ᐅ City villa with straight staircase, open modern design, 1,500 sq ft (140 m²)

Hello everyone,

We recently got lucky and found a suitable plot of land where we can realize our dream of building our own home. For this, we made the compromise to move a bit further out of the city in order to build a detached single-family house on a cul-de-sac in a new development area.

We signed the purchase contract for the land last week. The financing is also settled. We have already chosen a prefab house supplier (Luxhaus) and have discussed the initial plans with them. The next step was to work with our architect to find the right floor plan and then to submit the building permit / planning permission application. Our architect has implemented our ideas very well, and we are really happy with the floor plan. Still, the opinions of other homeowners are very important to us.

We would therefore like to hear your thoughts

Here are the key details:

The plot is 416m² (4,476 sq ft) in size. We want to build a house without a basement in the city villa style. The ground floor is about 71m² (764 sq ft), the upper floor about 66m² (710 sq ft). The house will stand at the end of a cul-de-sac with an open southwest-facing view over fields. The main entrance is on the side.

Very important to us are a straight staircase, a gallery on the upper floor, and a large dining and living area with a kitchen island. Since we enjoy cooking a lot, the kitchen should become the heart of the home. At the moment, there are just two of us, but we plan to grow in the next 1–2 years (our wish is for two healthy children).

We are already close to our budget limit with the current plan, so no major (expensive) changes are possible. The current floor plan basically meets our wishes, but with such a big project, it’s normal to have some uncertainty about whether everything has been considered.

What is causing us some concern:

• Too little storage space? We want to use the space under the stairs for pantry storage as well as some kitchen appliances (blender, ice cream maker, etc.). Beverage crates and household equipment (vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies) would also go into the pantry and utility room. Items only used occasionally (Christmas decorations, carnival costumes, suitcases, etc.) would be stored in the small attic. Are we being too optimistic with this?
• Is the hallway width on the ground floor sufficient? According to the plan, it will be about 90–100cm (35–39 inches) wide. Since we prefer an open concept and the kitchen already begins halfway into the hallway, this should be fine?
• We would like a somewhat larger cloakroom. Currently, the small one would suffice, but with children or many guests, it might get tight. However, we plan to possibly add a small cabinet in the office room that could be used for storage. For everyday use, should the planned cloakroom be enough?
• On the upper floor, we will probably remove the door between the dressing room and bathroom. This would allow us to place a 3-meter (10-foot) wardrobe along the longer side of the dressing room. On the other side, we want to put a small chest of drawers so it doesn’t feel too cramped.
• The bathroom on the upper floor is relatively small, basically the minimum size. We are not really the spa type. In our current rental, we have only used the bathtub twice in six years. We could do without a bathtub, but considering our hope to have children in the future, we will certainly need to include one in the planning.

Otherwise, we are very satisfied overall. We know that by having a straight staircase and a gallery upstairs, we lose some possible options, but this is very important to us, and we definitely want to keep it. Our budget is fully allocated with the current planning, and we do not want to go over it.

But maybe some of you have useful ideas, suggestions, or constructive criticism. We are very open and look forward to your help

Thanks so much in advance!