We have done our best to make sure dimensions and areas listed for each plan are accurate. The rules and conventions for the square feet of a house vary by location and industry. For instance, your zoning setbacks (how close your house can be to the property line) might be measured to the foundation, to the siding, or to the edge of the roof. Your city or town's Zoning Ordinance will have that. (And - in most places a smile will get you a lot of help from the person at the desk.)

We're listing the conventions we've used here to help you evaluate our plans. If your lot is tight, please contact us before purchasing - we'll double check the design you've chosen. We strongly advise that you leave a bit of wiggle room.

We also advise that you have a Quality Builder on your team before you purchase a License to Build, especially if you will be close to your setback, height or area limits.

Living Area

Living Area includes spaces that are enclosed and heated or air conditioned. We count stairs, but not other spaces that are open to below, regardless of height. Note that some zoning rules require you to count that double height foyer twice. Living Area also does not include "future" spaces, garages, porches or decks.

Bedrooms & Bathrooms

We only count it as a bedroom if we've labeled it a "bedroom" on our plans. Spaces that we've labeled "office" or "den" may be counted as a bedroom by your local jurisdiction for calculating your taxes, for septic requirements or for zoning or conservation limits. We count a bathroom with a tub as a full bath, a bathroom with a shower as 3/4 of a bath, and a powder room with just a sink and toilet as 1/2 of a bath.

Garage

We count only the car bays shown on the plans. Many plans can easily have a garage in the basement, on the right lot. If we didn't show it, we didn't count it.

Width & Depth

The width and depth dimensions are at the foundation of the house and to the outside of the platform of any decks or porches. If your town measures the setbacks to the siding or the roof, you will need to add for that. We can help you with that during a Guided Tour or show the dimensions according to your town rules on your Review Set.

Height

The heights listed are to the peak of the roof measured from 1'-9" below the finished first floor (to allow for floor structure and clearance of framing from grade). Note that for designs showing walk-out basements, we have not added to the height figure for that. Depending on your town's rules, you may need to add as much as 7'-6". The difference in town or city regulations for height are almost endless. If you have the regulations and definitions available, and tell us how much your lot slopes, we can help you with that during a Guided Tour or show the dimensions according to your town rules on your Review Set.

Area Summary

A common mistake made by homeowners is to simply multiply the Living Area by whatever somebody said is the going rate in their area. Well, if the design has "future" area, it's not free. Neither is the porch, deck, garage, etc. We've included this section to aid you and your Builder in doing a preliminary budget with much better information.

• Living Area - calculated the same as above - to the outside face of stud, includes stairs.
• Unfinished - Future - space that's accessible enough and with sufficient headroom and floor area that you can realistically finish it in the future.  The framing will include floor joists sized for finished space.  We did not include unfinished basement space in this.  If it's below grade and not finished, it's "basement".
• Open to Below - These are those spaces where you can actually look down from the second floor into the first floor.  We didn't count the upper portion of every Cathedral Ceiling - this one is a bit of a judgment call.  You can usually tell by looking at the plans on this site - or write to us and ask if you're not sure.
• Garages - We've only counted Garage space on the first floor.  If it's in the Basement, we counted it as Basement.
• Basement - If it's unfinished and it's below grade, it's Basement.
• Porches - If it has a floor and a roof, it's a porch.  We don't count small roofs on brackets as Porch if there isn't any floor surface beyond some exterior steps.
• Decks - If it has framing and decking but no roof, it's a deck.  We have not counted stone patios in any of these areas.