What do we think of split level/upside down houses?

MrsSA

Yes getmore4less that's the one, thank you!

Out of curiosity, what makes this so difficult to have children in? All the bedrooms are on the same floor and, just like with a normal house, the stairs would be baby proofed to prevent any accidents. Maybe if the kids were in the garden and we needed to be in the kitchen but I don't think until they were old enough to be left alone, we would do that anyway.

I could understand more so dogs with them needing to be let out etc, but again good training would allow the dog to alert to needing to go out. :think:

I'm just trying to see the potential cons of the home before making any decisions!

Ozzuk

It does make a lot of sense if there are nice views. But I'm with the other poster - I personally dislike downstairs bedrooms, partly because it feels strange, somehow less secure, but also because I like the window open, and often the curtains.

If the frontage of the property was in such a fashion that the upstairs was level with the front (so built on a hill) and you went down to the bedrooms I'd probably be okay with that, but I'd want a route from upstairs direct to the rear garden.

My current property is three stories, the 'ground' is a basement, its on a hill so part underground. You have to go upstairs to living area/kitchen, then upstairs again to bedroom. It makes it a bit of a pain relaxing in the garden as you have to go up to the kitchen with food/drink. Also a pain letting the dogs in/out.

getmore4less

Nicely tucked away at the end?

Any plans for the field to the left?

Do those trees protect from the noise in the winter?

If the garden is secure dogs could go out through the garage to the steps at the side.

MrsSA

Ozzuk wrote: »

If the frontage of the property was in such a fashion that the upstairs was level with the front (so built on a hill) and you went down to the bedrooms I'd probably be okay with that, but I'd want a route from upstairs direct to the rear garden.

Yeah this is exactly how it is- all bedrooms are downstairs with a 'sun room' to exit to the garden so no bedrooms would need to be walked through to get out. All usual rooms are above and the kitchen has a balcony deck off it that overlooks the garden.

getmore4less wrote: »

Nicely tucked away at the end?

Any plans for the field to the left?

Do those trees protect from the noise in the winter?

If the garden is secure dogs could go out through the garage to the steps at the side.

Yep the one at the very end- in the home report questionnaire the owner has stated the woods are protected so should stop any potential "rip down for new houses".
The field is also farmland I believe of the large farm nearby so again if planners haven't acquired it yet it's unlikely they could do so (all speculation of course but this could be said of most places that have some level of surrounding empty space).

Noise doesn't concern me TOO much- we've lived in a ground floor apartment for the last 4 years with hundreds of other home owners around us in the square lol. We also live above the rising shutter to the garage and have since managed to block it out completely.

I agree with the dog thing- going through the utility room/garage would be the easiest option and I'm sure the dog would get used to it (my Mum's dog was always so good at alerting to needing to go out and that was with very, very little training).

Tigsteroonie

Upside-down houses can work if there is a utility room downstairs .... I once had to help friends carry a washing machine (complete with concrete block stabiliser) up a flight of stairs to their kitchen in an upside-down house ...

MrsSA

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Upside-down houses can work if there is a utility room downstairs .... I once had to help friends carry a washing machine (complete with concrete block stabiliser) up a flight of stairs to their kitchen in an upside-down house ...

Only the bedrooms are downstairs for this house- the kitchen is the same level as the street so no lugging required...except for the bedroom furniture if we moved in but you'd have that problem in a normal house too. In fact see as you can get to the bedrooms from the garage and the garden, it actually is probably easier to get stuff in them!

Marvel1

MrsSA wrote: »

Only the bedrooms are downstairs for this house- the kitchen is the same level as the street so no lugging required...except for the bedroom furniture if we moved in but you'd have that problem in a normal house too. In fact see as you can get to the bedrooms from the garage and the garden, it actually is probably easier to get stuff in them!

If the kitchen is downstairs and living room upstairs, it's a no for me, food in oven, back to living room to watch TV (same floor). Don't fancy waiting upstairs while oven is on.


Also don't fancy the idea of taking a plate food upstairs to the living room either.

MrsSA

cjdavies wrote: »

If the kitchen is downstairs and living room upstairs, it's a no for me, food in oven, back to living room to watch TV (same floor). Don't fancy waiting upstairs while oven is on.


Also don't fancy the idea of taking a plate food upstairs to the living room either.

Okay the floor plan is in one of the posts above and as I have said in above posts the only thing that is downstairs is the 4 bedrooms (and bathroom etc). All other rooms are upstairs on one level (street level) so kitchen, lounge, dining, utility and also another WC. The bedrooms are below street level as the house is built on a slope.

jennifernil

We have an upside down house, we had it built 30 years back. The garden slopes up from street level, but the house is not built into the hill as we have a very thick retaining wall, and a full depth ground floor

Downstairs we have a double garage, 4 double bedrooms, small study (could be another bathroom) utility, boxroom, lots of cupboards, and 2 bathrooms. There is a door out from the utility to the side path that leads up to the garden, which is terraced on 4 levels.

Upstairs we have a lounge/dining room with a sun room and balcony, south facing, dining kitchen with a decking "bridge" to the garden, WC, and a "granny flat" of a large lounge, dining kitchen, double bedroom and bathroom, easily used as part of the house, no separate door. We now use the lounge as a large study.

When we were designing the house we decided to have the living rooms upstairs to take advantage of the views . We ruled out split level, which several architects suggested, as we like to have the kitchen and living rooms on one level.

The stairs are extra wide to allow easy access for furniture, and things can also be brought in via the deck and kitchen patio doors.

Marvel1

MrsSA wrote: »

Okay the floor plan is in one of the posts above and as I have said in above posts the only thing that is downstairs is the 4 bedrooms (and bathroom etc). All other rooms are upstairs on one level (street level) so kitchen, lounge, dining, utility and also another WC. The bedrooms are below street level as the house is built on a slope.

Got you now, confused me at first with street level, as assumed same floor.