ᐅ Stepped upper floor (townhouse) or Frisian-style house with a flat roof gable?
Created on: 15 Mar 2017 14:13
C
CarinaJHello,
I have been reading along for a while now. We (2 adults without children) are considering making a change in our living situation. We are still looking at rental houses, but are gradually leaning towards buying a home. Existing properties are very hard to find. Honestly, in the last 2 years, I haven't found anything I even wanted to view (things look better on the rental market). We have already visited home shows and had a financial consultation. Our market research has shown that building is about the same price as buying existing properties (existing homes are not cheaper) and obviously also offers design advantages.
So, we are still at the very beginning. The reason for this post is that we have an appointment soon with a home builder (I already have countless catalogs here). The background is: we now know our financial situation, but we don't really know what the whole process might cost. Before we start properly (looking for land, etc.), we want to know what we can afford and whether we can get what we envision. Otherwise, we would probably wait longer.
Now we have a fundamental discussion. My partner would like to build a stepped-storey house (city villa). I basically like the idea, as long as it's not a plain box shape. There are different design options.
I have gone through various catalogs and come to the following conclusion: A city villa is significantly more expensive from the base price than, for example, a Frisian-style house or similar designs.
Our compromise would be something like a Frisian-style house with a flat gable roof.
After playing around with the floor plans, I realized something else: A city villa requires a much larger footprint than a "normal" house with a pitched roof. This, of course, affects the budget.
I have come up with the following pros and cons for myself:
City Villa:
Pros:
- Straight walls on both floors / no slanted ceilings
- Modern design
Cons:
- Price
- Less space overall
- No attic that can be converted
Frisian House with Flat Gable Roof:
Pros:
- Price
- Storage space
- Usable space under the roof
Cons:
- Sloped walls upstairs
- Either no skylights or you have to deal with the drawbacks of them
- Flat gable roof could present waterproofing challenges over time
To give you a better idea of what we are imagining:
- Double garage (with a room at the end)
- No open kitchen, but separated (e.g., with a sliding door) and still enough space for 4 people to comfortably eat in the kitchen; plus a dining room for 6 people as standard, possibly extendable to 8 or 10
- Guest toilet with shower on the ground floor
- Storage room (for house electronics, tools, canned goods, beverage crates, freezer on the ground floor)
- 2 children's rooms
- 1 main bedroom with walk-in closet (possibly 2 smaller walk-in closets also an option)
- Bathroom with bathtub and walk-in shower (90 x 120cm (35 x 47 inches)) and double sink
- Laundry room for washing machine, dryer, and space for drying clothes
- We need a “man cave” which can also be used as a home office (no external visitors)
- Ventilation system (central or decentralized still undecided) with heat recovery
- Small room for photography equipment, desk, and PC (an attic conversion would be ideal)
- Storage space for decorations not currently in use, suitcases, books, old toys, extra chairs, etc. (ideal: converted attic)
- Nice to have: a built-in masonry fireplace integrated into the wall so no chimney pipe is visible
- KfW 70 standard (though probably not KfW 70+ house)
- (For Frisian house) converted attic with fixed staircase
Additionally, if we had the option for someone to stay overnight properly, we would get visitors 2-3 times a year, each time 2-4 people. This is not a priority, though.
The next challenge I currently see is that I absolutely want a floor plan where the couch faces sideways to the window. So basically looking straight at the TV and to the right or left into the garden (south side). Such a floor plan seems impossible. Does anyone have an idea on this?
In summary:
- City villa: yes or no?
- Where would I get storage space in a city villa?
- Do I really need more square meters for a city villa?
- Is the city villa always more expensive?
- Can I fit my requirements in 150-160m² (1600-1700 sq ft)?
- How can I arrange the living room to have a side view into the garden and a direct TV view at the same time?
I understand that some will say that you can’t plan anything without land because only then do you know what the zoning/building permit/planning permission allows. But we want to know beforehand what we want and if it’s even feasible. It’s clear that the zoning and orientation of the plot will ultimately be decisive. We are already looking for plots and only consider those with a south orientation. What we want and what we actually get are, of course, two different things.
I would still appreciate helpful answers to these questions to make our project a bit more tangible.
Thank you very much.
Greetings from the far north.
CarinaJ
I have been reading along for a while now. We (2 adults without children) are considering making a change in our living situation. We are still looking at rental houses, but are gradually leaning towards buying a home. Existing properties are very hard to find. Honestly, in the last 2 years, I haven't found anything I even wanted to view (things look better on the rental market). We have already visited home shows and had a financial consultation. Our market research has shown that building is about the same price as buying existing properties (existing homes are not cheaper) and obviously also offers design advantages.
So, we are still at the very beginning. The reason for this post is that we have an appointment soon with a home builder (I already have countless catalogs here). The background is: we now know our financial situation, but we don't really know what the whole process might cost. Before we start properly (looking for land, etc.), we want to know what we can afford and whether we can get what we envision. Otherwise, we would probably wait longer.
Now we have a fundamental discussion. My partner would like to build a stepped-storey house (city villa). I basically like the idea, as long as it's not a plain box shape. There are different design options.
I have gone through various catalogs and come to the following conclusion: A city villa is significantly more expensive from the base price than, for example, a Frisian-style house or similar designs.
Our compromise would be something like a Frisian-style house with a flat gable roof.
After playing around with the floor plans, I realized something else: A city villa requires a much larger footprint than a "normal" house with a pitched roof. This, of course, affects the budget.
I have come up with the following pros and cons for myself:
City Villa:
Pros:
- Straight walls on both floors / no slanted ceilings
- Modern design
Cons:
- Price
- Less space overall
- No attic that can be converted
Frisian House with Flat Gable Roof:
Pros:
- Price
- Storage space
- Usable space under the roof
Cons:
- Sloped walls upstairs
- Either no skylights or you have to deal with the drawbacks of them
- Flat gable roof could present waterproofing challenges over time
To give you a better idea of what we are imagining:
- Double garage (with a room at the end)
- No open kitchen, but separated (e.g., with a sliding door) and still enough space for 4 people to comfortably eat in the kitchen; plus a dining room for 6 people as standard, possibly extendable to 8 or 10
- Guest toilet with shower on the ground floor
- Storage room (for house electronics, tools, canned goods, beverage crates, freezer on the ground floor)
- 2 children's rooms
- 1 main bedroom with walk-in closet (possibly 2 smaller walk-in closets also an option)
- Bathroom with bathtub and walk-in shower (90 x 120cm (35 x 47 inches)) and double sink
- Laundry room for washing machine, dryer, and space for drying clothes
- We need a “man cave” which can also be used as a home office (no external visitors)
- Ventilation system (central or decentralized still undecided) with heat recovery
- Small room for photography equipment, desk, and PC (an attic conversion would be ideal)
- Storage space for decorations not currently in use, suitcases, books, old toys, extra chairs, etc. (ideal: converted attic)
- Nice to have: a built-in masonry fireplace integrated into the wall so no chimney pipe is visible
- KfW 70 standard (though probably not KfW 70+ house)
- (For Frisian house) converted attic with fixed staircase
Additionally, if we had the option for someone to stay overnight properly, we would get visitors 2-3 times a year, each time 2-4 people. This is not a priority, though.
The next challenge I currently see is that I absolutely want a floor plan where the couch faces sideways to the window. So basically looking straight at the TV and to the right or left into the garden (south side). Such a floor plan seems impossible. Does anyone have an idea on this?
In summary:
- City villa: yes or no?
- Where would I get storage space in a city villa?
- Do I really need more square meters for a city villa?
- Is the city villa always more expensive?
- Can I fit my requirements in 150-160m² (1600-1700 sq ft)?
- How can I arrange the living room to have a side view into the garden and a direct TV view at the same time?
I understand that some will say that you can’t plan anything without land because only then do you know what the zoning/building permit/planning permission allows. But we want to know beforehand what we want and if it’s even feasible. It’s clear that the zoning and orientation of the plot will ultimately be decisive. We are already looking for plots and only consider those with a south orientation. What we want and what we actually get are, of course, two different things.
I would still appreciate helpful answers to these questions to make our project a bit more tangible.
Thank you very much.
Greetings from the far north.
CarinaJ
Oh, and one more thing I just remembered. Having a basement is not an option. It is very uncommon and expensive in this area (due to groundwater and later moisture problems in the basement). Older buildings often have (damp) basements or half-height cellars, but in newer constructions it is absolutely unusual.
Why don’t you build a standard townhouse without a recessed top floor? With two floors of equal height, you don’t need to have a larger building footprint. What exactly is a Frisian house with a flat gable roof? I thought a Frisian house has a steep third gable.
Best regards,
Sabine
Best regards,
Sabine
Hello Sabine,
thank you for your reply.
Whether both floors have the same size or the upper one is smaller doesn’t really solve the space issue itself. So that would also be possible. There is no usable attic anyway.
I’m not sure how to describe it, but there are houses that are simply rectangular with a gable roof. The gable doesn’t have a pitched roof (like, for example, in Frisian or traditional gable styles), but a flat roof. Often this gable area is also painted in a different color. For example, a white house with the gable section in red. However, we would want to build the house fully clad in brick to minimize or avoid future costs like painting.
Best regards
CarinaJ
thank you for your reply.
Whether both floors have the same size or the upper one is smaller doesn’t really solve the space issue itself. So that would also be possible. There is no usable attic anyway.
I’m not sure how to describe it, but there are houses that are simply rectangular with a gable roof. The gable doesn’t have a pitched roof (like, for example, in Frisian or traditional gable styles), but a flat roof. Often this gable area is also painted in a different color. For example, a white house with the gable section in red. However, we would want to build the house fully clad in brick to minimize or avoid future costs like painting.
Best regards
CarinaJ
@RobsonMKK
These urban villas always have a pyramid-shaped roof with many braces and a very shallow pitch. There hardly seems to be any usable space left under the roof, right?
At least, I haven’t found any floor plans or pictures online showing what something like that might look like. Do you have an example?
These urban villas always have a pyramid-shaped roof with many braces and a very shallow pitch. There hardly seems to be any usable space left under the roof, right?
At least, I haven’t found any floor plans or pictures online showing what something like that might look like. Do you have an example?
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