ᐅ Single-family house ~200 m² floor plan design on a gentle slope
Created on: 23 Dec 2025 17:18
H
huhxkux
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 512 m² (5509 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: N/A
Building setback lines, building line, and boundaries: See overview
Edge development: N/A
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: N/A
Garden orientation: West
Maximum heights / limits: 9 m (30 ft) ridge height from a specific terrain point on the plot
Additional requirements
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Single-family house, 2 full floors, gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement yes, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: Currently 3, soon 4, planned 5 → Persons: 2 adults over 30, 1 child (1 year), 1 unborn, 1 planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: Kitchen (with pantry if possible), dining area, living room, toilet, utility room.
UF: 3 children’s rooms, 1 storage room.
GF or UF: Parents’ area with private bathroom, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: About 40 nights per year (3x parents and siblings live far away)
Open or closed architecture: Open?
Conservative or modern construction style: ???
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island desired
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Yes, near the TV
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Yes, 1 garage in the house and either another garage or carport next to the house
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: N/A
House Design
Planning by: Architect
What do you like most? Why? We like almost everything in the floor plan very much, especially the option to use the office upstairs while the children are small and move the office downstairs, and then later move it back downstairs when the children are older.
What do you not like? Why? Only minor details that we would still like to adjust. As nothing will be revised over Christmas, feel free to point out anything we might have missed.
Price estimate by architect/planner: €790,000 including additional costs / photovoltaic / kitchen / driveway / terrace, excluding finished basement apartment
Personal price limit for the house including features: €800,000
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up on certain details / expansions
- What can you do without: Basement (but ideally not because of the slope), basement apartment (guest room would otherwise suffice)
- What you cannot do without: 2 shower bathrooms for parents/children, straight staircase
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
For example:
At first, we really wanted to build simply without a basement to avoid exceeding our budget. The initial plans, however, had very steep driveways or the driveway was on the south side. Since we have been reading intensively here for many months, we decided to hire a surveyor because of the slight slope to clarify the planning. And yes, what can I say—our plot became a victim of the “11ant’s basement rule” 😱. Consequently, we continued planning, a bit smaller but this time with a basement. As we do not really need the space in the basement, we now have a basement apartment prepared for finishing, where we would initially only complete the bathroom and finish the rest ourselves. To have a parking space already, the garage was placed inside the house.
We thought a lot about whether we wanted a proper hallway. In the end, we left it open in the current plan because the designs with a hallway made the kitchen and dining areas feel very tight.
The furniture positions in the floor plan are only examples, and we would probably still adjust a few things, for example, arranging the kitchen in an L-shape with a passage through a cabinet to the pantry, or possibly placing the sofa more in the corner of the living room and slightly moving the corresponding window with a lower sill height forward. Also, the terrace should only be on the west side with doors leading out from both the kitchen and dining area. The south side of the dining area would have a fixed window only.
Since we are now slowly moving towards signing the contract, I would like to get your feedback on whether it makes sense to change or add anything and include it in the offer, or if we should reconsider the floor plan entirely.
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
UG:
GF:
UF:
Attic:
North view:
East view:
South view:
West view:
Plot size: 512 m² (5509 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: N/A
Building setback lines, building line, and boundaries: See overview
Edge development: N/A
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: N/A
Garden orientation: West
Maximum heights / limits: 9 m (30 ft) ridge height from a specific terrain point on the plot
Additional requirements
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Single-family house, 2 full floors, gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement yes, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: Currently 3, soon 4, planned 5 → Persons: 2 adults over 30, 1 child (1 year), 1 unborn, 1 planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: Kitchen (with pantry if possible), dining area, living room, toilet, utility room.
UF: 3 children’s rooms, 1 storage room.
GF or UF: Parents’ area with private bathroom, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: About 40 nights per year (3x parents and siblings live far away)
Open or closed architecture: Open?
Conservative or modern construction style: ???
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island desired
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Yes, near the TV
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Yes, 1 garage in the house and either another garage or carport next to the house
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: N/A
House Design
Planning by: Architect
What do you like most? Why? We like almost everything in the floor plan very much, especially the option to use the office upstairs while the children are small and move the office downstairs, and then later move it back downstairs when the children are older.
What do you not like? Why? Only minor details that we would still like to adjust. As nothing will be revised over Christmas, feel free to point out anything we might have missed.
Price estimate by architect/planner: €790,000 including additional costs / photovoltaic / kitchen / driveway / terrace, excluding finished basement apartment
Personal price limit for the house including features: €800,000
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up on certain details / expansions
- What can you do without: Basement (but ideally not because of the slope), basement apartment (guest room would otherwise suffice)
- What you cannot do without: 2 shower bathrooms for parents/children, straight staircase
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
For example:
At first, we really wanted to build simply without a basement to avoid exceeding our budget. The initial plans, however, had very steep driveways or the driveway was on the south side. Since we have been reading intensively here for many months, we decided to hire a surveyor because of the slight slope to clarify the planning. And yes, what can I say—our plot became a victim of the “11ant’s basement rule” 😱. Consequently, we continued planning, a bit smaller but this time with a basement. As we do not really need the space in the basement, we now have a basement apartment prepared for finishing, where we would initially only complete the bathroom and finish the rest ourselves. To have a parking space already, the garage was placed inside the house.
We thought a lot about whether we wanted a proper hallway. In the end, we left it open in the current plan because the designs with a hallway made the kitchen and dining areas feel very tight.
The furniture positions in the floor plan are only examples, and we would probably still adjust a few things, for example, arranging the kitchen in an L-shape with a passage through a cabinet to the pantry, or possibly placing the sofa more in the corner of the living room and slightly moving the corresponding window with a lower sill height forward. Also, the terrace should only be on the west side with doors leading out from both the kitchen and dining area. The south side of the dining area would have a fixed window only.
Since we are now slowly moving towards signing the contract, I would like to get your feedback on whether it makes sense to change or add anything and include it in the offer, or if we should reconsider the floor plan entirely.
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
UG:
GF:
UF:
Attic:
North view:
East view:
South view:
West view:
huhxkux schrieb:
I would question whether a second door to the utility room is really necessary.You could also omit the one in the kitchen. A proper door from the hallway ensures, among other things, the transport of laundry. A pantry door would be narrower. huhxkux schrieb:
A walk-in shower will no longer be possible.That is still possible.M
MachsSelbst28 Dec 2025 21:23No, you are dealing with a much larger volume, as usually there is an additional excavation of 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) beyond each side of the house. For the basement, this extra space is used as a working area along the exterior walls; for the slab on grade, it serves as a workspace for scaffolding, construction machinery, and so on.
That’s why for a house measuring 10x10x1 meter (33x33x3 feet), you don’t excavate just 100 m³ (3,530 ft³) but rather 12x12 meters (39x39 feet) or even 14x14 meters (46x46 feet), which is 196 m² (2,111 ft²). This then corresponds to approximately 400 m³ (14,120 ft³) of loosened soil...
That’s why for a house measuring 10x10x1 meter (33x33x3 feet), you don’t excavate just 100 m³ (3,530 ft³) but rather 12x12 meters (39x39 feet) or even 14x14 meters (46x46 feet), which is 196 m² (2,111 ft²). This then corresponds to approximately 400 m³ (14,120 ft³) of loosened soil...
Thank you for asking specifically if there was anything I would prefer. However, that is too much praise, as I am far from being an ambitious amateur when it comes to floor plans. I only want to share ideas and observations that catch my attention, based solely on personal experience.
I am somewhat more familiar with building services engineering. So, if you decide on something good despite the local "recommendations," that is totally fine and correct. After all, you are building for yourselves, not for others. My intention is only to help avoid any blind spots.
I am somewhat more familiar with building services engineering. So, if you decide on something good despite the local "recommendations," that is totally fine and correct. After all, you are building for yourselves, not for others. My intention is only to help avoid any blind spots.
MachsSelbst schrieb:
No, it’s actually much more. Usually, an over-excavation of 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) per side of the house is dug out. For the basement, this is done as a workspace along the exterior wall, and for the slab, simply as a working area for scaffolding, construction machinery, etc.
So, for a house measuring 10 x 10 x 1 meter (33 x 33 x 3 feet), you don’t excavate just 100 cubic meters (3,530 cubic feet), but more like 12 x 12 meters (39 x 39 feet), or even 14 x 14 meters (46 x 46 feet), which is 196 square meters (2,110 square feet). This results in about 400 cubic meters (14,125 cubic feet) of loosened soil... But the over-excavation has to be backfilled at the end, right? Does this require special material, or can the existing excavated soil be reused for this purpose?
After some time, many discussions, and various options with our architect, here is an update on the current planning:
First, the basement:
We removed the separate apartment and instead created a large wardrobe area. We slightly expanded the cellar while still including two small rooms and a toilet with a small shower downstairs. We didn’t place the toilet too close to the entrance because we preferred to have a room with a proper window rather than “waste” the space on a small bathroom. We believe the extra 3m (10 feet) walk is acceptable.
Regarding our issue with the two parking spaces, the architect now proposed, instead of a carport plus costly support work or a prefabricated garage next to the house (which would require running utility lines through the garage), to plan a large garage with some overhang. We had this costed and found that all three options are roughly the same price in the end. We feel the option with the large garage and slightly less storage space inside is the best choice, although we are still discussing whether to extend the garage along the outer wall by about 1.5m (5 feet) to create a small storage niche (2 x 1.5m (6.5 x 5 feet)) inside for items like a roof box, bike racks, and tires to be stored undisturbed.
Next, the upper floor. Here, we wanted to reduce the size of the bathroom slightly and also reconsidered the function of the storage room, since we now have the “hobby” room in the basement as an alternative office, and for extra storage, we could use the attic. With the extra space gained, we moved the master suite back upstairs, which frees up more space on the ground floor. However, we are now unsure if the bathroom is too cramped and especially think that the 1.2m (4 feet) shower wall is probably not long enough to do without a door. We also tried to shift the staircase down a bit, but in all versions, this never worked well with the three rooms.
On the ground floor, we have come to terms with the staircase ending where it does now. The architect incorporated the kitchen studio’s planning into the floor plan, and it looks like the kitchen size will be sufficient for us. The pantry is now also the laundry room, though we didn’t want to add another door due to space restrictions. We think the 80cm (31.5 inches) sliding door is wide enough and provides a direct route outside for hanging laundry. Our arrangement will likely be laundry on the left and pantry area on the right, but these are details for now, especially since we are not 100% satisfied with the upper floor bathroom and the position of the laundry chute may still change. The toilet will get a small window and is otherwise sufficiently sized for the ground floor. We extended the living room a bit, creating more space between the dining area and sofa, allowing some play area for the children in the coming years. Additionally, we planned a slightly separated but still open nook behind the living room to use as a cozy spot for reading or simply retreating and relaxing.
First, the basement:
We removed the separate apartment and instead created a large wardrobe area. We slightly expanded the cellar while still including two small rooms and a toilet with a small shower downstairs. We didn’t place the toilet too close to the entrance because we preferred to have a room with a proper window rather than “waste” the space on a small bathroom. We believe the extra 3m (10 feet) walk is acceptable.
Regarding our issue with the two parking spaces, the architect now proposed, instead of a carport plus costly support work or a prefabricated garage next to the house (which would require running utility lines through the garage), to plan a large garage with some overhang. We had this costed and found that all three options are roughly the same price in the end. We feel the option with the large garage and slightly less storage space inside is the best choice, although we are still discussing whether to extend the garage along the outer wall by about 1.5m (5 feet) to create a small storage niche (2 x 1.5m (6.5 x 5 feet)) inside for items like a roof box, bike racks, and tires to be stored undisturbed.
Next, the upper floor. Here, we wanted to reduce the size of the bathroom slightly and also reconsidered the function of the storage room, since we now have the “hobby” room in the basement as an alternative office, and for extra storage, we could use the attic. With the extra space gained, we moved the master suite back upstairs, which frees up more space on the ground floor. However, we are now unsure if the bathroom is too cramped and especially think that the 1.2m (4 feet) shower wall is probably not long enough to do without a door. We also tried to shift the staircase down a bit, but in all versions, this never worked well with the three rooms.
On the ground floor, we have come to terms with the staircase ending where it does now. The architect incorporated the kitchen studio’s planning into the floor plan, and it looks like the kitchen size will be sufficient for us. The pantry is now also the laundry room, though we didn’t want to add another door due to space restrictions. We think the 80cm (31.5 inches) sliding door is wide enough and provides a direct route outside for hanging laundry. Our arrangement will likely be laundry on the left and pantry area on the right, but these are details for now, especially since we are not 100% satisfied with the upper floor bathroom and the position of the laundry chute may still change. The toilet will get a small window and is otherwise sufficiently sized for the ground floor. We extended the living room a bit, creating more space between the dining area and sofa, allowing some play area for the children in the coming years. Additionally, we planned a slightly separated but still open nook behind the living room to use as a cozy spot for reading or simply retreating and relaxing.
N
nordanney7 Jan 2026 20:29huhxkux schrieb:
we believe that 1.2m as a shower wall is probably not long enoughThat will be more than sufficient. From experience – unless you’re splashing around like in a swimming pool, but in that case no wall would be long enough.Similar topics