ᐅ Floor Plan of a Narrow, Rectangular L-Shaped House on a Triangular Plot with an Oak Tree

Steven schrieb:
Hello Oakland

I really wish you a beautiful house. What you are planning is a compromise. It can’t be anything more than that. And this compromise will be expensive. Building a house is costly, and it often ends up costing more than planned.
Just something to think about: first, get a detailed cost estimate. Then calculate whether the loss from selling this unusual plot and buying a more reasonable one might be less than the additional cost of building this house compared to a “normal” one. I fear there will be plenty of headaches when realizing this project.
Maybe a nighttime chainsaw operation and paying the fine would be the cheaper option.

Steven

Hi Steven!

From the very beginning, we knew this wouldn’t be easy. The construction will be complex and expensive. That’s for sure.

We really wanted to build in this neighborhood. “Normal” plots are now offered and actually sold at average prices between 500 and 700 euros per square meter (about 46 to 65 dollars per square foot). We were well below that.

We insisted on building a detached house. A semi-detached or terraced house was simply out of the question for us. The latter, as a quasi-renovation case from the late 1960s, cost over 300,000 euros. New construction on a 220 square meter (2,368 square feet) plot starts at just over 400,000 euros at base prices. No joke! Aachen is very expensive compared to similarly sized cities.

Selling the plot is absolutely not an option. There simply are no alternatives. And a house in a neat new development like the one planned north of us is absolutely not acceptable.

The tree will stay. It will be great, believe me. We will even clad parts of the house with oak wood.

Best regards
Oakland

I think the project is great, and the floor plan is beautiful and unique!
You are practically blending into nature, which I really like. Those empty new-build gardens with nursery trees are nothing compared to such a magnificent showpiece!

My only concern would be: will you get enough natural light?

hemali2003 schrieb:
I really like the project, and the floor plan is beautiful and unique! You’re practically blending into nature, which I find really appealing. Those empty new development gardens with small nursery trees don’t compare to such a majestic specimen!!

My only concern would be: do you get enough light inside?

In winter, yes!

No, seriously: of course, the large oak tree blocks a lot of light when it’s in full leaf (is that the right way to say it?). On the other hand, it also provides plenty of shade. Thinking back to the extreme summer of 2018, that might not be such a bad thing after all.

If there was a place to be last year, it was at my parents’ under the apple trees. Trees provide natural cooling and shade, and in winter the leaves fall off.

Right, winter is probably still okay. And in spring and autumn it’s naturally a bit brighter anyway.

Make sure there is enough lighting inside.
We made the mistake of planning only pendant lights in the living room, which became too dim for us in the autumn afternoons (the living room mostly has west-facing windows), so we added additional lamps that illuminate the whole room better.

Oakland schrieb:

From the beginning, we knew this wouldn’t be easy. The construction will be complicated and expensive.

Hello Oakland

Clear statement, so make the most of it.
You asked for suggestions. That was mine. I wouldn’t do it. But you know what you’re getting into and want to push through. Then go for it!
And don’t let the guys and girls at the building department intimidate you. Usually, a compromise can be found.
I once had a dungaree-wearing, overzealous woman who wanted to make a mess of my property. Costs didn’t matter to her—I had to pay for it. Unbelievable. When I asked if she was serious, she told me she was keeping a close eye on me, would come by for inspections more often, and might even have aerial photos taken of my property. I ignored her fuss, did exactly what I planned (which was actually within the rules and not a construction measure). Eventually, she was transferred. I heard she had gone too far. Some kind of green fanatic with a hamster fixation.

Steven