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Old 06-29-2010, 07:45 AM
 
Location: Simmering in DFW
6,952 posts, read 22,637,310 times
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I call them Omaha houses LOL! because that's the standard in Omaha, NE. They have been referred to as split-entry, split foyer or split level. I have owned 2 houses like this and both had damp lower levels. But they were both in Omaha so maybe that's just a problem there. I call them split entry.
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Old 06-29-2010, 08:38 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,533,896 times
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You tend to jump or run up the stiars when moving from level to level and trip a lot. It cna also wear you out if you have to move from room to room. WHen entertaining, you have people on different levels secluded from each other which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your friends and family. When you get old and your knees go bad it cna be a PIA because you are constantly using stairs to go from room to room. With a traditional two story at least you only have stairs fro the bedrooms. Thus, you do nto go up and down stairs all day, just at night and int he morning. Since our population is aging, houses that are more amenable to old age are more popular.

THat is why I think they are hard to sell.
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Old 06-29-2010, 08:39 AM
 
167 posts, read 495,147 times
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I'd call it a split foyer. However, all of the split foyer houses I've seen in Northern Virginia have living room, kitchen, and most of the bedrooms on the upper level and a part of the lower level is under ground.
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Old 06-29-2010, 10:43 AM
 
17 posts, read 37,868 times
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This house is in Long Island. I really do like the house and all entertaining would be done downstairs. I just found it odd that the kitchen, living room etc was on the lower level
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Old 06-29-2010, 10:45 AM
 
Location: The house on the hill
1,148 posts, read 3,549,073 times
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When we bought one in Utah (My first House) they called in a "Split Level" home. I loved my first home. I only lived there for about 10 months before selling it and moving to CA.
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Old 06-29-2010, 11:03 AM
 
Location: I think my user name clarifies that.
8,292 posts, read 26,608,153 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal View Post
In the midwest, if the stairs go up/down to the sides is it is a S/S split. If the stairs go up/down toward the front/back it is a F/B split. The stairs on a raised ranch do not split at the entry point of the front door.
Yup. Here in the Midwest it's a Split-Level.

I have a rental house that's a split level. The "main" level is the kitchen/dining/living room(s). Go up about 6 steps and there are 3 bedrooms & a bathroom. Immediately below the bedrooms/bathroom (down about 6 steps from the main level) is a laundry room, bathroom, small family room & single car garage.

Doesn't really matter what it's called, though. What matters is if it fits the family needs and budget.
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Old 06-29-2010, 12:18 PM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,444 posts, read 65,751,947 times
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Why didn't somebody do this before me?
First two- Split Foyer
Second two- Split Level
(at least here in ATL)
Attached Thumbnails
What style/type of house is this-images.jpg   What style/type of house is this-splitfoyer.jpg   What style/type of house is this-splitlevel.jpg   What style/type of house is this-splitlevel2.jpg  
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Old 06-29-2010, 02:24 PM
 
1,173 posts, read 4,741,716 times
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A lot of family that live on LI have a very similar floor plan to the one you describe. They are called spilt levels.

The weird part is definitely the kitchen being downstairs BUT is there any possibility that this house had a major remodel? My one aunts house with a similar layout also has a kitchen on the lower level but it is not the main kitchen. It's more of a secondary kitchen in the family room that the kids use. So I wonder, the house your looking at any chance that it had dual kitchens and they decided to enlarge the downstairs one and convert it into the main kitchen and close off the upstairs one and turn it into a bedroom?
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Old 06-29-2010, 02:34 PM
 
17 posts, read 37,868 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by icibiu View Post
A lot of family that live on LI have a very similar floor plan to the one you describe. They are called spilt levels.

The weird part is definitely the kitchen being downstairs BUT is there any possibility that this house had a major remodel? My one aunts house with a similar layout also has a kitchen on the lower level but it is not the main kitchen. It's more of a secondary kitchen in the family room that the kids use. So I wonder, the house your looking at any chance that it had dual kitchens and they decided to enlarge the downstairs one and convert it into the main kitchen and close off the upstairs one and turn it into a bedroom?
Now that makes sense. The house was totally renovated
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Old 06-30-2010, 11:13 AM
 
14,780 posts, read 43,562,007 times
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Here in South Jersey, those are usually called split-levels. They were really popular with the development builders in the 70's and 80's, but have definitely fallen out of favor. Overall I don't think they are the most desirable of lay-outs, but that's dependent on the buyer and what they want.

I was helping my SIL look for a house and there were a ton of these in her price range. The usual lay out was kitchen, living room, dining room, bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The downstairs was usually a family/rec room, utility/laundry room, a bath and many of them had another bedroom or bonus/office room down there as well. The garage usually eats up a good amount of downstairs space.

However, one we looked at had been completely remodeled. They eliminated the garage and put the kitchen, a poweder room, living room and dining room and an office on the lower level. The upstairs had 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths and a small living room space. The realtor remarked that this was the current trend with these homes when they were remodeled. People were trying to make a more traditional two story layout so that the lower level was the living area and the upstairs had all the bedrooms.

I don't really like the design, but that remodelled one was pretty nice. It seems like the traditional split-level layout is a major waste of space that this layout fixes and gets rid of that disjointed feeling of people always being in different parts of the house.
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