Which plan do you find successful - First thoughts - Your ideas

Hello everyone,

first of all, compliments to the forum, I have already read many interesting and helpful topics. Now I would also like to ask you for advice:

About us: We (I 30, She 27) come from the beautiful Franconian Switzerland and own a plot here at the edge of town from the family estate. Slowly we are starting to think about how to ideally plan a single-family house there and we look forward to your input and ideas:
- Which planning do you like the most?
- Would you orient the house completely differently?
- Where do you see problems? (border development, distances, sun / shade, ...)
- What information do you still need to be able to assess better? (I am making an effort and hope to provide a lot of input)

About the plot:
- District 269/5
- no development plan available, building according to §34
- slight slope towards the forest (information in the picture)
- the neighboring plot 269 in the west can possibly still be built on (not yet developed but marked as a building area)
- forest in the south/west causes the sun to rise late and set quickly in winter (some say it is a winter hole)

About the planning / our ideas:
- Single-family house with gable roof 20-30°, 160-200 sqm living space, country house or city villa (not planned further yet)
- Basement for technology, utility room, granny flat (so that the children have a retreat later)
- Space for a large family (wish is 2-4 children)
- House as far as possible towards north / east
- House as far as possible out of the ground to make good use of the basement (light shaft/graben)
- Utilization of the sun (we love the sun and enjoy every sunbeam that shines onto the plot and into the house, having grown up on a south slope)
- As a hobby carpenter, I would like space for a workshop (approx. 40 sqm)
- Wood storage in the form of a beam shelter as a privacy screen to the neighbor (my uncle), because the view of his garden/dove/chicken coop is not the nicest.
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Thoughts on Plan A:
- House facing north/east with a 5m wide courtyard in front of the entrance and the workshop adjacent as a border development (is that allowed?)
- The garage in front at the street with a wide driveway for maneuvering (later still space for a parking space)
- Garage at street level in the east (+/-0m)
- House at street level in the west (+1.2m)
[ATTACH width="252px" alt="03 Planung A.JPG" type="full"]58013[/ATTACH]
Thoughts on Plan B:
- similar to A but here garage and workshop have been swapped:
Advantage: short way from garage to house (you stay dry)
Disadvantage: the house moves further away from north/east (loss of garden space in the west)
[ATTACH width="246px" alt="03 Planung B.JPG" type="full"]58014[/ATTACH]
Thoughts on Plan C:
- House completely in the north/east corner
- Garage in front of the house at street level (+0.3m)
- Workshop at street level (+0.3m)
- Entrance between garage and workshop
- Covered path from garage to house
- Basement entrance in the east
[ATTACH width="247px" alt="03 Planung C.JPG" type="full"]58019[/ATTACH]

THANK YOU very much already for your ideas and comments
Sunny regards, Johannes

I would prefer B the most. Only the beautiful view and sun in the west will eventually be built over. Does your uncle have anything against border development?

Does your uncle have anything against border development?

He probably wouldn't mind up to his garden. (I'll ask him sometime :-D) Yes, unfortunately the neighbor is not selling his undeveloped property and we have to expect development in 5-20 years (children, grandchildren...). Until then, I would have a nice view, which is why there are other considerations for more distance from the undeveloped property.

How high is your budget?
That is already a very big house. With 4 children, you can't even think about 2 incomes for a long time and they cost money. Less on clothing and such. With each child, you need to buy less, but car (no Corsa or Golf Variant anymore), family tickets for admission don’t include everyone, groceries, school supplies, etc.

If you plan a basement, think carefully about what for. I would give up on an apartment for sometime later. But yes, you won't get by with 10 sqm for heating technology, laundry, and groceries. Raising the house always means stairs and never a direct level garden access. The latter is worth gold with children.
I would build with a basement since you plan for up to 4 children. Heating technology, laundry, groceries, storage room, and workshop in the basement. Basement should be deep enough so that the house entrance and garden can be reached without stairs.

I would not plan a city villa with a hipped roof. I would take a boring gable roof.
Basement: workshop, heating technology, utility room, storage
Ground Floor: open space, WC with shower, possibly study
Upper Floor: parents, 2 children, bathroom, possibly a fourth room here
Attic: expansion reserve in case child 3 and 4 really come. Then possibly convert the attic into the parents' area or already put the older kids upstairs.

Setting the house far back drives the development costs up.
Carport directly on the street - not sure if that’s allowed.
The back faces an undeveloped area. Small children can’t handle direct sunlight so well.
I would plan the house lengthwise and push it more toward the uncle and more toward the street.

Variant C with change is also possible. Carport or garage up to 5 m forward, workshop behind the garage if the uncle cooperates. One could negotiate that the length of 9 m border construction is exceeded but for that the 3 m height is not fully utilized.

I’ll try to address your suggestions – thank you very much for that:

We planned with 450k for the house (I would inherit the plot, we bring 150k equity)

...Raising the house always means stairs and never a direct level garden access. The latter is worth its weight in gold when you have children.

My idea here was to align the garden at +1.2m (there should be enough excavated earth from the basement for that)
To design the driveway with a slight incline to get from +/-0 to +1.2m. The courtyard would then also be at a height of +1.2m relative to the reference point. Separate driveway and garden by a stone wall, not as angular as drawn. The house entrance (top edge of finished floor) one step higher than the top edge of the courtyard.
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Regarding the gable roof, I completely agree with you, cheaper to build and better suited for photovoltaics – I also try to avoid skylights wherever possible, they have never appealed to me/us :-)

I’ll try to illustrate your other ideas in a sketch this evening. How much more complex is the infrastructure if the house is placed so far back? I think the architect will have to answer that. For me, it’s primarily about gathering many ideas and comments since we are still at the very beginning.
The parking space should be possible as planned; the neighbor built something similar. If necessary, it will be set back a bit.