Elaine

Southern living is a classic way of life not necessarily a house design style. If you keep that in mind you can develop a southern living house plan with the features that you want that will allow you to create your southern living dream. Southern living comes from a place in time marked around the civil war. It is civilized and creates a southern home that incorporates families, friends and good ole southern charm. Creating a home design around these principles makes a southern living house plan well worth checking out.

The dashing Rhett Butler and unattainable Scarlet OHara gave us our first vision of the Southern Home. With its central spiral stair case, formidable columns and its palatial landscaping, Tara became the model southern living home. The grand home provided plenty of room for formal and informal gatherings. Many homes today are not built to the scale of Tara but can certainly incorporate the feeling of hospitality into their floor plans.

Spotting a southern living house plan is easy if you know what to look for. These homes have central entry ways as well as rear exits. They are known for great, eliptical stair cases. Pillars that take their cue from Greek architecture generally mark the expansive front porches of these homes. The roof lines incorporate hipped or gabbled features.

The location of these homes is in the southern regions that boast warmer climates so indoor outdoor living on the large porches make them very appealing. There is nothing to say that hardy northerners cant enjoy these house plans in their own neighborhoods as well.

If you are interested in creating a home plan that is ornate, classic and homey than southern living plans may be a good place to start. You can find hundreds of these plans on the many house plan repositories on the internet. You can even seek advice from the very popular Southern Living Magazine, for design tips and home building ideas.

Charity Adams is an HGTV and Home Improvement Junkie. Charity enjoys researching southern living house plans and home improvement. For more information on house plans including Southern Living House Plans, check out Charity's Southern Living House Plan page. http://myhouseplansonline.com