From Grandview to Newington

During our preliminary tender, I asked our tender presenter if the door on the upper level can be centered and aligned to the door on the ground floor.  One of the reasons I chose Grandview facade was because of the symmetry of the windows and doors in both levels.  If that cannot be achieved, then it's not gonna be the same as how I envisioned it to be. Some may not understand but for an OC like me, this is not acceptable (see drawing below). Carlisle said our request is not possible as there is a void in that area behind the door that they are unable to relocate. The void is there for the duct that runs downstairs in that area.

Another option we asked for was if we can remove one of the windows upstairs and convert the door to 3-panels. The void will still be there but at least I won't expect a symmetry and I'll be fine with it.  The two drawings below were done by hubby in photoshop so we can explain what we want to Carlisle better.

With this option, there is still a void area but it looks much better than what they initially suggested.

Carlisle said this option is still not possible.  They suggested to move the walk-in robe to the other end of the master bedroom. It would not be a walk-in robe anymore; instead, it would just be a built-in robe with sliding doors.  It will also be smaller than the original WIR.  And it would be chargeable!  Why would I pay extra for a downgrade? If it wasn't chargeable I would have agreed to it.

After days of arguing with them, we decided to change the facade to Newington.  This is actually one of my favourite Carlisle facades.  I like its Hamptons look but it was more expensive than Grandview... more than double its price! That is why we didn't choose this initially. 

With Newington, I don't have to worry about the symmetry.  There will still be a void on the right side but the 1st floor will have Sycon cladding and it's a 3-panel door so I think it would still look great. Hopefully there'll be no more issues with the facade.