WordPress Loop with different Column sizes

I don’t provide the full code solution, but I will give you the direction to solve your problem.

There are two ways to solve your problem:

1. Use two separated loop, the first one will have posts_per_page set to 1. The second one will have offset set to 1. It does the job but not optimal solution.
2. Use only one loop with a counter:
   • Set a $counter to 1 outside the while loop.
   • Increase $counter for 1 at the end of while loop, so it will increase every loop in while loop.
   • Check for current value of $counter before you echo the template
     • if $counter = 1, print the template for your featured post.
     • else? print the template for normal post (1/2 col)
   • You may need a wrapper for 2 column layout, you can print the opening div when you check for $counter = 1, right after the featured markup. For closing div, you can print it after the while loop end.

If you have any question, please let me know.