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In old homes, the rear staircase, sometimes narrow and not very attractive looking, was for the servants.
I guess you could compare this these days to a fancy 5 star restaurant with valet parking out front, people entering dressed to the hilt, etc. I don't suppose those snobby people would like it if the kitchen workers entered and left through that front entrance.
I saw it in a lot of large homes when we were looking for houses. Most had a curved staircase as the front entry, and a straight staircase off the kitchen or family room. Having lived with the beautiful curved staircase for a year now, I prefer the straight back staircase for running stuff up and down the stairs. All of these homes were built in the last 40 years or so, and so the back staircases were not narrow or steep.
Secondary egress not by window and chain ladder is significant. In general. For the able bodied and definitely for those less nimble.
And in some areas if you have an office upstairs or a b&b room or two it is required.
Also handy for running the moving chair for disabled people to move up and down...use the straighter straighter staircase nearest the main rooms such as kitchen and family room.
In our last HOA, with homes built in the early 1998 to 2001, the largest two story model did have a main/front stair case off an elegant, two story foyer with a formal living and dining room off the foyer. Elegant and formal "front" of the home.
It also had a smaller staircase in the back of the house from the kitchen/great room to the 2nd floor. 1/2 way up the back staircase there was a room over the garage (called a FROG in these parts). The FROG is mainly used for an office or kids playroom and with a day bed, could serve additionally as a spare bed room.
It was a very interesting layout and had we been buying a two story home, one I would have been very interested in. Kind of a formal/elegant front end of the house and a more casual back end.
Upstairs were 3 bedrooms. Master bedroom with master bath. Other two bedrooms had a Jack and Jill bathroom arrangement.
All in all, the house was a great design. Just not for us. We wanted one story.
It's quite common for new construction in Texas for homes above 3000 square feet. People like direct access from family and kitchen to upstairs play room, media room or children's rooms.
It is specially good for homes with swiming pools as children can directly go up with out having to go in foyer or formal living area., It keeps fancy foyer and living area clean and pristine. If you gave company sitting in formals then back stairs come real handy. Everyone who has it is glad that builder offered this option.
My sister's teenagers and their friends use patio doors and backstairs to go up to kid's area, it keeps them out of trouble as they can leave shoes, bags, bikes, sports stuff on in yard or on patio. My clean freak sister hates getting her entry or formals getting dirty or cluttered.
You don't see the benefits until you live with one. Our starter house had it and we really miss them. We are in initial phase of building our "forever" home and back staircase is on every family member's wish list.
We have two staircases, the ornate one in the front of the house and the simple one in our master bedroom. It is good to be able to access the second floor another way.
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