Wow, way to revive a thread that is almost 8 months old. Alisonn, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you are referring to my posting regarding split foyer homes. As I've been living in mine for almost 5 months I will tell the OP (as I did before) that this home works wonderfully for my living situation and business. If it works for her, she should go for it. There is NO other home layout that would have worked for me within my budget. Several real estate agents have asked to see the interior of our home since it was finished because they had heard through the grapevine that it was an interesting and unusual layout...every single one has fallen in love with it as I have. If I am the person you were referring to I was not "offended" by anyone's opinion that I would not be able to make a profit of the resale. In fact the majority of the thread had very little to with talk of resale and much more to do with certain individuals' personal dislike of that house style. I WAS annoyed by a poster or two trying to tell me that they knew my lifestyle better than I did when they insisted that a split foyer would not work for me or insisting that I was heartless if I did not build a handicap accessible home. But nowhere in my thread did I imply that I was offended by people's opinions of the resale value of my home. I readily admitted that I was not a real estate expert by any means but that there were plenty of split foyers in my area that seem to sell just fine as it's a fairly common house design around here. Personally, I hate cookie cutter McMansions. I'm also not a fan of town houses, studio apartments, mobile homes, yurts, or log cabins. But there are people who love all of those and happily choose to live in them. And to each his own. Where does it say that a split foyer is the least desirable home? I'm fairly sure that there are homes that many would consider much less desirable than a split foyer. And again, if you're not referring to me, I sincerely apologize...but considering my original post regarding building a split foyer is the one that comes up when you search for split levels I'm fairly sure you're referring to me. I do resent having someone reference me and my situation incorrectly. This post was edited by sparkler39 on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 2:15

i should tell you that i often find homes i must remodel in my head and on paper. this one in particular since there is a slight chance we may end up with it. we're serial remodelers with lots of experience, thankfully. anyway i'm thinking an entire two story addition on the north end to create an entry and mudroom. where i get stuck is that it's reversed to me, top floor is living room on east and kitchen/dining on west side with access to pool and backyard. ground level are the bdrms and a two car garage which becomes an apartment. i know we need to push dirt and create a drive up entry, so no carrying groceries up more than three steps. getting the stairway down to the bdrms really works on the east in a light filled stairwell, i like that a lot. also i'd install a lot more glass on the east for sure. the two little windows are two bdrms, which i'd make into one big one, taking the space from the former slit-level stairway for one large master suite.

I don't disagree but assuming I left everything as is - I think the budget on a project like this would be more than I was willing to spend...I never realized how much split level homes irritated me until we moved here lol

Don't try to make your house something it's not. It's a colonial so let it be just that. I would remove that center gable above the entry door as it looks a little out of place, IMHO. I really like the house color in the pic that marissapower posted and think it would really help modernize your home but yet it would maintain its colonial character.