Master up or down?

[DawnM]

Just for reference......in looking at homes in my area there is ONE ranch home out of 144 listings.   And it is a 3200 sq. ft. ranch with 3 bedrooms on 6 acres and is over $900,000.  It is a horse property, but still......that is not what we will be buying.

Anyway, with no ranch available, would you personally choose a master up or down.  Does it matter their ages to you?

Edited April 10, 2019 by DawnM

[HomeAgain]

I don't care.  I just want the master away from the community noise of the house and to have a dedicated bathroom.

[Melissa in Australia]

other.

 I live in Australia. we only have a single story house

 2 story houses are pretty rare here. 

 

[purpleowl]

I picked the first option. My kids are 10, 7, and 5. The older two are occasional sleepwalkers, so I would want to be on the same level as them.

[Carrie12345]

I’m pretty flexible.  My actual set up isn’t even on your list, lol. Our master suite and loft are the only rooms upstairs. Kids are down. Since our fire risk is higher than our burglary risk (and of course we take precautions anyway,) I’ve really liked it. In a different location, or in a different style house, I might not be comfortable with it.

[TravelingChris]

I am sorry, Dawn, but i had to put other.  As you probably remember, I have RA and a myriad of other autoimmune so when i was looking for houses in the last 25 years, my first choice was usually ranch and I did have that 4 times.

  In another case, we had only not best layout choices, so it was a top level main house and main was on that floor plus another right next door which meant our daughers were there, and on that floor was kitchen, and dining room.  That was a three or four level house and my son and my school room/guest room were on lowest.  i loved living there and having my dd's next door was good but trying too (older dd was sleepwalker).

In our last two cases, the first we had a main floor main bedroom (there was a lower level and upstairs where the kids were and my youngest was 13 by then).  In this one, we also have a main floor main bedroom but it is in a hallway with 2 other bedrooms plus my office.  Also on this floor is the great room, kitchen and dining room.  My safe room, family room, etc are downstairs.  We choose this house, in part, because I do not have to walk down the stairs if there is a tornado warning, i can walk outside with two steps and go around the house and go in through our downstairs kitchen to access our safe room.

[Bambam]

Our first house when the kids were born had the master down. We had an extra room off our bedroom (small bedroom size, maybe it was supposed to be for exercise? or just a little sitting room? I don't know) that we used for the nursery. First child slept there until little sister was born (2 3/4 years). Oldest child (just under 3) moved upstairs a few months before second baby was born. Oldest child was very safe on stairs, so that wasn't a worry for us. New baby slept in nursery for 2 ? years. And then moved upstairs to sleep in same room with oldest (there were three other bedrooms up there, but they wanted to share a room). Sometimes they did come down and sleep in the living room. 

It worked fine for us. I'm not a worrier and neither is my dh. I have friends who would not have been comfortable with their kids so far away. 

[Pawz4me]

When the boys were young we didn't care. Master bedroom location wasn't anywhere near a priority for us when buying a house. As we got older and were considering aging in place it did, of course, become a very high priority, and it was one of the main reasons it took us two years to find this house. In hindsight I think we were very lucky. For ten years we lived in a house with all the bedrooms and all the full bathrooms on the second level. I shudder to think how hard life might have been had someone broken a foot, ankle or leg during that time, or otherwise suffered an illness or injury that made negotiating the stairs truly problematic or impossible.

[regentrude]

In our current house, kids' rooms are upstairs, master downstairs. Moved in when kids were 2 and 4. Was fine.

If I bought a house at my current stage in life, I would think about aging in place and choose a master downstairs for accessibility reasons.

[alisoncooks]

We've been looking at houses lately and surprised that most new builds in our price range have all the bedrooms upstairs (and only a powder bath downstairs). I don't mind so much, but DH, a cancer survivor, feels a main floor master is better for possible future recurrences.

Edited April 10, 2019 by alisoncooks

[HomeAgain]

3 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

We've been looking at houses lately and surprised that most new builds in our price range have all the bedrooms upstairs (and only a powder bath downstairs). I don't mind so much, but DH, a cancer survivor, feels a main floor master is better for possible future recurrences.

This was actually something we thought about since we plan on living as long as possible in our house.  All our bedrooms are upstairs, but the downstairs has a tv room/office across from a full bath.  It's designed in such a way that it could be a bedroom easily with the addition of a door and closet rails.  Dh has back issues and we wanted a bit of flexibility as we age and become, uh, less flexible. 😄

[Storygirl]

I have had both, and I prefer the master on the first floor, when the kids are old enough that they don't need attention or supervision at night.  The last two houses we have lived in, including this one, have had the master upstairs, and I miss the first floor master.

I also think it is wise to buy something that we can stay in for a length of time. My parents have had mobility issues with aging, so I have to anticipate that need in our own lives. When we shop for our final age-in-place home, it will need to have a first floor master.

If you think you will stay in this home indefinitely, I think a first floor master is a good idea. Otherwise, you may find the home does not suit you as you age.

[mmasc]

My reason for preferring up is not exactly kid-related, so I thought I’d just offer up this in case it applies to you. We’ve had two houses with the master down (our current one is), and several with the master up. IME, the master is always too close to the room with a tv. That might not be the case in your houses, but it bothers me bc I’m a VERY light sleeper and don’t like tv and/or lights on in the room close to my sleeping room. DH often stays up later than me on the weekends watching a movie and I can sometimes hear it. The kids often get up before me on the weekends, and again, I can usually hear them in the kitchen or tv room. (Even if they’re all making effort to be quiet!)

I just prefer all of the sleeping quarters to be on the same floor. I feel like I rest better. Ymmv

[mumto2]

I always try and find a house with a ground floor master.  If I can’t have that a mud room type bathroom downstairs is acceptable so I know I can live in the living room if I have to.  Too many bed rest pregnancies for me.  Also back surgery at 30 which forbid stairs for many weeks.  When my kids were little it was easier to be on the same floor but now they are older I like having my own space.

[DawnM]

1 hour ago, TravelingChris said:

I am sorry, Dawn, but i had to put other.  As you probably remember, I have RA and a myriad of other autoimmune so when i was looking for houses in the last 25 years, my first choice was usually ranch and I did have that 4 times.

  In another case, we had only not best layout choices, so it was a top level main house and main was on that floor plus another right next door which meant our daughers were there, and on that floor was kitchen, and dining room.  That was a three or four level house and my son and my school room/guest room were on lowest.  i loved living there and having my dd's next door was good but trying too (older dd was sleepwalker).

In our last two cases, the first we had a main floor main bedroom (there was a lower level and upstairs where the kids were and my youngest was 13 by then).  In this one, we also have a main floor main bedroom but it is in a hallway with 2 other bedrooms plus my office.  Also on this floor is the great room, kitchen and dining room.  My safe room, family room, etc are downstairs.  We choose this house, in part, because I do not have to walk down the stairs if there is a tornado warning, i can walk outside with two steps and go around the house and go in through our downstairs kitchen to access our safe room.

 

Oh, don't be sorry, I know individual needs are often different.

 

 

[mom@shiloh]

When my kids were younger, I preferred to have our bedroom close to theirs. Now it doesn't matter much. Really, I don't have a strong preference either way, but we opted to have ours on the main floor now just so that we don't have to do stairs if that gets to be an issue as we age. If we were younger and not looking at living in this particular house until after retirement, I'd probably choose a second floor master. 

[DawnM]

21 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

My parents house has a bit of a weird set up.  The master is upstairs, and it has a half bath with it.  You go up the stairs and turn left and that's the master.  If you turn right, you enter another bedroom, which is HUGE....but not the master.  Or at least, it's not labeled as such on the floor plan and it had no half or full bath with it.  But it was big enough that we had 4 twin sized beds in it and still had plenty of room.  Then, downstairs, there are two more average sized bedrooms (probably 12X12ish?)  

The way they set it up, my sisters and I all shared the giant bedroom, my brother got the downstairs bedroom in the back of the house and they turned the front bedroom downstairs into the family room.  At this point as empty nesters, they have rearranged so that they are using the giant bedroom upstairs, the master is now the guest bedroom (which yes means that if my parents have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, they have to go into the guest bedroom....but since the only people that stay over are their own kids or DD23, it's not so big a deal)  Downstairs the front bedroom is still the family room, and the back bedroom is mom's craft room.  

 

Your post reminded me of a really cool house my friend lived in.  It was basically a ranch for most of the house with a basement and then it had a strange area at the end where you could go up a half a flight of stairs and you hit two identical master bedrooms, each with a full bath.   OR you could go down a half flight of stairs to 3 small bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms for the kids.  Then the basement had another bedroom and bathroom.  It was a ranch with a basement on one side and a split level on the other.

It was interesting because I was looking online for their house one day and it was on the market!  It was probably about a year ago.  It looked so different.  I remember it almost looking like the Brady Bunch house with 70's colors and decor and just being a super cool house.

[J-rap]

I put other because I don't have kids living at home anymore!  But, I'd always want to be on the same floor as my kids if possible, no matter what age....  When they were young, because they might need me, and when they were older, just because.  If it's a two-story house (which is what we've had for a long time), I really like it when all the bedrooms can be upstairs and the living areas are downstairs.  One side-benefit of that is that when you have company, you really only need to clean the first floor!

[DawnM]

24 minutes ago, mom@shiloh said:

When my kids were younger, I preferred to have our bedroom close to theirs. Now it doesn't matter much. Really, I don't have a strong preference either way, but we opted to have ours on the main floor now just so that we don't have to do stairs if that gets to be an issue as we age. If we were younger and not looking at living in this particular house until after retirement, I'd probably choose a second floor master. 

 

There was a new build we were looking at that had a guest suite on the main floor and the master upstairs.  The guest suite wasn't nearly as large but could work if you needed no stairs for any length of time.

[Lecka]

I am 40 and plan to look at aging-in-place when we move next year.  I see many at church who get around great except for stairs.  

[EKS]

I voted other.

As a younger person with small children, I wanted the master to be on the same floor as the other bedrooms.

Now as a middle aged person with adult and soon-to-be-adult children, I would only consider a house with the master on the main floor.

[DawnM]

So, IF we can sell our house soon, there are two houses on our "short list."  

One has a master down and one has a master up.   I like the master down house more overall, but I really prefer a master up.  We currently have a master down and when the kids have friends over or stay up late and go to the kitchen, I can hear them.

In the house with the master up, the master is over the office/living room area, not where the kids generally go in the evenings, which I think I prefer so I don't hear them as much.  But I likethe other house a bit better for other reasons.

Sigh.

[Night Elf]

I think maybe part of the answer is the age of the kids. I was happy to share a floor when they were young but I much prefer being on a separate floor now that they're grown.

[Annie G]

We prefer master down and now that we’re aging and our dads are 87, we really like it. When one of our dads visit we give up our room and move to the guest room upstairs.  But for long term we are really glad our master is downstairs because it means we can age in place. 

‘This has worked for us because our kids have always been pretty quiet and if they have friends over late they hang out upstairs. It also helps that I can easily go back to sleep if my sleep is interrupted by people in the kitchen.  

[TheReader]

We liked master near the kids when they were little, but now that they're older, we far prefer master away from them. For so many reasons.  We have master down, kids up in our current home. We were thinking age-in-place, as well as privacy. With regards to sound - we have a TV room above our room, so if DH & the boys are watching a movie late and I go to bed early, sometimes I can hear them, but not much. One DS's bedroom is partly over our room as well, but we don't hear him, and he can't hear us -- before we fully moved in, I turned on a radio in our bedroom, loud as it would go, and went all around the house checking to see where we could hear it. Just in case. 

I do hear kids go up/down the stairs, but it's never been a big issue. Our room is sort of around the corner from the stairs behind a little hallway, so there's enough separation that it works to dampen the noise if they come down to the kitchen. Overall layout matters a lot. 

[RootAnn]

I have always thought the bedrooms and the washer/dryer need to be on the same floor - whatever floor that is.

As an adult, I've lived in both master up & master down houses. Each had its positives & negatives - which others have pointed out.

I find that my kids who have a bedroom on a different floor tend to be easier to not check on regularly. I have two sick kids right now and I have to make myself check on the one on the other floor vs just popping my head into the kid's bedroom that is on the main floor.

I agree with the previous poster who said their wants have changed as their life circumstances change. I agree completely. While I still want a bigger house (more bedrooms) now, my oldest will be going to college soon and eventually, I will want to downsize. The location of the master - as long as it is on the same floor as the laundry room - doesn't matter to me at this point. The rest of the house is more important.

[SKL]

I don't really care. 

I could see the benefits of down, as I get older and realize the time will come when stairs will be a problem.  And I guess it is nice to be close to the kitchen, laundry room, etc.  On the other hand, would a downstairs bedroom invite random people to wander in there?  That I would not like.

My bedroom has always been upstairs since I was 12, so that is what I'm used to.  I like being cloistered away from what everyone else is doing.  I like the view from a higher vantage point.  It's also warmer in the winter.  And while the kitchen is farther away, I see the benefit in the extra exercise as long as I can do it.

My kids had a downstairs bedroom until they were 8.  This was never a problem for me.  I found no issue with them being on a different level while we slept or, when older, while they played and I worked.  (I had a nanny when they were toddlers.)  So I don't think it matters whether or not the kids are on the same level as me, at any age, other than the very beginning when most folks keep the baby in the same room as the mom.

[athena1277]

I prefer the master upstairs because, in every 2 story house we looked at, if the master was downstairs, it opened to the living rom or other common area where everyone could easily see inside if the door wasn’t closed.  I don’t want guests to see my unmade bed and clutter.  I need more privacy for my bedroom.  

[Kassia]

When my kids were little I wanted to be near them and wanted the master BR ups.  Now that they are older I'd prefer it downstairs and would like that when we buy our next home.

[HS Mom in NC]

I don't care either way, it depends on the house. 

One thing I do regret about this house is that there isn't any bedroom downstairs.  I don't know why I didn't think about it when looking for a house, but I wish I had at least one bedroom downstairs in case on a serious mobility issue.  If we end up being here long term like we hope and one of us can't do stairs anymore, it might mean having to move over that issue. It also means someone with a serious mobility issue can't stay with us.

[Ellie]

I want all the bedrooms to be in the same general vicinity. If a two-story house, then master upstairs with all the other bedrooms. If a one-story house, then on the same side of the house as the bedrooms.

Also, many new homes that separate the master from the rest of the bedrooms put the master such that it's right next to the family room. I don't want *that*. Goodness.

[Ellie]

2 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

I don't care either way, it depends on the house. 

One thing I do regret about this house is that there isn't any bedroom downstairs.  I don't know why I didn't think about it when looking for a house, but I wish I had at least one bedroom downstairs in case on a serious mobility issue.  If we end up being here long term like we hope and one of us can't do stairs anymore, it might mean having to move over that issue. It also means someone with a serious mobility issue can't stay with us.

When we were househunting in Texas, our criteria for a two-story house was that there be a bedroom and full bathroom downstairs, for that very reason. In this house, the master is upstairs, but there is a room downstairs which we use as an office right now, and it has a full bathroom and a big closet; if we need to move downstairs, we'll be comfy.

[Annie G]

8 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

I don't care either way, it depends on the house. 

One thing I do regret about this house is that there isn't any bedroom downstairs.  I don't know why I didn't think about it when looking for a house, but I wish I had at least one bedroom downstairs in case on a serious mobility issue.  If we end up being here long term like we hope and one of us can't do stairs anymore, it might mean having to move over that issue. It also means someone with a serious mobility issue can't stay with us.

This.  Dh has had health issues that made me very grateful to have our bedroom downstairs so I could continue my daily life while still keeping a close eye on him. Double bypass with complications took a few months of recovery time, and he would have felt isolated upstairs. I expect we’ll face more of this situation as we age.   We might need to let FIL live with us when he can no longer live alone and having his room downstairs would enable him to easily join us for meals and socializing but also be able to retreat to a bedroom easily because there are no stairs to limit him. 

‘But we’re empty nesters and our situation is quite different than Dawn’s so probably not very helpful. 

[MysteryJen]

If you think that your next move will be before you retire, it probably doesn't matter much. If you plan to be in the house past retirement age- I would get a master bedroom/bath downstairs. Lots of things can happen where you can't manage stairs. 

My dmil had a house with an aging-in-place design- it was perfect for when she had foot surgery and when dfil had heart surgery. She has recently moved to a retirement community.

My mother has a two-story with no bedroom and only the tiniest of powder rooms on the main level. Also, a narrow staircase to go up to the bedrooms- she would have to go to a rehab center for a mobility problem. It is not a problem now- but odds are, it will be.

[May]

We currently live in a split level and to get to any bedroom, you have stairs. Unfortunately, when we were looking for homes, the ranch we did look at, wasn’t in a good location. Eventually, we will move and will want the master to be downstairs along with the laundry room and another bedroom/office.

[Sherry in OH]

Dh has mobility issues, we have to have a downstairs master.    If he didn't have those issues, location of the master wouldn't be a primary concern.  Even if all bedrooms were on the second floor, I would want a full bathroom on the first floor.  

[Catwoman]

2 hours ago, DawnM said:

 

There was a new build we were looking at that had a guest suite on the main floor and the master upstairs.  The guest suite wasn't nearly as large but could work if you needed no stairs for any length of time.

 

I think that is an ideal setup. 

Right now, we have two master bedroom options, with one on the first floor and one on the second. The largest one with the largest bathroom and closet is on the first floor, but I use that as my art studio, and we use the second floor master as our bedroom. Ds’s bedroom is upstairs, too. I’m weird about wanting everyone on the same level at night! 

I don’t know how long we will keep this house, but I like the idea that as we get older, there is a first floor master if we ever need it.

[Carol in Cal.]

We live in a not that big one story house.

I like a two story house with all the bedrooms on the second floor.  That kind of separates the public space from the private space.  And in general I like being close to the kiddos in the night, although that gets trying once teenaged night owls are in the mix.

Having said that, I voted ‘other’ because I have seen an increasing number of houses that have two master suites, one on each floor, and I actually think that is ideal.  If I had that right now, I would be using the downstairs one as an office suite, and the upstairs one to sleep in, but also I would know that later in life we could age in place more easily by using the downstairs one as a bedroom once stairs become challenging, which is pretty common among the aged.

[Arcadia]

I would prefer a den with attached bathroom downstairs and all the bedrooms upstairs for privacy reasons. Townhomes and two story single family homes are densely packed locally with small front yards so ground floor windows are typically shuttered/curtains drawn. 

Many builders incorporate a room (bedroom/den) with attached bathroom on the ground floor now as an in-laws/guest bedroom.

[Liz CA]

16 minutes ago, Patty Joanna said:

I want down, and part of it is that I want the laundry on the same floor as my bedroom.  And I want the laundry on the main floor so I can do the laundry during the day.  So therefore I want the master on the main.  :0)

Part of it is "aging in place" and part of it is that this is just the way I grew up and I'm used to it.  Ranch-style houses here are rare as hen's teeth, and most of the new houses have masters upstairs.  

Here is my beef:  they build 2-story town-houses cheek-by-jowl; why do they not "layer" them, making one-story condos?   Put an elevator inside and stairs for emergency egress outside and have two nice age-in-place condos.  But no one listens to me.  Well, one guy did... that's where I got the idea.  

 

We are in escrow right now and this house is a ranch style one level. One consideration was what Patty Joanna described even though dh looked askance at me. He does not like to think about getting older and less mobile.  

If you are under 50 and know you will move again, it may not matter so much.

[EMS83]

Down, regardless.  Split floor plan in a ranch.  I just want s-p-a-c-e.  When they were babies, though, I slept with them on the sofa until they were only waking up up once per night or not at all.  At that point, a baby monitor, I guess.   Our houses have both been so small that you can hear just fine if you left the doors cracked.  It's like 20 ft. from our door to the kids' doors.  In the first house it was 3 feet.  

I like the aging in place angle, too.  I was thinking more in terms of in relation to the kids' sleeping quarters.

Edited April 10, 2019 by CES2005

[DawnM]

5 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I’m pretty flexible.  My actual set up isn’t even on your list, lol. Our master suite and loft are the only rooms upstairs. Kids are down. Since our fire risk is higher than our burglary risk (and of course we take precautions anyway,) I’ve really liked it. In a different location, or in a different style house, I might not be comfortable with it.

 

I have never even seen that option in any home I have looked at.  There were a few homes where a bedroom was in the basement, one on the main (master) and 3 or so up on the 2nd floor.

[DawnM]

4 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

One thing I am inclined to point out...

When I had DD23, I was still living with my parents, but having a baby in a crib with the other people sleeping in that upstairs bedroom (which was both of my sisters AND a close friend of mine who lived with us for her last year of high school,) was not going to work.  So I moved into the other bedroom downstairs with DD and we just missed out on having a family room for a few years.  

Living and sleeping underneath my parents bedroom was......................interesting.  And I imagine that parents living and sleeping under their kids bedrooms is also...........loud lol.  

 

😮😲😱😵

[Loowit]

I grew up and have always lived in a one story home.  Our last house we lived in for 15ish years had the master bedroom at one end and the other bedrooms at the other end of the house.  It worked pretty well for us even with babies because the house wasn't too big so the walk to their rooms at night wasn't bad at all, but we felt we had some privacy and quiet as they got older.

Our new house is my first 2 story.  I didn't really think about bedroom placement when we picked it.  All the bedrooms are upstairs.  Now I am wishing we had at least one downstairs in case of illness or injury, but so far it hasn't been too much of an issue.  We plan to only live here until the kids are gone, so another 10 years probably.  I think our next house I will want a single story or at least one that has a bedroom downstairs.

[rebcoola]

I voted other- currently we have a two Master house which is perfect for us.  We currently use the master that is by itself in the up 1/2 story because DH works nights 1/2 the time.   When we are older we will move to the main floor.

 

[Tanaqui]

In this house, everybody switches rooms all the time, sometimes to rooms that do not have built-in closets. Right now some of us are in the attic, some are on the second floor, one person is on the first floor, one person is in the basement. Unless the kids are quite young I'd rather not be on the same floor as them precisely because I don't want to hear their noise.

This house was originally a two family house... technically it still is, except both families are my family and we collectively only use one of the kitchens. Each apartment has two small bedrooms of about the same size, so no "master bedroom" per se.

[Carrie12345]

3 hours ago, DawnM said:

 

I have never even seen that option in any home I have looked at.  There were a few homes where a bedroom was in the basement, one on the main (master) and 3 or so up on the 2nd floor.

This isn’t our actual floor plan, but it’s pretty darn close. Imagine the 4th bedroom as an open loft instead of a closed in bedroom. 

http://www.superiorbuilders.com/sites/superiorbuilders.com/files/Plan 509 - Huntington.pdf

[MaBelle]

Both.  We have a master suite upstairs and a master bedroom down.  Due to the fact that we are both dysfunctional sleepers we each have our own.  

Downstairs was best with babies.  Upstairs was best when they were bigger.  Both is best for empty nest.

 

[Tap]

Other.

If I plan for it to be my forever home, I would want it on the main floor so I could live on the bottom level without climbing stairs.

If I plan to raise my family in the home (not retire there) I would like my bedroom to be on the same floor as the kids. That can be up or down but I prefer them on the same level for middle of the night issues.  We live in a hilly area, so some houses have the entrance on the first floor and then the bedrooms are downstairs.  I prefer to enter onto the main level of the house (living room/kitchen etc).

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by Tap

[Suzanne in ABQ]

When my kids were little, I turned down houses that had their rooms on separate floor from master.  Now that they're older, if given your choices, I voted for down, preferably near the front door, and/or kitchen, so I can hear what's going on at night.