Single-family house on a gentle slope at the forest edge

Hello everyone,

my wife and I want to build in 2016. We already have a plot of land in sight and have already made some thoughts on how it could be developed. It is in a very quiet rural location at the end of a dead-end street adjoining a forest (to the north).

Development plan/restrictions
Size of the plot: approx. 850sqm
Slope: yes, approx. 10% incline from north/east to south/west
no development plan (I still have to get more information when it gets serious)

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: simple building with a flat gable roof (25-30°), two floors without roof slopes
Basement, floors: two floors (basement partially in west/north underground)
Number of people, age: currently 2 (25/30), later (hopefully) 4,
open or closed architecture: living/dining/kitchen open, staircase separated in the hallway
conservative or modern construction: rather conservative, possibly a Swedish house
Kitchen: rather small and practical instead of representative, no cooking island (rather slight separation from dining/living area by a small "bar")
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: masonry heater as room divider (dining/living area)
Balcony, roof terrace: terrace with a short path from the kitchen
Garage, carport: garage for motorcycle, bicycles, workbench, etc., cars rather outside
further wishes/special features/daily routine: separated area for the children later possible (or possibly rental of basement)

House design
Who is the planner: DIY (we know that the design is not yet finished/100%)
What do you especially like? Access to garden basement+upper floor, lots of sun due to south orientation, entrance top and bottom (can be separated later), full bathroom upstairs+downstairs
What do you not like? Entrance upstairs via garage, long corridor/entrance area upstairs, view to the north
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 320,000€ (without plot but with additional costs etc.)
favored heating technology: ground/air heat pump + masonry heater

If you have to give up, on which details/extensions
-can you do without: garage, study/children’s room/bedroom could be a bit smaller (study can then no longer be used later as bedroom for 2)
-can you not do without: study, 2 roughly equally sized children’s rooms min. 14sqm

Thanks in advance for your opinions/comments!

Best regards

Nobody has an opinion on this? Or are you so shocked

No one has an opinion on that? Or are you all so shocked

A hillside property should always be planned by an architect.
When an amateur tries, it usually results in a buried two-story house, as can be seen here.
A hillside property is too complex for that.

When the architect has implemented his knowledge in a plan, you are welcome to post it here for suggestions for improvement.

Best regards, Yvonne

Thank you very much for your contribution, Yvonne.

We haven't bought the property yet. I would just like to be able to estimate in advance whether it is even possible to build on this property inexpensively or within our budget without already spending thousands of euros on an architect, which might then be money thrown away.

The buried two-story building is simply designed and, in my layman's understanding, also compact and inexpensive. Split-level, projections, L-shapes, and whatever else one (or an architect) can imagine I initially associate with elaborate and expensive. We also wanted to build rather with [BU] (for example, a prefabricated house on a solid basement). But maybe these are just prejudices from us (architect + slope = expensive).

We have also considered building without a basement on a raised slab (slope nearly 10% on the property), but here in the neighborhood everyone has a basement, so this is probably not cheaper overall.

Where do you see the biggest weaknesses in the preliminary draft?

Regards,
lrep

So honestly, you don't even know where to start.... Ask an architect as soon as you have bought the plot.

Just as an example: the living room is on the upper floor, while the south terrace is in front of the children's rooms and the master bedroom? Bathroom in the basement is way too small, utility room door arrangement is insufficient, kitchen too small, overall too little storage space.... as Yvonne said, with a sloping plot you can have great things designed; ask someone who knows about it.

Thank you very much for the feedback, unfortunately I only saw it today... It is really useful to get concrete points pointed out.

Just as an example: the living room is on the upper floor, while the south terrace is in front of the children's rooms and the master bedroom?

The terrace upstairs is, in my opinion, sufficiently sunny and to the west there is only meadow next door and no turning circle. The layout also has the advantage that later a nearly or fully separate apartment can be set up downstairs (connections for the kitchen would not be a problem thanks to the utility room next door, the interior walls between children’s/bedroom as lightweight walls). We also wanted to think a bit about the future...

Bathroom in the basement way too small, utility room door arrangement poor, kitchen too small, overall too little storage space....

You are probably right here. The doors are really bad. And a bit more space is probably necessary. Although currently we manage very well with a 7 sqm kitchen and a 6 sqm bathroom (in the draft both about 8 sqm).

Maybe I’ll dare to post an optimized furnished design again

Best regards, lrep