ᐅ Single-family house floor plan approximately 190 m² and site placement

Hello everyone,

Until now, I have only been a silent reader. Our project is becoming more real, and I would appreciate including your ideas and suggestions in the planning phase.

Unfortunately, both my grandparents have passed away, and their house is now vacant. Directly adjacent is my parents’ house. In total, the plot measures 722m² (7,774 sq ft) and is owned one-third each by my father and my two aunts. We can buy the aunts’ third and a portion of my father’s land, so we end up with about 470-500m² (5,060-5,382 sq ft).

My father is taking part of his inheritance and straightening out the boundaries. I’ve attached a screenshot from Tim-Online to illustrate how it looks.

No. 21a is my parents’ house, No. 21 will be demolished. Number 69 is a small private road, owned 50% by my father and 50% by a neighbor. We are currently talking to him about a possible building encumbrance (building easement).

I will try to answer all questions below and continue from there 🙂

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 470-500m² (5,060-5,382 sq ft)
Slope: slight incline. Surveying is still pending. Over the length of 24m (79 feet), it drops less than 1m (3 feet). So the private road slopes down toward the street.
Site coverage ratio: unknown, §34
Floor area ratio: unknown, §34
Building envelope, building line and boundary: unknown, §34; we must keep about 6m (20 feet) distance from the road on the south/east side
Edge development: unknown, §34
Parking spaces: we need 2 spaces
Number of floors: 1.5, although I have heard it is sometimes referred to as single-story with attic
Roof shape: gable roof
Architectural style: very traditional, gable roof, brickwork
Orientation: optimized for photovoltaic system

Requirements from the Homeowners
Style, roof shape, building type: classic single-family house, gable roof with brick facade. We tend to build solid masonry but are also open to timber frame.

Basement, floors: no basement, 1.5 floors

Number and age of occupants: 2 adults (36 & 33 years old), girl 5 years, boy 2 years, and one more child planned

Room requirements on the ground floor:
Utility room, large enough for building technology, a gun safe, and a large chest freezer (we are both hunters)
Guest WC with shower
Office/guest room, should be able to double as a bedroom if we are no longer able to use the stairs
Kitchen with access to the garden and sliding door to the dining room
Living and dining rooms

Room requirements on the upper floor:
3 children’s rooms
Master bedroom
Bathroom with shower
Bathroom with shower and bathtub

Storage in the attic. We currently have a basement and need somewhere to store all the stuff 🙂

Office: family use or home office: we both primarily work from home
Number of overnight guests per year: less than 10
Open or closed architecture: closed
Conservative or modern construction: conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: classic L- or U-shaped kitchen, no island
Number of dining seats: we eat at the table in the dining room
Fireplace: yes, please
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: could be an option, only for bike and similar storage
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons for preferences: we want to stay “open” to my parents’ property. Their shed for lawnmowers and such will be there.

House design
Who designed the plan:
Do-it-yourself, drawn by a house salesperson

Price estimate by architect/planner: about $460,000
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures: For the house including additional costs, kitchen, garden, and photovoltaic system, we have a budget of $600,000
Preferred heating system: air-to-water heat pump

We are still deciding whether to go with a prefab house supplier, general contractor, or architect and then contract everything ourselves. My father lives next door and has plenty of time; he could supervise the construction well. He also has some building experience. He built our current house largely himself and later added an extension.

On the other hand, I am a bit concerned nowadays about supply problems, skilled labor shortages, and uncertain prices. Most information right now emphasizes the downsides...

Why is the design the way it is now?
For example:
My wife does not want to give up the two bathrooms on the upper floor, and the office on the ground floor is intended to become our bedroom later. So these rooms are fixed.
For my part, I need a large utility room 🙂

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summed up in 130 characters?
The most important question to me right now is: How would you place the house on the plot? There is a fixed 6m (20 feet) setback on the street side at the bottom. According to the building authority, we could try 5m (16 feet), but I don’t want to risk a delay.
Towards the private road, we could get a building encumbrance (building easement) if the neighbor agrees and build closer. My idea is to build as close as possible to the road and the street, leaving a large garden on the southwest side.

Sorry for the long message. My head is full of ideas and wishes. I need help organizing everything and finding a clear path forward 🙂

I look forward to your tips and advice.

Best regards,
Christoph

The house looks fine at first glance, but the utility room is too small. The distance to the guest toilet on the ground floor seems too far to me. I find the idea of a room for use in 30 to 40 years impractical; you could just add an extension later instead of paying for and heating it for 30 years in advance.

The budget seems too tight to cover additional construction costs, garden, photovoltaic system, and so on.
Or do you plan to contribute your own labor?

SoL schrieb:

At first glance, the house looks fine, but the utility room is too small. The walk to the guest bathroom on the ground floor seems too far to me. I think planning a room for 30 to 40 years from now is pointless; you could just add an extension later instead of paying and heating it for 30 years in advance.

The budget seems too tight to include additional construction costs, garden, photovoltaics, etc.
Or do you plan to contribute some work yourselves?

I share your concern about the utility room. But how can it be enlarged?

The guest room will initially serve as my office/hunting room. I didn’t express that clearly enough. I need space there for all the hunting gear. I also need more space in the office, and I hold some meetings at home in the office.
We will do the garden and outdoor work entirely on our own. I have an offer from my father-in-law to take care of the photovoltaic system, practically as part of a dowry.

Has it already been clarified whether a subdivision in this form is even possible regarding the floor area ratio for both resulting plots, and what the floor area ratio would then be?

BimBamBaba schrieb:

In total, the plot is 722m (2,369 ft),

Which one exactly? Yours would be 471 sqm (5,067 sq ft)? Maybe you should explain what the outbuildings between the houses are about?

BimBamBaba schrieb:

How would you position the house on the plot?

How is your design supposed to fit there? It somehow doesn’t seem to work for me! Or could you at least place it correctly in the plan? That would make more sense.
Regarding the 34 meters (112 ft), you should also show more of the surroundings: a Google Maps image is usually easier to understand.
I would put “junk” stuff in an extension rather than in the expensive, energy-efficient heated single-family house!

Regarding the design: The angled table shows that placing it straight with seating might make the dining area quite tight. However, it can still be done that way.
A technician will of course need access to the hot water tank at some point with their pipe wrench (or whatever tool they use).
You currently have no storage space, just to point that out. Other than under the stairs. The attic will have to be used for suitcases and decorations.
Kitchen: Just draw in a standard island, 90cm (35 inches) deep with no backsplash behind. Then the placeholders for seating will probably have to be removed, right?