Modern House Designs

Modern house plans offer a great alternative to the more traditional styles. Even if you don't want to go all the way with an ultra-modern house plan, there are many modern-inspired house plans that are not too extreme in their appearance.

Modern house plans include a range of styles, ranging from the stereotypical "concrete, steel, and glass" look to subtle or exaggerated variations of historically older house plan styles.

Historians of architecture and house plan sellers often use somewhat different definitions of styles, especially in the more fragmented modern house plans category. One synonym that's often used for modern house plans is "contemporary house plans." While technically a subcategory of modern house plans, contemporary house plans seem to describe best what most people would intuitively describe as "modern".

Technically, the following styles are all modern styles:

Craftsman
Bungalow
French Eclectic
Art Deco/Art Moderne
A-Frame
Neo-Eclectic
Neo-Classical
Neo-Victorian
Neo-mediterranean
Neo-Colonial
Neo-"Anything"
Contemporary
Postmodern

Finding modern house plans can be a bit challenging because of the loose definition of the term, but after a few initial searches you should get a feel for which sites have better offerings than others. Keep in mind that a site with the largest number of plans is not necessarily the best resource.

There are specialist designers focusing on modern plans, who may offer you more interesting and individual designs and smarter service. It just requires a bit more digging to reach the smaller studios. That said, looking through a large site's collection of house plans can be a quick and efficient way to refine your ideas for what you seek in a modern plan.

Personally, I'm a big fan of modern house plans, because they tend to have larger windows and open floor plans, which provide a flexible and spacious living experience. Even if your house doesn't look like a "modern" house from the outside, the interior layout of modern house plans makes it worthwhile to take a look at them.