Floor plan with setback - yes or no?!

It is not necessarily about finding your dream house in model home parks. It is about finding ideas, inspiration, and mistakes.

The kitchen is too small – check the floor plan, okay I need it bigger
Wow, I like the facade
The bedroom has a dreamy layout
The bathroom is too big, so it can be smaller
“Wow, great tiles” “uh honey, no, those don’t work at all”

First, the floor plan has to be right, and then the highlights.
Bay windows are also possible

I don’t know your taste, take a look at Baufritz Heimat 4.0
A very modern interpretation
From the outside eye-catching, not boring at all. The floor plan is a rectangular gable roof house

When drawing, you should keep the most important sightlines in mind and work them out - that achieves more than highlighting a messed-up floor plan as something special.

Throw the plan away, it’s really nothing at all. Go to an architect with your development plan, room program, budget, and your special requests. You may not want to hear anything more about the budget, but you will still have to deal with it MASSIVELY. I know the real estate and construction prices in Salzburg; if you build the house you’re planning now, it will be seven-figure in my opinion. For me, the whole approach so far is wishful thinking; it won’t work like this.

yes, I think you are right. We approached the whole thing (unintentionally) the wrong way. Of course, we would never have designed such a quick-and-dirty plan if we hadn’t needed it for the municipality.

I am in favor of completely scrapping the plan – not because it is "bad" in so many respects, but because the "blank sheet" is a better substrate for the new draft than tweaking, smoothing out, and polishing a previous version.

And I clearly advise against designing a house now that already anticipates the needs of the grandchildren. Even and especially in rural areas, changing properties in twenty years is just as likely as remodeling the current house; or just a street away, a property may become available that offers the family founded by the now-still-children living there at least as adequate a living and development space as the attic of the parents’ house. I can look back on five decades during which the single-family houses on the streets I have lived in experienced the same turnover as the rental apartments. And I know several people who moved within their village or city neighborhood. The market is – even where there are many single-family houses – sufficiently dynamic so that one does not have to build a "squaring the circle" house.

Have you looked into the threads I linked? – less to "rebuild" the house there, but more because of parallels in the discussion flow.

Of course, we would never have designed such a quick-shot plan if we had not needed it for the community.

I still don’t know what to make of that. For what purpose did the community require a pro forma plan?

Nothing is moving here. Houses are inhabited by several generations. Occasionally, something from the 70s/80s comes onto the market under the radar. Mostly houses from the pre-war period, year of construction unknown, where the grandchild demands prices as if it were Stachus. I see more of an aging of the settlements here. The trend towards small houses, 4 rooms, kitchen, bath, forces children to move out at 20. There are no apartments, no wonder given the rents, so people move away.

Although I agree with you. For maybe, possibly, one doesn't have to impose a corset on oneself for now.

Nothing is moving here. Houses are lived in by several generations. Occasionally, something from the 70s/80s appears on the market informally. Mostly houses from the pre-war period, year of construction unknown, where the grandson asks prices as if it were the Stachus. I rather see an aging of the settlements here. The trend towards small houses, 4 rooms, kitchen, bath, forces children to move out at 20. There are no apartments, no wonder with these rents, so people move away.

that's how it is.

Although I agree with you. For maybe, possibly you don't have to tie yourself down for the now.

I discussed something with my husband today but unfortunately, he is currently not "mentally free" as he has to take his master craftsman exam next week. But hopefully, after that, we'll get down to business.

We most agree now that we really want to build for the "now," but definitely so that options for an extension would be there. Meaning, maybe not even plan the attic in the shell, just leave it out completely, it could be added in 30 years. The idea of an extra room in the basement, etc. He is still convinced about our ground floor layout but with some changes/improvements.

For example, he didn’t understand the criticism of the dining table at all, measured everything and compared it with our current situation and said that a great dining area without restrictions is possible there.

Regarding the "common room" and the criticism that the space for the children wouldn’t be ideal, he said that this additional space is luxury anyway and many have to manage everything in much tighter spaces. Somehow, he’s not entirely wrong there...

The upper floor definitely has to be completely redesigned. Also, the stair run. In the middle and nicely continuous.

Yesterday I found a floor plan in the forum (unfortunately I don’t remember where *sorry*) that is very similar to ours but appeals to me much more. I would be very interested in your opinion about it.

So, it’s not that I’m now throwing all my good intentions overboard, a proper, as you recommended, approach is still coming. But nevertheless, maybe you want to share your thoughts with me.

PS: Hope I’m allowed to just insert this "stolen" picture now

I am in favor of completely scrapping the plan – not because it is "bad" in so many points, but because the "blank sheet" is a better substrate for the new draft than refining, tweaking, and sugarcoating a previous draft.

And I clearly advise against trying to design a house now by anticipating the needs of grandchildren. Even and especially in rural areas, changing properties in twenty years is just as likely as remodeling the current house; or just one street away a property will become available that offers the family founded by the now still-children at least adequate living and development space comparable to the attic of the parental home. I can look back on five decades during which the single-family houses on the streets I have lived in experienced the same turnover as rental apartments. And I know several people who have moved within their village or city district. The market is – even where there are many single-family houses – sufficiently fluid that you don’t have to build a "squaring the circle" house.

Have you taken a look at the threads I linked? – less to "rebuild" the house there, but more because of parallels in the discussion.

I still miss what one should imagine by that. Why did the community demand a pro forma plan?

Can you also find something positive in our plan? I would also be interested to know if there are thoughts/ideas included that are not just bad.

I still have to reread the threads, I am currently reading so much here in the forum and my head is already spinning, but I will do that right away...

I do not want to go into detail now, but it had something to do with the land acquisition. We had to "prove" that it was "fixed" with our project and not just empty talk.