HPG-1992C-1: The Richton Lane

We ordered our floor plans and received them quickly. Our contractor was able to get started and had everything he needed. Thank you for your help!

We had been trying to sell our small house in town for over a year. We had found 24 acres in the country, with a beautiful view from the top of the hill. We bought that property in September 2006, and my wife got pregnant in October. We weren't sure what we would do if the baby came before we sold the house, as we were already pretty cramped in 950 square feet with all of our stuff, and our 100 lb chocolate lab. In December, we got an offer on the house, and we closed in February. We had already been looking at house plans online and new houses in the area to get an idea of what we would want to build. After we accepted the offer on the house, we got serious about putting together the house of our dreams.

After weeks of poring over plans online, we selected HPG-1752, because we loved the layout and the classic, simple roof line of the house. We also liked the fact that, while the garage is at the front of the house, the door is on the side, so that it's not such a prominent feature that you often see on newer homes.

Some of the features that drew us to this plan were the open floor plan for the great room/dining room/kitchen, along with the master suite being separated from the other bedrooms, and we worked with our builder for several weeks after selecting this plan, to turn it into our dream home. After all the changes were made, the plan had grown to roughly 2000 square feet on the main floor, with a full unfinished basement underneath.

After we closed on the old house, we moved into the in-laws basement, excited about starting the new chapter in our lives! My Uncle Michael was the builder, so we were able to work very close with him throughout the build. We broke ground in March 2007, and the rain delayed us from making further progress for almost a month. After that, we were able to make quick progress, and Michael was able to tweak our changes on the fly. When it was all said and done, we moved into the house in August 2007, just five months after breaking ground. We had a big moving in party, and dozens of family and friends came to help us put the finishing touches on the house, hanging decorations, putting furniture together, and christening the place with our first cookout. Weve had several get-togethers here since, and the open floor plan allows everyone to be together in our huge great room, or the big, open, unfinished basement. The ceiling in the great room is even high enough to fly mini R/C helicopters around!

Our location is wonderful, on the highest hill in the area, with a great 360 degree view. The large yard is great for playing with my son and our dog. Over the last few years, weve been slowly making improvements to the place, getting the front yard reseeded in 2008 and improving our landscaping over the last 2 years. Weve planted an orchard behind the house, with apple, persimmon and pear trees, and hope to add many more trees over the next few years. We also planted a garden last year, built a deck on the rear of the house, and a swing-set in the back yard. Future plans are to continue to improve the landscaping with flower beds all around the front of the house, stepping stones from the front door to the driveway, finish the basement and add a patio to the walkout.

House Plan Gallery has been a great design team to work with and I would recommend their plans to anyone!

House Plan Gallery has been very professional and easy to work with. We would recommend them to anyone who desires a well thought through plan that is incredibly detailed.

Even across the country, these true professionals see that their clients are serviced in an extremely timely fashion and make themselves available for any questions that one may have.

We could not be more pleased!

Our daughter and son-in-law wanted our 2800 sq. ft. existing home and we wanted to down size. So we sold them our existing home and built our new home on an adjacent property. I did not want to go through the trouble of designing the new house so I went online and found your House Plan Gallery.com website.

We spent a couple of days looking at your different house plans and found the one we bought. It fit our needs to a tee with only a few modifications. The house is maintenance free with white vinyl siding and an aluminum face and vinyl soffits and vinyl double hung therma pane windows, and we love it!

Building our new home was a very interesting and learning process, from laying the dirt foundation to the finale. When the slab was being laid down they started at 5:30 AM and finished at dark that evening.

The manpower and machinery it took was just amazing. We have that on video its great. When they started the framing that was exciting to start seeing board by board your house going up, just being able to walk through the rooms with no walls just gave you that excited feeling for the next step.

We had a great framer we were able to make some changes as we went along. We raised the kitchen/ breakfast room ceiling from 9 to 10 and our master bedroom we raised the ceiling from 10 to 11 and the tray to a vaulted ceiling looks great. We also were able to use the space under the staircase as a closet that worked out great. We also changed the _ bath in the hallway by the garage to a very nice walk in pantry. Going from an original House Plan Gallery plan we were able to make these minor modifications that suited us and we are grateful.

One of the best parts for me was being able to bring my grandkids to see the house as it was being built and watching their excitement, they wanted to help in whatever they could do from cleaning up the area around the house to cleaning inside and they loved it. It made them feel they were a small part in building Grannys House.

They truly did work hard. Our home has enriched our lives for ourselves and our family. My brother built his new home 2 years ago which sits behind our property it has giving us both a closeness for family and its been great.

I have saved the best for last! My mother lived with us. We took care of her. She was 75 years old and had Alzheimers. We told her we were building her a new home she would get real excited when we would come by as they were building we came by often she never forgot this was her new home she would say as soon as we get there, thats my new house I would just laugh and say yes it is!

When we finally got to move in she was just in awe of everything and my brother got to spend a lot more time with her and share her excitement which only brought the family bond even closer.

My mother was a very shy person she only wanted to stay at home.We moved in June 2009 and she passed away December 2009. Our home gave her a sense of wellbeing and calmness, a place for her family to come and visit anytime day or night.

For us time was not a factor. She passed away in her room which she loved on December 17, 2009. Our home means so much more to me that we were able to give her that time of happiness.

We want to thank you for the house plan to build our home that has made it better for us and our family, especially my mom.