Modern Farmhouse Design - Back of the E-Z-G Farm

Matt calls it the cow palace, I call it the EZG farm, so the name of it is still in the works.  Suggestions welcome!  In the mean time, an earlier post (found HERE) highlighted the front elevations of the modern farmhouse.  Here is some quick images of the back:

I tried to delete some of the dimensions and other extra lines from the architect's plans.  Let's do a close tour, starting with our side of the fence...

The wraparound porch will start at the front of the house and wrap around and connect with our master bedroom.  There will be steps coming down from the wrap around (also, not really sure if wraparound is one word or two).  We are just waiting to see about the grade to determine exactly where they will be.  Matt's workshop will be in the basement with double doors.  Originally we were going to have a single garage door there, but apparently code requires drywall when you have a garage door (all these things you learn along the way)!  So now we have a double door.

My parents' side of the EZG farmhouse and our side are connected in two ways: shared screened-in porch (or lanai as our architect calls it) and a back hall.

As for my parents' side...

So, my parents' side has a cupola and mine doesn't...I have cupola envy.  

Let's talk about some lessons learned (budget-wise):

• Originally, the architect drew in a lot of gorgeous retaining walls.  When talking with the builder, it turned out that these walls would likely cost about $20k.  I'll let that sink in.  Plus, we weren't really sure where or if we would want any of them.  In fact, we really don't know what we want to do in the backyard.  So CUT, they were out of there.  Phase 2 of the project, perhaps?
• I was under the false impression that trex decking would be less expensive than concrete.  WRONG.  When the builder suggested that we switch the lanai and wrap around from trex to concrete, that saved approx $13k.  Plus, the low decks will often have a lot of mosquitoes and critters beneath them.
• Our builder mentioned that many people who build porches off the master don't use them as much as they think they will.  We shall see...

Next post will feature the main floor of the modern farmhouse...master bathroom and laundry featured HERE.