implies that the space’s usage can be whatever the homeowner wants it to be… and then they can also change its usage over time…

Is it pretty standard to include a bonus room in a house plan?
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We think it SHOULD be, however its not for many designers… We know that, especially if you have a smaller home design with a roof design that can easily allow for the inclusion of this space…typically over the garage area, we always try to include this feature because its a HUGE value-add for the homeowner.

  As I had noted earlier, the majority of our designs are in the 1400 to 2500 sq ft range so having a bonus room space as an option, is a tremendous selling point for a plan.

Its a great way to get alot more space in a home for very little additional cost…

If the homeowner’s budget is tight, then they might choose to just build the stair portion up to the bonus area, and that could just be used as a convenient way to access the attic area until a time when they actually wanted to build out the space.. 

At the point where they want to build out the space, all they would have to do is finish out the walls, ceiling, and floors of bonus room, which is a fairly simple and inexpensive process (esp when compared to doing an addition), and they could just continue using the existing stairs…

They then have, typically, between 200 and 500 additional square feet that they can use for a kids playroom, another bedroom/bath, a large home office or anything else…

Probably 90% of our home designs include bonus room spaces, whether included or optional, and we find that probably 70% of our customers go ahead and build out these spaces initially, because its not really that much more money to do in the beginning while your building the rest of the house…

Most popular flexible spaces are?
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Probably home offices are #1, then kids’ playrooms, then guest bedroom spaces, then dining rooms.

How challenging is it to design a small home that still offers flexibility?
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It can be very challenging.. Again, when you’re talking about plans in the 1400 to 2500 sq ft range, every square inch counts so you want to make sure that you first have all the essentials like a large great room and kitchen, an eating area off the kitchen, plenty of storage, large closets, comfortable bedrooms, a utility room and pantry, etc.

At the same time, you need to take into consideration all the “other” spaces that might be good options for identifying as a flexible space..

Some good examples of flexible spaces in a smaller home are bonus rooms, rooms off the great room, multiple large closets in a master bedroom where one might be sufficient, sitting room areas that might be better used as storage / home office / etc.

Its definately challenging to provide high levels of flexibility in a small footprint, but we think we’ve found the balance in our floorplans…

Outdoor Flexible Spaces….trend to including outdoor living spaces to house plans?
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For the size homes that we typically design, outdoor flexible spaces are not typically a primary consideration of our buyers.. We always include a comfortable outdoor living space which might be a large covered porch, and/or might include a large screened in porch or patio, and thats what our primary customer is looking for…

And thats basically, a simple, inexpensive design that provides them with everything they need to comfortably spend time outdoors with their family… 

I would recommend your customers check out our house plans: the HPG-20002-1 traditional ranch house plan, the HPG-2067-1 craftsman house plan, the HPG-1752-1 country style ranch house plan, and the HPG-2200C-1 french country house plan for examples of some of our most popular flexible home designs…

Popularity: 11% [?]

If you’re in the market for a new house plan, you’ve may have already become overwhelmed at the sheer volume of plans that are available today on both the internet and in house plan-related magazines and books.

Finding that perfect floor plan, in the perfect square footage range, matched with the perfect exterior Architectural style, can be very difficult.  Added to that may be the confusion over which type of house plan package do you actually need?

Don’t let the process overwhelm you.  Here are some tips:

- Always make sure that you purchase your house plans from a Certified Professional Building Designer (CPBD) who is a member of the American Institute of Building Design.

Designers who have met the strict educational requirements, have suitable work experience and training in the field, and have passed the CPBD examination are highly-skilled professionals that specialize in the design and development of residential home plans.  Don’t settle for less in choosing your plans.

All House Plan Gallery plans are designed, exclusively by one or more Certified Professional Building Designers.

- If you find a house plan that fits “most” of your needs but not all, its typically quicker, better, and cheaper to have the actual designer of the house plans make these modifications for you, where possible.

All House Plan Gallery home plans can be modified, in-house, to fit your exact needs, in a timely manner.  Give us a call at 601-264-5028 to get you free, no obligation quote.

- If you live in an area with unique building code requirements (i.e. hurricane/earthquake prone areas of the US) or specific state-licensed Architect/Engineer stamping requirements, then you may need to have the modifications done by a local professional.  In this case, you would need to purchase a stock house plan package that comes with a “modifiable” license.  The packages that come with this type license include:  CAD Files, Reproducible/Vellum, and where available, PDF Files.

All House Plan Gallery floor plans are available in CAD File, Reproducible, PDF File, 8 Set, 5 Set and 1 Set packages.  In addition, we are one of the few designers that offers materials lists on our entire collection of home designs!

In regard to the PDF File plan package, a small number of leading home designers are now offering this option to their customers as a standard option.

What is the PDF File plan package:

The “PDF File” plan package is your best value, and provides you with an electronic version of the plan’s construction documents.  This plan package provides many advantages over the Reproducible, 8 Set, 5 Set, 1 Set, and Review Set plan packages including:

-  Need more copies of the plan?  No problem!  Simply take the file to any local print shop and have them print out your copies in your desired size.  In addition, you will have the copies available for use….that same day, in most cases!

- Need different size copies for different people?  Easy!  You can print out an 8 1/2 x 11 set for your office, a 11 x 17 set for your local building officials, a 18 x 24 set for your builder, a 24 x 36 master set for yourself! Unlimited flexibility!

- Need to modify the plan locally?  House Plan Gallery has got you covered!  Simply take the PDF to a local building design professional and they will be able to update your drawings in the same way as if you provided them with a printed “Reproducible” set.

- Need your plans immediately?  No need to wait for your plans to ship.  In most cases, House Plan Gallery can email you the PDF file, usually the same day.

Keep in mind that many designers might only offer a sub-group of their plans in the electronic PDF File format, but the more innovative, Award-winning home design firms like House Plan Gallery, offer every single house plan in their collection with the PDF File plan package.

The PDF File house plan package is truly the “green” choice for buying house plans in this day and age.  No paper is used in its creation, no waste by-products are generated, and its innate ability to be electronically and quickly “mailed” to you is a huge benefit that you can take advantage of today.

Shop for house plans with the green PDF File plan package available at trusted and reputable online home designers like HousePlanGallery.com.

Popularity: 62% [?]

House Plan Gallery, a leading nationally-published designer of stock house plans, wins “Most Marketable Portfolio – Overall” award from leading homeplan publisher Hanley Wood.

Hattiesburg, MS – January 30, 2009 – House Plan Gallery is a leading, Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based home design firm that has been marketing its highly-popular collection of over 200 stock house plans for over ten years.

On January 14th, 2009 at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, House Plan Gallery was awarded the “Most Marketable Portfolio – Overall” award by Hanley Wood, one of the North America’s leading house plan publishers.

The award was given at the 2009 Hanley Wood “Top 25 Stock Home Plan Designers” banquet, and was House Plan Gallery’s first time to win this particular award, and sixth consecutive design award for the marketability of its plan collection and the company’s commitment to providing the highest levels of customer service.

“As our home plans collection has grown, in both size and diversity, we’ve been able to partner with the largest house plan publishers in the industry. Hanley Wood is, clearly, one of the leading publishers in the market, and we’re very privileged to be able to work closely with their team to provide the highest-quality, and most-popular house plans in the industry”, noted Mark Mathis, President of House Plan Gallery.

In 2007, House Plan Gallery won two awards – one for “Top 25 Home Designer” and one for “Most Marketable Portfolio – Builders”.  As a followup in 2008, the company’s designs won the same two awards for a second year in a row.  And in 2009, the company won the “Top 25 Home Designer” award, in addition to the highly-coveted “Most Marketable Portfolio – Overall” award, which recognizes the designer with the highest sales volume as it relates to the total number of house plans in their portfolio.

House Plan Gallery primarily designs floor plans from 600 to 3,000 square feet of living space, in a wide variety of Architectural styles including Southern, Country, Traditional, Craftsman, European and French Country.

The company is also one of the first, and only, home design firms to offer full video walkthroughs of their top home designs, which can be viewed on their website at  http://www.houseplangallery.com/index_files/house-plan-videos.php

“We understand that our clients place a high value on being able to see additional photos, videos, and/or additional details for a fully-constructed version of a house plan that they’re interested in,” noted Stephen Mathis, Vice President of House Plan Gallery.  “Thats why, where possible, we actually go out to constructed models of our homes and record a lengthy walkthrough video, in which we’ll also include running narration as we’re walking through.” 

“At the same time, we’re also developing alternate videos for many of our other home designs, where we walkthrough an entire floorplan and provide specific designer insight as to the layout of the home, floorplan features, and popular modification requests for that particular plan.  We’ve found that our customers really enjoy these types of videos, and it provides an additional level of understanding on the quality of design and livability that our clients can expect when purchasing a House Plan Gallery design,” continued Stephen.

To view a listing of best-selling floor plans, visit http://www.houseplangallery.com/index_files/best-selling-house-plans.php
About House Plan Gallery, Inc.:
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House Plan Gallery is an Award-winning designer of stock house plans that include all the most-popular home amenities and most-requested floor plan features. The company’s home designs have been purchased and built by thousands of satisfied consumers and home builders throughout North America.

To learn more, visit www.HousePlanGallery.com and search our large database of home plans in a wide variety of Architectural styles. Join their mailing list to receive special Subscriber-Only offers and to learn money-saving tips on building your first new home…

About Hanley Wood, LLC:
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Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media and information company serving housing and construction. Through four operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading publisher of home plans. Hanley Wood Business Media (Washington, D.C.), publishes 36 award-winning residential and commercial construction titles, including Builder, Remodeling, Architect, Concrete, Construction, and Residential Architect. Hanley Wood Business Media also offers the construction industry’s foremost collection of Web sites, including BUILDER ONLINE, REMODELING ONLINE, and ebuild, the comprehensive online guide to building products, as well as the largest collection of house plans online through eplans.com and Dream Home Source.

Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $250 million company owned by affiliates of JPMorgan Partners, LLC. CCMP Capital Advisors manages the Hanley Wood investment for JPMorgan Partners.

Popularity: 92% [?]