ᐅ Floor Plan of a Single-Family Home with a Secondary Suite
Created on: 22 May 2017 10:40
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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!
Nordlys schrieb:
If she reads the quote above, she will rent it out.Why? The architect has probably already advised her of this, or if someone is looking into a granny flat / accessory dwelling unit, then also regarding the tax benefits.
Brief regards
I simply assume that two adults planning and paying for such a box-shaped house have already thought about why it should be like that and why an apartment is included. That’s none of my business either. The original poster is vague and evasive here; I don’t take the cat breeding seriously. She doesn’t have to disclose that here. Karsten
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zwei&vierzig24 May 2017 18:20Climbee schrieb:
Correct, "provided that the basement apartment is rented out"
But it seems that this is not planned at the moment...I only stated that I don’t have to rent out the basement apartment forever. As long as the mortgage is active, the basement apartment will be rented out, and yes, it’s not quite perfect yet.
Z
zwei&vierzig24 May 2017 18:26Climbee schrieb:
To be honest, I feel the house design lacks a clear concept...
You want a separate apartment, but you don’t intend to rent it out for now.
You also don’t want funding through the KfW program.
So why spend money on this separate apartment? With KfW, it makes sense because you can get the repayment bonus for two residential units. Sure, if you plan a granny flat anyway, you might take advantage of that.
But if you don’t want a KfW loan and don’t actually plan to rent out the separate apartment, why build it at all?
To start a cat breeding business far in the future? Although I wonder if the layout of a separate apartment really fits that purpose, but that’s a different matter…
Or to maybe, possibly have your in-laws as tenants someday?
Maybe, possibly, and under certain circumstances… I’m still not clear why this separate apartment is necessary.
Personally, that wouldn’t be enough reason to spend quite a bit of money on it.
You want a house planned for four people, but you don’t actually know if you will have the expected children.
And what if your last child turns out to be twins? Then the floor plan won’t work again…
Well, that applies to many here, and I always feel a bit uneasy about it.
Then I see a house design that looks more suited for a flat building plot being squeezed onto a hillside.
There are really great solutions for hillside sites!
I don’t want to go into the details of the room layout, but the whole concept doesn’t seem consistent to me. So here are just a few points to think about — or not:
Hillside location! That’s definitely a challenge. But there are quite creative solutions. Here, I don’t see a single idea that even remotely takes advantage of what such a site offers. For example:
- A mezzanine! Kitchen and dining area downstairs, with the living area upstairs connected by a mezzanine. That would also fit the narrow footprint better than placing the living spaces side by side. Plus, you can take full advantage of the usually unobstructed view on a hillside.
Maybe plan the children’s and parents’ areas on different levels. Parents behind the living area, children behind the kitchen or downstairs, and maybe a small room near the parents’ area that can be used as a nursery and later as an office.
Drywall construction offers many possibilities; I might not finish all rooms completely at first. A large room can serve as one or two children’s bedrooms that can be divided later—depending on how many children come (or don’t). The advantage is that the layout can be adjusted later if life changes (and instead of children, maybe the cat breeding business becomes a reality).
The same goes for the separate apartment: if you’re not going to use it right away, I would design it as part of the overall plan but not fully realize it yet. If the family grows (maybe 2 times 5 children?), you can reorganize accordingly and keep your options open.
Just some food for thought.
I think this house doesn’t suit the plot. The site is narrow and steep. You have to consider that to get the best result.
From my point of view, this design is still far from optimal; but if you really love it, then go ahead.Honestly, I don’t really understand why our desire to have children is being criticized here. Of course, it might take time or we might have to adopt. But does that mean I should only plan a bungalow?
No, there will be no cat breeding—though I admit the idea is amusing. We both have full-time jobs that keep us very busy. Honestly. The separate apartment is low priority for us; our main focus was on planning the living floors. The main living area downstairs is to be the family center—with dining, balcony, etc. Upstairs, the children will live with their own bathroom, “living room,” and their own space. If there are twins, they will likely share a bedroom.
As for the rest: I don’t quite understand what you find so problematic about the concept or what exactly you don’t like. Why should I build a narrow house? For what purpose? We deliberately decided to live on two floors. We tried many options and discarded many as well.
P.S. We also considered a mezzanine but consciously decided against it.
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zwei&vierzig24 May 2017 18:29ypg schrieb:
While I agree with Climbee on many points, I am surprised that in this design there is any doubt about whether the planned arrival of children will actually happen. I have noticed that 80% of the house designs presented here include two children’s bedrooms, even though no children are living there yet. And this usually applies to houses larger than 159 m² (1713 sq ft). It is never questioned whether the planned children’s rooms make sense, even though additional spaces like an office or hobby room are also planned. I often keep my thoughts to myself, but if the desire for two children exists, the children’s rooms should be planned. Just like here—I wouldn’t start a new build by leaving walls out, only to decide to build them after five years for a mid-term plan.
I have thought again about other options for the house, but I guess the original poster no longer feels like changing the concept. The granny flat is a given, as are the four staircases. Oh well, I am definitely open to ideas.
Since we don’t want to move into the basement and, from our point of view, it would be a complete waste of space to use the basement simply as storage, we wanted a granny flat. We live in an area where even a shoebox can be rented out.
zwei&vierzig schrieb:
Oh dear, I am definitely open to ideas.Made my day!
There has been little openness to ideas here so far.
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