ᐅ Floor plan for a newly built two-story single-family house, 200 m² (2,150 sq ft)

ypg schrieb:

Evaluation process, usage intervals… that has nothing to do with living and lifestyle anymore.

Now I’m a bit puzzled. When I say that we “like” it this way, it’s not about just “liking” it. When I specify that we have already thought about who might use the bathroom, how often, in which combinations, and how that relates to who will clean it, how often, and with what effort, then making a decision based on that no longer has anything to do with “living and lifestyle.”

I’m starting to feel that there is a lack of understanding that other people have different ideas of “living and lifestyle” and can be satisfied and happy in ways different from one’s own.

ypg schrieb:

Good luck!

Thanks! We’ll definitely need it!

HaseUndIgel schrieb:

I’m starting to feel that there is a lack of understanding that other people have different ideas of "living and dwelling" and can be satisfied and happy in ways different from one’s own.

Not at all. I often and gladly help—especially those whose lifestyle is different from mine or who want or need their home arranged differently. I rarely insist with phrases like "this is how we do it, you should too, just look." But sometimes the fundamentals simply don’t work for some people, so I’m unable to help.

11ant schrieb:

The rigid-railed staircase and the squareness are the main flaws of the Anstattvilla.

Yes, your opinion on this can be found in many places online, and I’ve read several of your other posts on the topic. Are you actually the originator of the term “Anstattvilla”? Because I find it quite fitting.

11ant schrieb:

They also guarantee an excessive growth of the so-called “living area.”

That’s probably true, especially since a straight staircase really only fits efficiently if you plan around it from the start and don’t have dozens of other requirements for the entryway. A built-in wardrobe like a Harry Potter cupboard would at least create storage space, but we don’t want that either.

11ant schrieb:

This is the most common mistake made by non-professionals: planning the fulfillment of wishes and avoidance as if they were static phenomena.

11ant schrieb:

First-time home builders would do well to weigh the contributions of repeat builders roughly twice as heavily as those of others in all discussions.

That’s certainly good advice. Now for the “but”:
But I’ve noticed here in this thread and others that often it’s also about what you “should” want, and that homeowners tend to set the wrong priorities.

Of course I also like reading suggestions about how it is supposedly best to live in one’s house. But here, the professional really doesn’t have an advantage over the original poster, except possibly in overall life experience. That may be true especially considering the age difference I suspect exists between us and some of you. However, we also have many more home-experienced people around us with whom we discuss the planning, and when it comes to such questions, we trust their advice more.

The floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedrooms are one such topic. My wife and I wouldn’t mind them. We know this because we are already used to it. But it’s true that the kids might see it differently, which is why I’m having that aspect reconsidered in the design. Thanks to everyone who kept raising the issue!

Whether the straight staircase is more important to me than saving space that translates into 10, 20, or even 30 thousand euros, whether I prefer cleaning two bathroom faucets instead of one, or whether I want to send my dirty kids to shower upstairs or downstairs—that of course only we can decide in the end. And we will base that decision on how we intend to live in the house.

So please, keep the advice coming on topics like these, but don’t be offended if the answer is: No, we prefer to do it differently. These are individual decisions.

11ant schrieb:

Trickily, the degree of saturation with mere supposed perfection is revealed when the design starts to feel “final.”

I don’t hold any illusions about this (well, maybe a little). The first plan wasn’t perfect. The last plan I posted is better, but still far from perfect. Perfection would be if all our current and future needs were met. Even just for the next five years, it’s hard enough to separate what is truly a “need” from what is merely a “desire without deeper benefit.”

Even though I tell myself that our Anstattvilla came about almost by immaculate conception from our needs and external circumstances, that would of course be wrong. Many aspects of the design arise simply from our limited inventory of possible solutions, flavored with internet trends and what you see around you.
I’m sure 11ant knows this well because it applies to so many plans in this and other forums.

But—and this is the crucial point—it is good enough for us. Good enough for the zoning/building permit (planning permission), good enough for the budget, good enough for how we want to live there. I enjoy continuing to tinker with it, and I don’t rule out a complete redesign, but at present I don’t see what about the floor plan sufficiently bothers us to justify that. That is probably also because I only know the mediocrity of typical single-family house architecture.
Changing that won’t be possible through complaints of “so much space wasted.” But maybe someone here knows another thread where something better than “catalog quality” came out in the end. If I had an aha moment in that regard, that would indeed be a reason to try again from scratch. So I’d appreciate a nudge in that direction.

HaseUndIgel schrieb:

If I were to have an aha moment regarding this, that alone would be a reason to give it another try. So I would definitely appreciate a nudge in that direction.

But you can scroll and read on your own, right?!
Unfortunately, very few here share updates on what happened with the house they built from the forum. Chances are, you won’t do that either.

HaseUndIgel schrieb:

Yes, your opinion on this can be found in many places online, and I have read several of your other posts on the subject. Are you actually the originator of the term "substitute villa"? I find it very fitting. [ - ] It’s probably true that a straight staircase can only be efficiently accommodated if the design is planned around it from the start [ - ] and that often it’s about what people are "supposed to want," and that homeowners set the wrong priorities. Of course, I also enjoy reading suggestions about how people are believed to "have to live" in their homes.

With the term "substitute villa," I allow myself a slight ironic jab at the fact that, in my opinion, the supplier side mocks the residential wishes of aspiring lower middle-class buyers by promoting the trendy cube-shaped building type, bombarding them with fake noble appeals. Just look at the typical computer-generated images in advertisements, where these houses are shown as standalone units in parks (whereas, in reality, on both sides of the fence there is at least a three-meter (10 feet) gap—equivalent to a whole house width—up to the edge of the picture, and at least one BMW Z roadster stands under the carport pergola). A ceiling-high knee wall combined with a large package of included French balconies all around symbolize an excellent price-to-envy-factor ratio, and so on.

The straight, rigid staircase divides the floor plan into two riverbanks. If this axis continues through to a dining table, at least one "bay window" is guaranteed, scoring yet another bonus point in the architectural fashion bingo. Add a T-shaped bathroom, and Klaus Lage would sing, "Man, you’re really loved here." Regarding opinions about how one "should" live, I refrain from commenting. With my forty years of experience in planning private homes, however, I have insights about what makes sense where that often strongly contrast with the Pinterest world of many dreamers. Concerning the wrong priorities, as I already mentioned earlier, the confessions of repeat homebuilders should be weighted twice as much as the assumptions of the average audience.

Personally, I am a declared renter and share my professional experiences in a popularly understandable translation of general building design principles, also gladly in formats like the basement rule, the Barthel tips, or the Steinemantra; by generation, I am an early user of a computer mouse (and a Birkenbihl follower). To prevent the world from relying solely on my perspective, I also like to mention the diversity of my fellow building consultants. As a former window manufacturer and later dealer, I have also stood on the supplier side of the construction industry. "My" house is built from pumice stone blocks, the third player laughing in the singer’s dispute between aerated concrete and porous bricks. Ceterum censeo, the mansard roof shape also undeservingly leads a shadowy existence.

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ypg schrieb:

But you can browse and read yourself, right?!
Unfortunately, very few people here share what has happened with their forum house. You probably won’t do it either.

Why would they? After building a house, there’s plenty to keep you busy... Do students share with their teacher what has become of them?