When looking for luxury house plans, make sure you pay attention to the many styles that are redefining modern homes in today’s marketplace. Emulating old styles from various cultural and environmental backgrounds creates an interesting combination of effects that can turn a nice house into a dream home.

Here, then, are four different styles that you should think about.

Neo-Colonial Styles

Homes that use Neo-Colonial styles differ from other luxury house plans in that they use an assortment of historical and cultural influences to make an established building. With its rectangular shape and double hung windows, these gorgeous homes emulate a romantic take on Colonial era homes.

The Neo-Eclectic Style

This style is unique in that it takes many styles and throws them in a blender, which can produce amazing results or a mishmash mess of generic looking garbage. Neo-Eclectics were first built in the ’60s, and the worst examples have earned the title McMansions by irritable homebuyers who don’t appreciate the rambling nature of their floorplans.

That being said, there are some homes built in the Neo-Eclectic style that are beautiful and clever in their reimagining of historical culture and joining of otherwise opposed styles in modern homemaking.

The Neo-Mediterranean Style

Taking its inspiration from Spain, Italy, Greece, and several other styles, the Neo-Mediterranean homes are beautiful enough to capture the imagination. These homes are known for their carved, heavy doors, red roof tiling and stucco siding. In several ways the Neo-Mediterranean looks very much like the Spanish Revival style that enjoyed a small resurgence in recent years.

French Colonial Styles

French Colonial style does the best job of conjuring a sense of time and place for individual homes. French Colonial homes are designed for the wet Caribbean climate, so they consist of a heavy timber frame made from brick, thin wooden columns, a long roof that hangs over the gallery or porch. They are also known for their lack of inner hallways.

The most interesting feature of one of these homes is that most rooms are accessible from the wraparound porch. Strangely, French Colonial homes have a notable lack of indoor hallways, presumably for some reason though no reason is readily available to be found. The setup of the French Colonials inspires, and it feels like traveling through time.

When considering purchasing luxury house plans, there are many styles to choose from. Neo-Eclectic is big and wild, Neo-Colonial and Neo-Mediterranean employ fun stylistic touches, and the French Colonial styles provide a great revival and a sense of time and place.

Whichever style you ultimately use, you’ll be sure to build your dream house properly by referring to the past and updating the old styles.

Whether you’re looking for luxury house plans or well designed house floor plans, there are plenty of online companies willing to sell you the latest and greatest in return for some cold, hard cash. Be careful and do some research on the companies you are interested in, and buy from the trusted web sources for great results and price.

Green construction methods are quickly gaining in popularity among homeowners and homebuilders alike. Incorporating even one of these methods or materials can greatly increase the indoor air quality and efficiency of your new home while helping the environment. Due to the green building trend, the availability of renewable building materials and builders who practice eco-friendly construction has been increasing, while the cost associated continues to decrease. Most house plans can easily be adapted for green building, making it easier than ever for homeowners to go green.

Here are several quick and easy ways to implement green building techniques in your new home:

Renewable Building Materials – Ask your builder about using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber, which is grown and harvested in an ecologically-sound manner, and are readily available at stores such as Lowes and Home Depot. Reclaimed materials, such as hardwood flooring, is another way to build a beautiful, yet environmentally friendly home.

Conservation – The easiest way to make sure your new homeplans are being built green is to check for the Energy Star rating on appliances and windows, and doors. Consider the use of tankless water heaters that only heat water on demand. Low-flow shower heads and toilets help with water conservation.

Healthy Home – Floors, shelving, and countertops should be built with Low-VOC materials improve your indoor air quality and reduce pollution. Children and people with pulmonary problems are especially sensitive to off-gassing from new home materials.

Landscaping with native or drought-resistant plants and preserving existing mature trees will help conserve water and minimize hot spots on the patio, house, and driveway. Native plants will require less pesticides and fertilizer as well.

Other ideas include installing green seal certified windows and doors, using foam insulation which can save up to 50% on energy bills, utilizing solar water heaters, compact fluorescent lighting, computer controlled vents that pull in fresh air.

Green home builders can by found by going to energystar.gov or the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Green site, nahbgreen.org