ChiefArchitect

Editor’s Choice The master bedroom, the kitchen, and the dining and living areas are along the southern wall of the house, which has lots of glass for natural daylighting, solar heat gain, and views of the property. The guest bedrooms and bathrooms are placed along the north wall. Editor’s Choice: Image 8

Best Traditional – 2nd Floor This updated bungalow plan offers a functional entry, private office, and semi-open living spaces downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs. Two covered screened-porches offer outdoor living in this hot-climate, neighborhood home. Best Traditional: Image 13

Best Traditional – 1st Floor This updated bungalow plan offers a functional entry, private office, and semi-open living spaces downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs. Two covered screened-porches offer outdoor living in this hot-climate, neighborhood home. Best Traditional: Image 12

Best Small Home – 2nd Floor This plan is designed with one goal in mind: to draw your attention towards the view. All of the living spaces downstairs and the bedroom and balcony above are arranged to provide a clear sightline towards the north-facing wall of glass doors and clear story windows which reveal a view of the Hudson River beyond. Best Small Home: Image 6

Best Small Home – 1st Floor This plan is designed with one goal in mind: to draw your attention towards the view. All of the living spaces downstairs and the bedroom and balcony above are arranged to provide a clear sightline towards the north-facing wall of glass doors and clear story windows which reveal a view of the Hudson River beyond. Best Small Home: Image 5

Best Remodel – 2nd Floor This remodeled plan has an inviting entry with a long view through the house. Transitional spaces are used well with a built-in office on the first floor and a linen closet upstairs. A social eat-in kitchen has plenty of breathing room below the private master suite. Best Remodel: Image 9

Best Remodel – 1st Floor This remodeled plan has an inviting entry with a long view through the house. Transitional spaces are used well with a built-in office on the first floor and a linen closet upstairs. A social eat-in kitchen has plenty of breathing room below the private master suite. Best Remodel: Image 8

Best New Home – 2nd Floor The four living spaces on the first floor and the four bedrooms on the second floor each occupy a corner of the home. This way each room has windows on two walls for views and cross ventilation. The mudroom annex offers a functional family entrance. Best New Home: Image 8

Best New Home – 1st Floor The four living spaces on the first floor and the four bedrooms on the second floor each occupy a corner of the home. This way each room has windows on two walls for views and cross ventilation. The mudroom annex offers a functional family entrance. Best New Home: Image 7

Best Energy Smart – 2nd Floor This split-level home has a single-story living wing and a two-story bedroom wing. The plan is simple and designed to provide the appropriate window orientation for passive solar heating and cooling. It also does an excellent job connecting interior and exterior spaces. Best Energy Smart: Image 6

Best Energy Smart – 1st Floor This split-level home has a single-story living wing and a two-story bedroom wing. The plan is simple and designed to provide the appropriate window orientation for passive solar heating and cooling. It also does an excellent job connecting interior and exterior spaces. Best Energy Smart: Image 5

Timothy (14 yrs old) won April's Aging in Place/Accessibility Design Contest! See more here. The prize package includes a Chief Architect water bottle, 8 GB USB drive, t-shirt, and one hour of personal training. Timothy is a full-time homeschooling student. He has been studying drafting and design at home using Chief Architect for about three years, along with AutoCad and Sketchup. He started with the X1 version his older brother learned on and we were able to switch to X7 with the help of our local school district’s sponsorship of our academic license. While the other packages seem to have their strengths, Timothy continues to emphasize working with Chief, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to use it for his studies at a reasonable cost. He has become quite proficient with the program, mostly thanks to your excellent training resources which allow him to self-pace and self-teach, and he is now able to do relatively complex designs in a wide array of scenarios, including both residential and commercial. We have been able to provide several real-world challenges that give him direction and goals and he has been a critical help for our family in evaluating various spaces we occupy, like the visualizations for the recent home we considered buying or the layouts of the old school building we currently live in and need to put a roof on, or the design for our company’s shop expansion, etc. This design project was interesting to him because we are considering making the school building into a granny-pod community, giving our local region an option for aging in place.