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Our Most Popular House Plan: Springwood, a 1,592 Square Foot Bungalow, and Why Buyers Over 55 Keep Choosing It
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Our Most Popular House Plan: Springwood, a 1,592 Square Foot Bungalow, and Why Buyers Over 55 Keep Choosing It
If this house looks familiar, it is because we have built it, or a close cousin of it, more times than any other plan we own. It is not big and it is not clever. It is a bungalow with the bedrooms in the right places, which turns out to be what most people over 55 are actually looking for.
Short version: Springwood is a 1,592 square foot, three-bedroom, two-bath bungalow, 58 feet wide by 48 deep, with a two-car garage, a 9-foot main ceiling vaulting to 12 in the great room, the primary suite at the back and the other two bedrooms across the house, and a full unfinished basement of the same area. Priced on your lot in Simcoe County, the conventional version has recently started around $560,000 and the ICF-with-radiant-floors version around $630,000, before the lot, permit fees, septic, driveway and HST; ask for the current number. The permit plans are free to download below.
The plan
What is included
| Standard | |
|---|---|
| Exterior | 4 ft stone skirt and full stone around the front door, horizontal wood siding on the front, vertical vinyl siding on sides and rear, post-and-beam entry detail, low-e argon windows |
| Interior | Hardwood throughout, travertine tile in wet areas, 5 inch baseboard and 2 3/4 inch casing, oak stair with wrought iron spindles to the basement, 12 ft vaulted great room |
| Kitchen and baths | Island, granite counters, soft-close cabinetry; corner whirlpool tub and glass shower in the ensuite |
| Basement | 1,592 sq ft unfinished, roughed in for a future bathroom, ready for a rec room or an in-law suite |
| Envelope options | Conventional 2×6 framing to Code, or ICF walls with hydronic radiant floors |
| Not included | The lot, permit and development fees, septic or sewer connection, well, driveway, landscaping, HST |
What it costs on your lot
Conventional construction has recently started around $560,000 and the ICF-plus-radiant-floor package around $630,000, on a serviced lot in Simcoe County, before the lot, permit fees, septic, driveway and HST. Those move with lumber, concrete and the Code, so treat them as a guide and ask us for the number this month. At 1,592 square feet they sit inside the ranges on cost to build a house in Ontario and cost to build a bungalow, and the HST rebate on a new build is worth running through the HST rebate calculator before you decide anything. The $70,000 difference between the two versions buys walls that never need a re-side, a basement that is warm and dry, and heating bills that are a fraction of the conventional house’s. ICF vs stick-built explains the trade.
Why bungalows keep winning with buyers over 55
- No stairs between the bedroom, the kitchen and the door. Everything on this plan is on one level, which is the whole of accessible design in one sentence.
- Split bedrooms: privacy for the owners, room for family, and a bedroom that can be an office without being beside the bed.
- A basement for the things a smaller footprint cannot hold: the workshop, the second living room, the suite for a parent or a kid who came back.
- A footprint that fits the lots people over 55 actually buy: a serviced lot in town or a rural acre, not a 40-foot subdivision lot.
- Lower running cost and maintenance; the roof and the walls are the house, and in the ICF version the walls are done forever.
As built
The permit plans
The permit set is free to download: Springwood building permit plans (PDF). Use them to price the house with us or with anyone else; a plan priced by three builders against the same drawings is the only honest comparison there is. Building permit drawings explains what the set contains, and dream home plans and ICF house plans have more of ours.
Related guides on this site
Sources and further reading
Questions people ask
What is the most popular house plan for buyers over 55 in Ontario?
A three-bedroom bungalow of about 1,500 to 1,700 square feet with split bedrooms, an open great room and kitchen, a two-car garage and a full basement. Springwood, our 1,592 square foot version, has been our most-built plan.
How much does the Springwood bungalow cost to build?
On your lot in Simcoe County, conventional construction has recently started around $560,000 and the ICF-with-radiant-floors version around $630,000, before the lot, permit fees, septic, driveway and HST. Ask for the current number; it moves with material costs.
Can I build this plan with another builder?
Yes. The permit plans are free to download, and pricing one set of drawings with three builders is the fairest comparison you can make.
Can the plan be modified?
Yes: mirrored for the lot, a larger garage, a covered rear porch, a finished basement or in-law suite, and the ICF envelope. Structural changes go through the designer; the basics are easy.
Have a plan already?
Send it to ICFhome.ca and we will tell you what it costs to build and where the drawing is spending money you may not want to spend.
Reviewed and updated October 2026. Costs are Ontario ranges, not quotes; code references are to the Ontario Building Code in force at that date.
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