What about the Begonia??
 

We have our designer meeting next month. Begonia is our first choice, but don't see any opinions about that model. So, what do you think? We bought a little larger lot in Charlotte...please help us decide.....

We closed on our Begonia 7/27 and are very happy with our choice. We extended the lanai, garage, master bedroom and the den, to make it a full bedroom with closet. Put in a wall oven and stacked cabinets. We like the dining room at the back of the house and the kitchen/nook in the front. A lot of the designers have the dining room at the front so you walk through or past the dining room to get to the living room and kitchen. Just our preference. Also, like the master bedroom and guest rooms split. And, the master is not directly off the living room, so you can't see into the master from the living room. Again, just our preference. Only thing I wish there was is a hall coat closet. Also, the guest bedrooms are a little smaller than some other homes, but they are 'guest' rooms, and you don't want to make your guests too comfortable... Stretch everything that you possibly can. We love our Begonia.

If you have room a Gardinia is the same house without the cart garage. The cart garage can be added on the outside of the regular garage. This will make it possible to see out the front window of the kitchen. We live in a Begonia and the cart garage is directly in front of the kitchen. It covers the street facing window that you would have if it were not there.

I stayed in a Gardenia for my Lifestyle Preview Plan in May and it was quite comfortable.
I did like that the kitchen nook area looked out the front of the house, but felt the living area could have been a bit larger. If you have room to stretch to the back, it would alleviate that. Also stretch the lanai if possible as stated above. Comfortable floor plan. Currently I am building a Lantana and have stretched that and added a room. Best of luck and I hope you find just what you want! Welcome to TV!

We have a Begonia -- We Love it ---My suggestion is to ---------

Extend the Garage, the Lanai, the guest room side of the home --and also extend the front bedroom in order to have closets

We did that and could not be happier ---------Good Luck

How about the laundry room? Is there enough space? We have our design meeting on 10/15 and we're torn between the Begonia and the Iris--there are features in both houses that I really like and I just am having a hard time deciding which one to choose. I really like the idea of the bedrooms being split in the Begonia but like the hall coat closet and additional space in the laundry in the Iris--maybe should just build two--one for me and one for my husband:)

We looked at both a few days ago, it's a close call.

We didn't like the columns in the living area, and the way the MBD is you can think about a door into the lanai.

Standard bath layout is not as nice as the options.

If you're questioning the laundry room the iris has more space to work with.

We would pick the iris between those two.

But be mindful it only takes the stoke of a pencil to change almost anything, that's why you're buying a designer.

What didn't you like about the other models?


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I loved the kitchen in the Begonia, but like all the light that comes through the patio doors and windows in the Iris. We're used to watching TV during our meals (sad but true) so the nook in the Begonia wouldn't have gotten much use. Iris seemed to be the perfect choice for us. I'm getting very anxious. We move and close in November! :pepper2:

Really like the layout of the Begonia.

We bought the Begonia and close Oct. 19. We don't use the nook so I will be using it as a small office. Waiting for an estimate on adding a desk and some cabinets fit that space

Thanks for all the thoughts. On the Begonia, the columns that separate living-dining rooms are removable in the option and we like that better. The things we like in the Begonia are the split bedrooms, no obstructions between kitchen and living space, the 2 MBR closets. I do wish the laundry was bigger and could be closed off. We will try to stretch everything possible.

We are also going to build a Begonia this summer. We want to put an office space in the breakfast nook as well with a desk and some extra cabinets.
Could you PM me when you get the price on your office space?

We just moved into a new Begonia in June.
I'd recommend the 2" width addition on the living room, guest bed, guest bath and den side. It really makes a difference in all four rooms. The 3" lenght extension on the front den w/ closet turns that room into a real nice
2nd guest bedroom / den. Contrary to other postings we turned the nook into an office. We found that we tend to eat on the lanai with the formal dining room and the kitchen bar as backups. We didn't need a 4th dining area.
Mistakes we made, no door bell on the lanai, didn't run speeker wires for the surround speakers.
Other nice stretches that we took advantage of: 4' lanai addition and 4' width and 2' depth additions on the garage.

We have a pocket door to close off the laundry in our Gardenia - can't you do this any more?

[I can't believe, that you all change the new homes, when you buy them! It must be nice to be so rich.