Floor plan design of a single-family house on a large plot

Hello everyone,

we have been looking for a house or a plot of land to build on for quite some time. Now relatives have approached us and offered us to build on the plot next to their house. The entire plot is almost 2,000 m². The part that could be an option for us would be about 1/3 of that. The building area is very large. The existing house is about 20m wide and 10m deep. However, the building area has a depth of about 20m. So the house could be built either towards the front (street side) or towards the back (garden side).
We have just brainstormed a bit and made some sketches of how one could build there. But I am not yet sure if this is really a good idea. The location is basically very good - close to the city center yet quiet, single-family house area, lots of greenery... but it is actually not in our preferred city, although it would definitely be doable. And then I am also not sure whether one can accept such an offer from relatives. We would also appreciate opinions on this.

Development plan/restrictions
Size of the plot: just under 2,000 m²; about 700-800 m² for us
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Floor space index: 1.2
Building area, building line and boundary: see plan
Edge development: see plan
Number of parking spaces: at least 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof shape: not specified
Style: -
Orientation: -
Maximum heights/limits: -
Further specifications: -

Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: shed roof
Basement, floors: 2.5 with high basement
Number of people, age: currently 3 (2 adults, 1 toddler)
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor:
Office: family use or home office? at least two workrooms
Sleep guests per year: 100
Open or closed architecture: -
Conservative or modern construction: -
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed, unclear
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: gladly
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: yes at the master bedroom, yes (attic)
Garage, carport: garage, location still unclear
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be:

House design
Planning by:
- Do-it-Yourself
What do you particularly like? Why? Large, open living room with four areas; roof terrace; garden facing south is perfect
What do you not like? Why? -
Price estimate according to architect/planner: -
Personal price limit for the house, incl. equipment: 600,000 euros
Preferred heating technology: geothermal

If you have to give up, on which details/extensions
- can you do without:
- can you not do without:

Why is the design as it is now? We took our wishes and tried to realize as much as possible, it is unfortunately clear that probably not everything will work out in the end
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
- Should the house be set back more to the front or back or be aligned with the existing building?
- Where should the garage go? Towards the property boundary or possibly even in front of the house?
- Does the floor plan make any sense at all or is it nonsense?
- Does it make sense to accept the offer from the relatives?

Then I am curious. Thanks in advance.

Hello,

I'm not quite sure how your building window looks now. Is it 10m x 20m building area and 10m x 30m garden at the back? Then you would have a plot of 10m x 50m?

If that's correct, your planned house would completely fill the 10-meter width of the property and be attached to the other house?

From a first look at your floor plans, I think you should take a look at floor plans of finished houses. In my opinion, you have simply taken all the rooms you want in the future and mixed them together randomly.

You have really planned an extremely large living area. When I add up the dimensions, I come to over 448 sqm of floor area. The walls still need to be deducted, of course. But I think at least 400 sqm will still remain. In addition, there are 48 sqm of balcony/roof terrace. Isn’t all this a bit oversized or are you planning to start a large family?

With so much space, the dimensions of some rooms are also not right. Pure area is not everything; the measurements also matter.

Let's take children's room 1 with its 21 sqm. At first glance, one thinks: "Wow, the child can look forward to so much space to play!" But if you then look at the 7m x 3m, it looks quite different. A huge corridor where comfortable living will be impossible. There must also be room for a wardrobe, a school backpack will be placed against the wall, ... and suddenly the 3m become only 2m or even less. The thickness of the walls in the house is also not drawn realistically, which would reduce the current 3 meters even further.

The same goes for the guest room on the upper floor. 12 sqm is actually sufficient for that, but not for the corridor room. No space for a bedside table and you have to crawl towards the foot end of the bed...

The living room will hardly work like this either. After all, the other two floors have to distribute their load somewhere. With so much open space, I think it will be statically impossible. Furthermore, you have planned a fireplace corner here, but have ignored the fireplace in the other floors. It runs right through the closet in your dressing room and ends in the hallway in the attic, which makes your current access to the roof terrace impossible.

There is also no suitable place in the hallway to install a wardrobe or put shoes. Where do they go if you have guests who want to party in the huge living room?

How did you come up with these external dimensions?

It would also be helpful to draw in the windows.

I doubt that you will manage with the estimated €600,000 for this house.

Regards Michael

Wow, you’re planning quite a castle. How many people do you want to live there in the future? And think about whether you really need an extra fireplace corner. Whether you’ll actually sit there or rather lounge on the couch in front of the TV. Also check if you really want to afford a conservatory. I find them an absolute nightmare, especially in summer. In winter, you don’t want to sit in there at all because so much cold draughts come through the windows, even with well-insulated windows. We have a 168 sqm house and sometimes live there with 5 people. It works wonderfully and is more than enough. If you then add 20 sqm for guests/work, that’s also enough. With the basement, you’ll gain the garbage area.

Ok, that's quite a statement. >400m² - seriously? If it really goes in that direction, I consider a floor plan discussion at this stage unnecessary. Anyone planning such a castle comes with an architect’s design and posts it here. Not with "something like this" - sorry.

About the property: No matter how great the relationship with the relatives is, make a proper purchase contract, land register, survey, pipabo - everything that belongs to it, as if it were a foreign seller. Only that way will you remain a close-knit family forever. :)

I'm not quite sure what your building envelope looks like now. Is it 10m x 20m building area and 10m x 30m garden at the back? Then you would have a plot of 10m x 50m?

Sorry, that came across wrong. The part of the plot in question is just over 15 meters wide (towards the street) – measured from the existing house to the property boundary. And the depth from the street is about 50 meters. The building envelope is at least 10 meters wide, rather a bit more, and about 20 meters deep – starting about 3-5 meters from the street.

If that's correct, would your planned house completely fill the 10-meter width of the plot and be attached to the other house?

No, we would not use the full width. Yes, the house would be attached. On the side of the house, there is only a basement window; that could be bricked up.

From a first look at your floor plans, I think you should take a look at floor plans of finished houses. In my opinion, you have just taken all the rooms you want in the future and randomly thrown them together.

Unfortunately, that's true. But we are trying to approach it step by step. I find the ground floor already quite close to standard floor plans, apart from the total size. Here you could probably leave out the study.
And on the upper floor, the rooms are arranged in a semicircle around the edge hallway, which I also often see. The shapes of some rooms are unfortunately not yet optimal. But I already find the attic quite usable as it is.

You have planned an extremely large living area. When I add up the dimensions, I get over 448 sqm of floor area. The walls still have to be subtracted, of course. But I think there will still be at least 400 sqm left. Then there are 48 sqm of balcony/roof terrace.
Isn't that all a bit oversized, or do you plan to start a large family?

You are absolutely right. It's actually too big. We basically started thinking from the ground floor, the living room had to be included according to our ideas, and then it just got quite large. Maybe it can be intelligently reduced. The living area remains about 260 sqm according to my calculation, which is still quite a lot. So with the floor area minus walls, that should be about 100 sqm each on the ground floor and upper floor, and 60 sqm in the attic. But still actually too much, that's true.

Take children's room 1 with its 21 sqm. At first glance, one thinks at this size: "Wow, the child can be happy to have so much space to play!" But looking at the 7m x 3m, it looks completely different.
A huge corridor where pleasant living will be impossible. A wardrobe still has to fit in, a school bag will be placed on the wall, ... and suddenly the 3 m becomes only 2 m or even less. The thickness of the walls in the house is also not yet realistically drawn, which would further reduce the current 3 meters.

The same for the guest room on the upper floor. 12 sqm is actually sufficient for it, but not with that corridor room. No space for a nightstand and you have to crawl past the bed towards the foot end...

I actually find 3*7 quite usable, see example furnishing. The guest room admittedly has a poor layout. We didn’t come up with anything better. What is the thickness of an average interior wall? We used the standard the program provided, I think just under 10 cm. Exterior walls are 30 cm here.

The living room probably won’t work like this either. After all, the other 2 floors have to distribute their load somewhere. With so much open space, I think it will be statically impossible. Furthermore, you have planned a fireplace corner here but have ignored the chimney in the other floors. It runs right through the closet in your dressing room and ends in the hallway in the attic, making your current access to the roof terrace impossible.

For the living room, maybe a column or something could be inserted. Yes, we haven't thought about the chimney. The flue probably has to go straight up. That needs replanning.

There is also no suitable place in the hallway to install a coat rack or to put shoes. Where do they go when you have guests who want to party in the huge living room?

Yes, that is also a problem.

How did you come up with these exterior dimensions?

Pretty amateurish. We thought about how many sqm we need on the ground floor for our ideas – about 100 – then set the dimensions accordingly to the possibilities in the building envelope – 12*10 meters minus walls is about 100 sqm of living space.

It would also be helpful to draw in the windows once.

Yes, that still has to be done. Thanks already for your many valuable suggestions.

How many people do you want to live there with in the future?

Initially three. And yes, it has become somewhat big. We have to replan and then make it smaller.

And think about whether such an extra fireplace corner really has to be there. Whether you will really sit there or rather prefer to sit on the couch in front of the TV. Also check if you really want to afford a conservatory. I find them an absolute horror especially in summer. In winter you don’t even want to sit in them because so much cold comes in through the windows. Even with well-insulated windows.
We have a 168 sqm house and sometimes live there with 5 people. Works wonderfully and is totally sufficient. If you then add 20 sqm for guests/work, that’s enough too. With the basement you gain space for trash.

Yes, that is of course luxury and I don’t know if it will pass the reality check like this, but first we tried to fully realize our wishes here because we would get the plot for free then. That’s why the design is quite large and utopian. But that’s why we are here, to pick up improvement suggestions and replan to maybe get closer to a good design.

About the plot: No matter how great the relationship with the relatives is, make a proper purchase contract, land registry, surveying, the whole package – everything as if it was a stranger selling. Only this way will you remain a cuddly family forever. :)

We probably have to get legal advice on that. We would get the plot for free. Probably even gift taxes will apply then.

We probably need to seek legal advice. We would get the property for free. Most likely, gift taxes would even be due.

Legal advice is definitely necessary. You should never forget, such relatives can suddenly pass away (which we hope they don’t). Then the heirs come forward and insist on their rights. Possibly, people show up whom you have never seen before – all has happened before!
It is always necessary to consider whether discord in the family might arise from a gift. Are there any envious people who could also claim rights?

We have also formalized all loans within the family. Of course, interest-free and no one will come knocking tomorrow wanting their money back. But it is clearly regulated and there is no dispute.