3 story floorplans

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acpme_IHB

acpme_IHB

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what are people's thoughts on 3 story floorplans that are so common in the large triplex-quadruplex homes. lombard court at woodbury, sendero at portola springs, camden place at columbus sq, savannah at columbus grove, etc.





when lombard court was still selling, i had several friends who were very interested and some who eventually bought the larger plans (i believe D & E). those were the 3 story floorplans, with the garage and bedroom/bathroom downstairs as well. my friends loved the idea of having the master bathroom on top of the house. something about a secluded, sanctuary-like feeling of going upstairs to their private area.





i always felt like the extra room downstairs would be wasted. models sometimes convert the third floor to an office. i guess its nice if you work at home. but otherwise, its a pretty far distance to go and who wants to hang out next to the garage? and if you had a family and that was a child's room, would you want to be that far removed from your children, esp small children?


also the downstairs rooms always feel cold and drafty, at least in the models. i don't know if the insulation is different because of the garage. just a feeling i got but maybe it wasnt anything physical but rather the isolation of the room.





one time i decided to conduct a highly scientific experiment at a lombard court model. i simulated sitting in the master bathroom commode. if the doorbell rang, the time it would take me to make myself decent and make it down three flights to answer the front door was approx 50 secs. try standing around at a front door for 50 secs. its like an eternity.





why is this design so common among the builders? my thoughts were:


- allows them to boast an additional bedroom and bathroom in the house


- designed for all the realtors and mortgage brokers who work out of their home


- they know that people these days can't afford the homes outright and need a room to rent
 
<p>It all comes down to land cost. They are trying to offer you a "column of privacy" instead of layering seperate residences on top of each other (flats), which is noisy.</p>

<p>I think for someone with or wanting kids, these are a total non-starter.</p>

<p>Kensington Court is essentially a 3-story as well, though they call it 2.5 by having half a story on the front door approach and breaking up the living rooms with half flights of stairs. They don't feel as up-and-down to me as the others mentioned, but that is probably because they are so much larger.</p>

<p>SCHB</p>
 
acpme, great topic!





" - designed for all the realtors and mortgage brokers who work out of their home"





when i read that, i thought you were trying to say that this is a good way for them to work out :)





a couple weekends ago i visited a few 3-story model homes. that was pretty tiring. which could be a good thing if you're a workout buff and don't want to go to the gym!





downstairs room.... i'd use this only for visiting guest room, office, or private tv room. i'd prob want to put a fridge down there too because i don't want to be carrying drinks down the stairs.....
 
also kensington court feels like a standard 2 story home because you're only doing 25 stairs as opposed to 32 stairs.





when you think of a round trip (ie getting a glass of milk or going upstairs to change clothes), that's an additional full flight you're talking about!
 
<p><em>"also kensington court feels like a standard 2 story home because you're only doing 25 stairs as opposed to 32 stairs."</em></p>

<p>I haven't counted them off (the steps), but on plans 1 & 2, which I've looked at closely, I don't agree that it is basically a 2-story home. It is basically a 3-story home when you include the garage.</p>

<p>Stand outside and count. From the front it's an exterior half-flight approach plus two full stories (with a 10 or 11 ft 1st-story ceiling at the front entrance). From the rear it's a garage plus two full stories. Simple as that.</p>

<p>SCHB


</p>
 
HAHAHAH ok you killed me there. i totally forgot the garage.





i suppose i just assumed that the garage was floating in air.
 
which brings me to another point, the real workout comes when you've just come home from costco and now have to carry all the boxes/bags up the stairs from garage to kitchen.
 
<p>Agreed on the workout. And the TP and 2 Gals of laundry detergent go all the way to the top.</p>

<p>I want Mrs. SCHB in shape, but not from that! </p>

<p>SCHB</p>
 
i used to live in a upper level condo, so i can relate. also to note was the garage was detached. so i've had to carry costco purchases through rain.... up the exterior stairs.... into the condo!





and i know, i can't really complain since the extent of irvine weather is rain (or sometimes cold)





now i'm in a 2 car attached garage with the door entering straight into the kitchen and i'm never taking that for granted!
 
there is a nice 3 story plan that i enjoy.





in northpark square there are these 2/2/1500 condos where the living room is two stories high. master on top, guest on second. there is a library loft on the 3rd floor that overlooks the living room. does anybody know what i'm talkin about, because unfortunately i don't know the tract name. windows galore!
 
has anyoen seen the plantation style home (plan 4) at gables in columbus sq? it has a basement too. now that house is a workout! if you were in the basement and needed to open the front door, which has a game room and theater, you would need to go up one flight of stairs located near the back of the house, walk the length of the house, and then down a half flight of stairs to the parlor.





another floorplan, how come homes don't have 2 sets of staircases anymore? esp since they're building all these large homes in such narrow lengths now.





sort of a related question: what's everyone's tract home pet peeve? i love walking through the really expensive models (which i cant afford :( but its fun nevertheless) and i'll think to myself, "wow this is a nice home... except for this one small thing. why did they do that?!" its so frustrating...





one of mine is the 3 car tandem parking for houses that clearly don't need it. i think it was kb home tract in columbus grove. madison? ciara? one of the plans was about 2000 sq ft and has a 3 car garage. i know californians love their cars and some ppl have more than 1 car per person in the household but come on. for almost $950k i'd rather have more house and less carport!






 
<p><em>"one of the plans was about 2000 sq ft and has a 3 car garage."</em></p>

<p>Those stats fit my ideal house. I wish I could find more. I want room for two kids and three cars (especially since driveways don't come on anything sub-million). It needs to get the 30% price haircut for price-feasiblity, though.</p>

<p>I don't want the cleaning and A/C costs of a big house. Nice kitchen and family room, maybe a den/guest bed. No use for a living room.</p>

<p>But I know most folks aren't this way.</p>

<p>SCHB</p>
 
The only 3 story that I would consider would have a basement style room on the bottom that I could sound proof to turn into a recording studio. Some homes built into the hills in mission viejo do have this kind of build. Don't think it would work in the attached townhomes here.


I hate how cramped homes are now. I realize the price of land dictates this, but it is still annoying. Tiny lots, Driveways are extinct and windows look directly into the neighbors windows. I still can't believe that $1,000,000 doesn't even get you a driveway in a new home any more.
 
<em>"Jack-n-Jill bathrooms is what I hate. What are the chances of two teenage kids trying to share a Jack-n-Jill styled bathroom."</em>





I agree with that. When I go into the model homes for larger homes they always have two rooms connected with a jack and jill bathroom. What if a family had a teenage boy and girl, they wouldn't want to share bathrooms.
 
here is a naive question. i know what a jack and jill bathroom is, but how is that any worse than a shared 2nd bathroom (that isn't connected to iether room)?
 
<p>the inconvenience of having to lock two doors when going in or the risk of having someone open the door when you're in the bathroom. although the brady bunch seemed to make it work with 6 kids.</p>
 
I believe the best tri-level townhomes is the Venturanza Del Verde development at Jamboree and Robinson near the Irvine Marketplace.
 
Here's a bad "3 story." I know of a young woman living in a Woodbury 3 story who nearly broke her foot off going down the stairs there. That ended her runs around Irvine trails. After her surgery, she and her man moved into a single story. I've lived in 3 3/3+ story places in my life so far, but after hearing that, it's been kind of a turn off to thinking towards that in the future.
 
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