Floor plan single-family house for two - opinions welcome

This topic is about new builds for people over 50. You may (no, should) take a look at the life phases over 60, over 70, and further years.

To me, that’s too general; as someone over 60, I am often surprised by the sometimes entrenched mindset of my 30-year-old neighbors, but apparently, they like it that way. Of course, I foresee certain things and don’t deliberately build stumbling blocks into my house. However, if I approach house building that way, then when I am young, for example, I cannot choose a nice floor because of the children, later again something isn’t possible because of a dog/cat or similar, and suddenly you’re in your mid-forties thinking about fifty, where you should already have 60-70, etc. in mind, so again, you don’t do what you really want. When in life will it finally be...? You always find a reason to hold back......
How often have I heard "we couldn’t do it because….." and I’ve thought each time, how sad, of course it would have been possible if the focus had been set differently or if you had just been a little braver.
I can build a house at any age with hope and a life-affirming outlook or one full of worry and anxiety.
In my opinion, it’s rather a question of one’s own life philosophy.
When I sometimes read this, I understand why so little individuality is visible in new build areas. I like people with courage, even if they know that they will make mistakes in some areas.

I have three older sisters, each with partners, and all have a house with stairs. Living on one level, plus other senior-friendly features (our walk-in shower is 1.10 m x 1.2 m), were not or insufficiently considered back then. Much was also not possible due to plot size, etc. All six people currently say that if they were to build NEW now, it would be in a size and shape roughly like our bungalow. Luckily, many seniors also build a bungalow if they build anew again.

Almost all people would do things differently next time. Just having moved in, my next house would look completely different, yet I enjoy every minute here NOW. That is no contradiction in itself. But – it would always have to be a special house for me, not flashy but individual for me!
Bungalows “are popular,” the always timeless living wall made of beech veneer as well; apparently you can’t do anything wrong with that, and people are a bit afraid of it; I tend to go more for the bright red sofa.
Not least because the ubiquitous advertising shows these always smiling “best agers” in their freshly plastered bungalows. But they could just as well show them having tea on a houseboat or sitting at the campfire in an Indian tent.
Everywhere I see generalizations, in travel, car buying, etc., everything supposedly secured and adapted everywhere, and in the end, exactly nothing is secured in life.
My mother moved voluntarily at 82; we ourselves have moved several times, and if our current house no longer fits us, something must be changed/adapted. In most cases, physical limitations are the lesser part of the problem; nowadays there are countless aids and options, among others. Mostly it is especially mental weaknesses, fears, forgetfulness, that cause problems for older people.
My mother often forgot to turn off the stove or stumbled on flat ground because of different floor coverings. She later liked the very small bathroom because she could hardly fall there and had something to hold on to everywhere... you could go on endlessly. The limitations and individual handling of them are just as different as the people.

By the way, my father went into a nursing home at 84 because living on one level was not possible in his house (rental). Maybe he could have stayed longer in his old surroundings.

I don’t know the details, but in the cases I know, the real problems usually lay elsewhere: loneliness, fear, not wanting to be a burden, stubbornness (also of the rest of the family), etc., and sometimes (which was read here more often) the gentle pressure from the younger generation.....
I see no compelling “necessity” to build a bungalow in old age, but you can do it if you like it.

My parents, my sister, and I lived in one room for one year. I did not have my own room until I was 18. We still lived very well. During university, I lived in a student fraternity (one room). Now I live with my wife and daughter in 70 sqm. But yes, doubling the living space would definitely make me unhappy *CautionMayContainAStrongHintOfIrony*

I once lived for months in a small, semi-open hut and recently in a luxurious 200 sqm for the two of us and sometimes even missed having another room. Everything is possible as long as you remain free in your mind for what fits or is possible at the moment. But I often experience that people live with lazy compromises out of fear which then make them unhappy. Mostly it is not a question of money; that is often just used as an excuse.
I would very much like to see and experience more diversity and courage, especially in new residential areas.

Of course I foresee some things and don’t deliberately build stumbling blocks into the house. However, if I approach building a house that way, then in my younger years I can’t, for example, choose a nice floor because of the children, at some point something else isn’t suitable because of the dog/cat or the like, and suddenly you’re in your mid-forties thinking about fifty, when you should already be considering 60-70 and so on, so again not doing what I really want. When in life will it finally be...? You can always find a reason not to do something......

Some people would probably prefer a plot next to the cemetery and the key to the mortuary chapel, so that their final journey would be shorter when they sense their last hour has come. Oh, what am I saying – basically the safest is to just go to sleep in the coffin, then when the time comes, someone only has to close the lid. While Villabajo is still reading stairlift test magazines, Villariba celebrates every further round birthday after seventy with a new house :)

Why does one need a dressing room for two? Because Meyers also have one?

What does "for two" have to do with it? Every dressing room I have seen so far was intended for two. Children's clothes are rather not planned there. Of course, you don't need one, but if you want one, why not?

By the way, a bungalow would never occur to me, as has already been discussed at length here :D I simply hardly like them visually. If age-appropriate, then without a garden in the penthouse apartment :cool:

But this is about a house of other people with their own needs.

Well then, a dressing room is (at least for us) a place where the wardrobe is and a space in front of it. In that sense, one has probably always had a kind of dressing room, whether it is directly in front of the bed or around the corner. Only it was perhaps not explicitly called that before. For us, I rather use one bathroom, so we also have a men-women bathroom, without knowing it or calling it that.