ᐅ Floor plan of a detached single-family house with 2,585 sq ft, including a 807 sq ft granny flat and a garage

Created on: 13 Nov 2024 19:36

Hello everyone,

we want to build a house. I was able to get the plot from my mother, and in return, she will have her own apartment (granny flat) within the house. There will be two separate entrance doors to the house as a precaution. My previous post was here, but personal, political, and building authority issues have caused significant delays, which have had both positive and negative effects.

Development Plan / Restrictions (Requests from the Building Authority since there is no formal development plan)
Plot size: approx. 1300m² (at least 1/4 for the granny flat)
Slope: none
Floor area ratio: no formal development plan
Site coverage ratio: no formal development plan
Building envelope, building line and boundary: no formal development plan, but the building authority requests at least 3 meters (10 feet) from the street
Peripheral construction: maximum 9.0 m (30 feet) for garages up to 3.0 m (10 feet) high
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: two floors without a finished attic
Roof style: preliminary building application was for a gable roof with no dormers; according to the building authority, maximum roof pitch is 35°
Architectural style: no specification
Orientation: no specification
Maximum height/limits: 10.20 m (33.5 feet) (in discussions with the building authority, please not higher than 10.5 m (34.4 feet))
Other requirements: residential building should not become larger

Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: 2 full floors
Number of people, age: currently 1+1 persons, 36 (myself) and mother 60 (granny flat occupant)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: self: 240m² (2583 sq ft) + granny flat: 75m² (807 sq ft)
Office: family use or home office? both home office
Guests per year: occasionally 2 adults + 2 children
Open or closed design: open design
Traditional or modern construction: rather modern construction
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both with open kitchen and kitchen island
Number of dining seats: 6 own + 4 in granny flat
Fireplace: yes, in both apartments
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: not necessary
Garage, carport: garage, no garage or carport for granny flat
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons for certain preferences:

No skylights
Solar panels later
Option for holiday apartment at a later stage

House Design
Who designed it: DIY by myself, now finalized by architect
What do you like most and why? Majority of walls overlap
What do you dislike and why? Now only the chimney remains in the granny flat or upper floor
Price estimate according to architect/planner: not available yet
Personal budget limit for house including features: (total) 700,000 + significant own contribution and family help
Preferred heating technology: fireplace and air heat pump

If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
-can you give up: second floor and garage will be built later
-can you not give up: fireplace in both apartments

Why is the design as it is now? e.g.
Standard design by planner? Plan from Virtus, Team Massivhaus, and own ideas
Corresponding / which wishes were implemented by the architect?
My apartment:

Parents’ bedroom (only one door) + dressing room + private bathroom (shower and large bathtub)
3 children’s rooms (min. 16m² (172 sq ft)) with separate bathroom (shower + bathtub)
2 offices
Living room (min. 20m² (215 sq ft)) with fireplace
Kitchen (min. 15m² (161 sq ft)) + kitchen island
Dining room for 5 persons
Bathroom downstairs + shower
1 sauna inside in the attic (or outside)

Granny flat:

Standard with office

Wishes:

A separate room/hallway between bathroom and living areas
All rooms to have windows (at least the bathrooms)
Laundry room (upstairs or attic)
Access to garden (west and north)

What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?

Good: almost symmetrical arrangement of windows and doors
Separation into up to 4 sections possible later in case of emergency
Bedroom and laundry room upstairs to avoid carrying laundry through whole apartment
No skylights
All bathrooms have windows

Bad:

Office downstairs can only be used as bedroom if storage is built under the stairs
Since the driveway is on the south side, the house has now been rotated

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

Was anything overlooked in the plan?
Where should the chimney in the granny flat be placed?
Is the dressing room too large?
Should the garage be rotated?

ypg14 Nov 2024 01:25

Koehler schrieb:

With the general contractors, we ended up at around 580K for the complete house,

As a shell and core house, meaning finished downstairs but unfinished upstairs, as you calculated? Or did he calculate for you that you would get everything with the necessary features? (Heating, plumbing, ventilation, shutters, and so on)

Koehler schrieb:

but I would be interested to know what changes you would make to the floor plan

I have to agree with @Gerddieter here. I can mention that quite a few doors are poorly placed, that the basement apartment could make better use of space if the entrance were located on the side, or that the common areas shouldn’t be designed nearly square, but if the guest room is planned so poorly that it’s clear the room can hardly serve as a bedroom, then why on earth wouldn’t you design that room better? There is enough space . . .?! And why should anyone feel comfortable in a bathroom that’s not even 4 square meters (43 square feet) when they get older?

Did I understand correctly that you, single, are planning these huge rooms alone, but you don’t have a family except for your mother, who is getting her own basement apartment? Otherwise, yes, it’s just a series of rooms, most of them almost too large, since a 15m² (161 ft²) children’s room should be enough for any child. A walk-in closet of 10m² (108 ft²), where only three one-meter (3.3 feet) cabinets fit anyway because of poor planning. Just try drawing in the furniture, and you will see the planning errors clearly. Also, why place the terraces next to each other with such a large plot of land? That’s questionable. And yes: sight lines and natural light are important. The first comes free with good planning. Here, there’s nothing pleasant about it. You can’t even quickly wash your hands when you come home. And I bet the kitchen ends up with a view directly into the guest toilet. Isn’t that right?

Koehler schrieb:

The budget should be sufficient for the shell and the ground floor.

So, the basement apartment will be finished, you move into the guest room on the ground floor, and the rest upstairs remains unfinished. I don’t want to be too blunt, but you’re single now, 36 years old (when you planned this in 2022, you were single at 34), and you will still be single at 40 with these oversized rooms in your shell house, unable to date because you’ll be busy building for several years. I would suggest planning more realistically and building something smaller, such as a module that can be expanded later as needed. That would also be more affordable upfront.

hanghaus202314 Nov 2024 11:47

Yes, you wrote it yourself. You, with no expertise, had the house adjusted by (no) architect. That was the first big mistake. Have the house designed by a real architect. They are trained for that.

Believe me, even the worst architect would not plan a fireplace in the stairwell. Yours must be absolutely terrible then.

haydee14 Nov 2024 13:27

The upper floor feels somewhat like a multi-family house and is partly difficult to furnish.

Why are you planning such a large house? It’s meant for only two people.

Go to an architect and have your house designed according to your budget and key requirements. Simply try placing furniture in the separate apartment at scale, including the necessary clearance space. Does your mother really want a 90cm (35 inches) bed and a small wardrobe? What is supposed to go into the room labeled as an office?

11ant14 Nov 2024 15:52

#10

hanghaus2023 schrieb:

Believe me, even the worst architect wouldn’t place a fireplace in the stairwell. Yours must be really terrible then.

I don’t see the work of a bad architect here. Based on the design skills shown by the OP in the previous thread, I rather think he has found a sporty or bar buddy who is a draftsman for a multi-family residential developer and had him neatly redraw his sketches. This person is probably similarly young and considers a 60-year-old woman old enough to find this kind of social housing architecture sufficiently attractive.

So, we apparently have the following situation here: mother (60, single) owns a plot of land, son (36, single) hopes to improve his chances with women by having his own home, mother is willing to give the land to her son if she receives replacement living space.

Koehler schrieb:

Size of the plot: approx. 1300 (at least 1/4 for the granny flat)

This apparently refers to the shown plot, but I don’t understand the additional comment. I suspect the plot is not vacant, likely currently occupied by the mother (and the OP?), therefore not cleared; apparently a shed or garage at the top right of the plan (not intended to be demolished)?

Koehler schrieb:

Size of the plot: approx. 1050 (given as a gift, but a granny flat must be added to the property)

Koehler schrieb:

My old post was here , but has been significantly delayed due to personal reasons, politics, and the building authority, resulting in partly positive and partly negative changes.

The plot is apparently the same one planned in the earlier project; the huge house was simply rotated. The “partly positive changes” would be interesting to learn about.

https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

hanghaus202314 Nov 2024 18:36

#11

How large / tall are the houses in the area?

nordanney14 Nov 2024 18:49

#12

haydee schrieb:

The upper floor has the feel of a multi-family house. Partly difficult to furnish.

That was the goal. To allow division into four units. At least that's what the original poster writes.
It looks that way as well.

ᐅ Floor plan of a detached single-family house with 2,585 sq ft, including a 807 sq ft granny flat and a garage

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