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1. Ease of movement
2. split plan allows the children to be in their own section of the house
3. break a leg? no going up/down stairs
4. laundry care is easier - all on one level
5. just home with a new baby? no stairs to climb.
6. In laws visiting? No stairs to climb
7. Don't have to lug cleaning supplies up and down stairs
8. No possibility of falling down stairs
9. 2 story is not quieter - not by any stretch of the imagination
I wouldn't move into a story home not that there aren't some lovely, lovely homes. Well .. let's see -- some have elevators and that's a real bonus .. but I will stick 1 story.
Have fun!!
This is why my next house will be a one story. Two story is great is you want a lot of exercise.
This is why my next house will be a one story. Two story is great is you want a lot of exercise.
LOL, funny you should mention that.
I hadn't thought about this in years, but shortly after my daughter was born I lived in a three story condo (on an island...great great views from that top floor btw).
I was carrying and extra 60 lbs or so (yeah, I gained too much) of "baby fat", and needed to loose it, pronto.
I also didn't have to much "spare-time" on my hands, and so I had to sneak in chores and my excersise while my daughter napped.
Guess what I came up with?
My laundry was on the first floor. I would fold each piece of laundry, then run it to it's proper location in the house. Brilliant, huh?
Must've worked. I lost the baby-fat + some and have kept it off for ~20 years now.
I think I'll plan on living in a 2-story til they put me in a wheelchair.
I'm in a 2 story currently & think I'll go back to a one story next go round lol! Yes, sleeping upstairs IS quieter. But lawdy lawdy toting laundry & crap up and down bites my booty! I'm going to look into another split-plan. The master bedroom was off away from the rest of the bedrooms & pretty quiet. I MIGHT consider a half finished basement home if we head back west (instead of FL). They're cooler in summer & it'd be a den not a sleeping area. Kids seem to like 2 storys tho. Hmmmmm
For one thing I never understood why the laundry area is almost always as far away as possible from the bedrooms etc....makes no sense to me. I've been in homes where laundry area is on 2nd floor...no more up/down with alll that crap.
My present house I believe is a good compromise between the 1 or 2 story thing. It's three bedrrom and 3 1/2 bath. Each bedroom has it's own private bathroom. But the Master bedroom/bath is on ground level at one far end of the house ,and the smaller second level has the two bed/bath units. Kids (mine are on their own) or sleep over guests are upstairs will lotsO privacy where as I'm at ground level,with a walkout to deck and Jaccuzi. So I sorta live in a ranch with a 2nd floor for guests. Also the second level is on it's own temp control zone so if there is no one staying with us I don't heat/cool the second floor.
The house we hope to buy is 2-story, but the master bedroom is on the main level--the upstairs just has 2 more bedrooms/baths.
I agree with Windflower that I prefer how a 2-story looks, how it sits on the land. And I agree with Plaidmom that 2-story can be good for a bit of aerobic exercise.
But there are so many different styles; I like a lot of them and do not have strong feelings about what is better.
I prefer two-story homes as well, but agree that mid-century (is that the new buzz term for 1950s? LOL) ranches are pretty cool. The only thing I don't like about them is that generally they have small kitchens, and rarely have front porches because in the 50s the social life moved from the kitchen to the living room, and from the front porch to the backyard patio and barbecue pit.
My personal favorite home is a split level, with a quad being my preference. I must love stairs ... LOL ...
Quote:
For one thing I never understood why the laundry area is almost always as far away as possible from the bedrooms etc....makes no sense to me.
There are commercially available "catch tray systems" for water heaters and washing machines that catch any leaked water and also automatically shut off both water sources as soon as water is detected in the tray. In newer construction that I've seen (town houses etc) they are required by code.
Of course you can't outlaw stupidity and people will install these type things without the recomended safeguards. Sort of like going on a two week vacation and trusting those 20 year old rubber washing machine hoses when all it takes is to turn the shut off valves off.
We are in a split now and the washer/dryer is down two flights of stairs from the bedrooms. What a pain, we can't wait to get into our single story ranch home.
I am in a 2 story where the laundry is in the basement, What a pain in the butt! If I had a $1.00 for everytime I put laundry in the washing machine and realized that I forgot something and back up 2 flights of stairs to get it.
We are in the process now of having a 1 story split design ranch being built and I can't wait, no more knee pain. We had to go to another state to get it because were we live that only ranches they have are the 1950's. To have a decent size ranch you need land and it is way too expensive here, we couldn't afford the land let alone the house.
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Brilliant, huh? 
