reject 'open plan' layouts?

I can't be the only persons who finds open plan design to have very important flaws. The fact that no one can enter the home without being on display to every one in the 'great room' or kitchen. Or the fact that it is impossible to move from one area of the house to another without walking right through other rooms. I grew up in an era when even small homes had entrance foyers and hallways that allowed someone to come home, enter the house and go up to their bedroom without having to 'meet and greet' every other person who happened to be in the house. I could get out of bed, walk down to the kitchen while half-dressed, and not have to worry about being seen by every other person in the house. I consider hallways to be an indespensible feature of a home; and one that I would never chose to live without.

We're now considering a 'modern' timber frame home (I realize that "modern" and "timber frame" are at odds w/ each other, but...) yet the only designs I find for timber homes with center hallways tend to be 4,000sf monsters. How about a 1,500sf center hall traditional design? Or go wild, any modern design you can imagine, just incorporate an entry foyer that leads to a hallway, so that family members do not have to cross through every room to enter or leave their home. Or am I the only one who still feels this way?   [I've heard enough complaints from open plan owners to know that I'm not the only one...]

it really depends what you call open plan design. it can be anything from just kitchen and living room being one space to the extremes of just one big hall with all the rooms in one, separated only by architectural features or furniture, instead of being wall enclosed. all i can say is, it depends on your life style. if you dont like to walk through living room/kitchen when you  enter your house to get to bedrooms, just place your entry in the center of the house, thus separating spaces into day and naight ones. this is also most functional and logical space division, that works for most of the people.  at this point, weather you keep kitchen open to living room, or chose to enclose it to keep your privacy while half naked is up to you. thats whay we have different houses, because we have choices. 

i'm sure you have considered designing the house yourself right? b/c truly, that's the only way to get what you want. sure, it's more work for yourself, but the end result is priceless! we have done this and while it was more expensive upfront (to pay an architect to draw it up as opposed to paying a flat rate for plans off the internet) and took us months to decide what we want, i can't imagine living in anything else. the rest of my life i will be able to say this was MY (well, OUR, if you count my husband) creation, made perfectly for US.

I really wanted an "open plan", in that, the living, kitchen, and dining are all open to each other. this allows for better entertaining and it matches how we live day to day. however, there is a small foyer, powder room, and stairway to upstairs bedrooms before you enter into this open space. This allows for private greeting or goodbyes and "avoiding the party" if company is over. But visually, nothing is closed in. There's no reason to not have best of both worlds. i could have searched plans for years and never found exactly what I wanted.