ᐅ Spacious single-family house planned, totaling over 200 square meters

Hello everyone,

I have been quietly following for a while, but now I have a question for the many experienced forum users here.

Zoning Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 1030 m² (12,400 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site occupancy index (building coverage ratio): 0.35
Floor area ratio: NA
Building window, building line, and boundary: NA
Edge development: NA
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof style: any
Architectural style: NA
Orientation: NA
Maximum heights/limits: NA
Other regulations

Requirements from the Homeowners
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: Classic, either gable roof or hip roof
Basement, floors: basement included, either 2 floors or alternatively 1 floor with a very high knee wall (over 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in))?
Number and age of occupants: currently 2 around age 30, with 2 children planned
Space requirements for ground floor and upper floor: "should not be too small"
Office: family use / home office
Overnight guests per year: 4–6
Open or closed architecture: rather closed
Conservative or modern design: rather conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen is possible
Number of dining seats: 4–6
Fireplace: yes
Music/sound system wall: not planned
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace on the ground floor planned
Garage, carport: double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, including reasons why something should or should not be included

House Design
Who designed the plan: do-it-yourself (based on a cousin’s house)
What do you particularly like? Why? spacious rooms and simply a very appealing layout in the cousin’s house
What do you not like? Why? possibly little light in the hallway on the ground floor?
Price estimate according to architect/planner: unknown
Personal price limit for the house, including fixtures: 450,000
Preferred heating system: gas or air-to-water heat pump

If you have to give up something, on which details/extensions?
- can you give up: so far none, otherwise we would have left them out already
- cannot give up: the rooms we designed

Why is the design the way it is now?
Standard design from the planner? Based on the south-facing orientation (living and dining/kitchen) of the cousin’s house
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? So far none
What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is the minimal shift of the load-bearing wall possible? And have we oversized or undersized some rooms / hallway lighting issue?

Thank you very much for your suggestions. Please be straightforward and honest. We will consider and evaluate every comment.

We have not yet drawn a basement floor plan because we have no clear ideas on the layout of the desired rooms, and basically, it doesn’t matter to us. We will arrange it as simply as possible for technical and plumbing reasons. Proposed rooms: heating room, laundry room, guest room, pantry, small storage room with workbench. What else? Naturally, all rooms will have windows. Basement entry is planned on the north side from outside.

Additional note: the windows shown on the ground and upper floors are not final. I also think most of the windows might be too small to provide enough daylight in the rooms.

The plot is completely facing north (and so are the sketches).

Thank you,
Marie

Hello,
I consider 450k to be far too low for over 200m2 (over 2150 ft²) with a basement and double garage. Have you already requested some quotes?
A basement costs (depending on the specifications) from 1000€/m2 (about 93 USD/ft²). Then there are additional costs for excavation and disposal. A double garage easily costs around 25k.
In this forum, a price of 2000€ per m2 (about 186 USD/ft²) of living space is assumed, and that is more of a basic level of finish.

Pinky0301 schrieb:

Hello,
I think 450k is quite low for more than 200m2 (2150 sq ft) with a basement and a double garage. Have you already requested any quotes?
A basement costs (depending on the specifications) from €1000/m2 (about $100 per sq ft) upwards. You also need to consider excavation and disposal costs. A double garage easily costs around €25,000 (about $27,500).
Here in the forum, a price of €2000 per m2 (about $185 per sq ft) of living area is assumed, which would be for a basic level of finish.

That’s a valid point. For the garages, we are currently considering prefabricated garages away from the main house (on the east/south boundary of the square plot). Perhaps also a timber frame construction? Prefabricated or timber frame garages should be cheaper than a stone-built garage attached directly to the house, right?

The 450k is probably not an absolute limit but more of a rough estimate. If it ends up being 480k or even 520k because we want higher-quality finishes, then that’s fine. So maybe I didn’t express that clearly.

What do you think about the basic layout of the floor plan?

And no, we haven’t requested any quotes yet. We wanted to ask for feedback on the floor plan here first before approaching our trusted builder (who also has architects).

Budget and house do not match. For the basement and double garage in Baden-Württemberg, about 100,000 euros are missing.
It will likely be over 600,000 euros plus a frugal selection of materials and finishes. Much more than the usual personal contribution (painting, flooring, landscaping) would have to be done.

The house is large enough. The basement can be omitted. What would you put in the basement?

Apart from the fact that the house and budget still need to be aligned, I quite like the design.
The layout works quite well – the technical room and utility area will probably be located in the basement. Depending on hobbies, a convenient utility room could also be placed on the ground floor instead of the hobby room. That would certainly be more practical for everyday use, especially if a laundry chute is added to the hallway upstairs, as it is directly above.
@haydee: If the basement is omitted, space must be made for the building services. Additionally, a basement is a good location to install a sauna later on and to accommodate a large room for a snooker table…

It is difficult to comment on the floor plan because it is hard to read and contains no dimensions.
Do you already have the plot of land? If so, please share a site plan.
Others can probably calculate the costs more accurately, but roughly estimated:
200m2 (2,150 sq ft) of living space = 400,000–500,000 Euros
A prefabricated garage doesn’t cost much less, let’s say 20,000 Euros
Basement 100,000 Euros
Kitchen, furniture, etc.
Outdoor area...