Designing a Mountain Home

Our collection of Mountain House Plans comes in all shapes, sizes and styles so you can build your dream home. If you're looking for a cozy vacation cabin or cottage or a year-round rustic mountain estate, you have come to the right place. Direct from the Designers offers one of the largest collections of mountain house plans, which are designed to take advantage of beautiful mountain and waterfront views.

Mountain homes are traditionally built from log or timber frames but stonework, board and batten and shake are all popular materials used in designing mountain homes to combine rustic and contemporary styles.

A well-designed mountain house plan offers views from all the main living areas in the home, particularly the great room, dining and kitchen areas where you'll find large windows and patio doors facing the beautiful mountain views. The kitchen cabinetry is typically made of knotty pine, birch, hickory or alder in warm, rich shades of brown, red, green and yellow. And if space allows, you'll appreciate having an island.

 

Inside look for high ceilings featuring rustic log and timber beams and millwork. No mountain home is complete without a fireplace, which is typically designed in a stone surround.

  Another common design element in a mountain house plan is a large porch, particularly covered porches to inspire homeowners to spend time outdoors. Decks and screened porches are also a very popular addition to mountain homes that are being built near on or near a lake.

Make use of house plans that have a terrace level for additional bedrooms or a media/entertainment room. Having this additional space is a great way to create a fun and relaxing space away from the main living area. It's especially practical if you have children or overnight guests.

  As you begin your search for the perfect mountain house plan, you'll want to look for a plan that has adequate space for sleeping, enough bathrooms and a well-designed kitchen area so you can cook, eat and gather. Since most designs focus heavily on the great room, you'll need to pay close attention to the room dimensions for the rest of the home. Your house plan doesn't need to be large, just well designed. Selecting a plan with plenty of outdoor living spaces and a basement can easily double the living space of your home.

Having a basement is a great way to keep the cost of building your home down and you'll benefit from the added living space. Even if you don't think you'll need it now, selecting a house plan with a basement option allows for future expansion.

Think Green: To maximize the energy efficiency of your new mountain home, all of the house plans in this collection come with an optional ENERGY STAR® Approved plan package. With this package you will receive detailed drawings, wall and roof insulation, glazing specification and information on heating and cooling calculations for your specific area plus information on getting your home built and certified to ENERGY STAR® standards.