ᐅ New construction of a single-family house, approximately 220 sqm. Please provide feedback on the floor plan.
Created on: 30 Jul 2020 13:05
I
idasb79
Hello everyone,
After quietly following this forum for a long time, I have now registered and would like to hear your opinions on our current planning status. The plan is to live in the house for about 15–20 years and then sell it.
So, here we go!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 620 m² (6676 sq ft)
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 12 m x 14 m (39 ft 4 in x 46 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 1 plus 1 garage
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: pitched roof
Orientation: north
Additional requirements: drainage ditch in front of the building envelope on the south side, 3 m wide (10 ft), with a planned 4 m wide (13 ft) crossing
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full stories
Number of occupants, age: 4 persons – 40, 41, 14, 14 years old
Guest bedrooms per year: none
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: kitchen island, semi-open with sliding door to dining area
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: yes, as a room divider between living and dining
Music/sound system wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: yes
Garage, carport: yes
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be included
House Design
Planner: do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why?
Large living area and master bedroom with walk-in closet and bathroom
Large kitchen
What do you dislike? Why?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner:
No cost estimate yet, as no contact has been made so far
Personal budget for the house, including fittings:
No idea yet
Preferred heating technology:
No preference, but if the combination with subsidies and so on is right, a geothermal heat pump would be welcome again. Otherwise, price-performance ratio should be good.
After quietly following this forum for a long time, I have now registered and would like to hear your opinions on our current planning status. The plan is to live in the house for about 15–20 years and then sell it.
So, here we go!
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 620 m² (6676 sq ft)
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 12 m x 14 m (39 ft 4 in x 46 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 1 plus 1 garage
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: pitched roof
Orientation: north
Additional requirements: drainage ditch in front of the building envelope on the south side, 3 m wide (10 ft), with a planned 4 m wide (13 ft) crossing
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: urban villa
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full stories
Number of occupants, age: 4 persons – 40, 41, 14, 14 years old
Guest bedrooms per year: none
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: kitchen island, semi-open with sliding door to dining area
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: yes, as a room divider between living and dining
Music/sound system wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: yes
Garage, carport: yes
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be included
House Design
Planner: do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why?
Large living area and master bedroom with walk-in closet and bathroom
Large kitchen
What do you dislike? Why?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner:
No cost estimate yet, as no contact has been made so far
Personal budget for the house, including fittings:
No idea yet
Preferred heating technology:
No preference, but if the combination with subsidies and so on is right, a geothermal heat pump would be welcome again. Otherwise, price-performance ratio should be good.
evelinoz schrieb:
Whether the children's rooms are 14 or 20 square meters (150 or 215 square feet) doesn't matter; they are now 14 years old, and by the time the house is finished, they will soon be moving out. That's why the size of the house surprises me, as it will soon be half empty.
I still find Hampshire's layout optimal—having a separate wing for the youth. This will most likely happen in at least 10 years, and a few years after that, we plan to sell the house anyway. Until then, we want to live in large rooms, even if we don’t fill all of them with furniture. We tend not to form emotional attachments to just a few stacked bricks, so it’s not nonsense to build only for about 15 years, as some suggest. Rather, it’s housing adapted to the specific stage of life.
idasb79 schrieb:
We have no emotional attachment to a few stacked stones, so it’s not nonsense to build something only for 15 years as some say; rather, it’s about living arrangements adapted to the respective stage of life. Not just reading but understanding
face26 schrieb:
You yourself wrote “living there for 15 years then selling.” Then I would also consider the resale aspects. Usually, I would consider that nonsense, but if you already have a concrete plan...
And I have to say, you have some disproportionate features that a buyer would have to like first. I said that I usually consider that nonsense. Normally, there is rarely a plan to sell the house again after only 10 or 15 years. Most homebuilders plan to live there for 30 or 40 years (or longer). Whether that actually happens remains to be seen.
That’s why I usually think it’s nonsense to build a house solely from a resale perspective. You should build it the way you like and what suits you.
In your case, however, there is a relatively short-term plan for the house. Therefore, I think it makes sense to keep resale in mind during the construction. That doesn’t mean designing it too specifically, because that can cause problems later when selling.
This does not mean that I consider the concept of selling again after 15 years nonsense. That is your life plan and it’s not my place to interfere.
But I imagine myself as a potential buyer walking through your house in 15 years. It won’t be the cheapest on the market—it’s large and has some square meters (square feet). But I’ll say to hell with it, I treat myself and I can afford it. So I’m impressed by the size of the ground floor. The big living-dining area. I frown at the two living room corners. I wonder why such a closed kitchen, but okay, maybe you can take down that wall. Then I walk upstairs and think, wow, what a huge landing, open the first kid’s room, and hear 10-year-old Torben-Hendrik from behind in his designer sneakers asking if this is supposed to be his walk-in closet?
Not entirely serious, just saying the proportions are not exactly mainstream and can sometimes be a disadvantage when selling.
H
hampshire31 Jul 2020 20:31It’s really fun to sketch around your own house. Here are my two cents:
Start drawing the upper floor and then move on to the basement. You have more requirements to accommodate upstairs. Let’s see how that develops.
That’s a rare thing to hear from German homeowners. Have you considered buying an existing property as well?
- Weekday breakfasts are short, rushed, but still social—somewhat hectic and bustling. For such a lifestyle, the kitchen space is worth it. Costs can quickly exceed 20,000 euros because of the large area it occupies.
- Watching TV is not usually a long family activity. People sit alone or in pairs in front of the screen—I guess at least one person is a sports fan and children prefer using their own devices.
- A sofa corner not oriented towards the TV suggests a sociable atmosphere that encourages interaction. It makes sense then to eliminate the TV altogether. With the seating arranged in the middle of the "L" shape, I imagine the coziness of sitting together won’t be at its best. Especially those facing into the room will have a lot of open space and potential "traffic" behind them, depending on the furniture (here, smaller pieces are drawn).
- Like many homeowners in 2020, you own a BMW E30. Bicycles probably aren’t the children’s thing—plus, the garage isn’t designed for that.
- Upstairs, the parents have a very private area, as if they finally want some peace and quiet. I totally get that—we kicked the kids out completely, now everyone has their own front door, bathroom, and kitchenette—and everything has become easier and better for all. We’re also spending more time together again. Consider whether a separate apartment for the two kids, which could later be rented out, might be a better and more resale-compatible solution.
- The living space is very large and there’s a lot of room between the zones. If the ceiling height is too low, it could feel oppressive. I would aim for around 3 meters (10 feet)—but that would make the already quite short staircase significantly longer. Some brainstorming makes sense here. An open space above to the “loft” would do little except allow noise from below to travel upstairs more easily.
- In any case, the children will pick up a lot of what’s happening downstairs—whether they want to or not.
- In contrast to the generous parents’ area and the wasteful use of square meters on the ground floor, the children’s rooms and bathroom are noticeably smaller.
Start drawing the upper floor and then move on to the basement. You have more requirements to accommodate upstairs. Let’s see how that develops.
idasb79 schrieb:
We have the characteristic of not forming any emotional attachment to a few stacked stones,
That’s a rare thing to hear from German homeowners. Have you considered buying an existing property as well?
Thank you for the comments!
I would like to emphasize again that the furniture shown is only a placeholder. Since I’m not very familiar with the design software used, I just chose the first available furniture pieces the program offered.
A nice 325i E30 would be great. Then I’d just need to get a gold chain. But the opposite is true. The garage will be used for everything, such as bicycles, but like our current garage, it will only see a car during longer absences. Unfortunately, due to the building permit / planning permission restrictions, we can’t build a larger garage without making the house too small.
If I roughly calculate, two children have a total of 15 + 15 + 10 = 40 square meters (sqm) of the upper floor. The two adults have 14 + 13 + 12 = 39 sqm of the upper floor for the master suite. I don’t see that the children are disadvantaged. For us as parents, this is even less than now, where we currently have 35 sqm sleeping area and 17 sqm bathroom.
Regarding the ground floor, what else should we include?
We don’t need a guest room because we don’t host overnight guests.
We also don’t need an additional office.
What we want are large areas where we don’t have to make too many compromises when furnishing.
I would like to emphasize again that the furniture shown is only a placeholder. Since I’m not very familiar with the design software used, I just chose the first available furniture pieces the program offered.
hampshire schrieb:This observation is accurate.
- Watching TV is not a major shared family activity. People tend to sit alone or in pairs in front of the TV – I assume at least one sports fan and children who prefer using their own screens.
hampshire schrieb:That is at least our plan—to avoid overcrowding the space with furniture. We want to be able to move freely without bumping into or having to move anything aside. The furnishing is not yet decided.
A sofa area that is not oriented towards the TV suggests a focus on social interaction. Consistently, the TV is then banned. With the TV positioned in the middle of the "L," I can imagine that the coziness of sitting together might not be optimal. Especially those sitting facing the room will, depending on the furniture arrangement (here rather small furniture pieces are shown), have a lot of open space and potential "traffic" behind them.
hampshire schrieb:
Like many homeowners in 2020, you have a BMW E30. Bicycles don’t seem to be the children’s thing – the garage is not designed for that.
A nice 325i E30 would be great. Then I’d just need to get a gold chain. But the opposite is true. The garage will be used for everything, such as bicycles, but like our current garage, it will only see a car during longer absences. Unfortunately, due to the building permit / planning permission restrictions, we can’t build a larger garage without making the house too small.
hampshire schrieb:
In contrast to the generous master suite and the lavish use of space on the ground floor, the children’s rooms and bathroom seem limited.
If I roughly calculate, two children have a total of 15 + 15 + 10 = 40 square meters (sqm) of the upper floor. The two adults have 14 + 13 + 12 = 39 sqm of the upper floor for the master suite. I don’t see that the children are disadvantaged. For us as parents, this is even less than now, where we currently have 35 sqm sleeping area and 17 sqm bathroom.
Regarding the ground floor, what else should we include?
We don’t need a guest room because we don’t host overnight guests.
We also don’t need an additional office.
What we want are large areas where we don’t have to make too many compromises when furnishing.
hampshire schrieb:
That is a rare statement from German homebuyers. Wouldn’t buying a resale property also be an option?We are 40 and 41 years old. I can’t imagine living in such a house for more than 15 years. My wife just said she can imagine it. A resale property is not an option, because after a few modifications, it usually ends up being more expensive than a new build. Apart from that, there are rarely resale properties of this size available as single-family homes.Similar topics