Floor plan of a single-family house on the south slope, upper floor renovation can wait

The main entrance through which my visitors come in, or I when I am out without a car, simply belongs on the level of the living room for me. That is certainly a matter of opinion, possibly also "because one is used to it" – but I just don't want my visitors to walk through the whole house, past the children's rooms, etc., go up the stairs, until they finally reach the living room. As I said, certainly a matter of opinion, but for us it was clear: "main entrance" on the living level, back entrance from the garage directly into the house.

Wow, I really like your design at first glance! I have to take a closer look at it at home. Well, we will definitely need one more room upstairs (I want to have the utility room with the washing machine & dryer upstairs, where I spend the whole day so that the laundry runs alongside. I had that in the old apartment, not anymore now, and I find it terrible always going downstairs and then the stupid dryer still isn’t finished, etc...)

Does anyone know the legal situation: Can a development plan prohibit digging out at the house? For example, if we simply make a large, floor-to-ceiling light well that exposes half of the house at the back? I couldn’t find anything about this in the development plan, but honestly, I don’t understand all the details...

I also like the basic structure of . Details and improvements will be worked out later with a drawing anyway. I wouldn’t overcomplicate the laundry and would combine it with the pantry, so a nice, clear utility room with terrace access.

Abbygale, we have it just like Kisska and have the main entrance down in the "basement." Right next to the garage. You can also take a look at my thread with the plans if you’re interested.
We are currently in the shell construction phase and I actually like it. We have a "huge" hallway because of it, and I think it looks really nicely inviting.
But that is really a matter of taste, you have to think about it carefully.

And another general tip: Have the architect mark the heights very clearly for you and maybe measure them directly on the property again. So maybe have them mark at what height the floor slab would be, etc...
For us, that was a nasty surprise afterwards and we had to support the slope behind the house and had some unplanned additional costs.

Hm, that's also an approach. But don't the pantry (dry storage) and utility room - drying laundry (indoors in winter) contradict each other?

That's really not so easy.. We originally planned a different house for a different plot. If that's still lingering in the back of your mind, it doesn't get any easier..

Thanks for the hint! Did you then have problems because of the slope, or because of the maximum allowed heights? I will definitely take a closer look at the plans from you and Kisska, thanks for the hint!

So I personally wouldn’t want the pantry and utility room together either.... We have a laundry chute and the utility room in the basement. Although I also think it’s elegant to have the utility room on the ground floor or upper floor. But for that, you need to have enough floor space on the floors to accommodate everything.

We had problems because of the slope. According to the approved plans, our ground floor at the back would have been roughly at ground level. (And in the approved plan, the eaves height of the house was set based on the street level.)
During the actual construction, it was found that our slope is much higher than assumed. Raising the house would have required a completely new permit, which we didn’t want. Our ground floor is now 1.5 m lower than expected and that’s why we supported this 1.5 m with gabions.... (Maybe you can see it slightly in the profile picture)

It’s best to have the house measured out with stakes on the property and then mark the level on the slope terrain where the base plate begins... (or more sensibly, where the ground floor level would be!)

Hm, that’s also an approach. But don’t Speis (dry storage) and utility room – drying laundry (indoors in winter) – contradict each other?

Drying laundry indoors in winter... please only with good exhaust ventilation or shock ventilation: I’d put the mold problem above the storage issue.
The question of whether to separate Speis and laundry: how do people do it in an apartment? How is it handled in a house with one utility room? Either a shared drying room or a dryer.
Store opened or partially used food products in the kitchen for soon consumption.

We also keep them separate, since we do laundry upstairs, but still, if we’re talking about one floor, I prefer a larger room combining both rather than two small storage closets.
If you can manage without worrying about costs by increasing your living space in addition to your basement: okay, but that’s not what I’m reading here.

Still, I have to admit that even with a dryer, some air drying is always necessary (wool, synthetic fibers), so you need a well-ventilated room. That’s why I would create access to the terrace.

Just see how the new design fits with your requirements.