ᐅ Floor Plan of a Single-Family Home with a Secondary Suite
Created on: 22 May 2017 10:40
Z
zwei&vierzig
Hello everyone,
We are in the process of building a house and, after much deliberation, have decided on the floor plans. I’d like to share the plans with you and look forward to your objective opinions.
Please do not comment on the kitchen layout. We are currently in the middle of kitchen planning, and the kitchen as shown on the plan will almost certainly not be implemented as is.
The plot has a steep slope from north to south (there is an 8-meter (26 feet) difference between the street and the lower boundary of the property) and a slight slope from east to west (this is the street side, with a 2-meter (6.5 feet) difference). Only the tenant of the basement apartment has access to the garden. Since the house turned out quite large, we decided to include a basement apartment to rent out. It has a separate entrance.
It was important for us to separate the living room from the kitchen and dining area because we have three cats, and I want to buy a nice sofa without worrying about destructive cat claws. Upstairs, we wanted a large hallway as a second living room. I’m not a fan of having TVs or computers in the children’s rooms.
There is no building permit/planning permission for the site. The garage will be built directly on the property boundary.
Building plan/restrictions
Plot size: 630 sqm (6,780 sq ft); plot width: 18 m (59 feet)
Slope: yes, steep south-facing slope
Building envelope, building line, and boundary:
Number of floors: basement/souterrain, two full floors, attic
Floor height: 2.80 m (9.2 feet)
Roof type: 25-degree hip roof
Architectural style: Swedish house (timber frame construction)
Orientation: south
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults and two children (not yet born)
Office: home office
Open or closed architecture: modern, but rather closed architecture
Open kitchen, kitchen island: large open kitchen with island; living room separate
Fireplace: planned
Balcony, roof terrace: large balcony with garden access and a small balcony on the bedroom
Garage: double garage
I hope I’ve covered all the important points upfront.
Best regards from the galaxy!
We are in the process of building a house and, after much deliberation, have decided on the floor plans. I’d like to share the plans with you and look forward to your objective opinions.
Please do not comment on the kitchen layout. We are currently in the middle of kitchen planning, and the kitchen as shown on the plan will almost certainly not be implemented as is.
The plot has a steep slope from north to south (there is an 8-meter (26 feet) difference between the street and the lower boundary of the property) and a slight slope from east to west (this is the street side, with a 2-meter (6.5 feet) difference). Only the tenant of the basement apartment has access to the garden. Since the house turned out quite large, we decided to include a basement apartment to rent out. It has a separate entrance.
It was important for us to separate the living room from the kitchen and dining area because we have three cats, and I want to buy a nice sofa without worrying about destructive cat claws. Upstairs, we wanted a large hallway as a second living room. I’m not a fan of having TVs or computers in the children’s rooms.
There is no building permit/planning permission for the site. The garage will be built directly on the property boundary.
Building plan/restrictions
Plot size: 630 sqm (6,780 sq ft); plot width: 18 m (59 feet)
Slope: yes, steep south-facing slope
Building envelope, building line, and boundary:
Number of floors: basement/souterrain, two full floors, attic
Floor height: 2.80 m (9.2 feet)
Roof type: 25-degree hip roof
Architectural style: Swedish house (timber frame construction)
Orientation: south
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults and two children (not yet born)
Office: home office
Open or closed architecture: modern, but rather closed architecture
Open kitchen, kitchen island: large open kitchen with island; living room separate
Fireplace: planned
Balcony, roof terrace: large balcony with garden access and a small balcony on the bedroom
Garage: double garage
I hope I’ve covered all the important points upfront.
Best regards from the galaxy!
Z
zwei&vierzig22 May 2017 16:21How would you plan that?
Cat breeding. Which breed would you like to raise?
I would plan the house as a single-family home without a secondary apartment. Spread over 3 floors, with a double garage placed next to the building.
Apart from that, take a look at the floor plan of the two-family house on the slope a bit further down. I like the idea of pushing the basement forward. That might be something for you as well. This way, the secondary apartment won’t be darkened, and the ground floor will have a balcony. Place the stairs to the garden on the side behind the garage so you don’t have to walk in front of the secondary apartment’s bedroom and part of the garden can be separated.
On the upper floor, consider shifting walls and possibly placing a guest room in the basement area under the garage.
I would plan the house as a single-family home without a secondary apartment. Spread over 3 floors, with a double garage placed next to the building.
Apart from that, take a look at the floor plan of the two-family house on the slope a bit further down. I like the idea of pushing the basement forward. That might be something for you as well. This way, the secondary apartment won’t be darkened, and the ground floor will have a balcony. Place the stairs to the garden on the side behind the garage so you don’t have to walk in front of the secondary apartment’s bedroom and part of the garden can be separated.
On the upper floor, consider shifting walls and possibly placing a guest room in the basement area under the garage.
I’m still missing a cross-section!
You don’t usually design split-level houses just by adding a regular extra floor without windows; instead, you have the option to stagger the levels.
Personally, I would never consider accessing my own garden only by stairs, especially since land and property are so expensive. Stairs pose too many risks for children—using the garden would feel more like going on a trip to the playground or park, always needing a picnic basket to keep the kids and yourself energized.
I’ve read something about an 8-meter (26 feet) slope with an additional 2-meter (6.5 feet) lateral drop—shouldn’t that allow for multiple garden levels?
In this design, it also seems better to place the exit to the granny flat near the entrance (east side?), so residents upstairs don’t always have to pass by the tenants’ outdoor seating area. Currently, the lower terrace isn’t really private or usable.
The granny flat itself lacks some storage space. I would design the kitchen near the entrance and place the bathroom closer to the bedroom.
Since the granny flat will be relatively compact, you could arrange half of it on the upper floor and use the other half as the parents’ area. The ground floor could be for the children’s bedrooms, and the basement for living and household spaces.
There are definitely more options than just an "either-or."
Best regards in brief
You don’t usually design split-level houses just by adding a regular extra floor without windows; instead, you have the option to stagger the levels.
Personally, I would never consider accessing my own garden only by stairs, especially since land and property are so expensive. Stairs pose too many risks for children—using the garden would feel more like going on a trip to the playground or park, always needing a picnic basket to keep the kids and yourself energized.
I’ve read something about an 8-meter (26 feet) slope with an additional 2-meter (6.5 feet) lateral drop—shouldn’t that allow for multiple garden levels?
In this design, it also seems better to place the exit to the granny flat near the entrance (east side?), so residents upstairs don’t always have to pass by the tenants’ outdoor seating area. Currently, the lower terrace isn’t really private or usable.
The granny flat itself lacks some storage space. I would design the kitchen near the entrance and place the bathroom closer to the bedroom.
Since the granny flat will be relatively compact, you could arrange half of it on the upper floor and use the other half as the parents’ area. The ground floor could be for the children’s bedrooms, and the basement for living and household spaces.
There are definitely more options than just an "either-or."
Best regards in brief
ypg schrieb:
I’m still missing a cross-section! Me too, me too!
And of course, representations of the plot as well.
At the moment, we don’t have any factual information to assess whether, for example, the garage can only be located facing the upper street.
ypg schrieb:
You don’t just design hillside houses with one extra story without windows; instead, you have options to shift the levels. [...] I read something about an 8-meter (26.25-foot) height difference and a 2-meter (6.5-foot) slope on the side—shouldn’t this allow for multiple garden terraces? That of course requires the willingness to accept the plot as it is. A Swedish-style house, a pyramid hip roof: some predetermined conditions really restrict the remaining design freedom. Here, a single-story house on level ground is supplemented with a basement apartment so it can be built on a sloped lot. To put it somewhat harshly, the basement apartment is used to fill out the slope. My late grandmother would have called that “Pomeranian feet in French shoes.”
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Z
zwei&vierzig22 May 2017 20:55haydee schrieb:
Cat breeding. Which breed would you like to breed?
I would plan the house as a single-family home without a basement apartment. Spread over 3 floors and place the double garage next to the building.
Apart from that, take a look at the floor plan of the two-family house on the slope a bit further down. I like the idea of pushing the basement forward a bit. That might also work for you. This way, the basement apartment is not darkened and the ground floor has a balcony. Place the stairs to the garden on the side behind the garage, so you don’t walk back and forth in front of the basement apartment’s bedroom and part of the garden can be separated.I was actually referring to @Tentakel with the question about how he would plan it.
The lot is only 18 meters wide (59 feet). If I plan a double garage (6 meters wide (20 feet)) next to the house, the house becomes too narrow. It was important to us to have the kitchen, dining area, and living room next to each other. We deliberately chose to live on two floors to avoid having living space on the staircase, which is unavoidable when living over three floors.
Moving the basement forward would cause problems with the slope. It would create a split-level situation (supporting that would be expensive).
The problem with the staircase is the 3-meter (10 feet) setback from the property line. That has already caused us quite a few sleepless nights.
“Move walls on the upper floor, maybe place a guest room in the basement room under the garage.” I like that idea. However, that should be my room and I don’t want to be too far away from the main living areas.
A basic question:
How far along are you with your plans? Have you only been experimenting on your own so far, or have you already been in contact with architects or other professional planners?
If it’s the former, I would strongly recommend the latter, especially for hillside construction.
How far along are you with your plans? Have you only been experimenting on your own so far, or have you already been in contact with architects or other professional planners?
If it’s the former, I would strongly recommend the latter, especially for hillside construction.
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