ᐅ Visiting a Show Home Park – Helpful or Not?

We received approval for our plot today :-)!

I've been thinking about house types, floor plans, and so on for weeks. I thought it might be helpful to visit a show home village. Simply to get ideas and inspiration, and to find out what we like and don’t like. We don’t want to build a display or prefab house; I just thought visiting could spark some ideas.

Now I’ve looked for show home villages in NRW, and there aren’t many. Is it worth visiting a place with about 20 houses? What benefit does it bring if we’re not specifically interested in the suppliers? Would that just be a waste of time, and would it be better to keep searching online for floor plans and eventually get some nice drawings done by an architect?

How did you gather information and plan your build?
Looking forward to your input!

Well, you don’t live in a floor plan, but between walls painted with color, on installed flooring, beneath sloping ceilings, and in front of windows.

You gather inspiration that also relates to the floor plan design. Every home builder includes unique features that others can offer as well. My unpopular eye sore led me to our low-lying window band. At Schwörerhaus, we found the type of tiles we wanted. You also realize what you don’t want after a visit.

You also get to see interior decoration and furniture—usually reflecting current styles—which makes it clear that the old sofa won’t fit in and that the living area will need to accommodate a larger seating arrangement. 😉

...in addition, the houses contain a lot of interior features that might be unfamiliar. Natural stone is combined with metal, the toilet on the upper floor is separate, and the shower is open to the bedroom. Roofs are designed with open layouts, allowing for children’s rooms with galleries, the carport has solar panels on the roof, and there is a tree growing through the terrace.

Water does not come from a tap but from a channel, technical equipment is housed in more than 2 square meters (about 22 square feet), but there are alternatives for that as well. Or do you know all of this only from glossy brochures? Are you familiar with every type of heating system?

We were in Wuppertal on Sunday, and it was really great. We already have quite clear ideas about our house and are familiar with many new builds since we are among the last in our circle of friends, family, and acquaintances to build. Still, I was able to get lots of inspiration and a precise sense of the dimensions in square meters. For example, the amazing ceiling height and sliding door... *daydreams* Whether we can afford it, I’m not sure yet. 🙂 So, go check it out for yourselves! It’s a lot of fun.

We also visited two of these parks but didn’t choose a standard design. What I found most helpful were the room layouts to better imagine whether an 8 sqm (86 sq ft) bathroom would be sufficient and if you would need, for example, a 40 sqm (430 sq ft) combined dining/living room. Everything is already furnished, making it easier to picture whether you could live like that or not.

You also get to see some clever design features, such as stair stringers recessed into the wall (we "borrowed" that) :o

Hello,

I can only agree with the previous commenters. We also got quite a few ideas and inspirations from the show home exhibition in Fellbach, sometimes “borrowing” ideas 🙄

What really helped us as well were visits to customers’ homes, which many home builders offer shortly before handover.

If you register as an interested party, you will even be invited and don’t have to search for the next viewing yourself.

Best regards,

Dirk