Better Homes and Gardens Architectural Home Designer [Download] [OLD VERSION]

Name: Better Homes and Gardens Architectural Home Designer [Download] [OLD VERSION]
SKU: 67186
Availability: InStock

4 | 13 ratings

Price: 199.99

Last update: 07-08-2024

About this item

Arrange wall, windows, doors, decks, and automatically generate 3D models
Change colors, rooms, kitchens, baths, and create your own cabinets
Visualize flooring styles, countertops, new interior design styles and more
3,200 new realistic plants with plant encyclopedia data to help you choose the right plant for your design
Identify your costs and materials for your next project before you begin

Product information

ASIN

B00194DRWY

Release date

January 15, 2008

Customer Reviews

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

4.0 out of 5 stars

Best Sellers Rank

#415 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
#4 in Home Design (Software)

Countries

Return Policy

This product is non-returnable and non-refundable.

By placing your order, you agree to our Games and Software Terms of Use.

Type of item

Software Download

Item model number

AD80-XN-0AZ1

Manufacturer

Chief Architect

Date First Available

May 7, 2008

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer

A lot of fun and very helpful

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2008

Although there are some minor glitches or inconveniences this is an addicting program for anyone interested in making changes or buying a new place. It is very easy to plot out a floor plan and view it from any angle (inside or outside) in 3 dimensions. My guess is that the higher version is a lot more flexible but this version was way better than I expected and all that is needed for the amateur.

Cartoon Head

An excellent tool to create MOST floor plans and visualize projects

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2008

I'm an amateur architect (never pursued a degree but have been designing and have helped build renovations, additions, custom furniture, etc.), so I was eager to finally get myself a good, cheap CAD design tool. I was very pleased by this program, and it does MOST of what you'll need it to do.

The only frustrating parts were the floor limitation (1 basement and 2 other floors max, it auto-generates a plain open "attic" for you), and the roof concepts (to create 2nd floor dormers, extend a roof from the 1st floor, put your knee-wall in the right position and it will automatically take of its height). You'll also need to be creative with the use of invisible walls to solve a lot of issues.

It is extremely important to play around with simple test models. I had a difficult multi-angle roof additiona that I wanted to do and it always auto-generated the roof in the wrong ways. So I built a dummy version with just that room and a dummy box for the main house, and it became a lot easier to understand what the roof parameters meant.

For visualizing additions, it's great. There are a lot of items in the library, and online you can get a lot more free bonus content (note that the bulk of the bonus content is in the first "Download Now" link -- easy to overlook). And never forget that you can always select geometric shapes from the library and texture them as needed -- great to manually create single steps vs. using the stair tool.

Some things like huge half-round windows are provided too, but they aren't entirely flexible and the library selection is limited to some basic types. You need to upgrade to the Pro version to get full control over fancier windows, but most standard windows are easily generated in this version.

The terrain editor can also be a little frustrating, especially if your yard is sloped and tiered like mine. Play around with Flat Regions and Elevation Lines. (Pro gets you Elevation Splines which auto-curve.) And the way to create stairs will take some experimentation (clicking between 2 sets of stair to generate a landing, definitely see the tutorial about this).

But it's a great tool for visualizing rooms, trying different paint colors, etc. For MOST purposes, this version will be just fine.

For about $300 more, the Pro version gets you a lot more flexibility with editing windows (any configuration possible and editable), better terrain control, and the ability to manually generate and connect roof surfaces, and no limit on how many floors your house can have (great if you have a finished attic).

The tutorials are good, but sometimes they are version-specific and refer to things you can only do in the Pro version! THAT is frustrating and I should really take away a star for it.

Overall, it's a well made product, easy to navigate, and relatively quick to learn. For most home projects and visualizations, it will serve you well.

But if you're an aspiring or amateur architect, you WILL want to upgrade to the Pro version very quickly. So just expect that expense will be coming soon afterwards. (BTW, they do offer occassional special deals for upgrading, so just watch for them.)

Have fun!

Bill C

Very Shallow Offering. Disappointed with Usefullness

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2013

Not a design product to make useful plans with. It may help someone to define rudimentary features of a plan but the results may be only helpful to discussions with an architect. This product will not take you far in definng what you want.

Purchaser

Nice views of plans, difficult to use in detail

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2009

I have had surprising difficulty learning to use this software, or at least making it work the way I need it to. Simply adjusting dimensions is not a easy as they suggest, not with precision; I cannot add floor or ceiling molding in parts of a room, just the entire room; can't flip the arrangement of standard items such as tubs; can't click and modify room labeling; etc etc. Also: be warned that their advertising video describes the capabilities of their full, most expensive software; my version does not include all of those capabilities. Even their training videos describe capabilities my software does not have, so that's really frustrating. That sort of advertising should not be allowed, in my opinion. The 3D walkthroughs are nice, and that is what I wanted the software to do. This is OK software, but be aware of its limitations and difficulties learning it.

J. Barczak

Powerful, but a bit frustrating

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2008

I bought this product to make a model of our existing home and property so I could plan some projects like a new master bath, garage, and landscaping.

We have a 60 yr old 1.5 story cape cod with dormers off the front and back + a 1 story addition. I viewed the video tutorials and refered to the User's guide as I made the first story and the basement in the software and everything worked pretty well. However, when I tried to make the complicated roof and 2nd story I ran into alot of trouble. The auto roof build feature might work well for a standard roof, but was a real pain for me. I viewed information in the forums and the other web resources and found alot of helpful information on dormers and Cape Cod designs, but nothing about my specific situation.

I have a help ticket in right now with their technical group and hopefully they will find a way to make my roof and 2nd story. I don't really want to spend another $250 for the full version.

Other notes - The 3D views and walkthroughs are very cool, but don't look as good as the pictures on the box. The landscape tools are straightforward, but I am having trouble with some items showing up in certain views.

Skully

Great for the price

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2008

I have had this product for two weeks now and just completed my first home. Not knowing anything about CAD software or architecture I was worried that this would prove extremely difficult.

Using this program was a breeze because I was able to just drag and drop doors, windows, walls into my plan. I was able to use the mouse to stretch and change the direction.

I was able to include my partner in choosing colors for the walls and floor tiles, we switched floor tiles about one hundred times before we arrived at the look we wanted.

I would recommend this program to anyone who is thinking of building or renovating a home, who is good with computers but not necessarily experienced with CAD software or Architecture.

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