ᐅ Single-family house floor plan, 200 m², 2 full stories, garage, no basement

We kindly ask for your feedback on our spacious floor plan.

Development Plan / Restrictions
In principle, we have no known or limiting restrictions; our community is VERY flexible!

Plot size: 3,700m2 (39,826 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: unknown
Floor area ratio: no requirements
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: no requirements
Edge setbacks: 3m (10 ft)
Number of parking spaces: no requirements
Number of floors: no requirements
Roof type: no requirements
Architectural style: no requirements
Orientation: no requirements
Maximum height / limits: no requirements
Other requirements: none

Homeowners' Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: single-family house, flat shed roof (attic not usable, nor desired)
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults, planned 2 children
Space requirements by floor:

• Ground floor: kitchen, dining, living room, office, utility room
• Upper floor: 2 children's rooms with children's bathroom, parents’ bedroom with en-suite, hobby room, laundry room

Office: mainly for home office
Guest overnight stays per year: about 14 nights per year, 2 persons in the office
Open or closed architecture: semi-open
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 6–8
Fireplace: small stove, possibly a wood-burning stove
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage
Usable garden, greenhouse: garden

House design
Origin of the planning:
Do-it-yourself and then architect

What do you particularly like? Why?
Structurally, it is a very good floor plan because the load-bearing walls are stacked. Equal-sized children’s rooms, each with one window. Children’s rooms not adjacent to parents’ bedroom. Living room separated. Since the south side cannot be built on, we especially like the window front. The large kitchen.

What do you dislike? Why?

• The walking distances may be long, for example from the living room to the toilet or from the kitchen to the upper floor.
• The parents’ bedroom and the built-in wardrobe wall. We already had wardrobes placed between the bed and bathroom, but at most a corner wardrobe fits there.
• The children’s bathroom layout is still not ideal, in our opinion.
• Placement of the stove.

Cost estimate according to architect/planner: only a verbal statement, turnkey (not yet finalized) about €3,500 per m2 (approx. $325 per sq ft) of living space
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: €850,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal energy

If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
-can you do without: at most the parents’ bathroom. Then, however, a shower would have to be added to the downstairs toilet. That would significantly change things.
-can you not do without: office and hobby room, attached garage, all other rooms

Why has the design ended up as it is now?
We designed it by hand and a planner worked it out with us. This is essentially the first draft. The wishes were implemented. We spent a lot of time beforehand working on floor plans. We carefully thought about which rooms we need and definitely need every one of them.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Any improvements? Is it practical? What would you do differently?

Thank you very much.

Well, why not?!
The kids’ bathroom definitely still needs improvement. But that should be doable.
Otherwise, I don’t see any major flaws that would make living here impossible, but...:

Unfortunately, the house isn’t very welcoming. A single door leads into the living area, and from there, a narrow passage is hidden that goes to the chill-out room. The hallway on the ground floor is long and narrow – I would definitely skip the storage under the stairs and open up that space to bring in light and a feeling of openness. The guest toilet and coat area could be a bit smaller. With so much space, I miss having a bathtub.

Overall, I don’t see what would make this place so expensive, aside from the astronomical kitchen. I would expect things like hardwood flooring, smart home features, and so on included.

Hmm. If you have the budget?
I’ll take a guess and say that what you’re planning for 200m² (2150 sq ft) can also fit into 155m² (1670 sq ft)...

Guest bathroom. Almost 5m² (54 sq ft) for a toilet and a sink? The rest is a dance floor? Similar with the 12m² (130 sq ft) utility/storage room. Why do you need a second utility room upstairs? Then you’re already close to 20m² (215 sq ft) of utility space. Your living room is smaller than that.

A huge kitchen, but I don’t understand it. Is the counter supposed to double as the dining table? Fine for everyday use. But at parties, do you want guests sitting right next to the stovetop? In the grease and steam?

Then a tiny master bathroom with 7m² (75 sq ft), just to fit a kids’ bathroom in as well...

It’s doable. But you’re not making the most of your budget; every square meter costs at least 2,500 EUR.

Unfortunately, I don’t find it very attractive either, and if I had to move into the house, I would probably start by removing a few walls—specifically the central wall in the hallway. The hallway gives off the feeling of a rental apartment from the 1980s, no matter the floor.

Did the architect say anything about the staircase, which seems to have more mortar or concrete around it than all the staircase discussions here from the past 10 years? You walk into walls on both the ground floor and the upper floor. The stairwell is also bricked up, making it impossible to move furniture up or down.

The south side doesn’t get any sunlight through the nice panoramic windows… although it does receive some in winter.

hausbauer_93 schrieb:

conservative or modern construction method: modern

I don’t see that at all inside.

And the island is also a bit too much: you can’t even reach around it… one thing is too little, the other too much. The roof is modern, the interior outdated.

Did I miss the answer regarding the budget? How wide is the house?

hanghaus2023 schrieb:

Did I miss the answer about the budget? How wide is the house?

3,500€ per m² (≈325 sq ft) of living space. Personal price limit for the house, including fittings: 850,000€