This was our first off base house and it was a single family home that could be broken up into 3 apartments. There are not too many single family, free standing homes. We did have a basement and tons of storage space in this house. Some multi family homes share a common entrance area and will have the front door to each apartment on a different level.
This was our second off base house which was a duplex. Our home was on the right hand side. The worst part about this set up was that the driveway and patio were common areas.
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This is the front side of the house, our side being on the left of this picture.
German houses do not have closets. FMO (Furniture Management Office) will issue you portable ones for you to use....You get one per dependent and two per military member. They hold quite a lot although it may not look like it. Hmm, think a 7 year old lives here?
This was our master bedroom in this same home. You can see the slanted ceilings and these are very common on the top floor of the houses.
I made extra storage space using two shrunks. You can see that I hung a tension shower curtain rod between the too and hung a curtain. I put some plastic shelves behind it for extra storage. When you have limited space, you tend to become very creative....or maybe just get good ideas from someone else:)
This was our living room from the same house. You can see that this home does not have the track things on the windows for curtains and we were able to hang real curtain rods.
Dining area
I have heard of several people who have left most of their belongings in storage back in the states, then when they get here, they are disappointed because they don't have enough stuff to fill their home. Bring your stuff with you! But, I guess it all depends on luck and what kind of house you end up with. You can read more about this issue at "To Live on or off Base?" on the menu. FMO will issue the following: Beds/mattresses, nightstands, chests of drawers, carpets if available, couch, chairs, end tables, coffee table, table lamps, dining room table with chairs, one large transformer, microwave, washer and dryer, an American refrigerator, one wardrobe (closet) for each family member, and two for active duty.
Some things on this list are things you will need while waiting on your household goods, but some you will keep the whole time you are stationed in Germany. Off base you will need to keep the transformers, microwave, washer and dryer, an American refrigerator, and wardrobes. Our first time in Germany, we were able to keep the dining room table and chairs for over a year until we bought a set. You would have to check with FMO to see what you are able to keep.
This is the FMO pantry
A big thanks to Allison for sharing her pictures with us! Just thought I would offer some photos of our house...we live in Ramstein-Miesenbach. These are pictures of how it looked before we moved in - so, pre-furniture :) Feel free to use them on your site if you want! Our house is 2 story - we have the entire top floor. There are two separate apts. on the first floor where 2 other families live. We all share the basement, but each have our own washer and dryer.
Living room - you will see a lot of slanted ceilings in the houses
Some are very dated as you can see here in the bathroom and kitchen
In a lot of the houses, the stairs will be open just like this picture.
The German ovens and fridges are very small as you can see pictured below.
This is a picture of one of the villages we lived in, Albersbach, and is typical of many villages around the KMC.
This was the view from our balcony at our home in Albersbach. Boy do I miss this! We even had cows that lived in this field sometimes. You can see that we had quite a big driveway and carports, but this is not a very common thing for the German homes.
Below are some various homes from various villages in the KMC area. I am not sure how much these homes would rent for, but they will give you an idea of what some of the outside of the houses look like. Sorry, the quality of these pictures is not very good. They are old, pre-digital. If someone wants to take random pictures of homes and email them to me, I would gladly replace these old pictures. Many homes may only have on street parking and will not offer a driveway, carport, or even garage.....but some do - you may get lucky! As you can see from the pictures, some homes have beautiful views. If you get one, PLEASE don't take them for granted!
The photo below is of an intercome system type thingy......like my definition?? These are found in most German homes. When someone rings your doorbell, you can pick up this phone and talk to them. And if it works right, you can push a button and the front door will make a buzz sound which lets the person know you have unlocked the door so they may come in. Usually the door will stay locked. After they come in and shut the door, it will lock again on its own. Of course, mine does not work. The door is either locked or unlocked.
The photo below is of a lightswitch. Hmmm....interesting :) Usually the ones for the bathrooms are outside of the room next to the door. Other rooms, the switch is usually located in the room.
