I have been tossing the idea of a house in the shape of a octagon with a courtyard in the centre. the problem is that you would have to go to the central stair case in the north trapezoid to access either of the floors, so if you are on the opposite side of the house, you have to walk all around the building just to go to the same room on the floor below. I could add a spiral stair case in every corner of the house, but that is expensive, and you would have to design the rooms to work around them. Another idea is to have two U shaped staircases with a landing at the bend to open the space, between two trapezoids, symmetrically place on both side of the octagon, but the idea seems to be to forced and not a natural progression of the building. for the same reason, i don't feel that a spiral stair case would fit naturally in a trapezoid. to help visualise the floor plan, each trapezoid has a function. The southern most trapezoid is the gate house, allowing a car to drive under neath and to the garage directly to the right ( the south-east trapezoid). The eastern most trapezoid is the master suite and bath (the entire second floor is designated to the bedroom while the ground floor is for the master bath and hallway between the garage and next trapezoid.). the next trapezoid (moving in a counter clock ways direction) is the living room with a second floor balcony looking down from the entire perimeter of the trapezoid. the north most trapezoid is the "grand entry" where the central staircase is located (this is the only room in the house with a circular design as the roof is made to be a dome and the stair case hugs the wall moving from the sides to the centre (like a horseshoe at a 45 degree angle) and to a balcony that leads to both sides of the dome and into the next trapezoid to give the entry a open atmosphere.). the trapezoid to the left is the kitchen with a mirrored layout to the living room. the kitchen set is on the outer wall and the dinning table is in the centre. the western most trapezoid are the two second floor bedrooms and the ground floor bathroom. the last trapezoid is the pool room/atrium. Both the garage and the pool room have a second floor balcony. the second floor of the gate house is used as a "bridge" between the south west/east trapezoids). i could describe the home in greater detail if requested. I may post pictures at a later time. if anyone could spitball with me, i would appreciate any input.