Bear Run Floor Plans: How to Narrow Down Which D.R. Horton Home Actually Fits You

Bear Run currently has seven D.R. Horton floor plans, from about 1,700 square feet to just over 3,000. That sounds like a lot to sort through, but I think we can narrow the list quickly.

The mistake is starting with "Which floor plan do I like best?" I'd start with a different question: how much house do you actually need, and what are you willing to pay for the things that matter to you?

Right now, D.R. Horton advertises the Lamar, Rhett, Riverside, Destin, Hawthorne, Camden and McKenzie in Bear Run. They're all single-story homes, but there's a real jump between the smaller plans in the $300s and the larger homes that move well into the $400s. That's why I wouldn't walk into Bear Run and tour every house available. I'd figure out which group you belong in first.

From D.R. Horton's published Bear Run information as of October 2026. Prices, specs and availability change.

If Three Bedrooms Are Enough, Start With the Lamar

The Lamar is the smallest plan in Bear Run, at about 1,706 square feet, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage. D.R. Horton advertises it starting in the $330s.

This is the plan I'd look at first if your priority is getting into new construction in Bear Run without paying for bedrooms and square footage you don't need. Buyers often underestimate how important that is.

New construction has a way of pulling people up the price ladder, because each step feels small. Another bedroom is only a little more. A bigger living area is only a little more. A three-car garage would be nice. Before long, you've added $75,000 or $100,000 to the price for space you didn't originally need.

There's nothing wrong with buying a bigger house if you'll use it. There's also nothing wrong with saying, "We need three bedrooms. Why are we buying five?" The Lamar may be the value play for a buyer who wants Bear Run and FORTIFIED Gold new construction but doesn't need the biggest house on the street.

The Rhett Is Where Bear Run Gets Interesting for a Lot of Buyers

The Rhett is about 1,835 square feet, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage, starting in the $350s. This is probably the first comparison I'd make very carefully.

At today's advertised starting prices, the difference between the Lamar and the Rhett is about $20,000. For that, you go from three bedrooms to four and gain about 129 square feet. That doesn't automatically make the Rhett the better deal, but it makes it worth a hard look.

A fourth bedroom gives you flexibility. It can be a bedroom, an office or a guest room. If you work from home and you're tired of pretending the dining table is an office, that room solves a real problem.

This is where I want you to think a little beyond today. Not twenty years out, because we don't need to buy a house for an imaginary future. But if another bedroom solves a real need for a relatively modest difference in price, it deserves consideration.

The Rhett isn't just a floor plan on paper, either. As I'm writing this, D.R. Horton has four Rhett homes available in Bear Run at $349,900 to $350,900, which makes it a big share of what buyers are actually seeing right now.

The Riverside Changes the Conversation

The Riverside is about 2,041 square feet, with five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a two-car garage, starting in the $360s.

This one catches my attention because of what happens to the bedroom and bathroom count without a huge jump in price from the Rhett. On paper, you go from four bedrooms and two baths to five bedrooms and three baths, and you add a little over 200 square feet.

That fifth bedroom won't matter to everyone. But a third full bathroom can matter a lot. If more people live in the house, you have frequent overnight guests, a relative stays with you, or you simply need more separation, I'd absolutely compare the Riverside with the Rhett before deciding 1,835 square feet is enough.

This is also where I'd caution you not to shop by square footage alone. Two hundred square feet doesn't sound dramatic, but how those feet are laid out can completely change how a house works. The published specs tell us the Riverside has five bedrooms and three baths. What I won't do from my desk is pretend to know whether you'll like the room placement and flow without walking it or studying the Bear Run plan with you.

One more reason to look at the actual home: the Riverside currently available on Yona Trail is listed at 2,180 square feet, not the 2,041 on the plan page. Specific homes can differ from the published plan, and that's exactly why we verify the address, not the brochure.

Then There's a Significant Jump to the Destin

The Destin is about 2,304 square feet, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a three-car garage, starting in the $410s. D.R. Horton currently has three Destin homes available in Bear Run at $410,900.

This is where the decision becomes fundamentally different. You aren't just paying for another bedroom. The Destin actually has one fewer bedroom than the Riverside. You're moving into a larger home with a three-car garage in a higher price range.

That third garage bay may be completely worth it. In South Alabama, garages become much more than a place to park. Boats, golf carts, freezers, tools, lawn equipment, a woodworking bench, storage and Christmas decorations all have to go somewhere. If you'll truly use that third bay, I'd treat it as real, usable space.

If you won't, I'd stop and ask whether moving from the $360s into the $410s gets you something you actually value. That's roughly a $50,000 difference in advertised starting price between the Riverside and the Destin. I don't make that jump because the Destin is "nicer." I make it because what the Destin gives you solves a problem worth paying for.

The Hawthorne Sits in an Interesting Spot

The Hawthorne is about 2,486 square feet, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a three-car garage, starting in the $425s.

At first glance, it looks like the natural step up from the Destin: the same bedroom count, the same bathroom count, the same three-car garage, about 182 more square feet, and roughly $15,000 more in advertised starting price.

That's exactly where I'd put the two plans side by side. Now we aren't deciding whether you need another bedroom or garage bay. We're deciding whether the extra space, and the way the Hawthorne uses it, is worth paying for. You can't make that choice well by looking only at total square footage.

If the extra space lands in the rooms you're always wishing were bigger, that can be money well spent. If it's in space you'd barely notice, the Destin may be the better buy.

It's also a good example of why I don't automatically tell buyers to buy the biggest house their lender approves. The goal isn't to win Bear Run. The goal is to buy the house that fits you, without paying for house you don't need.

The Camden Gives the Larger-Home Buyer a Different Combination

The Camden is about 2,785 square feet, with four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and a three-car garage, starting in the $450s.

At this point, we're firmly in a different price range from the Lamar, Rhett and Riverside, and I'd treat it that way. The Camden isn't simply "the bigger one." If you're looking at a new home in Bear Run around $450,000, you also need to look at what $450,000 buys in Saraland's existing-home market.

That's where my agent instincts kick in. If you love the Camden, wonderful. Now let's compare it with resale homes around $450,000. Does the resale option have more land, a pool, a workshop, a mature yard or a substantially larger house? Does the Bear Run home come with better financing through DHI Mortgage? How different are the insurance quotes, given that Bear Run homes are FORTIFIED Gold? What maintenance are you avoiding by buying new, and what improvements would you need to add after closing?

Once we're in the mid-$400s, the competition isn't just another D.R. Horton floor plan. It's everything else you could buy in Saraland for that money. That's a much more useful comparison.

And Then There's the McKenzie

The McKenzie is the largest plan in Bear Run, at about 3,076 square feet, with five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a two-car garage, starting in the $480s.

If you need a lot of house on one level, this plan belongs on the list: five bedrooms, more than 3,000 square feet and no stairs. That combination makes sense for buyers who truly use the space. Maybe two people work from home. Maybe a relative lives with you. Maybe you regularly host overnight guests. Or maybe you simply know from experience that 2,000 square feet doesn't work for the way your household lives. Fine. Then let's look at the McKenzie.

But I wouldn't move from a Rhett or a Riverside into a McKenzie because "we can afford it." At current advertised starting prices, that's roughly $130,000 more than a Rhett. That's real money. It affects your mortgage, your down payment, the interest you'll pay, and potentially your taxes and insurance. It also changes the competition you'll face when you sell someday, because you'll be selling in a different price range. I want to be able to explain exactly what that additional money is buying you.

The Garage Question Deserves More Attention Than It Gets

One interesting thing about the Bear Run lineup is that the biggest home doesn't have the biggest garage. The Destin, Hawthorne and Camden are advertised with three-car garages. The Lamar, Rhett, Riverside and McKenzie have two.

So if you need a three-car garage, you can eliminate four of the seven plans right away. That's useful. And if you don't care about a third bay, you should know that part of the price jump into those middle plans is paying for something you may not value nearly as much as another buyer would.

That's why I start with how you live, not with which elevation you think is prettiest.

The Bedroom Count Can Be Misleading Too

Bear Run offers everything from the three-bedroom Lamar to five-bedroom options in the Riverside and McKenzie. But I wouldn't just ask how many bedrooms you need. I'd ask what those rooms need to do.

There's a big difference between needing five true bedrooms and wanting three bedrooms plus an office and a guest room. If no one will ever sleep in bedroom five and what you really need is a quiet office, the location and privacy of that room may matter much more than the bedroom count on the brochure. For some households, separation between bedrooms matters. For others, having bedrooms close together matters more. If someone in the home needs easy bathroom access or extra privacy, that can matter more than square footage.

Those are things we'll need to see in the actual layouts. The published specs help us build the shortlist. They don't replace walking the homes.

How I'd Narrow Down Bear Run Before We Ever Tour It

If you only need three bedrooms and want to keep the price down, I start with the Lamar. If you want four bedrooms while staying in the mid-$300s, I start with the Rhett. If five bedrooms and three baths would make a real difference in how your household lives, without jumping into the $400s, the Riverside gets very interesting.

If a three-car garage is non-negotiable, we focus on the Destin, Hawthorne and Camden. And if you truly need more than 3,000 square feet and five bedrooms on one level, we look seriously at the McKenzie.

That doesn't tell us which one you should buy. It gets us from seven plans to the two or three that actually deserve your time, which is exactly what I want to accomplish before we go shopping.

Don't Overlook the Actual Inventory

There's an important difference between D.R. Horton's advertised starting prices and what's actually available. A plan may say "starting in the $330s," but the available house with the lot, elevation and selections you want may cost something different.

As I'm writing this, D.R. Horton lists four Rhett homes in Bear Run at $349,900 to $350,900, a five-bedroom Riverside at $365,900, three Destin homes at $410,900 and a Hawthorne at $425,900. Inventory changes as homes sell and new ones are released.

And as we covered in the financing post, the lowest price isn't automatically the best deal. One available home may come with a DHI Mortgage incentive that another doesn't. One may be finished and ready for the builder to move. Another may be months away. One lot may suit you better. One floor plan may save you $40,000 while doing everything you need. So I want to evaluate the floor plan and the actual inventory together.

The Best Floor Plan Isn't the Biggest One

This is the main thing I want you to take away. Bear Run offers a wide range: about 1,700 to a little over 3,000 square feet, three to five bedrooms, two to three and a half bathrooms, two- and three-car garages, and starting prices from the low $300s into the upper $400s.

That's enough variety that most buyers shouldn't have to compromise on everything important. It's also enough variety to spend a lot more than necessary if you walk in without knowing what matters to you.

Before we tour Bear Run, I want to know what you actually need. How many people will live in the house? Does anyone work from home? Do you need a guest room, or five true bedrooms? Do you care about a three-car garage? How long do you expect to live there? And what payment are you actually comfortable with, not just approved for? Then we can look at the floor plans through that lens.

Because the right question isn't "Which Bear Run floor plan is best?" There isn't one. The right question is "Which one gives me the house I need without paying for a bunch of house I don't?" That's worth answering before we ever walk through the model.