The merit and grand prize-winning houses in the Gold Nugget 3,500 to 3,999-square foot home category all have multiple rooms with specific purposes.
All five homes contain three or more bathrooms, three or more bedrooms and garages that fit three or more cars--but it's the nonstandard rooms that separate these winners from their competition.
Merit-winning Plan 1 Sterling Ridge - Premier in Las Vegas has two attached garages, an entry court, a foyer, a den, a large walk-in closet (and a smaller walk-in), a covered veranda and multiple vestibules. Its gathering room is connected to the kitchen with only a buffet in between. Denver's Haus Three, also a merit winner, has a kitchen, great room, nook and covered patio that relate to each other with minimal separation. Haus Three also has a loft, as well as a study that doubles as a sixth bedroom.
Merit winners Toll Brothers at Blackstone and La Vita at Orchard Hills continue the theme of using generous space wisely. The Peoria, Ariz., home merges indoors and outdoors with a covered patio that is connected to a living room and great room. The house also has a courtyard and a doorless second-story room simply labeled "bonus." La Vita, in Irvine, Calif., has an outdoor room with a fireplace, and an open-space kitchen, dining room and great room are on the other side of a set of glass doors. The home has a family retreat on the second level, and the prep kitchen/laundry room could be optioned as a high- heat kitchen or a craft room.
The Taipei, the grand-winner in Mercer Island, Wash., has a powder room, mud room, tech room, media room and a guest, or bonus, room. Of course, the home features standard rooms as well. With three bedrooms and four bathrooms (not counting the bonus and powder rooms, respectively), the category winner takes full advantage of its 3,571 square feet.
Gold Nugget Winners 2015: Best Homes Between 3,500 And 3,999 Square Feet
