ᐅ Single-family home with a granny flat on a 450 sqm sloped lot
Created on: 9 Feb 2022 11:44
K
Kristijan
Hello everyone,
Until now, I have only been a silent reader here, but I would like to present our own house concept for discussion. I am hoping for candid criticism, as well as your ideas and suggestions.
We are a blended family with four children (three are usually at home) and we are planning to build a single-family house with a secondary apartment in NRW. At the beginning of last year, we bought a sloped lot in a typical new development area and have since worked with an architect to develop a house concept. We designed a very simple building form (four walls and a roof) with an efficient floor plan. We sent our plans to several prefabricated house companies, asking for cost estimates, hoping that our budget might allow for potential expansion of the house. Now, faced with their offers, we have to admit that even our smallest possible floor plan exceeds our budget. The budget is about 550,000 euros for the house including additional construction costs (excluding the land). With the secondary apartment, we had hoped to double the KfW funding in the KfW 40 EE class with 67,500 euros to increase the budget. But it is what it is.
Perhaps our preliminary cost estimate was a bit naive. In any case, we are currently reconsidering the concept and are considering doing without a basement.
And now, please, fire away with your frank criticism and unvarnished truths. 🙂
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 450 sqm (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, north-facing slope (from the street toward south-southwest) with about 1.5 m (5 feet) elevation within the building envelope (1 meter (3 feet) within the planned footprint) rising
Floor area ratio (FAR): ?
The zoning plan does not provide this information
Building area ratio (site coverage): 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 19.5 m (64 feet) wide (street side), at the rear 17 m (56 feet) wide and 14 m (46 feet) deep
Edge development: Yes
Number of parking spaces: 2 for the main unit and 1 for the secondary apartment
Number of floors: 2.5
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: Traditional
Orientation: Ridge runs from west-northwest to east-southeast
Maximum heights / limits: Maximum ridge height 9.5 m (31 feet) above finished ground floor level (this may exceed the reference street level by max. 0.5 m (1.5 feet))
Other requirements: Side setbacks 3 m (10 feet), setback from the street 3.5 m (11.5 feet)
Client Requirements
Architectural style and building type: Simple, economical building form with a gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement with secondary apartment, total 2.5 floors
Number of people, ages: Household of 5-6 people: parents aged 38 and 36, four children aged 7, 4, 2x 2 years. Family planning went a bit beyond the target and is now complete 🙂 plus grandmother in the basement apartment
Space needs on ground / upper floors: About 140-150 sqm (1,500-1,615 sq ft): kitchen, living room, 1 bedroom, 3 children’s bedrooms, 1 guest/office/patchwork room, 2 bathrooms
Utility room in the basement
Office: 1 flexible room required
Guests per year: About 10
Open or closed layout: Form follows function
Conservative or modern style: Hm, what exactly is meant here?
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen adjacent to dining area (a kitchen island is welcome here), but closed off toward the living room
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: TV in the living room
Balcony, roof terrace: Covered terrace facing the garden with pass-through window from the kitchen
Garage, carport: Carport with green roof and additional storage space would be ideal
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: Small kitchen garden along the property boundary
House Design
Designer: Independent architect working with a prefabricated house company and DIY elements
What do you particularly like? Efficient use of space. Despite compactness, all requirements regarding space needs, especially number of rooms, are met
What do you dislike? Especially the ground floor could be more generous, the basement or storage spaces could be larger
Price estimate (according to architect): Not available
Price limit including fittings: 550,000 euros plus KfW funding if still available
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to sacrifice something, which details or extensions would you give up?
-can give up: Reluctantly on the separate parents’ area
The secondary apartment is also under discussion
The sliding doors on the ground floor are due to a coordination error and can be removed
-can not give up: Number of rooms
Why did the design turn out the way it is?
We basically created the design ourselves. The architect later made some optimizations. Our main focus was to accommodate all room requirements within a compact floor plan on a small plot. Furthermore, as parents of four children, we wanted our own small private space.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
Is our house concept failing due to our budget expectations? What would you do differently and why?
Until now, I have only been a silent reader here, but I would like to present our own house concept for discussion. I am hoping for candid criticism, as well as your ideas and suggestions.
We are a blended family with four children (three are usually at home) and we are planning to build a single-family house with a secondary apartment in NRW. At the beginning of last year, we bought a sloped lot in a typical new development area and have since worked with an architect to develop a house concept. We designed a very simple building form (four walls and a roof) with an efficient floor plan. We sent our plans to several prefabricated house companies, asking for cost estimates, hoping that our budget might allow for potential expansion of the house. Now, faced with their offers, we have to admit that even our smallest possible floor plan exceeds our budget. The budget is about 550,000 euros for the house including additional construction costs (excluding the land). With the secondary apartment, we had hoped to double the KfW funding in the KfW 40 EE class with 67,500 euros to increase the budget. But it is what it is.
Perhaps our preliminary cost estimate was a bit naive. In any case, we are currently reconsidering the concept and are considering doing without a basement.
And now, please, fire away with your frank criticism and unvarnished truths. 🙂
Zoning Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 450 sqm (4,844 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, north-facing slope (from the street toward south-southwest) with about 1.5 m (5 feet) elevation within the building envelope (1 meter (3 feet) within the planned footprint) rising
Floor area ratio (FAR): ?
The zoning plan does not provide this information
Building area ratio (site coverage): 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 19.5 m (64 feet) wide (street side), at the rear 17 m (56 feet) wide and 14 m (46 feet) deep
Edge development: Yes
Number of parking spaces: 2 for the main unit and 1 for the secondary apartment
Number of floors: 2.5
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: Traditional
Orientation: Ridge runs from west-northwest to east-southeast
Maximum heights / limits: Maximum ridge height 9.5 m (31 feet) above finished ground floor level (this may exceed the reference street level by max. 0.5 m (1.5 feet))
Other requirements: Side setbacks 3 m (10 feet), setback from the street 3.5 m (11.5 feet)
Client Requirements
Architectural style and building type: Simple, economical building form with a gable roof
Basement, floors: Basement with secondary apartment, total 2.5 floors
Number of people, ages: Household of 5-6 people: parents aged 38 and 36, four children aged 7, 4, 2x 2 years. Family planning went a bit beyond the target and is now complete 🙂 plus grandmother in the basement apartment
Space needs on ground / upper floors: About 140-150 sqm (1,500-1,615 sq ft): kitchen, living room, 1 bedroom, 3 children’s bedrooms, 1 guest/office/patchwork room, 2 bathrooms
Utility room in the basement
Office: 1 flexible room required
Guests per year: About 10
Open or closed layout: Form follows function
Conservative or modern style: Hm, what exactly is meant here?
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open kitchen adjacent to dining area (a kitchen island is welcome here), but closed off toward the living room
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: TV in the living room
Balcony, roof terrace: Covered terrace facing the garden with pass-through window from the kitchen
Garage, carport: Carport with green roof and additional storage space would be ideal
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: Small kitchen garden along the property boundary
House Design
Designer: Independent architect working with a prefabricated house company and DIY elements
What do you particularly like? Efficient use of space. Despite compactness, all requirements regarding space needs, especially number of rooms, are met
What do you dislike? Especially the ground floor could be more generous, the basement or storage spaces could be larger
Price estimate (according to architect): Not available
Price limit including fittings: 550,000 euros plus KfW funding if still available
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump
If you have to sacrifice something, which details or extensions would you give up?
-can give up: Reluctantly on the separate parents’ area
The secondary apartment is also under discussion
The sliding doors on the ground floor are due to a coordination error and can be removed
-can not give up: Number of rooms
Why did the design turn out the way it is?
We basically created the design ourselves. The architect later made some optimizations. Our main focus was to accommodate all room requirements within a compact floor plan on a small plot. Furthermore, as parents of four children, we wanted our own small private space.
What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
Is our house concept failing due to our budget expectations? What would you do differently and why?
K
Kristijan9 Feb 2022 18:54@rick2018
Our upper two floors have a living area of 130m² (1,399 sq ft). In addition, the main apartment includes approximately 11m² (118 sq ft) of circulation space in the basement and 12m² (129 sq ft) of technical and storage rooms in the basement. The granny flat has around 41.5m² (447 sq ft) of living space. In total, about 194.5m² (2,093 sq ft) of living and usable space is planned.
Regarding our financial situation, the total budget of 550,000 euros for the "house all in" excluding the land arises from the amount we have available monthly to service the mortgage. We planned for double funding to increase our flexibility.
Our upper two floors have a living area of 130m² (1,399 sq ft). In addition, the main apartment includes approximately 11m² (118 sq ft) of circulation space in the basement and 12m² (129 sq ft) of technical and storage rooms in the basement. The granny flat has around 41.5m² (447 sq ft) of living space. In total, about 194.5m² (2,093 sq ft) of living and usable space is planned.
Regarding our financial situation, the total budget of 550,000 euros for the "house all in" excluding the land arises from the amount we have available monthly to service the mortgage. We planned for double funding to increase our flexibility.
K
Kristijan9 Feb 2022 18:5511ant schrieb:
The combination of floor area ratio mentioned and site coverage not mentioned is "unusual"; the reverse is more common.I will double-check this and review the documents again.K
Kristijan9 Feb 2022 19:1411ant schrieb:
For an amateur design, the draft is actually not bad at all, but it is relatively too detailed to check whether it fits the budget at this stage—especially when key conceptual decisions, like whether grandmother will move in, are still undecided. The floor plan shared here was, of course, created by the architect. We had initially drawn it using room sketcher.
The idea of having the plans revised by an architect for a small fee came from a home builder. We wanted professional drawings to compare offers properly and took on a few suggested improvements.
At that point, we were already quite far along with another builder with a completely different design, but we had the ongoing feeling that the design was not quite right. (No architect was involved there, only the sales representative.)
We like the current plans much better, and they feel much more appropriate.
Since many people recommended a basement due to the sloping site, we also considered the basement apartment with regard to potential subsidies. Grandmother and we are enthusiastic about living together under one roof, and we can all imagine it well. However, since everyone in our family finds it difficult to make firm commitments (grandmother is still relatively young, will work for a few more years, and might fall in love again—what then?), we all feel more comfortable designing the basement apartment for a stranger. This way, no expectations can be disappointed, and if grandmother ends up moving in, all the better.
H
Hausbautraum209 Feb 2022 19:17What outdoor features are already included in the quoted price?
The necessary stairs and so on look quite expensive as well.
Could the carport be removed for now?
Also, I’m wondering if the house is clad with wood? That would have added a five-figure amount to our costs, which we decided to avoid...
The windows also appear to have fall protection. If that’s stainless steel, each piece will be quite costly.
Small savings like these won’t help much when you’re short by 100,000.
Besides that, the children’s rooms are really not very large, and the living room isn’t big enough for 5–6 people either.
So, apart from the master bathroom, dressing room, and especially the granny flat, I don’t see much potential to cut costs.
Regarding the granny flat: If you deduct 120€ in taxes from the 340€, you’re left with 220€.
How is it supposed to cover an additional 100,000–150,000?
Without the granny flat, I’d skip the first floor instead of the basement, and that would reduce costs by around 150,000.
The necessary stairs and so on look quite expensive as well.
Could the carport be removed for now?
Also, I’m wondering if the house is clad with wood? That would have added a five-figure amount to our costs, which we decided to avoid...
The windows also appear to have fall protection. If that’s stainless steel, each piece will be quite costly.
Small savings like these won’t help much when you’re short by 100,000.
Besides that, the children’s rooms are really not very large, and the living room isn’t big enough for 5–6 people either.
So, apart from the master bathroom, dressing room, and especially the granny flat, I don’t see much potential to cut costs.
Regarding the granny flat: If you deduct 120€ in taxes from the 340€, you’re left with 220€.
How is it supposed to cover an additional 100,000–150,000?
Without the granny flat, I’d skip the first floor instead of the basement, and that would reduce costs by around 150,000.
Kristijan schrieb:
The floor plan posted here was, of course, created by the architect. We had initially sketched it out with Room Sketcher.
The idea of having the plans revised by an architect for a small fee came from a home building company. We wanted professional plans to make a proper comparison between suppliers and took on board some of their improvement suggestions. The praise I gave, considering my standards, was not just about the design of the drawings, but about the mature impression compared to the usual Pinterest-style fanciful nonsense with failed Tetris-like arrangements. However, the only valid supplier comparison is made on a basis whose professionalism does not primarily rely on the graphical level.
Kristijan schrieb:
By that time, we were already quite far along with another builder using a completely different design, but we constantly felt that the design was not right. (No architect was involved here—only the salesperson). On the other hand, we really like the current plans, and they feel much better. Still, show on which basis other suppliers should prove themselves.
Kristijan schrieb:
Since many have advised us to include a basement due to the sloping site, I would rather say: the slope itself virtually demands it—so much so that I would consider it an imperative recommendation. This means the basement’s living area is obliged to be functional, not just “nice to have space for grandma” — at least not for a grandma who might just live there occasionally. A granny flat has never managed to grow beyond a politically motivated gimmick. It has never seriously relieved the housing market for students or caregivers in training.
Kristijan schrieb:
(Grandma is still young, still working for a few years, maybe she’ll even fall in love again—what then?) It’s good to know you’re not, like some other home builders, predetermining that grandma is to quietly bake cookies instead of seducing the vacuum cleaner salesman loud enough for all the neighbors to hear ;-)
So, what do you want to do now: start the planning over from scratch instead of continuing from the middle, or downgrade the finishes?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
K
Kristijan9 Feb 2022 20:52@Hausbautraum20
The carport can actually wait for now.
The wooden facade was taken over by the architect in the drawings from the home construction company that had proposed the preliminary design. For the home builder, the facade is an integral part of the brand as a distinctive feature.
However, in the offers we have received, it has not yet been included in the pricing. So unfortunately, there is no potential for savings here.
All the offers refer to turnkey construction. Costs for the patio or other exterior work are not yet included in these quotes.
The carport can actually wait for now.
The wooden facade was taken over by the architect in the drawings from the home construction company that had proposed the preliminary design. For the home builder, the facade is an integral part of the brand as a distinctive feature.
However, in the offers we have received, it has not yet been included in the pricing. So unfortunately, there is no potential for savings here.
All the offers refer to turnkey construction. Costs for the patio or other exterior work are not yet included in these quotes.
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