Farmhouse Setback - How Far Back Should Your Place Your House?

Wow, just like every other matter in this process, the answer is not cut and dry :)

When building a new construction home on acreage, one big decision item that can profoundly impact cost is setback.  In general, "setback" is the distance from the street to you farmhouse.  Here are some important considerations when placing a stake in the ground:

• Zoning restrictions - The lot we purchased was zoned single-family residential but also large acreage.  Therefore, we were not permitted to build within 100 ft of the main road, 50 ft from the main subdivision road, and 50 ft from interior property lines.
• Subdivision restrictions - Many subdivisions in Kansas City with acreage lots have strict guidelines for setback.  
• Driveway cost - Yikes, so driveways are expensive.  Depending on the material (gravel, asphalt, or concrete), the setback cost can set you back (pun intended) a lot of $$.  Gravel is definitely the most economical option but because of our subdivision restrictions, we could only consider asphalt or concrete.  While we would have likely selected asphalt, you will see from the subdivision map below that all of our neighbors have concrete.  
• Utilities cost - Water, gas, electric, and cable, oh my!  Increased setback definitely increases your trenching and utility costs.
• Land use - We were wanting  to keep as much pasture land as possible.  Therefore, we considered keeping the house closer to the road so we could more fully utilize the land behind the house.  However, if you are considering having fencing in your front yard, then this option may not weigh as heavily.
• Access - Kansas winters can dump a lot of snow, therefore the length of the driveway becomes a bigger factor.
• Privacy - The main reason, it would seem, that houses with acreage build far back is for privacy.  This was especially a concern for us with regards to the larger main street that our property bordered upon.
• Neighborhood consistency - While we were only obligated to build 50 ft from the subdivision road, we decided to research the issue a big more.  What did our neighbors choose as far as setback?  Here's how we researched it:

First, google your address.  Usually, the first option that pops up is a map of your lot.  Click on that map.  Then click on the box in the lower left corner that says "earth".  Ours looks something like this (black boxes for privacy):

To figure out the setback of our neighbors, just right click on the map and select "Measure Distance" from the dropdown menu.  VOILA!  Then you can click on the curb in front of a neighbor's house and then click on the front corner of the garage.  This will give you an idea of your neighbor's setback.

We definitely wanted to mirror our neighbors in this regard, so we decided on 125 ft setback.  Le sigh, so much driveway cost.  Setback is an important decision - probably one of the most critical decisions you can make.  Almost every other decision with your house can be changed in the future (upgrade cabinets later, floors later, windows later...), but it is next to impossible to later move your home on the property.