We often get asked about whether we can make some of our popular homes smaller. In 2013, one of our Design Consultants, Wendy Loch, helped a family reduce the size of our San Jacinto model. The family liked the design of the model but did not need the full 2,495 square feet that come standard in the plan. A few years later, the same family decided to move to a larger plot of land in Montgomery County. They loved their first Tilson home and had a great experience. Once again, they put their faith in Wendy to design their dream home. After living in their home for a few years and viewing changes we had made to the model, they chose to build the same home again with a few changes.

Reducing the Square Footage and Personalizing the Layout

We started by eliminating the spaces they didn't need. First, they removed the fourth bedroom. They also removed the Flex Room and shifted the utility and powder rooms into that space. Another change made was the downsizing of the master bedroom. To do this, we swapped the bedroom and the bathroom. This created a buffer between the master bedroom and bedroom three. This also resulted in the master closet being split into his and hers closets. Several other changes were made throughout the home. like the addition of a fireplace and the alterations made in the kitchen. The eating bar was made straight instead of the standard curved bar and the underside was finished with stone. The stone arch in the kitchen is also slightly different than the style in the model. They chose to incorporate the cedar box beam ceilings in the family room and dining room. The features had been added to the standard San Jacinto plan shortly after the construction of their first home in 2013.

Preserving the Exterior Style

The family loved the look of our San Jacinto model in Spring and wanted their home to have a similar appearance from the outside. When we change room sizes and layouts, we have to consider how those changes impact the exterior look of the home. For this home, we maintained the general arrangement of the rooms on the front of the home. Since the rooms themselves were smaller, we also needed to make the windows smaller. If we had used the double-windows that are standard on the San Jacinto, the windows would have been more prominent than the stone. The customers also changed the porch columns to have stone bases.

Adding New Features

The family included an attached 2-car garage on the left side of the home. On the rear of the home, the customers extended the existing covered porch to wrap around the back of the home. The extended porch provides a much larger space to relax and entertain while allowing the family a way to access the garage from the outside. One unique feature of the garage is a single overhead garage door on the rear side. This makes it easier to access tools and lawn equipment without the hassle of moving everything around inside.

Home Sweet Home

The final home is 2,090 square feet of livable space, a 400 square foot decrease from the standard San Jacinto plan. Downsizing one of our larger designs is not necessarily the most cost-effective approach to building a smaller home. But, it is something we can do. Wendy did a fantastic job maintaining the look and feel of the original home in a smaller package. This smaller home fits the family's needs without making drastic changes to the plan they originally fell in love with. Watch our Facebook Live chat with Wendy in our Spring Design Center for more details on creating this unique home.