ᐅ Neighbors startled by the building structure. Has anyone experienced this before?

@NeuerNachbar you have received some good ideas so far, but I wanted to add something.
There are no universally valid recipes for interpersonal relationships and conflict resolution. Every person is different, and behavior should be adjusted accordingly. You are a NeuerNachbar, so you should take a step toward your neighbors. As @ypg mentioned, a topping-out ceremony is a good opportunity to invite them, offer something, introduce yourself, and get to know each other. Then you can see who is open and who keeps their distance, so you get to know them and can better adapt.

Good luck with building, moving in, and living in your new home.

Alex85 schrieb:
The hill naturally occurs when you build on a plot like that without a basement (see neighboring building).

As I said, it’s not necessarily the case—if you build a split-level house, you won’t notice it at all. You do have to like the many stairs, though. With conventional construction, you either have a basement or a mound of earth, that's true.

That said, I actually wonder what really distinguishes a terrace attached to a raised house from a large balcony or penthouse in a condominium—apart from the neighbors and the homeowners’ association. Okay, I just answered my own question and came up with two solid arguments in favor of the house (even if raised) and against the condo [emoji6][emoji4]

Since I currently live in a split-level house, I simply cannot understand why anyone would choose to build one from scratch. It just has disadvantages.

ruppsn schrieb:
Although I do wonder what exactly distinguishes a terrace attached to a raised house from a large balcony or penthouse in a condominium

The garden that can be reached in just a few steps—so, apart from the points you mentioned yourself.

A split-level design was not an option for us because the extension, which will be built on the Feldherrenhügel, is intended for my mother. The keyword here is multigenerational house. Therefore, accessibility is a priority.

Our neighbor often complains because our house blocks his sunlight. However, our house has stood there for over 150 years, while he only built his about 50 years ago. When we were building the carport, he filed a complaint with the local building authority after the foundations were laid. An official came to inspect the construction and actually advised us to build the carport a bit higher to reach the house’s rain gutter. This ended up backfiring on our neighbor—now he gets even less sunlight.

Opposite us, three new semi-detached houses will be built soon; previously, there was just a large garden. We’ll see how that turns out, but it hardly affects our rights. It might mean the sun reaches the terrace in front of our house about five minutes later in the morning, but we plan to install a tall fence there anyway. So it doesn’t really matter. I’m actually glad that this corner will become a bit more lively again.