Imagine all the "must-haves" you ever envisioned for your dream home – without settling for the next best thing on the market. Building a custom home is a considerable investment that presents many challenges, but think of the finished product and the satisfaction of having done it. Are you ready for the big step?

While the American Craftsman style home initially came out of the British Arts and Crafts movement, U.S. architects and designers quickly embraced it and added design elements and floor plan features desired by a growing middle class of American homeowners. A number of these innovative features – such as the breakfast nook – have been adopted in some fashion by many American architectural styles. The Plan Collection features craftsman homes.

From Florence to Siena and Pisa, the Tuscany region of Italy is filled with quaint villas and homes built on sloping hills. You don’t have to live there to experience Tuscany at its best and most magical. Today, you can recreate the Old World charm and allure of Tuscan style homes in your own hometown.

From his quaint Colonial-style childhood home in Brookline, Massachusetts, to the huge mansion in Bronxville, New York; the winter getaway in Palm Beach, Florida; the classic townhouse in Georgetown, D.C.; and the summer home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts; President John F. Kennedy set the tone for stylish and luxurious residences.

Throw in a little Spanish Colonial, a dash of the Native American, terracotta roofs and arches. Voila! You get a picture of the wonderful Southwest style house plan blending into the desert landscape with its charm, warmth, and splashes of color in the interior and exterior designs.

Who would have thought that the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair would catapult the Prairie Style into prominence? High expectations for fresh, new designs were dashed when European forms dominated. Change was inevitable once a group of architects led by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright seized the moment and introduced the Prairie Style.

Remember when the Modern house, with its simplistic, geometrical design stuck out like a sore thumb in neighborhoods with traditionally designed homes? Those years are long gone as the style has gone mainstream and more homeowners are going for the benefits of a Modern house plan.

What started as a rest house in British India became the rage in the U.S. in the early 1900s. The bungalow style defined Americans’ desire for simple house plans that were affordable and cozy. At the bungalow’s height, when manufacturing was at a boom and cities were flourishing, young families wanted a permanent home, close to town yet away from the sights, sounds, and smells of the business districts. Today, as more young Americans are drawn to putting down roots near an urban environment, the bungalow style house has experienced a reawakening among Generation X and Y.

To build a home with the best garage plan, customize the plan based on your family's priorities, then discuss the garage plan with your builder before you build.

Not everyone lives with a view of the countryside or in a home with a huge yard of lush greenery, shrubs, and colorful flowers. So many suburban and urban dwellers embrace nature by incorporating an atrium, skylight, conservatory, or other feature in their new house plans for an airy, bright space that brings in the outdoors.