Our floor plan design for an affordable house

Dear forum members,

we bought a plot of land last autumn and are in the middle of planning the floor plan. We would like to show you our current draft and look forward to all comments and opinions.

First some preliminary information about the plot and buildability:

[*]1000 m² rear plot, southwest orientation (so southwest is on the left on the site plan)
[*]building boundary up to max. approx. 16 m behind the property boundary (up to the dashed line, see site plan)
[*]no development plan (construction according to § 34 Building Code)
[*]groundwater level at ground surface and peaty soil (detailed soil survey is still pending), therefore pile foundation is necessary and no basement

Our requirements were and are:

[*]Affordable! (Our budget is max. €230,000 for the house including slab foundation)
[*]Country house character
[*]bright, large windows facing south/garden
[*]open living/dining/kitchen area
[*]family of four, 1 bedroom and 2 children’s rooms
[*]not oversized, max. 150 m², preferably less

House design:

[*]Solid construction from Ytong (the most cost-effective option for us, although we would have preferred to build with wood).
[*]Developed by ourselves after reading various floor plans (including from the book "Attraktiv bauen mit kleinem Budget" by Achim Linhardt) with support from friends who are architects and our planner (independent civil engineer).
[*]Dimensions 12.50 x 7.50 (the data on the site plan are from an older draft).
[*]What we like about it: open living area, all living rooms have large windows facing the garden, efficient size, although children’s and bedrooms could be smaller, sewing/work nook behind the stairs on the upper floor, lots of wall space for large wardrobes in the bedroom on the upper floor and in the hallway on the ground floor, light well in the stairwell, stairs (originally we wanted a straight flight, but that would have taken up too much space, the one with 3 winders is also fine).
[*]What is not 100% liked yet: height of the house from outside. It is now planned as a two-story house with a eaves height of 6.2 m, with the ground floor being 2.84 m high and the upper floor 2.60 m high. The gable roof will be constructed as an uninsulated, unfinished cold roof, mainly due to the economical nail truss construction. I find this a pity because I really like roof slopes and never wanted the character of a city villa. But lowering the roof with a knee wall of about 1.90 m and insulated roof with open roof slopes would probably be more expensive due to the rafter/beam construction and of course we would block the view from the bedrooms through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the garden.

Now to our questions:

[*]Simply: How do you like the floor plan?
[*]Can you still imagine the relatively tall two-story house with country house character? Maybe it depends on the facade design and choice of materials? Do you find it looks too "blocky" or particularly too massive from the entrance side? Or would you prefer a lower eaves height with an expanded roof with knee wall?
[*]We are still unsure how to arrange the windows on the garden side. We have two possible variants shown in the drawing with the elevations. We actually prefer it if the upper floor window is centered to the lower window front. However, the interior sightline from entrance door to garden/terrace door is then not taken into account. See ground floor plan. This represents variant two; for variant 1, the window front would have to be shifted another window wing width to the right, so that the terrace door is behind the dining table. With the window front on the left, we like it better inside, but from the outside, it looks odd if it is so offset compared to the upper floor, doesn’t it? What do you think?

So far about our project. We are very much looking forward to all opinions!

Best regards

Affordable! (Our budget is max. €230,000 for the house including the foundation slab)

Exclusive foundation? And: we still need some measurements, e.g. open-plan room size, bedroom depth... kitchen...

As Ypg wrote, measurements are missing.

What own contribution is to be made?
How should the house be equipped?

I think the house does not have much of a country house feel.

I don't think the house looks much like a country house

That's how I see it, at least I only know country houses with eaves and overhanging roofs.

Can you still imagine the fairly tall two-story building with a country house character?

In BY yes, in BE less so. Check here: (with further links) and – to counter the townhouse character, distributing the windows more organically instead of strictly helps.

Pile foundation necessary [...] (Our budget is a maximum of €230,000 for the house including the base slab)

From the top edge of the piles onwards then – otherwise in my opinion, dead.

For the children's room at the top left of the plan, I would move the room door to the left so that the wardrobe can be placed against the right wall. Then the window can also be moved closer to the desk, where it belongs. This way, the duvet will be cozier without the window.