House and floor plan planning - First architect's plan is available

I hope that my ideas, for example that garages are nice when they look more like Victorian winter gardens, do not meet complete rejection from every forum member.

I have never been able to reject such an idea so far, as we say so nicely in Bavaria, I would have "never ever not" associated Victorian winter gardens with garages.

.. in England I have already seen something like that; however, those were real old orangeries, which were converted into vintage car garages .. or should one say: showrooms. It looked good .. with a decaying manor house alongside and an old park with cedars and Aha. The effect in a modern new development area with bath towel-width plots is likely to fizzle out somewhat.

that, for example, garages are nice when they look more like Victorian conservatories, they do not meet with outright rejection from every forum member

Garages do not seem nice in your eyes. Neither do they in ours. But they fit into the new modern style. They do not disturb and fulfill their purpose.
When you speak of your front garden, I certainly do not see those fancy half barrels.
It is very obvious to resort to a wooden carport, painted white, with a climbing rose in front.

The planner/architect has found that almost all neighbors have exceeded the building limits and is now trying to achieve this for us as well.

I wish good luck and strong arguments.

I don’t understand the thing with the two driveways

§14 SächsStrG (3) Without prejudice to other public law regulations, owners and possessors of properties located on a public street (street abutters) may use the sections of the street adjoining the properties beyond common use, insofar as this use is necessary for reasonable use of the property and does not permanently exclude or significantly impair common use and does not interfere with the street structure. One driveway does indeed go beyond common use, but it is necessary for reasonable use of the property. A second driveway is not necessary. Moreover, it could eliminate a public parking space, thus permanently excluding common use there.

but I assume that the municipality has good reasons for it.

?

Hello ,
as you can read from the many clear messages, people really want to support you in planning or refining a really beautiful house FOR YOU.
Now, you always take an active part in other projects, but regarding your own project, some things already sound rather uninspired or lacking ambition; I miss the love for the object and the detail that you suddenly want to bring in as a highlight when building the garage and inside... well... it will somehow be done.
I find it a pity that you did not post your project here from the start or before finalizing it.
Maybe I can also motivate you a bit to build a particularly beautiful and above all individual house for you.
As someone displaced from BaWü to Saxony, we have something in common, and also the age as well as the life situation are similar.
You have great people here in the forum who are happy and motivated to support you and perhaps can make something special out of some of the "compromises" you mentioned. It would be a shame if you as a participant would not get the maximum out of the forum for your own project. As the Äffle and the Pferdle say...........there is still nothing based on it!

I can absolutely understand some of your approaches, for example the topic garage/carport. I lived for 30 years in a nice house and had NO garage and no carport either; the car just stood on the parking space in front of the house and that was enough. I am still alive and I rather find the horror stories of soaked people at parking lots amusing. We even have two cars because I live in the sticks, but garage/carport is at the very top of my strike list! I live IN and AROUND the house, definitely not in and for the car; for that, I would not spend a cent more than necessary, not even for a car wash. Cars and everything around them is the sacred cow of Germans, similar to weapons for Americans. Certainly not comparable 1:1, but the average German car driver reacts similarly sensitive about topics concerning cars as Americans about their guns.

I can totally understand if you build individually for yourself and do not consider resale but only enjoy it now. But NOW I’d like it to be really nice for myself.

I also have my own position on "age-appropriate building," which doesn’t always have much to do with common parameters; if it no longer works someday, then it just works differently. Nevertheless, you can make yourself as comfortable as possible and create rather shorter and comfortable paths.

Outdoor area... we don't think about it at all, maybe we just let it grow and see what comes of it. Bordering possibly with loose stones or round logs, definitely no "garden landscaper" — I didn’t even know the word before, I wouldn’t have a fence on the house anyway, and no camera nor anything like that.

I like separate and clearly separated areas when it comes to areas in which I don’t "shine."

Well then, let me know which areas in the house for this reason will NOT be separated...

I can absolutely understand the thing with bread in hand etc., our large dining table is also only used when guests or similar riffraff are there. For this reason, our "dining area" will also not be near the kitchen, it will be tailored to our individual way of life.

In probably no later than 20 years we will move into a bungalow or assisted living.

Contradiction — you know life does what it wants... that sounds to me like a plan in a life area that actually cannot be planned. But the house can be planned...

Regarding eating, unfortunately we are not very cultivated. We often just eat an apple or a cheese sandwich on the go.

Why couldn’t that be cultivated; today’s often shown cooking and kitchen fuss usually has little to do with culture but rather with show, competition, or sometimes even coercion. I can stand very cultivated in front of my huge fridge and just bite into a piece of “Saumagen”... so a somewhat open kitchen could definitely belong directly to your living space, basically as a direct bread-axis fridge--sofa--reading nook.... and all without doors or other unnecessary obstacles. At our age, you really shine in the kitchen by just doing whatever you feel like, no matter if it suits someone else. The young folks here certainly feel more pressure—

Unfortunately yes. Compromise due to marriage. We will hang it somewhere. If we wouldn’t find a place, that would be nice.

Similar with us, everyone makes their area exactly how they want it. Why compromise here? That is also individually solvable and plannable beforehand.

We also don’t have many pieces of furniture.

Ditto. Mostly light and movable furniture, so no wall units or the like, it feels light and in my opinion chic. Fully packed rooms or cabinets are a horror for me; I love looking into the kitchen cabinet that is half empty... and remains so! That’s why we have a big refrigerator, nicely clear.

I could still change the house shape as long as the square meter area is not exceeded, that is free of charge. But I don’t want to, I like a square house.

But you live INSIDE; the highest priority should be a floor plan individually tailored to me. A nice exterior design can be created in many ways. I was exactly in this context surprised that you have already given such deep thought to garages/carports, something you (YOU) actually don’t need.
Kitchen: you can completely move away from the current mainstream, maybe even a bit crazy and not necessarily expensive, and for all I care in a greenhouse style. But for me, it so far sounds rather like... well... somehow just...

If I can no longer drive a car, I want to live next to a concert hall, and by “next to” I mean “next to.” Then the cards will be reshuffled anyway regarding living arrangements.

You can do that then... maybe... but until then you can also live "specially"; whether it will actually be like with the concert hall...? So where is the special music room with great seating and equipment for good sound and leisure? Suitable pictures, lighting, atmosphere...?

My husband wants a sauna.

...and why don’t you do that in the garden; I think that is great and can be implemented easily and beautifully. Here it would only take expensive living space, and of course you should plan the dimensions beforehand; I know exactly how wide I want it and how we can lie comfortably there; also NO compromises here!

Thank you. In all considerations, it is just a house. I can sleep there, shower, look out the window, go into the garden, eat chocolate, read, listen to music...

...and why then not a really small but special house for your individual ideas? There are really wonderful implementations, so the conservatory you mentioned could play a very big role in the house, more glass, living among plants, water courses, etc., just such a concept. I don’t see in the house so far what you would really like........

I am convinced that in a few years the market for houses tailored to "Silver Agers" will run very well – just like it already does today for exclusive apartments (e.g. in our neighborhood, 3-family house, elevator, each condominium about 120m2 as 3-room apartment, buyers all owner-occupiers and >60 years, purchase price over 700k€). But I am convinced that this clientele will then look for properties tailored to their needs for old age. Keyword "living on one level," maybe with a guest room or hobby room on the upper floor.

A house optimized for 10 years of life (60-70?) will in my opinion remain an absolute niche. However, if the sale is already firmly planned now, I would pay attention regarding resale to designing it so that it is either tailored to "Silver Agers" or can easily be converted into a "normal" family house with 150m2. In the case of a city villa, I see the latter rather.

For example, execute the wall between the kitchen and living room as a drywall partition so that a connection is possible here. The bathroom on the upper floor might be arranged so that it can be divided into a master bathroom (accessible from the bedroom) and a children’s bathroom (even though I consider a children’s bathroom in a 150m2 house unfortunate). Regarding the carport, it looks similar; it is best to plan with a storage room where bicycles, ride-on cars, etc., can disappear.