It is not just a house, but our home, and for me, that means much more than just the building.
It couldn't be put better.
Thinking about the future division, I can speak from some experience, because we had exactly these thoughts ourselves – although our boys were already 17 and 19 years old when we moved in. The fundamental considerations could still be helpful.
[*]The children get their own part of the building, which is separated into 2 residential apartments – for you, it would be enough if it can be separated later.
[*]Each apartment has a kitchenette and a bathroom as well as a sleeping loft with slightly less than standing height, so our boys are independent when they want to be – for you, it would be enough to dimension the connections and wiring accordingly during construction and to put a children’s bathroom in the building section.
[*]When the children move out, a closed living unit is created that can be used in many ways without feeling like empty rooms. AirBnB and own guests, office space, hobby, whatever. For us, it was important to be able to generate rental income if that should ever become necessary.
[*]The children’s apartment part is designed so that one of them can become a level-access, disability-friendly bedroom with a corresponding bathroom. Constructively, that is possible with minimal alterations.
[*]If necessary, the other apartment can become a very comfortable home for a caregiver.
[*]The second building section is then the living/parents’ part (for us only the parents’ part) with an entrance and a “common room,” which we take very literally, as our bed also stands in it – which doesn’t have to be the case; it can also be separated. Plus a guest WC and a small parents’ bathroom.
[*]A technical room is located on level -1, separately accessible (no stairs inside the house).
Since a lot of ground-level living resulted here, the building is quite long, shallow, and not very tall – whether that fits in your building window is a question. This makes the price per square meter more expensive but saves square meters, so less of them have to be paid for.
What is very nice now is the very relaxed family coexistence. The young men have their privacy and yet can join in anytime. If they become nesters again, which is quite trendy nowadays, they don’t get on our nerves (and we don’t get on theirs) because they can run their own household.
Such a concept does not fit into a square floor plan, not least because it requires several house entrances. One can roughly plan something like this from 2 x 25 sqm for the “children’s wing” and 70 sqm for the parents’ wing. For us, it’s only slightly bigger with approximately 2 x 35 sqm + 115 sqm + technical room, not DIN measured.
That was the background for my surprise about the square floor plan. Of course, one has to bring such a concept in line with building regulations and the plot; it involves some fundamental considerations that certainly have value if you want to live with small children, teenagers, young adults, and later as a couple or alone in the house and have the house offer a fitting home for every stage.
You won’t achieve this forward-looking variability by remodeling the upper floor.