Hi "theomoors" It is a great opportunity to live on forty acres just North of Melbourne, I congratulate you on your purchase, I can understand why you are looking for all possible ideas. You have a very "ample plan" with lots of living areas which I'm sure you intend to make great use on long winter days. There might be a way of planning the same areas and make some of the spaces slightly more efficient and still get a good result, and reduce your running costs a little especially heating in winter. You might like to consider placing your furniture on the drawing, this will give you a greater understanding of space and circulation and where you might need to reduce or enlarge to obtain a better result. Also you might like to look at your L shape Plan design, it does not really take advantage of the North orientation and the views, (especially for the rumpus and upstairs areas) its seems a pity considering that you have 40 acres of land and not take full advantage of Orientation. If you could manage to re-look at your design and try a liner design, then your rumpus room and the rest of the living areas would take advantage of both orientation and views. (I think Evirotecture has mentioned this design issue) Also the massing of the whole structure seem to have more of a "large corner suburban block feel" to it, rather than a "a rural feel". You might like to look at something with more balanced proportions, both in plan and elevation might give a greater feeling of restfulness to the design. At the moment the design seem to remind me more to a outer Melbourne northern suburbs rather than rural design. Looking at some of the existing rural houses on any Google search might give you a point of reference. As you have a northern entry with some steps, you might consider developing this a little further to give a welcoming feel, considering that this is how you see your "property on your return home" when you are tired, you want a welcoming feeling. Maybe a detailing the front (elevations and Views) with larger drawings might help in this pursuit, even it you have to use decking materials that are highly fire resistant to meet fire requirements. I like the way you have planned the kitchen, the island bench with a butlers sink and a full sink behind with a full butlers pantry seems to work well. The circulation space around of 1000 is slightly undersized 1200 is generally the preferred space if you can afford it, I make mine never less than 1100. Also you might consider the space between the hot plate and the sink, about "one working station" (about 800 to 1000) and the hot plate the same distance from any wall seems to work better than greater distances.. Closet space for linen, hanging of clothes while ironing, brooms, vacuum cleaners, freezer/s, shopping trolley, and all the other knickknacks that make up a family seems slightly under-catered. Maybe an inventory of existing storage might be a help in coming up with requirements. Also the fixed size space for the fridge can sometimes be a disadvantage as size and function of fridges tend to change, and it might reduce your capacity to upgrade later on, straight line space might be a better solution. The laundry, and that section of the kitchen might need a slight redesign so as to incorporate a more flexible result. It would be a good idea to show the position of Water tanks, hot water heaters, solar cells and storage, wood storage for the fireplace (BAL requirement in some states), air conditioning units & pumps, and all other mechanical equipment. These items relate to the house design and can be highly visual, and sometimes may require specif placements which may influence the placement of windows and doors and can be pleasant or unpleasant when viewed from certain perspective, so taking them into consideration at this time may avoid later issues. Also you have not shown vehicle storage and circulation in relation to the site which may influence the design directly. You might also consider a "Mud Room", I can see a relatively good size deck from the laundry and rumpus room which might help, but if this is not well sheltered people tend to be lazy and bring the mud inside rather that change shoes or clean up as required. A good size mudroom might help to store boots, raincoats and other heavy gear often required for every member of the family, in a small farming environment. You might like to combine this with a "pet area" considering that you might have a dog etc. that forms part of the household. There are other areas that you might like to look at in relation to fire requirements and sizes of glass especially in your first floor areas. It might worth while, if money permits the use of fire-shutters at least in the upper areas. New homes are definitely a grueling exercise, but it is always easier and cheaper to change a design than the building. I hope my comments are of some help, I wish you the best in your en-devour, and look forward in seeing your final design proposal. Regards - Michael Manias .

I think there's an underlying issue here that isn't being confronted. Unless you've got megabucks or you live out in the country with a few acres, you're going to end up with a block/house which doesn't have ideal orientation. A lot of people, ourselves included, bought a slice of land where the garage gets the best aspect. We trade that off for proximity to services, shops, and the rest of it. It's all very well to talk about how a house should be designed for views, cross breezes, orientation to sun, etc, but a lot of that has to go by the wayside if you need a place close into town, and you're looking at a brownfield site being redeveloped. You buy for the location, not the orientation. The house might be facing north, and the garage has to do so because that's where the road is, and there's no other option. So, what then? The question is to make a liveable house out of a less than desirable orientation, with areas that don't get enough light and others that get too much. I'd love to see a long article on Houzz about this, because it's a reality for a lot of us. What I do know, from our last 9 months living in a house with the wrong orientation but the right location, is that there are things that work around some of the problems. Skylights are one, shade sails another. Good insulation is of course imperative as well. Our house isn't perfect, but ultimately, we'll put up with a bit too much of the western sun at certain times of year because we want to/need to live in this location ( walking distance to shops, cafes, medical clinics, dentists, vets, and three private hospitals). I'm off topic, but it's an issue I feel strongly about: making good design work in less than optimal circumstances. The house the OP is planning is just such an example. I don't think it's quite right and I do think more thought has to go into where the smaller bedrooms and kitchen are located, but if the OPs block is as small as ours, there aren't too many alternatives. And that's reality, so how do we best deal with it? I'd like to see a bit more of that on Houzz.

My house is also built at the top of a hill, the summit and is cut into a cliff. We bought it, it was built in the 90s and the orientation is entirely wrong. The living areas face west and all bedrooms are in the east. The master is exposed to the western and the northern sunshine. It’s nice in the winter and entirely unbearable in the summer. The same goes for my living room. We take extra long holidays in the summer to avoid being at home. The home had no insulation in ceilings, and raked ceilings. So the first thing we did was remove the roof sheeting install battens to create a cavity and installed R3.5 insulation. We are also upgrading installing new windows to upgrade the glazing on the western windows and looking to put insulation in all the walls It also gets really windy, so windy. So I understand your concerns. When it gets windy the entire house shakes. So the next thing will be to improve the bracing. There is a 3-4metre clearance under our home for storage. We could do a build in under. Even with the positioning of our shed and close proximity to the home it does little to shelter from the wind. We are considered the building an “outdoor room” which would act as an alfresco with skylights, lounge, pool and kitchenette that could act as an outdoor entertainment area when weather permits. I just did a sustainable design for a client nearby. I am so jealous of her amazing home. Her land is smaller then my land and her land cost the same price as my house and land. So I am grateful for what I have.

Just a general comment these nooks always look so inviting, in practice however they often arenit well utilised. Most built in seating is difficult to access requiring a shuffle along action to get into them. Not the best for the elderly. In the first pic the table is hard up against the bench seat. Indicating that there isn't enough room for the table to be sited a reasonable distance from the bench. It's a case of cramming too much into a small space. The second pic has the most usable option as the bench is accessible from one side of the table but still requires a shuffle along to put two people there. The third pic, think about this arrangement with five people sitting there. At lease one person is pinned in by their neighbours, unable to leave the table without disturbing the whole party. Since this is a granny flat with potentially a couple living in it long term are these arrangements really useful or necessary in that context. Or would that same space be just as good with a small table and two independent chairs?