Courtesy of Highland Homes
Take a floor plan called the Palermo, which Highland debuted in 2024.
It features four bedrooms, a game room, a study, and an entertainment room. This floor plan, of about 4,500 square feet, can cost a buyer from about $900,000 to $1.3 million.
The Palermo floor plan features minimal circulation space, with rooms connected directly to one another. On the ground floor, for example, the family room and dining area flow into the kitchen and breakfast nook. The primary suite is also connected to the family room.
While a hallway connects bedroom four to a game room upstairs, the builder has added a closet there to better use the space.
“Eliminating traditional hallways in home design maximizes usable square footage and increases efficiency by allowing more flexibility in the layout,” Shurtleff said.
Courtesy of Highland Homes
Pictured above is Highland Homes’ 608 floor plan, a two-story home of about 4,500 square feet released in 2020. It costs between about $900,000 and $1.5 million.
The home’s entryway extends from the front door to the dining room. Along this path are the study, a curved stairway, the first garage, a bedroom, and the media room.
The outdoor living space and kitchen are accessible from the great room, while the courtyard and second garage can be reached through the kitchen.
“There’s really not any hallways downstairs,” Shurtleff said. “Upstairs, next to the staircase, you do have a bit of a hallway to bedroom three, but that is all open railing, with views to the foyer space below.”
Upstairs is a flexible suite that homeowners can customize based on what they need, whether it’s to accommodate aging parents or adult children. This suite, complete with a bathroom, can be entered directly from the game room.
“We do have buyers who will use this suite as a place for their parents to stay, either for a short- or long-term duration,” Shurtleff said. “We also have buyers who love this design for their older child who might be returning home from college before starting their careers.”