Floor plan of a single-family house with approximately 150 sqm on a rear lot

No, I didn’t just come up with anything spontaneously. You’re simply ignoring it.

What have I ignored? Please read your own initial post again. I have taken everything stated there into account. I even have the office in the northwest, as requested. Otherwise, there’s a smaller bathroom, a small second bedroom, kitchen not as a single line with the living area, guest toilet door not in the dirty area (because it’s not), orientation for maximum south-facing garden, carport in the west, wardrobe not by the stairs — those were the core points. What is missing? What is not quite clear now is which of your designs is actually going to be built? Is the one from ’89 the favorite or is it still #1? Site plans for the respective floor plans should also be submitted, and if trees play a role, it’s best to mark them.

But to make it clear again regarding the position of the house: if the house with its 9,x meters (from north to south) shifts too far to the east, then we won't get a felling permit for the spruce (and yes, with e.g. 5 meters distance at the western boundary, that becomes very likely). Then we have a dark hole, no matter if theoretically there would be a nice garden there. We're not stupid, we also know how the sun path goes.
And although on the last 20 pages there are various reasons why the house cannot go to the east, it pops up again now... no wonder it comes across as if I defend everything constantly, because I repeat myself constantly and certainly not because I'm confused. Some just don't listen.

Where does the house appear in the east? That sounds as if your plot reaches all the way to China. We're talking about a plot width of 20m here. If there's still a carport on the west side, the entire width is used up.

Where does the house appear in the east? That sounds as if your property stretches all the way to China. We're talking here about a plot width of 20m. If there is still a carport on the west side, the entire width is used up.

The tree stands in the south toward the western corner of the house and the neighbor’s fence and leans northwest in order to grow straight up again at the top. We ourselves already have to be careful not to become too narrow to get rid of the tree. I measured the 4 meter carport and 9.25 over the weekend and it still just works. But there isn’t much leeway.

I mean this one


Just without a door in the cloakroom.

But the topic here is basically settled, because I find it really tedious. Things are being discussed that appear frequently in standard catalogs. For example, regarding #1: Yes, of course I noticed that the bathroom on the ground floor is usually located near the entrance. Now I come with my life experience and have always found that really stupid, but I also know that when the bathroom is around the corner at the back, as it currently is in our apartment, it’s actually a cool thing. I don’t invent situations that might arise, but we currently live with the fact that the bathroom can only be reached from the front door via a 6.5m long straight hallway with a branch into another small hallway. In our old apartment it was even further. Bringing up hypothetical situations etc. that might possibly arise is absurd.

And here lies the forum’s problem. Instead of simply accepting that the builders have thought about it a bit, the usual practice is relied on, because everyone does it that way, and instead of wanting to understand the basic idea itself and maybe having a good idea for it, you’re supposed to throw it overboard. I know the plans are not the final word in wisdom, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. But the solution cannot be to build something that doesn’t meet the requirements as well but is conventional.

I find it really funny because part of my business is supporting customers when their own people with years of experience, through their standard mindset, are no longer able to break out of their own schema and therefore implement requirements that come with new technologies. That’s exactly how some of the objections seem to me. Small bathroom -> bad, build it bigger, single-leaf patio door -> people don’t do that in modern houses, niches -> no one builds them, floor-to-ceiling windows (which I personally find totally stupid) -> people need them nowadays. A pity.

But, to say it again: there are also good comments and I take those with me for us.

I find it totally funny, because part of my business is to support customers when their own people with years of experience are no longer able to break their own patterns through their standard glasses and thus implement requirements that come with new technologies. Some comments strike me exactly like that. Small bath -> stupid, if you make it bigger, single-wing patio door -> not done in modern houses, niches -> not built, floor-to-ceiling windows (which I find totally stupid by the way) -> needed nowadays. A pity.

Oh, a consultant – but the argument can also be completely reversed. Here comes someone who has no idea about the subject and after 3 weeks of "watching" thinks they know everything better without having understood the product (here architecture). But I’ll leave it at that, because I know both sides very well (consultant and internal) and today hold a very exciting “intermediate position.” Just like in technology, times are becoming ever more short-lived – including times in the house. The concept of “house until retirement” seems at least partly outdated – also socially – and thus a certain consideration of the “mainstream” in a sale certainly has its raison d’être. Unfortunately (or maybe not) houses have lifespans greater than 25 years. I am experiencing this live right now; my office neighbor is about to retire and has just built a new one. The “old” house, built in ’98, is being rented out. Even here, “mainstream” isn’t bad.

Yes, I also know both sides very well and I am not one of those Meggies or the like who quit once they have had a pretty PowerPoint made. I accompany the clients from start to finish, if they want.

But that is the point. I do not have to have understood "architecture" to be a specialist of my own life and behavior. I have a reality-based idea of how to use spaces, paths, and so on. From that, various plans have arisen that I can well imagine for us. In not a single one was anything carelessly just sketched down. Surely there are some corners here and there that can be made better, and that is exactly what I am criticizing. Instead of engaging with the ideas and saying "hey, that will be dark, a window would make sense there" or something like that, the standard from page 10 of any random home builder is thrown in. From my point of view, that has nothing to do with architecture. (But I emphasize again, there were also sensible and idea-related comments).

Mainstream is by the way also a good term. I have also lived abroad and what is considered "normal" or mainstream there is rather rare here. I don’t know, are architects in other countries totally crazy and only we here have all the wisdom?

I am not planning a house for eternity, but also not with the thought of resale value. I would honestly be surprised if we sold in 15 years and came out at zero. In the price range where we will land with the cost of the plot, it will be difficult to find any buyers at all, no matter where the bathroom or something like that is, because it is not the biggest plot and it will not be a huge place.

Nobody who knows anything about it would keep fiddling with your drafts to make a bad draft worse. With a little "window change," the garden in draft #89 won't get any bigger, and due to the lack of a site plan, it was apparently not even recognized in #1 that the neighbor's garage or your own carport darkens the living spaces. The solution is therefore "in the trash" and start over. That's exactly what was done, using the information in #1 as a guide.

We have a lot of discussions here where a plan from a professional or sensible self-designs are available that really only need a door rotation or something similar. In terms of the circumstances and your own requirements, you are, in my opinion, still quite far from that. Fortunately for you, a general contractor will build you everything you want, no matter how stupid it is. So just start building. To quote myself:

You can't save everyone from themselves.