ᐅ Single-family house ~200 m² floor plan design on a gentle slope
Created on: 23 Dec 2025 17:18
H
huhxkux
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 512 m² (5509 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: N/A
Building setback lines, building line, and boundaries: See overview
Edge development: N/A
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: N/A
Garden orientation: West
Maximum heights / limits: 9 m (30 ft) ridge height from a specific terrain point on the plot
Additional requirements
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Single-family house, 2 full floors, gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement yes, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: Currently 3, soon 4, planned 5 → Persons: 2 adults over 30, 1 child (1 year), 1 unborn, 1 planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: Kitchen (with pantry if possible), dining area, living room, toilet, utility room.
UF: 3 children’s rooms, 1 storage room.
GF or UF: Parents’ area with private bathroom, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: About 40 nights per year (3x parents and siblings live far away)
Open or closed architecture: Open?
Conservative or modern construction style: ???
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island desired
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Yes, near the TV
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Yes, 1 garage in the house and either another garage or carport next to the house
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: N/A
House Design
Planning by: Architect
What do you like most? Why? We like almost everything in the floor plan very much, especially the option to use the office upstairs while the children are small and move the office downstairs, and then later move it back downstairs when the children are older.
What do you not like? Why? Only minor details that we would still like to adjust. As nothing will be revised over Christmas, feel free to point out anything we might have missed.
Price estimate by architect/planner: €790,000 including additional costs / photovoltaic / kitchen / driveway / terrace, excluding finished basement apartment
Personal price limit for the house including features: €800,000
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up on certain details / expansions
- What can you do without: Basement (but ideally not because of the slope), basement apartment (guest room would otherwise suffice)
- What you cannot do without: 2 shower bathrooms for parents/children, straight staircase
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
For example:
At first, we really wanted to build simply without a basement to avoid exceeding our budget. The initial plans, however, had very steep driveways or the driveway was on the south side. Since we have been reading intensively here for many months, we decided to hire a surveyor because of the slight slope to clarify the planning. And yes, what can I say—our plot became a victim of the “11ant’s basement rule” 😱. Consequently, we continued planning, a bit smaller but this time with a basement. As we do not really need the space in the basement, we now have a basement apartment prepared for finishing, where we would initially only complete the bathroom and finish the rest ourselves. To have a parking space already, the garage was placed inside the house.
We thought a lot about whether we wanted a proper hallway. In the end, we left it open in the current plan because the designs with a hallway made the kitchen and dining areas feel very tight.
The furniture positions in the floor plan are only examples, and we would probably still adjust a few things, for example, arranging the kitchen in an L-shape with a passage through a cabinet to the pantry, or possibly placing the sofa more in the corner of the living room and slightly moving the corresponding window with a lower sill height forward. Also, the terrace should only be on the west side with doors leading out from both the kitchen and dining area. The south side of the dining area would have a fixed window only.
Since we are now slowly moving towards signing the contract, I would like to get your feedback on whether it makes sense to change or add anything and include it in the offer, or if we should reconsider the floor plan entirely.
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
UG:
GF:
UF:
Attic:
North view:
East view:
South view:
West view:
Plot size: 512 m² (5509 sq ft)
Slope: Yes
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: N/A
Building setback lines, building line, and boundaries: See overview
Edge development: N/A
Number of parking spaces: 3
Number of floors: 2
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: N/A
Garden orientation: West
Maximum heights / limits: 9 m (30 ft) ridge height from a specific terrain point on the plot
Additional requirements
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Single-family house, 2 full floors, gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement yes, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: Currently 3, soon 4, planned 5 → Persons: 2 adults over 30, 1 child (1 year), 1 unborn, 1 planned
Room requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: Kitchen (with pantry if possible), dining area, living room, toilet, utility room.
UF: 3 children’s rooms, 1 storage room.
GF or UF: Parents’ area with private bathroom, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office
Guest stays per year: About 40 nights per year (3x parents and siblings live far away)
Open or closed architecture: Open?
Conservative or modern construction style: ???
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen with kitchen island desired
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Yes, near the TV
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Yes, 1 garage in the house and either another garage or carport next to the house
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be: N/A
House Design
Planning by: Architect
What do you like most? Why? We like almost everything in the floor plan very much, especially the option to use the office upstairs while the children are small and move the office downstairs, and then later move it back downstairs when the children are older.
What do you not like? Why? Only minor details that we would still like to adjust. As nothing will be revised over Christmas, feel free to point out anything we might have missed.
Price estimate by architect/planner: €790,000 including additional costs / photovoltaic / kitchen / driveway / terrace, excluding finished basement apartment
Personal price limit for the house including features: €800,000
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up on certain details / expansions
- What can you do without: Basement (but ideally not because of the slope), basement apartment (guest room would otherwise suffice)
- What you cannot do without: 2 shower bathrooms for parents/children, straight staircase
Why did the design turn out as it is now?
For example:
At first, we really wanted to build simply without a basement to avoid exceeding our budget. The initial plans, however, had very steep driveways or the driveway was on the south side. Since we have been reading intensively here for many months, we decided to hire a surveyor because of the slight slope to clarify the planning. And yes, what can I say—our plot became a victim of the “11ant’s basement rule” 😱. Consequently, we continued planning, a bit smaller but this time with a basement. As we do not really need the space in the basement, we now have a basement apartment prepared for finishing, where we would initially only complete the bathroom and finish the rest ourselves. To have a parking space already, the garage was placed inside the house.
We thought a lot about whether we wanted a proper hallway. In the end, we left it open in the current plan because the designs with a hallway made the kitchen and dining areas feel very tight.
The furniture positions in the floor plan are only examples, and we would probably still adjust a few things, for example, arranging the kitchen in an L-shape with a passage through a cabinet to the pantry, or possibly placing the sofa more in the corner of the living room and slightly moving the corresponding window with a lower sill height forward. Also, the terrace should only be on the west side with doors leading out from both the kitchen and dining area. The south side of the dining area would have a fixed window only.
Since we are now slowly moving towards signing the contract, I would like to get your feedback on whether it makes sense to change or add anything and include it in the offer, or if we should reconsider the floor plan entirely.
Thank you very much in advance for your feedback!
UG:
GF:
UF:
Attic:
North view:
East view:
South view:
West view:
Papierturm8 Jan 2026 05:52I probably won’t be able to look at the floor plan and so on until Friday or the weekend. So, just a quick note:
There is a problem with the excavated soil: it is very soft. Really soft. (Because 1m³ (35 cubic feet) of soil expanded to 1.8m³ (63.5 cubic feet).)
Reusing it is risky in many areas, as it can lead to settlements later on; it is not load-bearing. Compacting it enough to make it load-bearing again is… probably like trying to push toothpaste back into the tube. It can be done, but it takes a long time, is unnecessarily complicated, and therefore expensive. In my view, disposal and replacement with load-bearing material is often still cheaper despite the costs involved.
huhxkux schrieb:
But the overhang will have to be backfilled eventually, right? Or does this require special material and you can’t use the existing excavated soil for this?
There is a problem with the excavated soil: it is very soft. Really soft. (Because 1m³ (35 cubic feet) of soil expanded to 1.8m³ (63.5 cubic feet).)
Reusing it is risky in many areas, as it can lead to settlements later on; it is not load-bearing. Compacting it enough to make it load-bearing again is… probably like trying to push toothpaste back into the tube. It can be done, but it takes a long time, is unnecessarily complicated, and therefore expensive. In my view, disposal and replacement with load-bearing material is often still cheaper despite the costs involved.
M
MachsSelbst8 Jan 2026 12:19This is especially true since you will likely want to create an eaves strip, entrance platform(s), terrace, paths, driveway, etc. around your house. Basically, even if it’s not strictly necessary for the construction itself, it makes sense to let the gravel base extend 1-2m (3-6 feet) beyond the foundation slab.
My house has a floor area of 100m² (1,076 sq ft), and we had gravel layered for the future terrace, driveway, and so on right from the start.
We were actually able to distribute 200m³ (7,060 cubic feet) of excavation material quite well and even had to bring in an additional 100m³ (3,530 cubic feet) from the neighbor because our foundation was really deep, below street level.
But either way, you have to do this. For both the terrace and especially the driveway, a frost-protected foundation at a depth of 80-120cm (31-47 inches) is recommended, depending on the region. It is usually more cost-effective if the civil engineer handles this work since they will already be delivering the gravel for the foundation and removing the excavated soil.
My house has a floor area of 100m² (1,076 sq ft), and we had gravel layered for the future terrace, driveway, and so on right from the start.
We were actually able to distribute 200m³ (7,060 cubic feet) of excavation material quite well and even had to bring in an additional 100m³ (3,530 cubic feet) from the neighbor because our foundation was really deep, below street level.
But either way, you have to do this. For both the terrace and especially the driveway, a frost-protected foundation at a depth of 80-120cm (31-47 inches) is recommended, depending on the region. It is usually more cost-effective if the civil engineer handles this work since they will already be delivering the gravel for the foundation and removing the excavated soil.
With three children, I would never want the staircase to be open within the living area. That’s why I tried to move the staircase downwards so that it ends at the top level in a hallway. I find the reading nook unnecessary; it probably resulted from a lack of options. I would place a home office there instead. Instead of the pantry, you could also create a second small office. Alternatively, reduce the size of this room, move the guest toilet (WC) upwards, and create more space in the utility room. The kitchen is also larger in my plan, which is beneficial for a family of five.
The upper floor layout has also changed due to the shifted staircase (one stair step is now built over). You would have a slightly larger bedroom and a bigger walk-in closet. The bathrooms have hardly lost any space. The windows have not yet been adjusted.
The upper floor layout has also changed due to the shifted staircase (one stair step is now built over). You would have a slightly larger bedroom and a bigger walk-in closet. The bathrooms have hardly lost any space. The windows have not yet been adjusted.
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