1.5 Story Collection
1.5 Story house plans blend the efficiency of a ranch with the expanded living space of a two-story home, featuring characteristic dormers and a partially finished upper level. These homes typically range from 1,800 to 3,000 square feet, making efficient use of space by tucking additional bedrooms or bonus rooms under the sloped roof lines.
Originally popular in Cape Cod and New England coastal regions, 1.5 story homes emerged as practical solutions for families seeking additional living space while maintaining a modest footprint. The style's efficient design made it a staple of post-WWII housing and continues to appeal to both first-time homebuyers and downsizers.
The main level of these homes traditionally features an open-concept living area, primary bedroom suite, and essential living spaces. The upper floor, accessed by a central staircase, typically includes 1-2 additional bedrooms, a full bathroom, and versatile bonus spaces that can serve as home offices, playrooms, or hobby areas. The slanted walls and dormers create charming nooks while maximizing usable floor space.
Modern 1.5 story floor plans have evolved to include contemporary amenities like first-floor laundry rooms, mudrooms with built-in storage, and expanded kitchen islands for casual dining. Many designs now incorporate vaulted great rooms, spacious master suites with walk-in closets, and flexible spaces that adapt to changing family needs.
These homes excel at providing multi-generational living options, with the ability to place bedrooms on both levels for privacy. The architectural style offers excellent curb appeal through varied roof lines, while the compact footprint allows for larger yards and easier maintenance. Energy efficiency is another advantage, as the reduced upper level requires less heating and cooling than full two-story homes.
Perfect for narrow or small lots, 1.5 story house plans deliver the space-planning benefits of larger homes while maintaining a welcoming, intimate scale. The style's versatility accommodates both traditional and contemporary design preferences, from classic farmhouse exteriors to modern craftsman interpretations.
Browse Plans
More Information
All of our floor plans are designed in-house and come with various options to make your dream home custom to you.
House Plan Modifications
Since we design all of our plans, modifying a plan to fit your need could not be easier. Click on the plan, then under the image, you'll find a button to get a 100% free quote on all plan alteration requests. Our plans are all available with a variety of stock customization options.
Exterior Wall Construction Choices
Most of our stock plans come as 2x4 exterior wall construction by default. We do provide options to change the exterior wall type. Those options include 2x6 exterior walls, Post Frame Construction, CMU Block Construction, etc.
Foundation Types
When de signing our house plans, a default foundation is set for a given plan. If possible, we include options to change the foundation type to better match your construction needs. For instance, if the default foundation is an unfinished basement, you'll have the option to change the foundation type to a walkout foundation, crawlspace, or slab foundation.
Please note: Some of our plans are designed with special foundation needs, such as post and pier for waterfront properties. These plans may not allow an option to choose another foundation type. If you find yourself in need of an alternate foundation and aren't given the choice, please fill out the alteration request on the plan page.
Right Reading Reverse
One of our more popular options is reversing the plan. Ordering the reverse option will not only flip the plan on the sets for you, it will also correct the text to make the plan read correctly while reversed.
CAD Files
All of our plans are offered as digital PDF downloads. If you want to make changes to the plan yourself, there is an add-on option that will give you the CAD files. Our CAD files are exported in AutoCAD format. You must have software capable of opening CAD files to use them. This option is great if you are in the business of home building and need to make slight changes to the plans per lot.
Cost to Build Report
All of our house plans come with a 100% free cost-to-build report. Just find the orange section on the plan page, type in your zip code, and choose your finish quality level. Note that this tool is for estimation purposes only and should not be used in any other way.
Garage Choices
We have multiple options for any desired garage location or type. We offer plans with detached garages, courtyard garages, side-load garages, front load, and rear load garages.
License Types
We offer 2 types of licenses for your house plan. A single-use license means that the plan can be built only once by the person who purchases the plan. An unlimited-build license is meant for pro builders that are planning to build the plan multiple times.
Best Price Guarantee
You may find our plans on other vendors’ websites. Since we design all of our plans we can offer a true price match guarantee. If you find another site selling our plans for cheaper than we are, we will match it.