Addition/architect's plans - feedback please!

[simpsongal]

We have drawings from our architect for our side addition!  I need y'alls expertise! 

Overview: We're in a center hall colonial.  We added a side screened porch a few years ago (about 18x 20).  This addition will be on the other side in the garage area (we're pushing the garage space ~8ft towards the street).  The addition is going to be about 8 ft wide x 23 ft length, mudroom, full bathroom on the first floor and French doors to a patio.  There will be a small bump out on the second floor for a master closet (we wanted to keep it at 1 story for cost and aesthetics, but we added the closet on the second story in hopes of getting a second closet in our master and keeping the addition balanced). 

I would especially appreciate feedback on the design of the second story addition.  The architect had the idea to do it almost like a cupola.  I'm concerned about making sure it looks integrated w/the design of our house and not just like a shed or something.  To that end, I suggested we do a 3 sided hip roof, add a weather vane, and maybe decorative vents on the sides.

ETA: I'm wrestling w/whether the new addition would look better w/a steep roof pitch and a dormer (e.g., this style).  The architect thinks the random steep pitch next to the lower pitch of the garage & house will not look good.

not a great pic, but just to give you an idea of the house from the front (lots of bushes cover the area where the addition will go).

The roof line on the addition will be about 2 ft higher than the garage (some difference is necessary b/c there are steps down to the garage from the house).

The small window where the bathroom will be is throwing me.  I'm a little concerned it's not enough light and that it will be ugly.  On the other hand, it would be completely obscured by bushes....

I'm thinking of adding a pergola or something one day on the patio near the lower garage side...I think that would help obscure the roofline and height differences in the back of the house

This is the first floor of the addition, existing garage, and garage bump out.  I thought about swapping the toilet & vanity but the window placement may make that an issue.  There's some exposed brick from the chimney there I may try to keep too.

nothing exciting - the new second floor master closet.  Unfortunately the door cannot be centered b/c the bedroom wall is there (he mocked this up before he took the measurement).

[lilac05]

I have no expertise to offer; however, I would go with the flatter roof option. With the right finishes, it shouldn’t look like a shed. I don’t think you need to add a weather vane to do that...but if you like it, then I don’t think it’s a bad idea.

As for the bathroom window, my personal preference would to be extend the height rather than the width, to keep it closer to the style of the rest of your windows. You’ll obviously just need to be aware of privacy for the room, especially if there’s a walkway right there.

[aprilsails]

I agree to stick with a lower pitch hipped roofline. I don’t like the heavy slant with your house, and the dormer windows would be expensive for no apparent use other then aesthetics. It would match the rest of the house.

For the bathroom I would do a skinny full height window with shutters and then put in white PVC shutters inside to block the bottom half of the window if you are worried about privacy. You could also just frost it since it is so heavily screened by the evergreens already.

[simpsongal]

aprilsails, lilac05, I talked to the architect this morning about doing a more traditional, longer skinnier window in the bathroom so it looks more in line w/the rest of our windows. He's going to draw it up. We'll hopefully flip the toilet an vanity and put the vanity along the fireplace wall (e.g., perpendicular to where the window will be). Hopefully that works! I'd like the ability to thin the bushes in front of our house w/o fear of exposing an ugly addition I think we'll stick w/the square little window in the second floor closet (I think it looks cute w/the scale of that area and I wouldn't want a large window in a closet)

We're also probably going to leave of cathedral ceilings, solar tubs, and skylights in the new area. I think it will get plenty of light w/the French doors, plus the ceilings will already be 9ft b/c of the higher roofline (whereas the rest of our house is 8ft).

We had a plumber come out this morning to look at our master bathroom plumbing and the addition - it sounds like an easier job than we were thinking (no jackhammering concrete!).