Choosing a Floor Plan | Inside Kingdom & Co. Podcast

In this episode of the Inside Kingdom & Co. podcast, Lincoln Rogers and the Kingdom & Co. team discuss the fundamentals of choosing a floor plan that works with your lot orientation, natural lighting, and lifestyle priorities, from view studies and H-plan layouts to integrating key spaces like gyms and home offices.

Zion: Okay, today we’re talking about new builds and choosing the right floor plan that’s going to be the best for your lifestyle.

So I usually start with what are your views?

What is the orientation of that lot?

And are you gonna be orienting it toward mountains or towards city views?

When we started doing our spec home, we did a view study.

That’s like step number one is what are we working with and how are we going to optimize that asset that you cannot alter?

You know, that’s, you know, step number one.

Lincoln: Yeah, well the view study was interesting because when we went out to the lot, we actually got ladders, we were able, we brought our team out there, Austin was out there.

We even, what did he do?

He somehow scanned our lot?

Zion: Yeah, we did the 3D scan of the view and then we also went down into the lower tiers of the community.

And you can do this either with a, we call it a story poll.

Even before you buy the lot, you should story poll and figure out what the next tier below you is how high their restrictions are and where that’s going to land as far as how that’s going to impact your view.

Lincoln: Yeah, because if you’re going to buy a million dollar lot or more, and we mean a lot more, and you don’t realize that the person below you is going to build a two story home and take away your strip view, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

So those little things matter.

And then understanding which way you could cockey your lot or your angles to make sure that you have the views that you want.

And that’s super important.

And then go a step further focusing on not only that, but if there’s mountain surroundings or landscaping surroundings that you want to capture, and then go even further than that.

And it’s natural lighting, you know, there’s a fate that you want the sun to come up from, you know, if you have a lot that’s facing, let’s say West, you know, the early morning East, the sun is nice and beautiful and warm.

I mean, that’s what I have in my house.

And I love that.

So focusing on the surroundings, focusing on the lighting, focusing on those key things will really elevate your design and your foreplay.

Zion: And we’ve seen houses, you know, all the time where those types of considerations aren’t made and it’s so obvious when it’s too late.

Lincoln: When it’s too late and it’s too expensive to change.

Zion: And it’s too expensive to change.

You know, those are so important to figure out early on.

And so another thing we see a lot of in the custom home market is generally that plan is what some version or variant of what we call an H plan.

If you were to look down at it, it looks like an H and you have your main living areas in the center with that main focal point looking out towards the, to the primary views.

And then your bedrooms or offices are wrapping around that main congregating space.

And sometimes it’s a version of a C, a C plan, or, but a lot of times it’s some version of an H.

And then you can play with the angles based on also tiering the lot and all sorts of things like that to optimize those spaces as well.

Lincoln: I’ve seen a lot of architects and some interior designers pushing to bring back the separation of different rooms and things like that, separate the spaces.

So what’s your opinion on that?

Zion: I’m not a fan.

I get the idea of, you know, we have kind of enmeshed our living situation with all, and it’s hard to get those areas isolated, but I still think you can do it if you just have some foresight.

I don’t like the idea of, you know, having a kitchen separated from your main living area.

And I’m just, I’m not buying it.

Lincoln: I agree with that.

And I think that it’s important.

You know, I know going back to our spec home, I love the way that we were able to think of, okay, what’s one of the most important rooms in the house?

And it’s obviously the kitchen, living room.

We want that to open up to the strip views.

And we also talked about the gym.

Well, gym’s very important to a lot of people nowadays, and a home gym’s important.

So we’re like, okay, well, we want to have, how cool would it be to have strip views and mountain views within the gym so we can enjoy that space?

And they’re like, well, what about the office?

People in the offices a lot, home offices.

We’re like, let’s have a beautiful mountain view and strip view within the office.

And so actually analyzing every room and which rooms are most important, and then go back to the primary bedroom, right?

Like we wanted that to open up to the strip so they have a beautiful view of the mountains in the strip.

So it’s kind of cool to be able to pinpoint the priorities of what matters most to people and then design around that as well.

Once you get those layers of making sure your angles are right and your lighting’s right and things like that.

Zion: The last thing you want to do is land a closet or a utility closet right where your strip views are.

Some people, they do it.

They’re just not thinking of it that way.

And they’re just saying, oh, that’s a floor plan I like.

And then you realize, oh, wait, I just totally botched my view.

Lincoln: Yeah, exactly.

One of the things I’m really excited for on our spec home, go back to that, because this is something in my mind, is I’m really excited to show off the intimate movie theater.

Curtains open up and then the whole strip view as well.

So it’s another portion that we were able to add to that.

So just something different and something fun.

And I think that at the end of the day, it has to make sense when it comes to flow as well.

I hate being in homes that don’t flow well.

Zion: We almost took a listing.

It was Japanese architecture.

And I guess within Japanese architecture, all of the rooms are very segregated.

It’s very chopped up.

And each room is a dedicated space for one activity.

I remember telling the client, I was like, I can’t sell this, not for what your comps are.

Nobody’s gonna buy this.

It was literally just so chopped up and each room was very small.

And the surfaces were pretty cool.

I love that Japanese, the design of it, but the actual flow of it was very, very hard to work with.

Sorry for all the Japanese people out there.

Lincoln: No, there’s a $7 million home being built close to where I’m at right now.

And they’re struggling right now because they didn’t hire an architect or an interior designer.

So it’s an absolute disaster.

But when you walk into the home and you’re like, where are we going?

It’s all hallways.

And then there’s an angle and the living room’s on an angle and the kitchen’s on an angle.

Zion: Low ceilings.

Lincoln: Low ceilings.

And you’re like, what is happening here?

So you see things where people don’t clearly think it through and they just want big and better and greater.

Zion: And more.

Lincoln: And more.

And you’re like, no man, slow it down.

Get a good designer, get an architect.

And that’s where Kingdom & Co comes into play.

We’re really good at prioritizing the area where things are facing and understanding the importance of where to place the rooms and the lighting and the natural lighting from the sun.

We even add skylights at some places just to bring in more of that beautiful lighting.

But every detail matters and that’s what we wanna focus on.

Zion: And if it’s well-designed, you don’t need to build as much square footage.

Lincoln: No.

Zion: It’s unnecessary.

Lincoln: Yes.

Zion: If it’s well-designed.

Lincoln: There are well-designed homes that feel so much more spacious.

Zion: Yes.

Lincoln: And they’re way less square footage.

It’s amazing.

Zion: Less to clean, less to heat, less to cool.

Lincoln: And less to build.