Hello everyone,
Our project is set to start in 2015. We are planning a single-story townhouse as permitted by local building regulations. The single-story design will be achieved with 4 dormer windows and a void space, as required by the development plan.
I would love to hear your opinions on this!
I am about 95% satisfied with the design myself. The only concerns I still have are the "dead space" or hallway on the ground floor and whether the guest toilet is sufficient. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a solution for either yet :-(
Best regards, barcardi
Our project is set to start in 2015. We are planning a single-story townhouse as permitted by local building regulations. The single-story design will be achieved with 4 dormer windows and a void space, as required by the development plan.
I would love to hear your opinions on this!
I am about 95% satisfied with the design myself. The only concerns I still have are the "dead space" or hallway on the ground floor and whether the guest toilet is sufficient. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a solution for either yet :-(
Best regards, barcardi
Yes, it all looks well furnished and colorful (with a Christmas tree and presents ). But that’s about it.
I took a look at Jette’s quote – not much is left of it.
Just imagine a family coming home from a walk, the little one needs to pee and goes with mom or dad to the guest toilet. The other two take their jackets and... four people are already in each other’s way.
Offices on the west side with computers facing the windows... that’s how my workplace is set up, but luckily I finish work at 4 p.m. – no more computer work after that.
A seating area is an option, but do you really want to relax right in front of a door after work? There’s a main traffic route next to your sofa... this can be done better in a single-family house.
The doors in the utility room take up a lot of space, just like the windows in the dressing room upstairs.
There’s a gallery (in the hallway, which is not exactly suitable either), but there’s no seating area where you can actually enjoy it.
The kitchen is intentional but not well designed and the small island doesn’t do justice to the house itself.
@kbt09 already mentioned the dressing room, and you won’t have more storage space (apart from dressers) on the outer walls of the upper floor.
As I said before: you’re falling in love with a house that doesn’t fit the plot, and a lot is compromised through endless remodeling. This Jette house relies on symmetry and spaciousness, but somehow it’s lost here. In my opinion, houses like this can only be realized with a (basement) cellar because they don’t really offer storage space for four people, but are designed for four due to the rooms upstairs.
I think this is one of those houses that people build and want to sell again after a few years – and everyone will then wonder why, because the house looks nice (and the impractical aspects are not obvious at first glance).
Best regards,
Yvonne
I took a look at Jette’s quote – not much is left of it.
Just imagine a family coming home from a walk, the little one needs to pee and goes with mom or dad to the guest toilet. The other two take their jackets and... four people are already in each other’s way.
Offices on the west side with computers facing the windows... that’s how my workplace is set up, but luckily I finish work at 4 p.m. – no more computer work after that.
A seating area is an option, but do you really want to relax right in front of a door after work? There’s a main traffic route next to your sofa... this can be done better in a single-family house.
The doors in the utility room take up a lot of space, just like the windows in the dressing room upstairs.
There’s a gallery (in the hallway, which is not exactly suitable either), but there’s no seating area where you can actually enjoy it.
The kitchen is intentional but not well designed and the small island doesn’t do justice to the house itself.
@kbt09 already mentioned the dressing room, and you won’t have more storage space (apart from dressers) on the outer walls of the upper floor.
As I said before: you’re falling in love with a house that doesn’t fit the plot, and a lot is compromised through endless remodeling. This Jette house relies on symmetry and spaciousness, but somehow it’s lost here. In my opinion, houses like this can only be realized with a (basement) cellar because they don’t really offer storage space for four people, but are designed for four due to the rooms upstairs.
I think this is one of those houses that people build and want to sell again after a few years – and everyone will then wonder why, because the house looks nice (and the impractical aspects are not obvious at first glance).
Best regards,
Yvonne
An almost scathing judgment, but tastes are known to vary.
How good or bad a design is also depends on what you were used to before.
Regarding the walk-in closet, I don’t see a problem there, at least for my wife. There is still space for a wardrobe in the bedroom under the dormer if needed.
I do see the cloakroom and guest bathroom as an issue. There is really very little space.
Most of the other points don’t seem like problems to me, at least not so noticeably. But maybe I’m not that demanding.
How good or bad a design is also depends on what you were used to before.
Regarding the walk-in closet, I don’t see a problem there, at least for my wife. There is still space for a wardrobe in the bedroom under the dormer if needed.
I do see the cloakroom and guest bathroom as an issue. There is really very little space.
Most of the other points don’t seem like problems to me, at least not so noticeably. But maybe I’m not that demanding.
barcardi schrieb:
An almost devastating verdict, but tastes are known to differ.
How good or bad a design is also depends on what you were used to before.
As for the walk-in closet, I don’t see a problem there, at least for my wife. There is still space for a wardrobe in the bedroom under the dormer if needed.
I do see the cloakroom and guest bathroom as an issue. The space is really tight.
Most of the other points don’t stand out as problems to me. But maybe I’m just not that demanding.Well, it’s not about taste but about functionality. Everyone here tries to be objective and shares their experience and sometimes learned knowledge.
It may be that the criticism points are not so obvious to you – that’s exactly why you turn to the forum, to recognize the blind spots from your own routine.
This is explicitly the reason why I consider the eventual resale of such an expensive property: living in it over time makes it clear what we are pointing out here. It doesn’t have to be that way, but it is very likely... In my opinion. I have also helped many owners to resell a house like this.
My advice: take the large amount of money and invest it in an architect who will design a house with a suitable staircase for you. Whoever invests this much in a house should not settle for a prefabricated grid where everything feels tight just because they were used to “something else” before.
Thank you for the suggestions,
we will give this some further thought. There is still some potential for optimization.
What is currently bothering me is the lost space due to the void. We have a knee wall height of 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in). If we lower it to 1.625 m (5 ft 4 in) and reduce the size of two dormers slightly, we could do without the void. Then the office would fit upstairs, and we could separate the bathroom and wardrobe, enlarging both accordingly. Upstairs, there would also be possibilities to reduce the corridor size and change its shape from a U to an L.
Regarding the kitchen, it would feel more spacious if it were designed as an open plan.
we will give this some further thought. There is still some potential for optimization.
What is currently bothering me is the lost space due to the void. We have a knee wall height of 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in). If we lower it to 1.625 m (5 ft 4 in) and reduce the size of two dormers slightly, we could do without the void. Then the office would fit upstairs, and we could separate the bathroom and wardrobe, enlarging both accordingly. Upstairs, there would also be possibilities to reduce the corridor size and change its shape from a U to an L.
Regarding the kitchen, it would feel more spacious if it were designed as an open plan.
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