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Our house was built in 1911 and there is a beautiful oak stair case in the foyer. It's never been an issue and we can close the pocket doors if we don't want to see it. We have a staircase to the attic and one to the basement. It would have been amazing to have a back stair case to the kitchen. I love those and it would be perfect for a game of hide and seek with the shorties by candle light.
I would likely find it unusual but it would not be a deal-breaker for me. It wouldn't even be much of an issue at all. It's the totality of the house that does it for me -- there are almost no single issues that would prevent me from buying a house. It also depends on the market. If it is a hot real estate market/in a very desirable location, I wouldn't expect you'd have much of an issue. But if you're in a market where there are a million homes just like your's (or newer and larger) -- similar age, similar features, similar square footage and lot size, etc., but your stairwell makes the home feel somehow weird, then you may.
I'd wonder if might be a potential safety issue...
The statistics on "house fires" starting in the kitchen are eye popping -- it is like 40%, and when you factor fires that involve death or injury the number is still pretty horrible -- 36%. http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...s-in-the-Home/
Why would you want to channel a potential important escape route through a part of the house that is at an elevated risk of being the source of the conflagration?
I suspect that is why new homes that do have stairs into the kitchen are using that as a SECONDARY means of egress and NOT the only way down from the upper level.
I don't think it's a big deal as long as it's not extremely awkward. Some may have pet peeves or superstitious/feng shui beliefs, but usually not the norm. I know a lot of asian buyers will not purchase a home with the stairs leading directly to the front door, no matter how great the house is. Some places like the Bay Area, CA could reduce potential buyers in the future if your home had that feature.
Gee, all the more reason to have that feature...
And please don't lump all Asians together. I doubt that Indians, Japanese, Korean, Filipinos, Vietnamese, etc. give a hoot about the superstitions of the Chinese.
Emily Post found foyer/front hall staircases 'unseemly', as if they were inviting people up into the bedrooms (Quel horreur!!!). But she was thinking in terms of houses with servants and many rooms.
Personally, I am repulsed by the idea of stairs leading down into kitchens. Food odors will travel upward. And, if there's a fire in the kitchen/laundry, it will shoot up the stairs, and into the upper hallways.
It would be nice if everyone could afford a proper entrance sequence, which included a porte cochiere, a vestibule, a foyer, and a grand hall, with the main staircase off the grand hall. Secondary and tertiary stairs can then be located in back halls, libraries, and morning rooms.
But most people can't afford to be so proper. There's nothing wrong, IMHO, with a home's one stairway being in the kitchen/laundry/utility zone, as long as there is a door (maybe a glazed swinging door, which stays shut?) between those generators of noise/fires/fumes and the stairs.
A staircase too close to a home's formal entrance leads to all manner of unseemly happenings. Look at all the drama created by just this one staircase! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXCrBYVQtbMSee?
Here, as Harriet Craig, Saint Joan of Brentwood once again demonstrates the heartache which can be generated by a stairway which is too close to the front door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=982Y...jg76QTsNsCcmVD
Mother-daughter relations are strained, when a stairway is in sleazy proximity to a home's front entrance, as is here demonstrated by Mildred and Veda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4CEkYJNir0
Candy Spelling made things somewhat better, when she had a Double-diva staircase installed at Spelling Manor. That way, unfortunate crawfordesque scenes can be avoided, as the dominant Queen Bee may ascend, without encountering rival females (such as Tori). http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/def...?itok=1BwI-cVZ
Where is the master bedroom located?
Upstairs? So that coming down would take longer to get to the front door--that is where someone is going to be knocking if there is emergency at night...
Without seeing a plan or photos of the layout, I would say front location is better--because it is more conventional/expected...
Many people don't like the unexpected
Anyone who spends time in the kitchen, ie; the "cook", the grocery shopper, the house cleaner, etc., will be unhappy about anyone wanting to pass through while they are working. I would be such a person. The kitchen is not typically considered a "common" area, it is not a thoroughfare and should never be used as one. If a secondary, or optional stairway were to lead to a kitchen I do not see that as an issue, but as a primary passage, I would view that very negatively.
Different strokes -- our kitchen is very MUCH a common area -- large island with seating, opens to a keeping room and breakfast room on one side, and the family room on the other. Everyone ends up in the kitchen, no matter how many hors d'oevres I put in the living room or family room.
On the other hand, I'm a little curious about the OP's reluctance to walk through the living room in front of people. I mean, if it's the OP's house -- presumably he knows the people? Or is even related to them? Why invite people in their house that they aren't comfortable with?
Different strokes -- our kitchen is very MUCH a common area -- large island with seating, opens to a keeping room and breakfast room on one side, and the family room on the other. Everyone ends up in the kitchen, no matter how many hors d'oevres I put in the living room or family room.
On the other hand, I'm a little curious about the OP's reluctance to walk through the living room in front of people. I mean, if it's the OP's house -- presumably he knows the people? Or is even related to them? Why invite people in their house that they aren't comfortable with?
Different strokes, indeed. You have a kitchen that is also not common, I would wager everything I own, based on your description, that your kitchen is very much on the bottom end of what is typical. Compare it to the majority of houses in this country, heck, the world, and I am sure it would land someplace near rare.
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