Parties, Plenty of Space, and Parking: Our Jackson Two-Story Plan has it All

Do you dread when it's your turn to host the family for Thanksgiving? Just when you think you have room for everyone, Aunt Mary and Uncle Jack and their five teenage boys show up unexpectedly, and your well-planned dinner party spills over into the living room, and you have at least three or four people sitting on the floor with their plates. You need more space! An open design with a huge family room and dinette area might just fit the bill, and give you enough space to bring out the extra folding tables. And you may want to buy a bigger turkey next year, because you'll be sure to have extra guests! Our Jackson two-story floor plan gives you all the space you need and more—not to mention plenty of room in the garage for cars and storage. For a look inside, have a look at my latest video blog and see just how much room you could have!

Your cars need a place to live, too

When people are looking for a home, I've found that they often get dazzled by the floor plan, but forget about where they will put their cars. Both husband and wife may have their own cars, and teenage children are sure to want theirs too. And once you start having guests, you soon have vehicles lining the street in front of your house, and in front of your neighbor's house as well. The Jackson design includes an incredibly spacious three-car garage with plenty of added storage. At 31 feet wide, even with three cars in there, you'll still have plenty of room to stack up those folding chairs and extra tables you'll need for your holiday parties.

Bringing back the kitchen pantry

I love modern designs, but one thing I've always admired about a lot of the older homes is that they all had big kitchens with separate pantries. The biggest complaint I hear about modern designs is that the kitchen is designed for people who go out to eat all the time. There's not enough cabinet space, not enough working space and countertops, and they're just too small to be comfortable. The kitchen isn't just a workspace, it's a social space. The Jackson floor plan includes a spacious kitchen with a separate dinette area—of course, with plenty of cabinets and countertop space. Want room to store all those goodies and special ingredients? Check out the walk-in pantry!

We all need a little more space than what we have

I've always noticed that people tend to grow into whatever amount of space they have. I think it's best to start out with a home with plenty of room and grow into it—the idea of a "starter home" sometimes just doesn't make a lot of sense. The Jackson two-story plan has four full bedrooms including a huge master bedroom with en suite bathroom upstairs. Downstairs off the family room is a separate enclosed dining room. But remember, we already have a dinette area between the living room and kitchen, so that can also be turned into an office, den, or "man cave".

Room for everyone

As much as I do love those older homes with the big kitchen pantries, a particularly annoying design flaw I see in a lot of the older designs—and even in a lot of the newer ones—is lack of closet space. In the old days, there were not closets at all, you just used an armoire. Beautiful, but just not enough space! The master bedroom has a huge walk-in closet, so there's space for everyone. And I know from experience—when a husband and wife share a closet, one person—I won't say which one—usually ends up with about 80 percent of the available space. It's better to start out with an oversized closet and make sure there's enough room for everyone.

There's really no need to live in a too-small home when one with plenty of space is so affordable. I really enjoy the Jackson floor plan because it has so many unique features. I think this one combines some of the best home designs of the past 100 years. Charleston Homes isn't just your ordinary home builder. Our designs were created with real people in mind. I encourage you to call us today to schedule an appointment and take a walk-through of one of the Jackson floor plan model homes.