Atrium Breeze 3 features a sunny atrium, and a vaulted first floor. Like all of Ms. Coleman's designs, it was originally designed for a client who wanted an energy–efficient, passive solar home. You can build this house facing in whatever direction suits your needs, but if you're interested in building it as a passive solar home, please read the section below titled Passive Solar Info for specific information on orientation.

First Floor
A front courtyard brings you to a small deck and a covered entry. From the foyer, you can turn left into the second bedroom, which has its own full bath, or continue on past the stairs and coat closet to the atrium area. An optional 8'–high wall in this area can have a desk on one side, and a wood or pellet stove on the other facing the great room.

All of the rooms on this floor have vaulted ceilings (rising from 9' at the exterior walls to 14' at the edges of the atrium). The great room and dining area sit side by side, each separated from the centrally located kitchen by an angled breakfast bar. A pocket door in the kitchen leads to a unique working pantry that has its own sink and second dishwasher. Windows around the sunroom and along the outside walls of the great room and the dining area provide abundant views and natural light. Doors on either side of the dining area lead to decks and a large screened porch with a fireplace!

The master bedroom has his and hers closets, and the master bath has two separated sinks (one of which includes a vanity), a private toilet, and both a whirlpool tub and a large shower. Along the hallway between the kitchen and the garage there's a half bath and a mail and pet nook on the left, and a laundry room on the right.

Daylight Basement Option
The lower level of this house has two bedrooms that share a full bath, a craft/sewing room, an exercise area, a mechanical room, a kitchenette, and a den with an optional gas fireplace.

Garage
The garage can hold 3 vehicles, and has been expanded to have room around the edge for extra storage and workbenches. The optional greenhouse area is a great place for your outdoor plants in winter, especially if the garage is insulated. Pull down stairs lead to attic storage.

Passive Solar Info
To maximize its passive solar design, the front of the house should face northeast (or northwest if reversed). Tile flooring over cement board in the sunroom, great room, and dining area provide thermal mass, as does the concrete block wall around the master bedroom (which can be covered with tile, stone, or stucco. The 35 pages of specifications that come with these plans (see Please Note below) will give your builder precise details on all the passive solar issues pertinent to the construction of this house.

Construction Info
Rooms on the main floor that are not vaulted have 9' ceilings, and the basement has 10' walls.

The plans for this house call for 2x6 stud exterior walls. However, they can easily be changed to 2x4 stud walls by your builder, or to SIPs walls by a dealer in your area. If you plan to change the walls, we recommend that you purchase the plans in CAD format.

Foundation Info
This house was originally designed to have a basement foundation. However, if you prefer a crawlspace or a slab foundation, these are fairly simple and inexpensive changes that your builder can often make for you. If the basement design is not displayed in the Floor Plans, it's because it is unfinished.

Similar Versions Available
There are seven similar versions of this plan – Adirondack Atrium, Adirondack Atrium 2, Atrium, Atrium 2, Cottage Atrium, Garden Atrium, and Mountain Atrium – available on this site. For easy access to these other versions, click on the Architects button on the left side of any page in our website, and scroll down until you see Ms. Coleman's name and photo. Red links to each of her plans appear below her bio, in alphabetical order.

Please Note
Ms. Coleman's plans include 35 - 8.5"x11" pages of specifications to help your builder construct this house as it was designed. These technical specifications are organized to follow the CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) format, and apply to the various aspects of the home. They also include detailed information on numerous passive solar and energy–efficient aspects of home construction.