Plan 790184GLV: 2,978 sq ft 5-Bedroom Modern Farmhouse with Main-Level Suite and Bonus Room

How I Read a Plan

In seven years of design-build practice in the Hudson Valley, I've watched too many large-family households buy a plan that read well in the marketing render and lived badly once the kids' homework, the mudroom traffic, and the grandparent visits all started competing for the same square footage. A plan review, the way I do it, is structural first: where the load-bearing walls land, where the plumbing chases stack, what the foundation choice does to the budget, and whether the daylighting actually works on the lot you have in mind.

Then I read the program: who sleeps where, who circulates past whom, where the long-haul laundry path runs, and whether the "bonus room" is a real room or an oversized hallway with a label. For more context on how I think about programmatic moves in farmhouse-style plans, see the modern farmhouse with split-bedroom layout review and the functional modern farmhouse with expandable bonus space walk-through — both adjacent plans with different program tradeoffs.

Floor Plans — The Layout Walk-Through

Main floor — 1,985 sq ft

Second floor — 993 sq ft + 208 sq ft bonus

The main level is built around an open communal core: great room, kitchen with a long island, and dining flowing into one another. The kitchen earns its keep with a walk-in pantry deep enough to function as a working scullery, plus a mudroom-laundry pass-through that hits the side-entry garage. A dedicated office at the front of the plan sits off the foyer, which is the right place for it if you want a quiet zone that doesn't compete with family circulation. The morning room extends past the dining and adds the kind of east-light reading nook that a Hudson Valley winter actually needs.

The primary suite anchors the main floor with a five-fixture bath (separate tub, walk-in shower, double vanity, water closet) and a walk-in closet sized for two adults. Upstairs, four secondary bedrooms share three of the home's full baths in a mix of ensuite and Jack-and-Jill configurations, with a second-floor laundry closet that handles upper-level loads. The 208-square-foot bonus room over the garage is the program's flex space — play room when the kids are young, fifth bedroom or den when they're older, study or guest suite at any point in between.

Exterior — Massing and Curb Read

The standard elevation reads as a contemporary American farmhouse: gabled rooflines, a full-width front porch on classical columns, horizontal lap siding as the dominant cladding, and a garage wing that pulls weight to the right of the composition. The symmetrical window placement on the main body keeps the front elevation reading calm; the rear elevation accepts more pitch variation to accommodate the morning room bump-out and the covered rear porch. From a renovation-designer's lens, the standard scheme is well-proportioned but conservative — the five facade variations the architect publishes are worth a serious look before you lock the siding spec.

Five Facade Alternates

The plan ships with five published facade variations. Reading them as a renovation designer, each one carries a different material budget and a different long-term maintenance cycle — the curb appeal decision is also a 25-year ownership decision.

Classic American Farmhouse

The most familiar of the five — white lap siding (think James Hardie ColorPlus Arctic White or Marvin trim white if you're going PVC), black louvered shutters on the upper windows, a stone veneer base that reads as foundation honesty, and a deep navy front door (Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154) for the focal point. Formal landscaping with mature hydrangeas, boxwood, and a herringbone paver drive completes the read. This is the long-tenure choice — quietly traditional, easy to resell, low fashion risk.

Dark Modern Farmhouse

Charcoal board-and-batten (LP SmartSide ExpertFinish in Cypress or Hardie Board-and-Batten in Iron Gray) paired with a standing-seam metal roof in matte black. Natural wood — clear-finished cedar or thermally modified ash — on the porch columns, front door, and garage door pulls the warmth back. Drought-tolerant ornamental grasses and architectural plants keep the maintenance honest. This is the most photographed of the five and the most committed; the dark cladding will fade differently than light siding and needs a 12-to-15-year repaint or refinish cycle.

Minimalist Contemporary

Smooth white stucco (true three-coat over lath, not EIFS) with a dark tile or composite roof and black-framed windows — Marvin Modern or Andersen E-Series Black are the spec-grade options. Integrated LED strip lighting along the gables is a love-it-or-fight-it choice; I'd verify the control system is a serious one (Lutron or Lutron RA2 Select) before signing the electrical plans. This facade is the highest design-fashion risk of the five; it reads incredible at handover and dates faster than the others.

Rustic Craftsman Lodge

Dark-stained horizontal wood (cedar or thermally modified pine) with heavy timber framing on the porch columns and entry, a metal accent roof over the porch, and exterior sconces in oil-rubbed bronze. The natural-material landscape — ferns, moss-covered fieldstone, evergreens — is right for a wooded Hudson Valley lot in the Beacon-to-Kingston corridor. The maintenance commitment is real: heavy timber wants annual inspection, and stained siding needs a refresh every 5 to 8 years.

Traditional Colonial Revival

Cream lap siding (BM Mascarpone AF-20 territory) with copper gutters and downspouts that will patina to a soft green over 10 to 15 years — the right detail if you can afford it; the wrong detail if you can't, since aluminum mimics never age the same way. Stained wood front and garage doors with classic pane detailing, a red brick walkway, and a cobblestone-pattern paver drive complete a quiet historicist read. This is the facade that holds resale value best in the Hudson, New Haven, and Providence markets.