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I beg to differ - there are many parts of the country where land is cheap and they see no "need" for a two story house.
Well my land wasn't so cheap but I see "no"need for a two story house. My MIL can't believe we are only building two bedrooms She says this at 85 while living in the downstairs of her two story house and sleeping on her couch when she has 5 bedrooms upstairs She has a fear of being trapped upstairs with no where to go if there is a break in.(not like she is in a bad neighborhood but she has irrational fears)
After living in two story apartments, townhomes and homes for the last 15 years, I am very glad to finally be in a one story home again. I got tired of going up and down the stairs with laundry or other heavy/wide things. Worrying about my child falling down the stairs, my dogs tripping us trying to fly down the stairs, slipping on the stairs because they're hardwood and i'm wearing socks and my delivery showed up at the front door. I'm tired of the damn heat differential between levels.
My parents have lived in a two story home that my dad insisted on buying over 20 years ago. They both now have health problems and he cannot even walk up the stairs anymore.
OMG, not hearing every single thing move upstairs or wondering what broke your floor because a marble hit it. I'm glad not to deal with that anymore.
Having a one story home is more prudent and less complicated lifestyle for me.
Well, up until the 1800s in London it was common for residents to dump their chamberpots into the street, oft times from an upper story. Think Charles Dickens' era.
I think the mention that they did it for curb appeal and to see who had the bigger poo was what made me think the poster wasn't focusing on historical data, though.
I assume your housing stock is newer (less than 75-100+ years old?)
Traditional domestic architecture placed all bedrooms upstairs to take advantage of rising warm air. (I assume that is the reason why, anyway.)
I never saw a 1st floor bedroom in a 2-story house until I visited California tract housing built in the 70s.
I grew up in a house with three bedrooms on the first floor and three on the second. The last two upstairs along with the upstairs bathroom were added on into what was an attic when I was around 12. The house was built in 1957.
There was a reason. My father was a disabled vet from WWII. It would be another 25 years or so before the ADA came along, so there were no official handicapped facilities, but back then when the government sent you to get your legs blown off, they gave you a grant to build a house that would accommodate your prosthetics and your wheelchair.
I think the mention that they did it for curb appeal and to see who had the bigger poo was what made me think the poster wasn't focusing on historical data, though.
Who? Me???
The latter part was a response to the idea of two story houses being more impressive than one story ones, and larger houses being more impressive than smaller ones. Some people just have an innate need to size up and compare and then judge. I figured it would be entertaining to mess with that mentality briefly, if only for a moment when the person has to determine "did people REALLY compare poo size, and is it something important enough that we should restart the tradition?" Which reminds me... one of my neighbors once advised "If you want to deter burglars find someone who owns a mastiff, collect their poo, then put it under a "Beware of the Dog!" sign, along with a big-azz steel mixing bowl of water."
We lived in rambler for 11 years and it's very comfortable. Convenient. Everything depends on floorplan. You can have your master way away from kitchen or laundry.
They can be very pretty. A lot of this is in landscaping. They do look like large turtles but they are convenient. Comfy.
Doesn't matter my age--I hate 2 story houses. It's just too inconvenient. It's a real PITA to tell you the truth. OMG, lugging the vacuum up the stairs, cleaning the steps, looking for any one of my cats. Up and down. Up and down. Then there is my anxiety about sleeping upstairs in the event of a fire. I could go on and on. There are NO pros and plenty of cons.
Lack of stairs for the most part, especially for older buyers.
I know people who spent $150 Grand, twenty-five years ago, to put in a fancy upstairs section in their house. Their next expenditure will be one of those escalator chairs, so they can get up to it and come down.
Two story was fine once upon a time. But in retirement we went with a ranch style house. Actually, two ranch style houses. One in our home state and one in Arizona for the winter. Both are sized just right for the two of us and can still be managed by one of us. And we can age into either one when snowbirding is no longer desireable or doable. Yes, we can easily climb stairs today, but tomorrow may be different. We're prepared for the day we can't.
I like one story houses. I think of my house as an investment that will carry me past retirement. I live in a one-story house now but the military housing we lived in was all two story at the time and I hated it, I hated schlepping my vacuum up and down the stairs and I was always scared that I was going to fall on my face if I had to go downstairs.
I'll probably be in my house till I'm old so I want a house without stairs
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but I see "no"need for a two story house. My MIL can't believe we are only building two bedrooms
She says this at 85 while living in the downstairs of her two story house and sleeping on her couch when she has 5 bedrooms upstairs
She has a fear of being trapped upstairs with no where to go if there is a break in.(not like she is in a bad neighborhood but she has irrational fears)
