Are rooftop terraces useful?

We once had one, I don't need it anymore. In the height of summer, you get grilled, the little children can't play in the garden. You carry everything through the house: dirt, food, booze, drunkards, and at least twice a year plants and furniture. After all, I also have an aversion to flat roofs – have seen too many leaks.

If it were to exist, the kitchen would also have to be upstairs, but then it (for me) would be missing downstairs. There would have to be at least a separate storage room for all the stuff including cushions, decorations, and blankets.

In the middle of a city with a view of a beautiful old town very nice, in typical single-family house areas / new housing developments absolutely unnecessary.

A garden with kitchen and living area on one level has exclusively advantages for us. Natural shading by trees possible, quickly getting more supplies from the kitchen, more space, ... and you don’t have to build a flat roof, which many people don’t like visually (of course a matter of taste).

We have one on the garage, but also the living area on the upper floor. With an outside staircase, where you can both transport things and let guests up. I wouldn't do it any other way. More sun, cooler bedrooms, etc.

I would first research how much the rooftop terrace would cost extra. And then consider whether it would be worth the money to me. Something like that is definitely nice. But also significantly more expensive. Likewise, you can’t be in two beautiful places (rooftop terrace and garden) at the same time. For me, that would only be a luxury. Building a house is expensive enough. If money is no object, then I would build with a rooftop terrace. But the extra costs have to be worth it to you. Therefore, I would rather build without if I had a nice garden.

The roof terrace would probably cost 10,000 euros, although one must not forget that one would probably also install more windows, which also cost more money, but in return, one would have more light.

More windows, more square meters on the floor below, additional staircase, railing, overall more square meters than one would have planned without a roof terrace by creating additional rooms upstairs, possibly expensive sanitary installations, possibly a kitchenette, additional upper hallway, additional doors, extra costs possibly a longer chimney, later additional costs for decorating the roof terrace, parasol... In principle, you are not just building the roof terrace upstairs, but additional living space in square meters is also added. Don’t forget the attic... We currently have a large roof terrace in a small town. You don’t really have such a great view there either. In which area would you like to build? Putting plants outside in summer, bringing them inside in winter, where do plants overwinter?, cleaning the outdoor railing... That’s all a lot of work. If you still have children, pay attention to fall protection. Children like to romp around in the garden. I can’t really imagine it being suitable for children on the roof terrace. Would you have a garden? How big is it approximately, or how big would your property be?