Why You'll Love a House Plan with Simple Style

by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for Direct from the Designers™

When you shop for a new home to build, you probably come prepared with a list of criteria including the square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and any specific features you want. Then you peruse a variety of homes that offer what you’re looking for, and you find they come in all sorts of shapes and styles. Which do you opt for? Some people like complicated structures with detailed façades, while others prefer a simpler aesthetic. If you’re still on the fence, here are the practical reasons why so many love simple house plans.

Less Cost to Build

Even small homes can be surprisingly expensive to build. Luxury finishes are one thing, but many shoppers overlook a more basic factor: the shape of the house. A complicated footprint means an expensive foundation, and that directly affects the cost of the roof over it. Complex rooflines—those that include multiple roof shapes and pitches—draw fans due to their visual interest, but they also significantly increase labor. And depending on the specific shapes and their arrangement, the surface area of the roof, and thus the materials needed to cover it, can rise beyond what’s expected for any square footage.

For those concerned with budget, simple house and roof shapes are the way to go because they give you the most bang for your buck. There are plenty of ways to finish the home and its landscaping if you’re concerned with lackluster aesthetics. Shop our Rectangular House Plan Collection for super affordable house plans, and notice just how varied their styles really are!

Better Energy-Efficiency

It’s easy to see how the shape of a house affects its cost to build, but it can also affect costs down the road. Many simple shapes are more energy-efficient because they aim to maximize volume to surface area—think square vs. long rectangle footprints, the same square footage stacked in two stories vs. spread out across one. Minimizing surface area means the house has less interaction with the elements for its size, and that can save a lot on heating and cooling.

Of course, it’s also easier to insulate well when you don’t have too many nooks and crannies to worry about! Thermal leaks can happen anywhere, but you can make it easier on yourself and your contractors by choosing a home that makes outfitting for energy efficiency easy. Check out our Affordable House Plan Collection for a variety of sensible homes, a number of which include ENERGY STAR® package options that explicitly detail how to build the house for your climate!

Great Use of Space

Space is space—or is it? Assuming they have plenty of lot to work with, some people like to make their homes sprawl, so certain rooms are connected only by a hallway for extra privacy or window opportunities. But if you choose to condense square footage into a neater package, you can do more with less! That translates into lower costs and great efficiency as we’ve already mentioned, and it goes even further by opening up more locations to build. Tight lots are becoming more common, and lot coverage rules can limit the amount of house you can build. Try our Narrow Lot House Plan Collection if you want to invest in a little slice of your dream location, or our Sloping Lot House Plan Collection if you want to tuck a garage and/or more living space under the main house to condense the foundation and reduce exterior walls. There’s more than one way to make great use of space!

No matter your needs, we’re here to help! Please don’t hesitate to contact our house plan specialists if you have any questions or need assistance finding the home that meets your criteria.