We are building a new house

We are taking a huge leap of faith, and we are building a new colonial-style home. We are currently in a ranch, but have decided to build a home with four bedrooms on the second upstairs level. However, there is a room on the main level, which could be transformed into Andy's bedroom if we need to do this. Meaning, if he should never walk, or if he is too heavy to carry upstairs. There is also a space that could be turned into a bathroom with a roll-in shower on the main level. We've thought that all out.
I have also looked into stairlifts for curved, 180 degree staircases, and have talked to a friend about platform lifts.

We wanted to build another ranch style home, but they are much more expensive to build than building a colonial or cape cod. We were quoted $150 a square foot, as opposed to $90-$100 a square foot to build a colonial. We also looked at a foreclosed ranch, but it needed way too much work. We then looked at a really nice, but way too expensive ranch.  The dirt road it was on wasn't too appealing either, I might add. Not to mention the fact that the school said the buses could have trouble going down private dirt roads, especially in winter.  So, we picked a paved road neighborhood, very close to his school. I could walk him there in nice weather.

I really like the look and feel of the colonial house, however, I have never lived in one. I am hoping that I will like it. We are having the laundry room put in on the second floor next to our bedrooms. We are hoping this will alleviate a negative point of the colonial home. We also will have a walkout basement, which we love the idea of, and have never had.

There will be many children the same ages of our kids, which I also like. Our current neighborhood, is full of empty nesters whose children moved out 20 years ago. So, we are excited and nervous, that we made the right decision. We have made our choices in the best interest of our kids.

You can see further progress in my later post here : Building progress