how do you all cope when you have 3 small children with masterbed downstairs (floor, work)

[citizen_jane]

When my husband and I bought our first house we specifically purchased a 2-story with all bedrooms upstairs. A few years later, we had children and I really liked the lay out - a lot! I also liked the fact that all the "private" spaces were upstairs and the down stairs was very open. Unfortunately when it came time to sell the house, the fact that all bedrooms were upstairs was a liability. Many potential buyers stated this as a reason to pass on the house. We ended up selling it to a couple moving from another state who didn't understand why Texans wanted the master bedroom downstairs. They didn't had kids but specifically stated they liked the privacy of the lay out.

My house now has 3 bedrooms up and the master down. However, one of the upstairs bedrooms is labeled as a second master because it's quite large. If I had small kids I would sleep in the "upstairs" master.

So your choices are get a baby monitor or find a different lay out. They do exist.

[SteveArmy]

Well we have a 24/5 nanny and on the weekends we sleep upstairs in the "2nd master bedroom"

[Txgal33]

We have that problem as well. My kids are 6 and 4. For us it is a bit easier because we have the master down as well as a guest bedroom. When need be I let the kids sleep downstairs. Usually they are down here when it storms, they are sick, or the hubby is away. They do fairly well upstairs though. They share a room due to the vast size it is so it works out nicely. I can still hear them when they wake up so it really is a non issue minus the fact that at 2 am I would rather not be climbing stairs but o h well. When they get older we will love it! We thought abt switching the guest room to upstairs but the parents are only getting older and one set already has issues climbing the stairs when they visit so the guest room will stay down.

[fnh]

Simply sleep upstairs in one of the rooms until your children are older. We still do this and our kids are in grade school now.

[Houston321]

Buy a house with the master up

[Myztri]

We hunted until we found a big 1 story, though we weren't buying unless all bedrooms were on the same level.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by blancspons

We had this exact same problem. We searched and finally found a 2 story with all 4 bedrooms upstairs. I've heard that this can hurt our resale value, but it was just too important to me. We're from the northeast where master bedrooms down are not common at all, it seems strange to us.

I echo this comment -- in New England all bedrooms are upstairs, and this makes much more sense to me.

With one exception: the idea of a downstairs bedroom is attractive for an elderly and/or disabled couple who find climbing stairs a difficulty. But this is usually not the case for the vast majority of people buying homes in the Houston 'burbs who are, of course, young and middle aged families.

I always speculated that the downstairs master was some kind of manifestation of southern conservatism (some might say repression?) with regards to sexual matters -- the idea that parents should be away from the kids lest the little ones learn that (shockers!) Mommy and Daddy actually have sex. Alas, I have no data whatsoever to back up this hypothesis.

[Topaz]

When we had this problem, my husband and I turned the beautiful master bedroom into a guest room and we moved into a smaller bedroom so that we could be close to our young children. They are only young once, right?

[EasilyAmused]

Baby Monitors. Once you're up, does it really matter if you're going up a flight of stairs or down the hall?

My house was built 50 years ago. Apparently they did it back then too, without monitors.

[Rose31]

Originally Posted by blancspons

We had this exact same problem. We searched and finally found a 2 story with all 4 bedrooms upstairs. I've heard that this can hurt our resale value, but it was just too important to me. We're from the northeast where master bedrooms down are not common at all, it seems strange to us. My kids were 1 and 3 when we moved in, and I love the choice we've made. I couldn't imagine trekking up and down the stairs in the night when they are sick, etc. Now maybe when they are 13 and 15 I'll change my mind!

Same Here!

Coming from the northeast I never saw a house with a master bedroom on the first floor unless it was a one level rancher. I always love the traditional colonial style floorplan homes of the northeast. Thanks to David Weekley we were able to build a house with all the bedrooms on the second floor.

Actually, more people from the northeast and other countries who are relocating here are looking for master bedrooms on the second floor. I've talked to so many people out here in Katy who want second floor master bedrooms.