Rome is where the heart is...

Wow, our SR wrote back and they're backing off on the Pisa Torre.  We are so excited because there was no way that house would have worked.

Through a couple weeks of negotiations we finally settled on a Rome, Elevation N.  One thing I didn't realize was the different elevations allow or do not allow for more room in the upper bedroom/loft area.  Some elevations will give you two extra feet in the two bedrooms and some in the loft.  There's an elevation that allows for half the loft to be expanded.

Although the most expensive option, Elevation N gives two extra feet in the loft area and one extra foot in one of the bedrooms.  The extra foot will come in handy because we're going for the extra bathroom upstairs.  The extra bathroom allows for the conversion of the master sitting room into a nice large closest.  Now we'll have a nice his and hers closet.  There was really no need for a sitting room in the master. Another nice feature of Elevation N is you get a front porch as well.  Truly a beautiful elevation.

Elevation N

We heard from another blogger that it might be possible to convert the living and dining into an extra bedroom so we definitely looked into that.  It really is a nice option if you don't really need a formal dining or living room especially if you have a morning room.  The first floor bedroom option makes for a nice in-law suite or for those guests who are less mobile.

First Floor Bedroom Option

Another benefit is you actually get a nice sized pantry.  They're unfortunately not able to build this version in my community because they pre-file their floor plans with the county and adding this one would add cost and time.  The plans are actually available in Southern Maryland so maybe someday they'll make it down to Virginia.

Now we just need to pick our lot.  One of the biggest decisions we had to make when it came to lot selection depended on our preference for a walk-out basement or walk-up basement.  In order to have a walk-out basement you need a slight slope in the land so you'll enter the front of the house at elevation level.  Having the basement partially exposed in the back allows the water to drain better as well.  If you have a buried basement you'll need a sump pump to insure the water doesn't collect and seep through your basement walls.  For us it was a no brainer having a walk-out basement.

Another nice thing about a walk-out basement is it allows for the morning room to be elevated.  That affect is really nice when you're looking out of the morning room windows to see everything down below.  We can also add a nice deck exiting the morning room which provides shade for the basement exit.  From the basement exit you can add a nice covered patio.

Notice the slight slope in the front allowing for a walk-out basement.