1-Story House Plan 713 ft²: 2 Beds, 1 Baths, Open Floor Plan, without Garage
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This house plan can be modified to fit your family’s lifestyle and your lot’s specifics.
Plan 55505R is a 2-bedroom single-story house plan of 713 ft², a compact cottage with bungalow and cabin character, set under a gable roof whose ridge runs parallel to the street. Siding wraps the exterior walls, and the 6/12 roof pitch gives the front a calm, traditional American profile. The house measures 36'5" wide and 36'5" deep, with a height of 17'8". As a small house plan with everything on one level, it is easy to heat, easy to keep and comfortable to live in through every season, whether as a first home, a place to downsize to or a quiet retreat for two.
The heart of the home is an open floor plan that joins the living area and the kitchen into one shared space, so the person cooking never has to leave the conversation. The kitchen is unusually large for a house of this size, with real room to work, store and move around, and a breakfast bar that serves as the morning coffee spot, a casual dinner table and a serving counter when friends come over. Without walls between the rooms, the space feels wider than the footprint suggests, and on a winter evening the whole room gathers around the same table.
The two bedrooms are clustered together in their own quiet part of the plan and share one full bathroom. One bedroom has a walk-in closet, so clothes and seasonal things stay out of sight and the room stays calm and uncluttered. The second bedroom works just as well as a children's room, a guest room or a home office, which makes this 2 bedroom layout flexible as family life changes.
At the back, a covered rear porch extends the living space outdoors, a sheltered place for a morning cup of coffee, a summer supper or a rainy afternoon with a book. The house stands on a crawl space foundation, and it is also available with a slab or a walkout basement on request. The exterior walls are framed with 2x4 wood studs, with 2x6 wood framing available as an option for thicker walls. The plan has no garage and no basement in its base version, which keeps the construction simple and the cottage house plan focused on what matters: an open, well-planned home with a generous kitchen and a covered porch.
Worth Reading
Can a Small House Skip the Building Permit? One Family's Path, Compared with Europe Some European countries let a modest family home go up after a simple notice. One family's story explains what that means for an American planning a compact house, and what actually speeds up a US permit. Read more →
Building Next to Your Parents: Lot Splits in the US, Canada, Germany and Poland Building on part of a parent's land can save you the price of a lot, but only if the split works on paper. Here is how the process runs in the US, what Canada, Germany and Poland do differently, and how to pick a plan for the smaller parcel. Read more →
7 Layout Tricks That Make a Small House Plan Feel Bigger, Learned From 4 Countries Builders in Canada, Germany and Poland have long worked with homes under 1,100 square feet. Here are seven layout tricks they use, and what they mean for a compact family home in the US. Read more →