What you think of these Great room design?

It's big enough.(#qwerbait)

The reason why they spread out is because the guys go one way (maybe to the family room to watch a game), the women go another way (maybe to the dining room to talk), the elderly stay in the kitchen/nook (near the food) or they go to the living room (falling asleep on the bigger sofas).

The kids end up either in the backyard (where more men may be) or in the den (where the video  games are).
 
The Greatroom at the cal Pac projects are as good one could get if the buyers are limited in their budget. Are those the Mercedes of Great rooms? Of course not. They are the Honda and Toyota of Great rooms. Functional, dependable and reliable compared to other economy models.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
It's big enough.(#qwerbait)

The reason why they spread out is because the guys go one way (maybe to the family room to watch a game), the women go another way (maybe to the dining room to talk), the elderly stay in the kitchen/nook (near the food) or they go to the living room (falling asleep on the bigger sofas).

The kids end up either in the backyard (where more men may be) or in the den (where the video  games are).
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That's a lot of people at one time! You need a bonus room too!

And wait till you have grandkids! You'll need more rooms for them to take naps in while everyone else is having fun.

 
@Ready:

Actually, it's not even the number of people. I find at parties that groups prefer separation. Even with just 2 or 3 extra families, that's 3-4 men in the family room watching the Lakers lose, 3-4 women in the dining room comparing purses, 2-3 grandparents in the living room watching one of the grandkids play piano, etc etc.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
2-3 grandparents in the living room watching one of the grandkids play piano, etc etc.
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piano? what a sellout :)

this is what my kid plays with

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The great room at our new place is larger than my current entire first floor. And our new kitchen island is double the size. So I envision at a party the big sliders open, the guys outside by the bar in the California room, some of us cooking, some people sitting in the living area and some sitting around my dining table. Small separate groups but somehow one dinner party in one big space. Kids upstairs in the loft, their noise contained upstairs.

Right now I have most people cramped into our family room and around the enclosed kitchen - it feels tight. The guys are completely separated outside and the formal living/ dining sits empty.

To each their own but the large great room is more functional for us.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
@Ready:

Actually, it's not even the number of people. I find at parties that groups prefer separation. Even with just 2 or 3 extra families, that's 3-4 men in the family room watching the Lakers lose, 3-4 women in the dining room comparing purses, 2-3 grandparents in the living room watching one of the grandkids play piano, etc etc.
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+1
Agree. At parties, I also find groups like a bit of separation. But even when it is just the family home on a daily basis, husband, wife, kids often like to use separate living areas. Main thing IMO is that the kitchen feels open to living areas.
 
irvinehusky said:
Going back to the original question, those Great Room layouts look normal and o.k. to me.  My sliding doors are perpendicular to the wall that has the area for the TV.  And, we have the patio covers outside the sliding doors so no direct sunlight to interfere with the TV.

We don't use the living/dining area much either but it's good for storage.  :p  When our kids' friends come over, it nice to be able to put them there away from us.  As  the kids are getting older, I see them doing things on the dining table more and more.  When we entertain friends, we have our large dining there so it's so convenient to have the extra dining/living area.  Even if the space isn't used all the time, it's so nice that it's there when you need it.

Also, when I am yelling at the kids, they tend to like to move away to the dining/living area.  :p  So, good for that too.
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These lay outs are from Jade court and Luna by cal pacific homes. They look ok to me. If someone on this board has visited these in person, they could give you much better opinion. But for the price looks better, I rckon these are selling for 630k+
 
If I can afford, I like living room and great-room concept or it looks like one NY apartment room. End of the day each home has its buyer so totally personal preference and budget.
 
Affluent homebuyers often want rooms that they don't need or use. For instance Wine cellar, basement, home theatre, third car stalls or the 4th car stall/ workshop, fitness room, craft center, gift wrap/ gift hideaway vault, attic storage, in door basketball court and etc. Do they really need them? Not really. Those rooms are status symbol. If you don't quite fall into the affluent group but you have adequate disposal income and want an attainable status house that is a step up from the typical basic great room plan then the formal living/ dining/ family and/or 3CWG are move up features. These features in today's value=$1mil house. How frequent do we need the formal spaces or that 3rd car garage? Not really but they are nice to have.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
Affluent homebuyers often want rooms that they don't need or use. For instance Wine cellar, basement, home theatre, third car stalls or the 4th car stall/ workshop, fitness room, craft center, gift wrap/ gift hideaway vault, attic storage, in door basketball court and etc. Do they really need them? Not really. Those rooms are status symbol. If you don't quite fall into the affluent group but you have adequate disposal income and want an attainable status house that is a step up from the typical basic great room plan then the formal living/ dining/ family and/or 3CWG are move up features. These features in today's value=$1mil house. How frequent do we need the formal spaces or that 3rd car garage? Not really but they are nice to have.
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True, you can get all that and more in most places in the United States for $1 mill but in Irvine that gets you a small match box of a house with the basics and no yard. It's not necessarily about the affluence of the person compared to where they live. NYC it buys you a tiny studio apartment.

If you want all that in irvine you better be putting down at least $1.8mil plus for it. And so most of us settle for as much functional space as possible and use the community amenities :)
 
The 3CWG is a must... when your kids get older where do they park their car? Not in the motorcourt! :)

We went to a gathering at one of our relatives house, they have the full suite of downstairs spaces and every space got used. It's nice not to have everyone crammed in one Great Room.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
The 3CWG is a must... when your kids get older where do they park their car? Not in the motorcourt! :)

We went to a gathering at one of our relatives house, they have the full suite of downstairs spaces and every space got used. It's nice not to have everyone crammed in one Great Room.
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When the kids get older I'll have to move to ghetto corona to get all the extra space.

And kids aren't getting a car until they go off to college! :)
 
Paris said:
And kids aren't getting a car until they go off to college! :)
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My kids are staying home while they go to college.

I don't spend money on having a full driveway just so that I can pay for their dorm/apartment too. :)
 
I don't know if the UCs and Cal States around here do or not but don't some colleges require that the student stay on an on-campus dorm during the first year?

irvinehomeowner said:
My kids are staying home while they go to college.

I don't spend money on having a full driveway just so that I can pay for their dorm/apartment too. :)
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They can walk to IVC and no need for a car

irvinehomeowner said:
Paris said:
And kids aren't getting a car until they go off to college! :)
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My kids are staying home while they go to college.

I don't spend money on having a full driveway just so that I can pay for their dorm/apartment too. :)
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Both UC and Cal States are flexible to accommodate commuters where the majority of the students population are from in state. The private schools take more out of state students and have a mandatory living on campus policy.
irvinehusky UC and cal states [quote author=irvinehusky said:
I don't know if the UCs and Cal States around here do or not but don't some colleges require that the student stay on an on-campus dorm during the first year?

irvinehomeowner said:
My kids are staying home while they go to college.

I don't spend money on having a full driveway just so that I can pay for their dorm/apartment too. :)
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link=topic=12389.msg247209#msg247209 date=1415307323]
I don't know if the UCs and Cal States around here do or not but don't some colleges require that the student stay on an on-campus dorm during the first year?

irvinehomeowner said:
My kids are staying home while they go to college.

I don't spend money on having a full driveway just so that I can pay for their dorm/apartment too. :)
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We all love the formal spaces, the traditional family room and 3CWG. Because of budget constraints we learn to live with Irvine's version of shot gun houses.
 
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