Avoid mistakes in the second house: Home construction company or architect?

The architect somehow fixated on this city villa - without this term ever coming from us. All we wanted were two full stories.

And that is exactly why it is important that the architect is truly an architect and serves only the client. If the architect is part of the general contractor’s scope, there is always the requirement to get a simple-to-build house approved as quickly as possible.

My architect took some numbers from some tool. No idea if they were adjusted with factors for the current years or how else they were calculated.

But that is an expensive position to allow gaps in precise knowledge.

Well, I think very few architects deal with detailed cost planning – it’s more of a creative study and business administration is often less favored by students in that field.

Customer acquisition costs time and money. Randomly keeping your referral probability low quickly makes the “artist” architect broke. Only those who want to earn on a student level forever can afford such carelessness.

Especially with special wishes and creative solutions, the architect is certainly the better choice.

Especially with special wishes and creative solutions, only the architect who is on the whitelist is a good choice. Otherwise, even Rockefeller and Rothschild have to beg someone in the end.

We now have 3 children and there should be a fourth.

That is a classic reason for changing property even with a still young house, which hardly any architect can foresee. But even a single child does not thrive better by having a hall as their room.

We consciously decided not to implement the criticism to plan the parents’ bedroom smaller and are glad about it today. Of course, this is very individual. I often read here that the bedroom should just be nice and small because you only sleep in it. That’s not the case with us: a lot else happens here, like a changing table (even if only temporarily), my study was separated off, two long rows of closets (we don’t have a separate dressing room), and a small area with an armchair; the bed stands centrally as a room divider. We like it. If there is anything in our house with which I am satisfied, then it is our bedroom.

Is that already the “Stockholm syndrome” that you “like” having a multi-purpose loft instead of a bedroom – would you even have liked to stretch a laundry line diagonally through as a room divider?

I understand today that our mistake was taking or being given a townhouse floor plan and trying to enlarge it. That doesn’t work.

The modular base Insteadvilla is only partly to blame for the misery; the bigger mistake was planning with a deaf (and from the hostile camp supplied) architect. Therefore, I take the liberty once to Full Quote:

And that is exactly why it is important that the architect is actually an architect and solely serves the client. If the architect is part of the general contractor’s services, there is always a directive to get an application-ready, easy-to-build house as quickly as possible.

I sat there myself for a long time and tried to draw. As a layman, I didn't succeed.

But even back then you could scroll back three years to see that I always encourage people to contribute to their own discussions even with the most skewed and imperfect scribbles. Also, I haven’t only been saying since yesterday HOW professionals plan: namely more systematically than graphically, and also always first going through the transition from conceptualizing to drawing as a kindergarten Picasso. Similar to the "Pictionary" game (dog cat mouse car ...), only starting with the House of Nikolaus. I’m happy to make a tutorial about it too, but at the moment my readers are unfortunately hanging me out to dry when it comes to sending me their wish list for upcoming posts. So as a punishment, they’ll just have to wait longer.

Only a maximum of one attic floor can be added in height.

…And probably the height is also fixed, so that not even on your two-story house would there be room for a convertible gable roof.
As you can read, you wrote back then that the development plan mandated a tent roof. 23 degrees.
Your wish was the city villa, it says there. One can assume that you told the architect the same as here in the forum.
You also said that she fully implemented your wishes… and that you stand by the floor plan!

One can read a lot, I don’t want to quote anything now.
Still, one has to say:

What you list as things you'd like to have are cost drivers. An additional finished attic and panoramic glazing would have been at least €100,000.
That people want to change again because the family has grown happens often – and that’s exactly why many build again.

The second house does not simply become "better" just because you start over again.

I think so too. According to what you say you need, you would have to build a 300 sqm house.

Today instead of two children’s rooms, there should be four, plus two offices plus a guest room. That is – I’m becoming more and more aware – of course no longer a catalog house.

That can very well be done, if you can afford it.

That is of course very individual. I often read here that the bedroom should be nice and small, because you only sleep in it.

You misinterpreted that for yourself and out of its context: before you have to plan the children’s rooms small because the house can no longer offer space, it is better to adjust the sqm throttle in the bedroom, since an adult spends less time in the bedroom than a child in the children’s room.
I also have to smile about the oversized unzoned room. I do like multifunctional rooms, but certainly no makeshifts like how people used to divide children’s rooms with room dividers. In the end, you are making of your bedroom only what you forgot to plan, namely dressing room and office and successful sightlines that suggest a chair as a connection between two rooms.
But I’ll come back to the point: it doesn’t matter whether with architect or general contractor, if as the builder you can’t look beyond tomorrow or don’t question yourself sometimes whether your opinion is right. Afterwards, others are to blame (see architect from the GC who implemented your wishes back then…).
And if you have to make compromises because of money, you cannot later say might-have-beens, because you had a reason to make compromises.
You built back then for 3–4 people, and that was right. Now, with offspring, it no longer fits. If you build again, deficits will appear again in a few years – whether you call it that or just accept it is up to yourself. And always remember: you build the second house for your friend – only the third house for yourself. A panoramic window or large sliding door to the terrace is certainly not what makes you fully happy.

Today, instead of two children's rooms, there are now supposed to be four, plus two offices plus a guest room. That is – I am becoming more and more aware – of course no longer a catalog house.

There are certainly some general contractor designs for large gable-roof family houses. But even there, it gets tight with the two additional (=4) children's rooms. A separate guest room is supposed to fit in as well. As well as the large bedroom. How many bathrooms? That will then certainly be something in size that you could really call a villa – or a 2.5-story gable roof in the form of a residential block. But that also places demands on the next plot – it will certainly have to be larger..

I would first ask the initial question for any sensible planning here – what can I afford? Again, better laid-out 200m² and a basement for guests and offices will already put you firmly in the regions >> €750,000 without land. I cannot imagine that you will overall not have clearly seven-figure costs if land is not almost given away for you. If you have to pay €400 per month for every additional €100,000 loan, that fits with

Does that work financially for you? Have you already run the project by a financial advisor? Sale, mortgage swap, new loan, etc.?
There is still one more child coming. If it really does not fit, in my opinion it would be more sensible to get professional help to adapt the existing house to the new conditions – by that I primarily mean space for more children..

I would first ask the initial question for any sensible planning - what can I afford? Better designed 200 m² and a basement for guests and a study already place you firmly in regions >> €750,000 without land.

On offer is a 190 sqm house on a 500 sqm plot. What is needed is a house of about 140 sqm (let’s say one indulges in 160 sqm) for which a plot of the same size suffices. What is special about the property to be sold is the mix of house size from 110 sqm required + 20 sqm generosity + 60 sqm empty padding space. People who are looking exactly for something like this pay accordingly a lot of money for it. Only four years on the clock and with a garden instead of desert as well as a porch instead of a Euro pallet, it is already attractive. But precisely because of the narrow target group, it is not a quick sale. I would already advertise it now as available from 2026.