The confusion in understandable, though. There was so much intermixing and borrowing of architectural styles throughout Europe that it's hard to know where one European old-world house style begins and another ends.
So on our Tuscany House Plans page, we have taken the liberty of including old world house plans that include the popular features of the European plans that people are so attracted to these days, including warm colors and materials, darker woods, big open kitchens, rustic tile, etc.
Basically we offer house plans that allow our clients create their dream house. Indeed, we like to say that although our business is custom house plans at a fraction of the cost . . . what we really specialize in is dream house plans.
On this page, you will find Tuscany House plans, European house plans, and Old World house plans that include these kinds of features:
Tuscany House Plan and European Old World House Plan Features: Exterior
• Exterior of masonry, stucco or stone ashlar (a squared building stone using thin mortar joints)
• Low pitched and simple roofs
• Large and wide eaves dominate the Tuscan house
• Simple plain columns
• Usually a centered gable, often boasting a tower
• Unadorned capitals and bases
• The whole house is simple and unadorned
• Windows are one or two pane glazing
• Doorways are paired as well as single
• Simple window tops are common
Tuscany House Plans and European Old World House Plans Features: Interior
• Beams
• Dark trim
• Richly textured walls
• Soft washes
• Rustic tile floors
• Simulated leather walls
• Hand painted floors or rugs on floor hand painted
• Fresco and murals on walls
• Rustic furniture
• Inlay floors
• Dark trim
• Human proportions for dimensions
Another element that our Tuscan house plans have in common is that they are all Florida-style home plans, in that there is a strong emphasis on outdoor spaces even from inside the house. All of the active rooms are designed to overlook the outdoor pool and garden areas.
Our Tuscan home plans/Florida Style homes also feature large, open circulating kitchens (no dead-end kitchens) with large hearths and rich toned-stains for cabinets and woodwork, ; warm surfaces instead of cold marbles; ; spa-like master baths; and a European integration of outdoor spaces, so that the pool and grounds become part of the home and the living space.
These Tuscany style Florida luxury homes are also slab on grade, but unlike modern Florida house plans, they are Italianate in design, and feature old world charm and warmth. Although it may seem odd to combine the terms "Florida Home Plan" and "Tuscany Home Plan" and/or "Old World Home Plan" on one house plans page, it actually makes sense to do so because warm weather and tropical areas have many features in common with old world European plans.
The homes on this page were custom designed for the modern era, taking the classical elements of the past and adjusting them to accommodate modern lifestyles and conveniences. The three most important updated elements of these homes are:
• The Kitchen
• The Master Bath
• Incorporation of Outdoor Spaces
The Kitchen As detailed and luxurious as custom home plans (at a fraction of the cost) our Tuscan and Old-world House Plans feature open circulating kitchens with large islands, kitchen hearths, rustic tile floors, richly stained cabinets in darker warmer tones. Warm counter surfaces replace colder-feeling marble, and large windows and doors overlook the pool and garden areas. Many of the house designs do not include formal dining areas because today's families rarely use those spaces, preferring instead the less formal style of entertaining, living, mingling, cooking and eating around a big, warm, open kitchen space.
The Master Bath People's lives are so busy and complicated these days that they want their homes to be their castle and their refuge. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the master bath, which has been designed to feel more like a spa than a bathroom, where busy couples, either individually or together can completely relax and leave behind the cares of their day.
Integration of Outdoor Spaces In these home styles, there is a complete integration of outdoor and indoor living space so that the pool, gardens and grounds actually become part of the home and living space.
Dream House Plans
This page includes a mix of home styles that are old-world in feel and design elements but new-world in amenities, appointments, and use of space. The homes feature the exterior stucco, brick, and stone combinations of old world houses, interior design details and proportions from classical architecture and all the modern conveniences.
Please scroll down for thumbnails of our plans and then click on the house itself to be taken to a detailed plan page.
If you are attracted to European and Tuscan Home Designs, you may also want to view our Starter Castles page for more European inspired designs.
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