ᐅ Floor Plan Silverager New Single-Family House with Option to Upgrade to a Two-Family House
Created on: 15 Nov 2025 20:20
U
Underdog
Hello everyone,
As our planned construction project is gradually taking shape, I would like to share a first draft for discussion.
The plot is already secured, and we want to make full use of the space to maximize potential living area. Retirement is foreseeable for both of us, but after 28 years, we still want to build once more.
Our eldest daughter has made us grandparents twice over, and we often enjoy having the grandchildren stay during the day so their mother can go to work. Our younger daughter will be studying for about four more years and is planned to have her own space in the basement, which could later be converted into a guest room, office, etc. The plan includes a separate entrance via a generous lightwell, but with access to the ground floor (maximum of two living units).
The attic is not intended to be finished right away but will be designed for potential future development. Whether this will ever be implemented remains uncertain.
The ground floor should offer approximately 125 sqm (1,345 sq ft) within a 10x15m (33x49 ft) building envelope. The open kitchen/dining/living area should accommodate many guests, as we frequently host large family gatherings and groups of friends. The bathroom should be en suite, and the guest toilet should include a shower. A multipurpose room is planned as a utility/laundry room with direct access to the garden, serving as a mudroom with an integrated sink and/or washing machine. In emergencies, this room can also serve as a guest bedroom. This will be less necessary once the basement is available.
The ground floor is optimized for a couple without children but should also work well for families without needing to use the attic. The attic is designed to function as a fully independent living unit, which we consider important for maintaining property value.
Families with young children could use the utility room as a children's bedroom, while older children could occupy two bedrooms with a bathroom in the basement.
Our main request is constructive feedback on the draft. We like the ground floor layout so far but are open to improvements.
We haven’t spent much time on the attic plan yet; we find the concept acceptable for now. We do like the idea of accessing the attic via an external staircase, ensuring completely separate entrances for the attic and ground floor. If more information is needed, I am happy to provide it.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 677 sqm (7,284 sq ft)
Slope: 1m (3 ft) decline from sidewalk to field path
Floor area ratio:
Floor space index:
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Exact building envelope for garage and house as shown in the draft
Adjacent buildings: Gap site with similar neighboring plots on left and right, development plan
Parking spaces: Double garage
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: Modern
Orientation: Sketch shows southwest at the top
Maximum heights/limits: Ridge line max 8m (26 ft) above ground floor level, side exterior walls max 4m (13 ft)
Additional requirements
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type:
Basement, floors: Basement yes, attic planned but not to be finished
Number of occupants, ages: Couple nearing retirement on ground floor, daughter (with partner) in basement until end of studies in about 4 years
Space needs on ground floor and upper floor: approx. 125 sqm (1,345 sq ft) ground floor, potential about 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) upper floor, approx. 60 sqm (646 sq ft) finished basement
Office: Family use or home office?
Number of overnight guests per year: about 2–3 times per year
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern building style: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes
Number of dining seats: Many, at least for 8, preferably 12
Fireplace: Somewhat
Music/sound system: Large TV, but not a priority
Balcony, roof terrace: Balcony planned facing northwest, as this side overlooks open fields
Garage, carport: Double garage, wide covered side walkway to the main entrance, effectively functioning as a carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: Raised beds for herbs and various berries (for grandchildren)
Further wishes, special features, daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions
As our planned construction project is gradually taking shape, I would like to share a first draft for discussion.
The plot is already secured, and we want to make full use of the space to maximize potential living area. Retirement is foreseeable for both of us, but after 28 years, we still want to build once more.
Our eldest daughter has made us grandparents twice over, and we often enjoy having the grandchildren stay during the day so their mother can go to work. Our younger daughter will be studying for about four more years and is planned to have her own space in the basement, which could later be converted into a guest room, office, etc. The plan includes a separate entrance via a generous lightwell, but with access to the ground floor (maximum of two living units).
The attic is not intended to be finished right away but will be designed for potential future development. Whether this will ever be implemented remains uncertain.
The ground floor should offer approximately 125 sqm (1,345 sq ft) within a 10x15m (33x49 ft) building envelope. The open kitchen/dining/living area should accommodate many guests, as we frequently host large family gatherings and groups of friends. The bathroom should be en suite, and the guest toilet should include a shower. A multipurpose room is planned as a utility/laundry room with direct access to the garden, serving as a mudroom with an integrated sink and/or washing machine. In emergencies, this room can also serve as a guest bedroom. This will be less necessary once the basement is available.
The ground floor is optimized for a couple without children but should also work well for families without needing to use the attic. The attic is designed to function as a fully independent living unit, which we consider important for maintaining property value.
Families with young children could use the utility room as a children's bedroom, while older children could occupy two bedrooms with a bathroom in the basement.
Our main request is constructive feedback on the draft. We like the ground floor layout so far but are open to improvements.
We haven’t spent much time on the attic plan yet; we find the concept acceptable for now. We do like the idea of accessing the attic via an external staircase, ensuring completely separate entrances for the attic and ground floor. If more information is needed, I am happy to provide it.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 677 sqm (7,284 sq ft)
Slope: 1m (3 ft) decline from sidewalk to field path
Floor area ratio:
Floor space index:
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Exact building envelope for garage and house as shown in the draft
Adjacent buildings: Gap site with similar neighboring plots on left and right, development plan
Parking spaces: Double garage
Number of floors: 1
Roof type: Gable roof
Style: Modern
Orientation: Sketch shows southwest at the top
Maximum heights/limits: Ridge line max 8m (26 ft) above ground floor level, side exterior walls max 4m (13 ft)
Additional requirements
Owners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type:
Basement, floors: Basement yes, attic planned but not to be finished
Number of occupants, ages: Couple nearing retirement on ground floor, daughter (with partner) in basement until end of studies in about 4 years
Space needs on ground floor and upper floor: approx. 125 sqm (1,345 sq ft) ground floor, potential about 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) upper floor, approx. 60 sqm (646 sq ft) finished basement
Office: Family use or home office?
Number of overnight guests per year: about 2–3 times per year
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern building style: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes
Number of dining seats: Many, at least for 8, preferably 12
Fireplace: Somewhat
Music/sound system: Large TV, but not a priority
Balcony, roof terrace: Balcony planned facing northwest, as this side overlooks open fields
Garage, carport: Double garage, wide covered side walkway to the main entrance, effectively functioning as a carport
Utility garden, greenhouse: Raised beds for herbs and various berries (for grandchildren)
Further wishes, special features, daily routine, including reasons for choices or exclusions
H
hanghaus202314 Mar 2026 06:57The budget is still tight. In my opinion, you won’t stay under 1 million. You should leave out the knee walls in the living rooms. Otherwise, it looks a bit cleaner.
Underdog schrieb:
Our eldest daughter has made us grandparents twice over Underdog schrieb:
One alternative would be to extend the porch into a balcony with access through Child 2. hanghaus2023 schrieb:
The budget is still tight. Underdog schrieb:
The plan now is to build a house with two separate units. Underdog schrieb:
Child 2 could be fully included in the living room area (with the option to add a partition wall later if needed). Underdog schrieb:
while an apartment for the adult daughter is planned on the upper floor. Unfortunately, the intended order of quotes no longer works on the PC (@webmaster?).
So, in the continuous text:
Two separate living units seem reasonable, but it doesn’t make the house any cheaper. I agree with @hanghaus that the budget remains tight.
In principle, the main apartment works for two people. However, I remember that back then there was talk of large family gatherings, which seems a bit tight with the dining table and sofa, even without guests. On the plus side, there is a distance of over 5 meters (16 feet) to the TV viewing area.
I doubt whether having a toilet inside the bathroom is a good idea. At least it doesn’t add to practicality in old age (I’m 58 myself), and I don’t think embarrassment and needing assistance can really go together. The former is basically irrelevant in old age, at least between partners. You have to expect that your partner might have to help you out in an accident.
About the daughter’s apartment:
We don’t know her exact needs, and you initially said she has two children: how does that fit with giving up a children’s room just so the balcony that is above your entrance area can be accessed from the living room, only to possibly close it off again later with a partition wall? I don’t see any added value in the balcony nor in the option to separate it later.
The apartment itself has no storage space accessible on that level. Also, for a household with two kids, the kitchen is quite small. A living room used as a passage room, a small coat area visible from the sofa, plus a second toilet — all of this seems questionable.
It might be enough as a temporary solution. Like I said, we don’t know the daughter’s specific needs or if there are three or four people living there. Can the TV area even accommodate 3–4 people comfortably?
An apartment on the upper floor for rental might work.
I’m wondering why there is a shower in the ground-floor bathroom with a toilet. There is a guest area planned in the basement that includes a bathroom because of the sauna. Overall, the house has four showers. The main apartment alone has three showers.
I can understand the concerns, but some assumptions behind them are incorrect.
- The basement is not intended to be converted into living space for now, but the current plan keeps several options open.
- The youngest daughter is planned to live in the upper floor until she finishes her studies (starting autumn 2027)
(probably with her partner, who already shares the childhood bedroom and will also start studying soon, but such situations can change quickly...)
- The grandchildren belong to the older daughter and, as long as they are young, can stay overnight in the guest room, where the separate shower is also convenient.
- The parents’ bathroom with a T-shaped layout is still under discussion due to differing opinions.
- The distance between the sofa and TV is large, but the sofa is intended to be more centered with space behind for large floor lamps (4 meters (13 feet) to a 65" screen should be fine).
- Knee walls in the upper floor living areas are not planned, only above the two bedrooms.
- The dining table on the ground floor can be extended up to 4 meters (13 feet). With two additional seats at the kitchen island, this should accommodate 18 people.
Regarding the budget, the architect agrees on a target of 1 million, but there is no detailed calculation yet.
However, it should help that the upper floor apartment is intended to be rented to the daughter.
Manufacturing costs can be depreciated at 5% declining balance.
Equity is fully invested in the ground floor, and the loan is for the upper floor apartment, so interest can be fully deducted.
Roughly estimated, this should amount to a six-figure sum after 10 years.
- The basement is not intended to be converted into living space for now, but the current plan keeps several options open.
- The youngest daughter is planned to live in the upper floor until she finishes her studies (starting autumn 2027)
(probably with her partner, who already shares the childhood bedroom and will also start studying soon, but such situations can change quickly...)
- The grandchildren belong to the older daughter and, as long as they are young, can stay overnight in the guest room, where the separate shower is also convenient.
- The parents’ bathroom with a T-shaped layout is still under discussion due to differing opinions.
- The distance between the sofa and TV is large, but the sofa is intended to be more centered with space behind for large floor lamps (4 meters (13 feet) to a 65" screen should be fine).
- Knee walls in the upper floor living areas are not planned, only above the two bedrooms.
- The dining table on the ground floor can be extended up to 4 meters (13 feet). With two additional seats at the kitchen island, this should accommodate 18 people.
Regarding the budget, the architect agrees on a target of 1 million, but there is no detailed calculation yet.
However, it should help that the upper floor apartment is intended to be rented to the daughter.
Manufacturing costs can be depreciated at 5% declining balance.
Equity is fully invested in the ground floor, and the loan is for the upper floor apartment, so interest can be fully deducted.
Roughly estimated, this should amount to a six-figure sum after 10 years.
Underdog schrieb:
On the upper floor, the youngest daughter is supposed to live until she finishes her studies (starting autumn 2027)
(probably with her partner, who already stays in the child's room and will also start studying soon, but these things can change quickly...) Ah, okay. Yes, it’s an adequate apartment for a young couple (+1 child). However, I still find the layout poor.
Underdog schrieb:
The grandchildren are from the older daughter and while they are small, they can stay overnight in the guest room, where the separate shower is also convenient. I would let my grandchildren share my bathroom. They are young and need assistance. When they are old enough, they can also use the now converted bathroom in the basement – if they still want to stay at their grandparents’ at all by then.
Underdog schrieb:
The sofa should be more centered with space for large floor lamps behind it. ???
Underdog schrieb:
The dining table on the ground floor can be extended to up to 4m (13 feet). Yes, but then you sit on the sofa armrest? At least if the sofa is pushed forward.
I would shorten the hallway, then place the kitchen where the utility room is currently planned. On the right-hand side of the plan, reduce the bedroom size and move the bathroom accordingly so that a small utility room can be created between the bathroom and the guest toilet – also a wardrobe. It will be tight, but possible.
If necessary, move the office to 3.20m (10.5 ft) and place the wardrobe cabinet there, allowing room for a bedroom on the upper side, enabling better zoning upstairs.
With the current dimensions, I would see the upper floor like this; with 3.20m (10.5 ft), the lower room on the plan would be a bedroom, close to the bathroom:
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