Detailed House Plan List

Newly listed on the Summer Solstice - Solstice 3!

This is a list of our pre-designed house plans. Click on the name of a each plan to see the front elevation, floor plans, description, and site plan or to purchase various drawings that show more. You may be fortunate enough to find that one of these custom designs created for our clients also works for you. If not, please consider Custom Design which is our specialty.

You may sort this list by Plan Name, the Total 1st + 2nd Floor Square Footage, the direction that the Entry Faces, or the % of South Glass by clicking the "SORT BY" button above the appropriate column. Please also read the important notes at the bottom of the page. If you want to search by more criteria, please go to our new Interactive House Plan Search page or search by Image of the front elevation. (These are the same links that you see on the left hand side of the page.)

To start looking at the smallest and therefore most environmentally-friendly plans, click on the "sort by" title above the column "Total 1st + 2nd Floor Square Footage"

South Elevations Now Included Added!!
Look under the misc. section of the drop down box to see the south elevation if it is other than the front of the house.

Notes

• Regardless of which side the front door is on, the south side has the most windows. 
• Look under the misc. section of the drop down box to see the south elevation if it is other than the front of the house.
• The % south glass is for the 1st and 2nd floors only. It is the s.f. of first and second floor south glass divided by the s.f. of the first and second floor area. As a rule, homes with smaller footprints, two stories, and more thermal mass have higher percentages of solar gain.  If you order custom changes, you can request that we try to increase passive solar performance beyond those requested by the original client by adding more south glass and more thermal mass.
• The number of bedrooms per floor is somewhat variable because of lofts, offices, etc.
• If your land slopes to allow for south windows, the south rooms will be sunny so consider bedrooms there where they are partially earth-bermed. (With our CAD files, your local design professional can add a basement and take off the second floor.)
• The width is for the front door side of the house and includes the garage if it is attached.
• Plan Complexity is summarized as: Simple (simple shapes and relatively inexpensive to construct, often truss-framed roof systems), Average (some unique design features, often stick-framed roofs), Complex (usually very unique in design style, often roofs are complex, stick-framed with angles, these would be the most expensive of our plans to construct) See construction cost info for addition information and check the range of construction costs in your area as they vary greatly through North America.
  
• Angled plans such as ones with the name "Atrium" in the title (also the Stillwater plan) are designed to sit at a 45 degree angle to the sun with two sides facing south - southeast and southwest. These plans should only be selected for lots where other plans will not fit as there is some energy compromise in both heating and cooling as they are not designed to be oriented within 15 degrees of true south - the preferred orientation for passive solar homes. They work best for cooler climates. It is critical that adjustments be made for magnetic deviation of north. In warmer climates they may require low solar heat gain glass. Often people still prefer angled plans due to the views and siting on their land.
  
• Often an attached garage can be easily detached and likewise a plan listed with detached garage may be able to easily have it attached by your builder.
• The predominant exterior material can often be easily changed by your builder or local design professional with our CAD files.
• You can reverse the floor plans along the north-south axis with little change in solar performance. (Front door could face east instead of west.) See our shopping cart for the price for Mirror Reversing.
• If your drive comes from the northwest, look at plans that have the front door facing north or west.
• Sometimes the front door can be moved to another side of the house.
• For other changes, consider purchasing our CAD files to have the changes made by your local design professional.
• Our pre-designed plans were created for one particular client with unique requests based on their family, location, construction methods, climate, and budget although they were all concerned about passive solar to some degree. Pay attention to your own needs and listen to your local builder, architect, structural engineer, energy professionals, etc. when you begin with our plans as they may recommend a change that is in your best interest. The Custom Energy Recommendations provided by Sun Plans will recommend energy-related elements best suited to your location for a particular plan. If you are not comfortable with the limits of adapting a pre-designed plan, then consider custom design by Sun Plans or others.
• If you would like to see which plans are already designed for ICF, please go to this web page: First floor ICF walls (Most of our plans with daylight basements already have the basement designed for ICF as the first choice.)