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Old 07-31-2018, 09:36 PM
 
Location: Lake Spivey, Georgia
1,990 posts, read 2,343,116 times
Reputation: 2348

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I have always HATED split foyer homes!

I actually did grow up in a split-level, however in Morrow. It was actually quite a nice house! It was built out of pretty grey brick and was set in a lovely shady yard (17 sweet gum trees that were beautiful shade trees that blushed gold, red, and even purplish in the fall, but required raking twice a year due to the leaves in the fall, and the very spikey sweet gum balls, very painful to bare feet, in the spring.) There was a double carport and a nice front porch across the main level. The front door entered into a large formal living room and dining room with gorgeous white oak hardwood floors. The back of this floor had an extra large country kitchen. The upper level had three nicely sized bedrooms (also with nice hardwood floors) and a bath. The lower level had a nice den with built in floor to ceiling bookcases, a fourth bedroom, a full bath, and a good sized laundry/ storage room. Both the den and kitchen had nice sliders that exited to generously sized patios. This house had been built in 1961 (as evidenced by our aquamarine upstairs bathroom) as a model home for our subdivision with all the "bells and whistles" available and, contrary to an earlier post, was actually considered a "move up" home at the time. (Most homes in nearby Forest Park were under a thousand square foot ranch with one bathroom compared with my childhood home that was nearly 2000 square feet with two bathrooms) It really had all the latest amenities for the time. To me, split foyers are NOT in the same realm as a "split level".
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Old 08-01-2018, 07:03 AM
 
16,644 posts, read 29,343,547 times
Reputation: 7567
Quote:
Originally Posted by atler8 View Post
As a point of clarification of terminology used here, the home pictured is actually a "split foyer" in that the entry landing is just that; an entry. From there the choice is to either go upstairs to the level up one half flight of stairs or down one half flight of stairs to the level below.
My dad was a home-builder & built a true split level for our family when I was in the 2nd grade. It had 3 levels but the basics of it's layout featured a front door entry into a level that was more than just a landing. There was a living room, a kitchen & a dining room on that level.
On one side of the living room, there was an up and a down half staircase which both led to good-sized levels, one stacked on top of the other.
The op is correct though There are a ton of the split foyers as pictured in the suburbs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clayton white guy View Post
I have always HATED split foyer homes!

I actually did grow up in a split-level, however in Morrow. It was actually quite a nice house! It was built out of pretty grey brick and was set in a lovely shady yard (17 sweet gum trees that were beautiful shade trees that blushed gold, red, and even purplish in the fall, but required raking twice a year due to the leaves in the fall, and the very spikey sweet gum balls, very painful to bare feet, in the spring.) There was a double carport and a nice front porch across the main level. The front door entered into a large formal living room and dining room with gorgeous white oak hardwood floors. The back of this floor had an extra large country kitchen. The upper level had three nicely sized bedrooms (also with nice hardwood floors) and a bath. The lower level had a nice den with built in floor to ceiling bookcases, a fourth bedroom, a full bath, and a good sized laundry/ storage room. Both the den and kitchen had nice sliders that exited to generously sized patios. This house had been built in 1961 (as evidenced by our aquamarine upstairs bathroom) as a model home for our subdivision with all the "bells and whistles" available and, contrary to an earlier post, was actually considered a "move up" home at the time. (Most homes in nearby Forest Park were under a thousand square foot ranch with one bathroom compared with my childhood home that was nearly 2000 square feet with two bathrooms) It really had all the latest amenities for the time. To me, split foyers are NOT in the same realm as a "split level".

I am glad someone has differentiated between "split-foyer" and "split-level" homes.


I also do not like "split-foyer" homes.
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Old 08-01-2018, 09:08 AM
JPD
 
12,138 posts, read 18,228,397 times
Reputation: 8004
I like split level, but not split foyer. Split levels work well with the sloping landscape that's common in most of metro Atlanta, and they provide two (and sometimes more) den/living room areas that are separated from each other, which is a good setup for a typical family. You also usually have multiple access points to front/back yards directly off of living spaces, which isn't the case with a lot of traditional two story homes, in which you access the back yard through the basement, or from the stairway of a second floor deck.

I don't really see any plus side to split foyer homes from a homeowner's standpoint.
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Old 08-01-2018, 09:42 AM
 
Location: Searching n Atlanta
840 posts, read 2,078,601 times
Reputation: 464
Glad to learn about Split-Foyer. I Hate Split-Foyer as well, they always seem out of place and trying to hard to be a big house. I really hate the ones that try to integrate in with a McMansion neighborhood.

I grew up in traditional split level house that tend to be built into a hill, so they look very nice with a hilly terrain.
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Old 08-01-2018, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Prepperland
18,868 posts, read 14,057,900 times
Reputation: 16578
I think the architectural reason for split foyers is the expansive front entrance. If you think about it, placing it at the second (main) level, up a flight of stairs, with its half circle window, is not practical. And if you place the main entrance at grade, it's also goofy looking - and the half circle window would be bisected by the floor. It would then require the staircase to be located at the main entrance, in the middle, with a 2 story high foyer, cutting off more floor area.
Blame it on marketing.
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Old 08-01-2018, 09:56 AM
 
31,995 posts, read 36,572,943 times
Reputation: 13254
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries4118 View Post
I am glad someone has differentiated between "split-foyer" and "split-level" homes.
Me, too. I never realized the difference before now.
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Old 08-01-2018, 10:22 AM
 
Location: Atlanta Metro Area (OTP North)
1,901 posts, read 3,067,426 times
Reputation: 1688
Glad to learn the actual term for a style that I despise lol. Talk about horrible feng shui...
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Old 08-01-2018, 11:18 AM
JPD
 
12,138 posts, read 18,228,397 times
Reputation: 8004
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetgraphics View Post
I think the architectural reason for split foyers is the expansive front entrance. If you think about it, placing it at the second (main) level, up a flight of stairs, with its half circle window, is not practical. And if you place the main entrance at grade, it's also goofy looking - and the half circle window would be bisected by the floor. It would then require the staircase to be located at the main entrance, in the middle, with a 2 story high foyer, cutting off more floor area.
Blame it on marketing.
Seems like it'd just be smarter to build traditional two story houses. Who wants to walk up or down a flight of stairs every time the come or go anywhere? Especially after a trip to the grocery store?
I can almost understand these things up north where the raised entrance prevents you from having to dig your way out of a snow bank every time you want to leave. But I see no other upside.
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Old 08-01-2018, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,668,025 times
Reputation: 5364
Default Why are so many homes...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilly Gentilly View Post
Glad to learn the actual term for a style that I despise lol. Talk about horrible feng shui...



I'm happy to have helped out by supplying the correct terminology.
And I'm in agreement with you given that I've never liked the split foyer concept or it's various manifestations that I've been in over the years. My hope has been that it would eventually go away as a building product.
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Old 08-01-2018, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Prepperland
18,868 posts, read 14,057,900 times
Reputation: 16578
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPD View Post
Seems like it'd just be smarter to build traditional two story houses.
In the hot / humid south, a traditional two story house has the bedrooms upstairs (hot). If you pump the AC to the highest floor, the lower main floor is going to be colder (no zones).

In most split foyer homes, the bedrooms are on the main level (as is the AC). Downstairs is used for a garage and perhaps a 'bonus room' which don't get much conditioned air.
Overall, a raised ranch, split foyer or not, seems to be preferred.
Prior to AC, there were alternative means to keep cool, high ceilings, ventilation, sleeping porches, etc. But they're no longer built that way.
An example of the 'old fashioned' tech - - -
Magnolia Kit Home | Sears Modern Homes

Note that bedrooms have access to decks and porches.
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