NWR: Housing Question

ExpatPumpkin

We saw a house today that needs to be remodeled. Once the work is done, it would fit all of our needs. HOWEVER, we would end up with the "kids" rooms on a separate floor than the master. Is this weird? Would that make the house hard to sell or rent later? Would you rent or buy a house with that kind of floorplan? Bonus question: Buy or build?

mwhitson14

I have a friend who has her house set up that way, and it's awesome. The kids have their "floor" and they can hang out up there all night without bugging the grown-ups at all.

ExpatPumpkin

What about with infants? We don't have kids yet, so...

shanwalk2

An infant would stay in in a bassenette (sp?) in our room for the first couple months anyway. After that, I'd prefer them to be on a differnet floor. Keep the mess up there.

mrsLesGrossman

To me, it depends on the over all design of the place.  His parents have a beautiful home with three kids rooms on a different floor than their bedroom.  They have an office in the next room that can be a nursery so they have that option.  If you are going to sell later, you need a similar selling point.  Build or buy and demolish but my husband is an architect and picky.  We are doing it now and are moving in completely when the final work is done and the cleaning crew gets the dust out.  He designed a loft buildings plans and designed our apartment with my input. 

MissIntentional

we actually fell in love w/ a place that had the master upstairs and all the other room downstairs. we could not get over the fact we'd be on a different floor than our "kids."

tidetravel

From what I understand (per DH) most parents keep the infants in their room for the first several months anyway. Once they are in their own room, a baby monitor would keep them connected. My only concern would be if the kids rooms are on the ground floor or a basement floor (when I was a teen, I snuck more than one boy through my window because I moved into a basement room)

ExpatPumpkin

MissIntentional - So did you buy it?

nda_roxybabe

I would not like that. When my kids are little I want them on the same floor as me...I remember waking up from bad dreams in the night when I was little. I would have been way too scared to run downstairs..

mwhitson14

I don't know, they moved into the home when the girls were school age.

mrsLesGrossman

I would like it for older children.  I don't think it is a good idea for a little one.  The rooms could be used for offices or guests until then. 

mocha beans

My ideal house will have a ground floor master with a guest room downstairs and a few kids rooms upstairs with a bonus/playroom for them to keep toys and shiit in.  I want to hear them sneak in someday, and keep their mess contained on it's own level, as much as possible, so the adults have their own space on the main level.  So I'd love it.I'd prefer to build, only because I've made myself picky on what I want since buying our first house.

MissIntentional

no. we bought a place w/ all rooms on the same floor.

MissIntentional

for the record... it wouldn't have been as big of a deal if the master was downstairs and the rest were upstairs.

ExpatPumpkin

More details: The house is designed so that the kids' rooms would be on the ground floor - same floor as the entry, formal living and dining, and kitchen. The master would be on a floor below. Also on this floor would be a family room. I know that sounds kind of strange, but the house is built on a downhill lot. The kids rooms would be separated from the rest of the main floor by a hallway, and closed off by a set of pocket doors. So their mess would be out of the way. Oh, and houses here are locked down with exterior walls, etc. So sneaking out later wouldn't really be an issue. Does the fact that the kids room would be on the main floor change your opinion?

missamory

we are looking at buying where we live now, and do not plan to live here while we have kids.so this is a consideration for us as well.i think most keep their children in a bassinet for several months.in my opinion on it would not be a deal breaker to have them on a different floor. but i have no kids and am looking at the property from an investment standpoint.and we plan to extensively remodel, which i am not looking forward too. we have done this for other investment properties but i am ready to do my own!

tidetravel

I wouldn't be comfortable with kids rooms on the ground floor and the master in the basement. I wouldn't buy it.

mocha beans

Kind of.  I'd prefer the main floor to be the family/adult entertaining area.Ideally, I'd have the kids area upstairs, the formally general entertaining area on the main floor, and the adult area (bar, tv room, crafty room) downstairs.  That way we could party downstairs and not wake the kids, the kids' toys stay upstairs so they don't get in the way of guests on the main level.

nda_roxybabe

Regardless- I'd want my kids on the same floor as me. I wouldn't buy a house where they weren't with me. Now, when they're teenagers...fine.

shanwalk2

that changes my opinion, to not good. If there were a securty issue (which is more likely on the first floor) and I was in the basement - that'd be no good. I feel (maybe stupidly) that the 2nd floor would be safer if the master/kids had to be seperate. I wouldn't buy if kids were on main and I was in basement. I would buy if I were on main and kids were on 2nd. I also would buy if we were on the same... so that's my opinion.

3plus2=5

In the 1st-3rd houses that I've bought, I completely ruled out houses that had the children's bedrooms on a separate floor.  While they were younger I felt the need to be closer to them in case of an emergency.  I just moved into my 4th house a few months ago.  This time around it wasn't such a big deal because the kids are now a teen and a pre-teen.  I didn't end up looking at any houses that had the bedrooms on different floors but I wouldn't have ruled any out for that reason alone.

ExpatPumpkin

I knew my doubts weren't irrational! Thanks for your input Hopefully, we'll find a nice piece of land soon and build. The house I want is only in my head

LesPaul

Currently our upstairs bedrooms are way too close together.  (side note - this is my house from before I met DH.  my daughters are 16 and 18; his daughter/son are 16 and 19)  One of the criteria in the house we buy after we sell this one is that the kids' rooms are separate from ours.  Preferably in another building.  (just kidding - but it's nice to have some privacy).  He didn't spend the night before we were married, and we set up another bedroom downstairs after we got married.

xnikki118x

I understand that people wouldn't want kids' rooms on the ground floor because of security issues, and that's an excellent point. Something no one has mentioned though is that in the (however unlikely) event of a fire, the kids would have an easier time escaping from the home if their bedrooms were on the ground floor as opposed to in the basement or a second story.