4. Our thoughts in favor of a vestibule: A wet dog cannot run directly into the house. The house cat does not always try to run onto the street. Dirt area clearly separated. Large cloakroom, separated from the living area.
5. Large wardrobe in the vestibule: Yes, true. Somehow this got lost during the back-and-forth planning. Perhaps one could plan a 200x60cm niche toward the office here, without losing too much space in the office (to potentially fit a double bed). Or is that not a good idea?
6. Bathroom in the dirt area: True, good point, thanks. The entrance would definitely be better in the clean area. We would have to see how to organize that in the floor plan. I will think about it.
7. Swap children's room and bedroom: Thanks for the different perspective, I hadn't thought about it that way before. Probably the bedroom in the north would really make more sense.
8. Kitchen open/closed/sliding door: Also a good argument. It really eats up a lot of space. Basically, we find an open kitchen the nicest. On the other hand, the "classic" concerns about mess and noise, which we can’t "lock away." That's why the sliding door solution came up. We probably have to meditate on it some more. Thanks again for the hint.
You have really made some good considerations in parts. Many want one thing or another just because others have it or they have read about it, without really knowing the use or having the need.
Is this not at least a somewhat decent reasoning list for the need for a basement:
But not a good one either.
Almost everything you list can just as well be placed above ground.
I have to disagree with you: most things can be better stored above ground, if storage can be called that at all.
9. Our thoughts on the basement:
9.1 Order: Horse equipment, tires, sports equipment, musical instruments, paper waste, deposit bottles, etc. do not have to be stored/found space in the living area.
9.2 Safety/Flexibility: I know several families who suddenly had 3 instead of 2 children. Without a basement, we wouldn’t have an office anymore, which is absolutely necessary.
9.3 Party/hobby room: We both grew up with a basement and used it a lot for parties/hobbies.
9.4. We would also like a sauna/wellness room.
9.5 Our (probably too naive) calculation behind this:
Horse equipment like saddles and such can be dirty, smelly, but also heavy. They need to be transported, preferably stored with air circulation.
Tires can be bulky. You can find another place for them than having to haul them up and down the stairs 4 times per set, so 8 times during tire changes.
Sports equipment and musical instruments are too expensive to only store. For use or storage, a utility basement is not suitable.
Recycling waste is not worth the physical effort to store it.
Party basement, wellness room, you have to be able to afford that as well. You want the jack-of-all-trades basement for all eventualities for €480,000. Sorry... but that's a bit naive.
However, I am also a bit shocked: These are all wishes that were built into houses in the 1980s when something was still secretly... uh, built underground. The times when basements were commonly built for storage and parties, however one sweats during the parties, are long gone.
It should be noted that here a living basement is to be mixed with a utility basement. Because you cannot officially have an office where you stay in a utility basement as an office.
Basically, you also forget that a pitched roof house still has the attic room available for expansion*.
* But only if you include it as expandable. Otherwise, nowadays structural calculations are saved on, so the attic space can only be used as storage.
Lower Saxony is still cheaper in many regions than the rest of the country. But a country house villa with all the space trimmings is not feasible here either.
Before constantly agonizing over finances here, I would recommend reading through some threads on house financing, planning, and construction costs.
And don't despair: a piano can be better placed in the dining room, the garden is better than any piece of training equipment, and with good bathroom planning, a small sauna can be retrofitted there. Parties are celebrated in the carport or on the terrace or in the living area - and that is all more living comfort than the dusty rooms your parents still had.