Upside down / upstairs living pros and cons

[bumble3]

Hi
We have bought a plot which already has full plans for an upside down house. The bedrooms and bathroom are downstairs and the living room and kitchen/diner are upstairs. Does anyone live in a house designed like this?
Pros -
You get the view (there wouldn't be one downstairs)

Cons -
Lugging shopping up the stairs.
Kids and dogs running up and down the stairs all the time to go outside.
Guests going past the bedrooms to get to the living areas (in all likelyhood people wouldn't remeber to shut the doors).
Heat from woodburner wouldn't circulate the house i.e. you wouldn't get the benefit of the heat rising upstairs.
ALSO - you have to have a bathroom downstairs for part M of building regs for disabled access. Fair enough. BUT whats the point of that if they cant actually get to the kitchen to cook or make a cup of tea?!

Am I being pessimistic? Does it actually work quite well?

 

[iandandav]

You will be spending most of the time in/ and going back and forth to kitchen, living room, bathroom etc so it would be more logical to have them downstairs for easier access, unless you need to lose weight.

 

[AronSearle]

Very site specific if you ask me.

But most people prefer colder darker bedrooms and warmer living spaces, it's generally easier to make the lower areas more shaded, and therefore cooler, and as you say make good use of the better view from upstairs living areas.

Sound proofing the floors will be more critical, otherwise you get woken up.

Personally I would prefer an upside down house, but I wouldn't kid myself it is more practical (other than for letting the dog out).

ALSO - you have to have a bathroom downstairs for part M of building regs for disabled access. Fair enough. BUT whats the point of that if they cant actually get to the kitchen to cook or make a cup of tea?!

Heard of a 4 story maisonette having to have a downstairs loo and a level threshold, logic doesn't come into it.

 

[IJWS15]

Would you be comfortable leaving a bedroom window open at night?

 

[simonjay]

I don't like sleeping downstairs personally - you feel more vulnerable.
I stayed in an upside down B&Q which offered fantastic views, but the front entrance was on the upper floor as the house was built into a hill, which avoided the shopping upstairs issue.

 

[skotl]

Our last house had an upstairs kitchen and dining room and it was a huuuuge pain in the butt. To make matters worse, the living room was downstairs so we always had coffee / curry stains going down the stairs (TBH, that sounds worse than it actually was!).

But having the kitchen upstairs was pretty bad. Carting everything up and down the stairs quickly became a drag.

If you have the option to turn it back into a "normal" configuration, and it's not too expensive to do so, then I would definitely consider it.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Its always site specific you would never do it otherwise for all the reasons you've listed. BTW a bog at entry levels is for visitors too and would not be required if all you had at entry level was a door to the stairs and a garage for instance ie no habitable space.

 

[Ruwari]

In reply to living in an upside down house.

We like many houses and bungalows have steps to our Front Door with Hallway. On this level we have Kitchen/Breakfast Room..Utility.. With Back Door..Dining Room..Lounge..With Patio Doors...Master Bedroom with En - Suite... a further Bedroom (no different to a bungalow)....Cloakroom and Hatch to Full Loft Space. There is a Patio and Garden on this level to let the dog out!!!

Internally there are stairs to further bedrooms and family bathroom. No different from going up to bed. Instead you go down.

On the ground level there is a Back Door (to let the dog out) and Entrance Hall with a Dressing Room off it. A Double Bedroom with Patio Doors to Garden ..another Double Bedroom..A Single Bedroom which can easily be turned into a Kitchen....Family Bathroom....off Hallway there is a Door to Double Tandem Garage.

Pro's
1) People downstairs can have their own space albeit Teenagers...Granny... Guests.
2) No cooking smells.
3) The dog can go out on both levels.
4) You can sit in patio/ garden and drink your coffee etc on both levels.
5) You can put your washing out away from prying eyes.
6) Each room has it's own heating themostat
7) I use the stairs less than you would in a traditional house.
8) Our heating bills are actually a lot less.
9) You get views.
10) We still have a full loft space with a traditional roof.

Con's
1) The only one is shopping. But as I said many other houses....bungalows...flats... have steps to the front door. I keep my freezer downstairs in garage. So I only take non freezable items upstairs. This has never been a problem.

Not all upside down houses are a pain.

 

[Ruwari]

Hi
We have bought a plot which already has full plans for an upside down house. The bedrooms and bathroom are downstairs and the living room and kitchen/diner are upstairs. Does anyone live in a house designed like this?
Pros -
You get the view (there wouldn't be one downstairs)

Cons -
Lugging shopping up the stairs.
Kids and dogs running up and down the stairs all the time to go outside.
Guests going past the bedrooms to get to the living areas (in all likelyhood people wouldn't remeber to shut the doors).
Heat from woodburner wouldn't circulate the house i.e. you wouldn't get the benefit of the heat rising upstairs.
ALSO - you have to have a bathroom downstairs for part M of building regs for disabled access. Fair enough. BUT whats the point of that if they cant actually get to the kitchen to cook or make a cup of tea?!

Am I being pessimistic? Does it actually work quite well?

I have put a piece on upside down house on 20.09.2012