Hi Everyone. It's been a while and not sure if anyone on here will even see this post but thought I would provide a quick update after almost 2 years. We finally moved in a couple of months ago and will host our first Christmas. We never did find a builder, and I did have some legal issues to sort out, including the previous building breaking in and taking anything but we had someone project manage different stages to the point that it is livable. The house is no where near finished and it has been a difficult journey but we are there. Next year I hope to find a builder to take on Stage 2 so that I can say that after 10 years, it is finally finished. A big thank you to Two's Company who got me started. If it wasn't for your advise and assistance I really don't know what would have happened.

Hello houzz helpers! We have a rough new plan! The kitchen, living, dining are on the north and bedrooms are on the south. We are planning to push the house to the rear (south) of our 1 acre block and have a long driveway. We can look out onto our beautiful (in time) front yard and watch the kids run wild! We plan on using landscaping along a front fence for privacy. I am concerned with the size, in regards to being way over budget, but I am hoping the simple shape of the roof will help to offset some of that. I was thinking I would get the plan as close to what we want/need then get quotes and scale back if we need to, which will involve another post on houzz ofcourse! We would love your honest feedback and I am happy to answer any questions...

To quote Missy Elliott, I'd flip it and reverse it! ; D Contrary to some others, it sounds like a great block, with a north-facing rear, and 14m width is great to work with! I also live in Melbourne and my previous home's rear faced north. Although small (only 4m wide), it was such a beautiful home to live in as our living area at the rear had trifold doors and was flooded in sunlight through Winter (lovely and we rarely used the heater during th day) and in summer was bright but not blinding or too hot at any time of the day. Conversely the bedrooms at the front were lovely, dark and cool through the year. So when looking to buy our current home, a north-facing rear was literally top of my priority list, my family thought I was mad! So ensure you use the opportunity for a lovely, light-filled home to live in and to save on heating and cooling. I would put your living at the rear where the current bedrooms are, with windows/doors right along the northern (back wall), kitchen where the rear bathroom etc are, and dining further along the eastern wall adjacent to that. I also don't like the glare of a western dining room late in the day as the sun is low in the sky when you're typically having dinner. Furthermore, it's lovely having the (eastern) morning sun streaming in a kitchen and where you're having your breakfast in the morning! Alternatively, stretch your Kitchen, Dining, Living across the full width of the house at the back, I think it's almost 11m wide, which is a comfortable width to arrange that, with windows across the back, and trees at any side windows on the west. Finally, I'd flip the garage and master bedroom, so your bedroom isn't on the hottest side of the house going into the evening. Put rooms you spend a brief amount of time in on that side - bathrooms, laundry etc. As for the alfresco area that seems so popular on new builds, I'm not a fan of them in Melbourne at all. They merely block the valuable sunlight from entering, brightening and warming the house, and I'm sure they don't get used that much anyway. If you need the covered shelter, then it's likely too cold to sit outside anyway, you're better off to have it uncovered, or have a retractable awning or umbrellas for nice days when you would sit outside. And having this on your western side will only make the dining area shaded until the very late (& hot) time of day when you'll be blinded by the setting sun (unless you have neighbours on that side which shadows the afternoon light anyway). As for mould etc, just ensure you have good ventilation, good sub-floor drainage etc, I don't imagine it should be a problem usually. So glad you're considering aspect though, I see so many project homes that don't take the aspect of the home into consideration at all. With some moving around, you could have a lovely home ahead of you.

My first question would be where are you located? Cairns will have very different requirements to Tasmania, due to their different climates. While I agree with other posters, that flipping the plan will give you more light, the living areas will be similar in any case. Receiving N, E & S light. Flipping the plan will give additional bedrooms northern light, instead of the garage. But the main point is trying to get northern light into your living areas, & direct sunlight into those living areas in winter. This is difficult on such a narrow block. So my next question is what is to the north of your block? A neighbouring property I presume? If this is a two story property it will badly shade your living areas, no matter what you do. So what's the best way to get northern light (other than going up & building a two storey home, to get northern light into the top storey)? It's to build as close to the southern boundary as possible, so your northern windows are as far from your boundary as possible. This will reduce overshadowing from your northern neighbour. It looks like you have a zero lot boundary for your garage. How far is it from your meals area to the boundary, & how far is it from the kitchen to the boundary? If the plan is flipped, how far will it be from the family room to the boundary? What I'm getting at is, which orientation is less likely to have overshadowing of your northern neighbour of your living areas?