Features that allow for aging in place: no narrow doorways; few or no steps; etc.
Laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms was a must have for me.
We have a Bosch dishwasher, its’s not completely silent but very, very quiet.
400 amp service instead of the typical 200. Must have for Mr. 
NO sprinkler system of any kind; landscaping should be able to thrive in whatever environment Mother Nature provides. If AZ, a cactus garden, if WA, rhodies and conifers, etc.
NO lawn.
Nice to have. A Powerwall or two. Solar panels or at least hookup.
Ceiling fan in MB and living area.
10 ft ceilings or higher throughout.
Windows strategically placed to maximize the enjoyment of the outdoor scenery.
Happy to see the suggestions for good exhaust vent hoods in the kitchen. Excellent venting will be needed for the steam shower, too. Countdown timer switches are nice to have for exhaust vents. Please be sure your builder & subs understand about providing make-up air for the vents to avoid back drafting.
If your property won’t allow for a one story plan, consider an elevator or at least a stack of closets where an elevator could be installed later. Another option would be to put only guest bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs.
There’s a Building a Home forum on Houzz that might be helpful. Be aware that most posters, especially the architects and builders, strongly dislike any plans purchased online (“puppy mill plans” is one term used.) There are also a couple of posters, including at least one architect, who hate having the master closet accessed from the master bathroom and who hate water closets. We have both and I wouldn’t build any other way. On the other hand, they have offered helpful advice to many people. In addition, there’s a Kitchens forum where you could offer up your kitchen plan for critique. Thick skin seems to be needed there, too, but I’ve read lots of great suggestions.
Solid-core interior doors instead of hollow-core.
Slide-out shelving in all lower cabinets.
Think about where trash will be located; mine is hidden behind a pull-out door in the island. I love it because I can be chopping/prepping food and slide the unwanted parts right into the trash.
Why not install some built-in charging ports while you’re at it?
Edit: I forgot to mention garage ceiling height. Having a 10 ft. ceiling in the garage will give you more space for wall storage that won’t interfere with the cars.
If the area is prone to storms then you might also want to get a whole house surge suppressor while you’re at it. It won’t take the place of local (power strip) suppressors for sensitive electronics, but it might save your big appliances during a lightning storm.
I had my garage wired up for a workshop with two separate 20A circuits and multiple waist-high outlets. When I needed 240v they were easily converted, so talk to your electrician about pre-wiring for an electric car hookup. Probably you’ll need something similar in terms of wiring, and it’s much cheaper to do during the construction phase.
My must-have: 1) a sound-proofed music practice room that’d serve as a recording studio, as well; 2) a photography studio with tall ceiling; and 3) a steam room.
The first two aren’t as expensive as they may appear; it’s the audio-visual recording equipment and photography gear, i.e., what goes in these rooms, that are really costly. I already have a basement home photography studio that didn’t cost me much to build. It’s only flaw is the 7’ ceiling, and I need at least 10’. Having a steam room would probably cost me more than 1) and 2) combined.
I just spent the weekend at a friend’s mountain home. It is gorgeous. They sold their big home in the city, bought a small townhouse, and built this retirement home (will probably retire in 5 years but they are just starting grandchildren so doubt they will leave the city forever).
They have all the things mentioned - gas range, gas bbq on the deck, large mud room, 3 car garage (one bay for the boat), large laundry on the main floor, with a main floor master. I think the best part is that they kept everything simple. The colors are browns/tans/taupe. The builder convinced them to pick one wall color and then could spray all the walls and ceilings.
They ‘bought’ a two story house but the lot is on a cliff, so they added a walk out lower level and they will finish that themselves when they have the money. Right now it is his (really nice) workshop, and they will add another bedroom with full bath, a bunk room (for those grandchildren) and a rec room/play room. They also expanded the deck and made half covered and half open. Gas firepit on the deck, wood burning one in the yard.
They did different cabinets and counters in every room and she said it helped save because they could find remnant pieces of granite for bathroom counters, white cabinets for the laundry room but dark for the bathrooms, etc. I think they had fun finding special faucets and sinks for each room.
A walk in pantry in the kitchen (with a window view of the river) was really nice, with room on the floor to store the coolers and open counters to see all the food and supplies (paper plates, cups, paper towels, and since they go back and forth to the city home they are always taking food back with them so have coolers. Also a bar area L shaped to the kitchen (and dining room) with a wine fridge and ice maker, a rack for the wine classes, cabinets for liquor. That kept a good deal of the traffic away from the main fridge.
The home is really made for entertaining and that’s what they wanted.
“Solid-core interior doors instead of hollow-core.”
Unless it’s a pocket door–they’re too heavy.
Solid-core doors are not too heavy. They are regular doors. Builders use the hollow-core to cut costs.
We have solid core pocket doors that slide beautifully.
Our second home has some features that I want in any future home
Radiant/floor heat in the master bath
Central vac and the toe kick “extractor” in the kitchen so I don’t have to bend over with a dust pan
Half bath in the garage -H can clean up after outside work or workshop stuff w/o coming into the house
If unable to have a gas stove top, then induction
Area specific
The house has an extra vertical freezer and fridge because it’s a ways from grocery stores - nice for over there
A whole-house generator- the power goes out more than I thought and this kicks in immediately. We fill the propane once per year just for the generator.
Water and power at the parking area up from the house. Not needed if the property is small.
Gas lines to the deck for a grill and heater
No matter where’s:
Rooms oriented towards the view
Gas fireplace
Wall ovens - no range
- Do you have a lot of wild life? If yes, you need a protected space (in a shed or a garage) to store trash containers (unless you want to invest into bear proof containers).
- How often and how expensive is trash pickup? With many visitors, we have lots of garbage - consider a trash compactor.
- If you have many visitors and plan on sport activities, I would have 2-3 guest bedrooms, each with a private bathrooms and a closet that can accommodate both bedding and clothes. These bedrooms and bathrooms can be very small and simple, but privacy and multiple bathrooms is a key if you have 10 people returning from skiing, swimming or hiking.
- Consider lots of storage space for return/repeat visitors (skiing or hiking helmets, poles, boots, rain gear etc)
- If you have many visitors, consider two separate laundry areas on different floors - you don't want everyone doing their laundry at/near your master bedroom. We have laundry machines running 24/7 when we have a houseful of guests
- I am not at all a fan of carpet, but carpet may actually be a plus only for bedrooms in cold climate. It is cozy, and provides heat and sound insulation. Modern high-end carpets are indestructible (stain and bleach resistant) and have life time warranty
- cross ventilation, as much as possible everywhere
- I have steam showers in my primary and vacation homes. Never used either one, and removed one during the remodel. But I have a nice Finnish sauna. Also, a soaking tub is a must for me. YMMV
My sil built a lake house. I love the ideas you have @eyemamom and think that you have really thought things out.
These are my person opinions about spending an extended time at someone’s vacation house of things we like.
A nice big kitchen that’s open to the DR/LR. We can get 3 cooks in the kitchen, it’s nice to be able for more than one person to help getting meals done and cleaned up. We do very simple foods there, so a fancy oven is kinda lost. My sil has fancy appliances in her home but the vacation house has simple to use more basic appliances. Quiet dishwasher would be nice. If you plan on inviting lots of family and company, it’s amazing how easy to operate appliances help.
They have a big mud room that has doors from the garage and to outside. With a half bath and a laundry area. It is not next to the master bedroom. This way people can come in from outdoors and the garage and use the bathroom without coming into the house. Also people get up at different times and can use the bathroom and start laundry without disturbing the people in the master or sleeping in other rooms of the house.
Not necessary but really nice. They have a master on the first floor, a second master upstairs and a bedroom with a king bed in the basement with a full bath. It’s nice when we visit and everyone has a place to spread out. But I think if they did the house over again, they would have bedrooms upstairs that have jack and Jill attached bathrooms.
Another thing they would do over was make the living room bigger. The house sleeps 14 but the living room has seats for 6. They thought about a big dining room table but would like to make a bigger seating area around the fireplace.
We love the big fieldstone wood burning fireplace. It’s a real focal point of the house and building and feeding the fire is a big activity in the winter.
I love that my house (and their vacation home) put in really good windows and insulation. I love being able to sit next to the windows in the winter with no window covering looking at nature.
Good luck, how exciting to be able to build your dream house in the mountains
For solar or future provision of solar, consider:
- A sunny south** or west facing roof (can be garage, carport, etc.).
- Large enough electrical service.
If use of electric vehicles in the future is a possibility, consider having a 240V outlet in the garage.
For cool weather areas, south** or west facing windows and a dark color roof may help. For warm weather areas, the opposite is the case.
**Assuming northern hemisphere.
@eyemamom re baseboards I just dislike the way they look for starters, though more attractive covers would make a huge difference. My main problem with them is I find it harder to arrange rooms, place furniture, etc. We’ve had a very hard time with tall bookcases that needed to be attached to walls, but half the walls in a room weren’t an option because of the baseboards. A huge load was lifted off my shoulders when I started organizing things in our current house.
Our house had solid core doors that weighed more than 100 lb. I am not kidding. The guy who put them in went for an overkill in everything (think picking the more expensive option in everything). These were external quality and thickness doors, and the pocket doors were impossible as heck to close! We replaced them with beautiful internal grade solid core doors; the pocket doors are very functional and still sturdy.
All of our doors are solid core and they’re not heavy at all. Or maybe I just have a different perspective now since hollow-core doors feel obviously cheap and light to me. Anyway, no issues at all with D being able to close/open the solid core doors when she was ~7 years old.
I would spend LOTS of time on https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/build There are some AMAZING people there, but be ready for the hard truth. Read all the threads about feedback on floor plans, designer vs architect vs builder, and the monthly “How is your build going” ones have much of the best info. You will soon see who the experts are. There are several architects who are active and give the best, if painful advice. Architectrunnerguy has designed some amazing houses for people on the boards.