Split level house?

[lvanleer]

My DH lived in a split level colonial growing up.....you entered into the foyer and to your right was a large living room then a dining room off of it and the kitchen was on the same level....you went up around 8-10 stairs to the master bedroom, full bath and two other bedrooms or right next to those stairs were stairs going down to a family room, two additional bedrooms and I believe a 1/2 bath....then there were stairs going down from that level to the basement with a playroom and utility room....there was also a front porch and garage....and the family room had a walk out patio....it was a great house and they just sold it this past summer....now in my neighborhood of ramblers we also had plain ole split levels where you either walked in on the living room and then the kitchen and family room were down a flight of stairs and the bedrooms were up another flight of stairs....there was also a basement level or there was a model where you walked in on the kitchen level...walked up to the living room;walked up another flight to the bedrooms and there was still a basement level also......I actually prefer the type my DH lived in to the smaller ones in my neighborhood but mine were built at the end of the 50s and his late 60s and the styles of houses had changed in my area then.....but I wouldn't trade my rambler for any type.

 

[C.Ann]

How long are you going to be in it?
I have never lived in a split level -but I would think that if it was going to be your "old age" house that would be something to consider.
Or if you thought you were going to have surgery or mobility issues.

-------------
This would be my issue.. They're simply not handicap accessible and it isn't always in "old age" that this becomes a "need"..

Currently DD (age 36) could not live in a split or a raised ranch due to injuries from a car accident in 2006.. Luckily they found a really nice ranch house that they loved in a great school district, great neighborhood, a HUGE yard in the back, a large yard in the front, and 3 garages.. If they were living in any other type of house (even a colonial), it would be a nightmare for them..

DD's IL's have lived in a split and a raised ranch.. They now live in a plain ranch and it's a good thing.. MIL had to have a knee replacement done last year - at the age of 64 - and she could not have managed if they were still living in one of their other houses..

Also, if either of you are prone to "bad knees", those stairs are going to get "old" real quick!

 

[wall*e2008]

I grew up in a split level and I hated it. I know when I went house hunting that I would never consider a split level. I hated entering between two floors. Everywhere was either up or down stairs.

 

[Kathi OD]

I grew up in a split and always wanted to live in one when I got my own house (didn't happen). The living room, kitchen, and dining room were on the main floor. It was up 6 steps to the bedrooms (we had 6 - 3 were large, one average, and 2 small - one was over the kitchen and dining room, the others were over the family room and over-sized 2 car garage) and baths (2). Down 6 steps to the family room, 1/2 bath, rear porch, and garages. Then down 6 more to the basement that was as large as the main floor.

The rooms in a split can be as large, and even larger than those in colonials or other types of houses. It just depends on who builds the house.

 

[binny]

I guess I'm just wondering about how awkward the stairs would be. The one we're looking at opens up to a landing and then a set of stairs going up to a living, dining, kitchen, and bedrooms, and then a set going down to a finished basement with game room, bedroom, and bath.

The outside is so nice. It has a huge deck with a wet bar and heated pool (one of those sunken above ground pools) and the huge back yard.

The yard sounds lovely!

check about resale values on a traditional split. My realtor said that they just dont hold their value as well as a tradtional 2 level.

Some of these sound like a tri level to me or a side split. At least thats what we would call them here. A tradtional split level in this area is front door, small landing, then stairs up and stairs down. Nothing else.
Real estate terms are different everywhere though.

My best friend lives in one and hates it. The main problem is groceries. If she wants to bring groceries in from the garage she has to go go in through the garage door, down 4 steps, down the hall, then up 2 sets of stairs.
Even if she goes in the front door she has to lug everything upstairs.


just MTCW

 

[famofsix]

I always said I didn't want a split that you had to make a decision to go up or down stairs the moment you entered the house

I live in a side split but lucky for me the kitchen is right next to the garage so no grocery issues we also have a fairly big foyer and living room on the main level. We like our side split alot and we have a lot of space.

We do miss the full basement from our old house but here we have a partial basement and a ton of crawl space.

So maybe the center split is not what you want but many splits depending on the year it was built have more square footage for the price of the home compared to a colonial.

 

[castleview]

I had absolutely no place for storage

.

I think you'll find that any small split or raised ranch that is done well will be tight on storage. My experience with splits is...it depends. My friend's small split looks like a raised ranch (which I'm biased against because I grew up in one). Only the hall way and bedrooms are up another three or four steps. I love it because it gives the bedrooms some distinction from the living space area. She is also a very neat and clutter clearing person, so storage isn't a big issue for her.

My aunt has a very large split where you walk into a foyer, walk up to all the living space and kitchen and walk down to bedrooms. I just don't like the bedrooms on the bottom floor. Just my opinion though.

 

[Kathi OD]

T
Some of these sound like a tri level to me or a side split. At least thats what we would call them here. A tradtional split level in this area is front door, small landing, then stairs up and stairs down. Nothing else.
Real estate terms are different everywhere though.

Here that type of house is called a raised ranch. Traditional splits are what I think you referred to as a side split. It is weird how different areas have different names for the same thing.

 

[djm99]

I like Split levels. The ones I've seen are a nice size about 2300 sq ft. Here is a sample of one I looked at but just couldn't get past the front of the house. I did NOT like how it looked on the outside. Other than that the inside was pretty okay. Does the split level look like this....
http://www.cbgundaker.com/search/advanced/detail.jsp?type=res&mls_num=80058329

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We lived in a split when DH and I were first married. You came in the front door, went up 5 steps and there was a living room, dining room, small kitchen (not eat in) then down the hall were 3 bedrooms and a full bath.

If you came in the front door and went down 5 steps, at the bottom of the steps to the right was a 2 car garage, straight in front was the laundry room , sharp left was a closet and my only storage , and the rest of the downstairs was the game room and a 1/2 bath.

I guess they are called different things in different parts of the country.

Around here they call that a split foyer. The split level is like others described...walk in the front door and there was a living room, dining area, and kitchen. Up half a flight to the bedrooms or down half a flight to the rec room. We had a split level. I didn't want a split foyer because I didn't want to walk in the front door and have to decide which stairs to take...I wanted to be able to sit on the couch and ponder it without having to make an instant decision. Our house was small, but some are more roomy.

This is a similar design to the house we had. http://www.dreamhomesource.com/split-level/split-level-house-plans.hwx

 

[wall*e2008]

The yard sounds lovely!

check about resale values on a traditional split. My realtor said that they just dont hold their value as well as a tradtional 2 level.

Some of these sound like a tri level to me or a side split. At least thats what we would call them here. A tradtional split level in this area is front door, small landing, then stairs up and stairs down. Nothing else.
Real estate terms are different everywhere though.

My best friend lives in one and hates it. The main problem is groceries. If she wants to bring groceries in from the garage she has to go go in through the garage door, down 4 steps, down the hall, then up 2 sets of stairs.
Even if she goes in the front door she has to lug everything upstairs.


just MTCW

Bold - We call them bi-levels or raised ranches.

A split level where I grew up was three or four levels.

Three levels:
Ground level 1/2 basement and garage. Then six steps to the front door landing (going out the door you had to go down 6 steps to get to the driveway) and then six more steps to the main level (family room, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room and 1/2 bath. Then up six stairs to a second landing and six more to the top level (four bedrooms and two full baths).

Four levels:
Ground level garage and family room and sometimes a bath. Down six steps to a below ground basement. Up six steps to the main floor (living room, dining room and kitchen). Up six more stairs to three bedrooms and a bath.

 

[wall*e2008]

I like Split levels. The ones I've seen are a nice size about 2300 sq ft. Here is a sample of one I looked at but just couldn't get past the front of the house. I did NOT like how it looked on the outside. Other than that the inside was pretty okay. Does the split level look like this....
http://www.cbgundaker.com/search/advanced/detail.jsp?type=res&mls_num=80058329

We call that a raised ranch.

 

[Kathi OD]

This is the type of split level I was raised in looks like. This house is actually in the neighborhood where I grew up.

http://www.realtor.com/search/listi...typ=3F&ml=8&pg=2&fhpg=1&lid=1096534234&lsn=18

 

[SwedishMeatball]

I've lived in two split levels. A bi-level, where you walk in the front door into a foyer and go up or down. I didn't like it because the garage was on the bottom level and bringing groceries in up to the kitchen was a real pain. I also lived in a tri-level, where the garage is attached to the side of the living room, kitchen/dining area. Then in the middle of the house the stairs split up to the bedrooms, and down going to the basement. Some might not like it if their laundry is in the basement, but I didn't mind it. I also liked that since the house was on a hill, the side which had the basement was able to be a walkout and there were large windows to let in a lot of light, so finished it was a great space.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I guess they are called different things in different parts of the country.

Around here they call that a split foyer. The split level is like others described...walk in the front door and there was a living room, dining area, and kitchen. Up half a flight to the bedrooms or down half a flight to the rec room. We had a split level. I didn't want a split foyer because I didn't want to walk in the front door and have to decide which stairs to take...I wanted to be able to sit on the couch and ponder it without having to make an instant decision. Our house was small, but some are more roomy.

This is a similar design to the house we had. http://www.dreamhomesource.com/split-level/split-level-house-plans.hwx

Where we are thats called a multi-level.

 

[djm99]

This is the type of split level I was raised in looks like. This house is actually in the neighborhood where I grew up.

http://www.realtor.com/search/listi...typ=3F&ml=8&pg=2&fhpg=1&lid=1096534234&lsn=18

Goodness gracious. $350,000. Do you know how much house I could get for $350,000 in St. Louis?

 

[wall*e2008]

This is the type of split level I was raised in looks like. This house is actually in the neighborhood where I grew up.

http://www.realtor.com/search/listi...typ=3F&ml=8&pg=2&fhpg=1&lid=1096534234&lsn=18

This is what we called a four level split level. There was a basement under the section on the right. By us most were smaller. Only a single car garage.

 

[Kathi OD]

Goodness gracious. $350,000. Do you know how much house I could get for $350,000 in St. Louis?

AHHH! The joys of living on the east coast....and to think that house has gone down in value over the past year, probably somewhere between $75K and $125K.

ETA...those houses originally sold for under $20,000 in 1961. My parents sold their home in 1988 for $165K. Ours also had an open front porch and enclosed rear porch.

 

[binny]

Where we are thats called a multi-level.

Too funny its a tri level here


This is what I think of as a split level house


http://www.architecturaldesigns.com/split-level-house-plan-2068ga.asp

sometimes there are stairs going up to the front door sometimes not.

 

[wall*e2008]

We call that a raised ranch or a bi-level here.

Plus more living space for the money. Minus not storage space.