Orange County

[Arman]

Is it just me or does the traditional floor plan (formal liviing room/dining room) concept seem more and more outdated.  It a little frustrating to see the same plan in house after house typical of OC in the 500K-1M range (large house/small lot) with the typical entry to formal living room/dining room with kitchen and family room in the back.  

If find it very hard to find alternative type plans including the great room concept (i can appreciate a formal dining room). I suppose it is a matter of taste and the traditional plan must be popular with others given it gets picked by builders so often.  It just seems like a waste of 300-500sqft, no?  

What is other poeple's take on it?

[Keyotiq]

I'm seeing a lot of the same thing, even in the lower price ranges.  After having a larger home, I found that although it was nice to look at, for all practical purposes, it was just wasted space with furnature no one ever used except on big family holidays.

I'm looking for homes with more of a 'great room' look and feel.  The only thing I've been able to find is new construction over in Corona - Riverside county.  Very open floorplan. Built by Shea Homes called 'Spaces'.  Love the floorplans, nice and open, almost a loft feel. If only it was in Orange County

[Peru]

Traditional layouts where the formal dining,living and kitchen are popular because of it close nit relationship.visitor-dinning and serving food from kitchen.

But there are some great plan that have broken away from these traditions in the web.

I would advise if you need any advise you should check out some blobs where the advise on how you could come up with your own dream designs. Such as what you just said.

Regards