I have a split level house and I love it. I would definitely buy another split level house, but my opinion is not the predominate one. What matters is if you love the house. I do worry that at that price point it will be more difficult to sell than in lower price points.

Split levels have different names in different parts of the county. I believe what GreenDesigns is talking about is called a Raised Ranch in my part of the world. Split levels have many different layouts. Some with the bedrooms on the same level as the kitchen, some with the bedrooms one level above. Buy a house you like, there is always a buyer for every house.

This is an expanded split not a raised ranch. Above Grade living space is 2925 sft.
The 4 steps in the foyer, with no coat closet, is the biggest drawback to us. I don't mind the small staircase from the main living area to the bedrooms, makes it feel like a colonial actually. But walking in and having to walk up to the main room every day seems insanely frustrating, unless we go thru the garage every day. Then theres only 3 steps.

More pics: http://www.planomatic.com/54410

The house is beautiful! I wouldn't buy it, but just my opinion backed by experience. We use those attractive orange traffic cones to warn people about our sunken living room since a few have missed that step. No broken bones yet, but why take chances?

Even though this LR is one step down from foyer? The FR, Kitchen, etc is 4 steps up from foyer.

A single step down is a dangerous tripping hazard because 7"-8" is not enough change in vertical plane to easily discern on a subconscious level.

Two steps at 15" -16" or three at 21" + are all readily perceived on a nearly subconscious level. So if you are interested in a sunken area or level change it has to be more than one step to be safe.

modernct. ONE step is much worse. However, my friends have 3 steps with no railing and that's pretty bad too. You don't visually miss a group of steps, but most people establish eye contact with others, and rarely see the ants on the floor.

Our one step is off the foyer, but the foyer here is central to the sunken living room, kitchen peninsula, pub and dining room, so it leads everywhere and when people mingle, they often miss that one step.

I expected your possible home to be on a hillside, but the ground seems flat, so the architect must have wanted the split levels. Here, the terrain mandates splits and most homes in this "hood" have them.

That makes sense.

Yes, the land is flat - can the foyer/front door be raised to be level to the left side where FR, DR are?

If split levels are less desirable, and it sounds like they are, then this is obviously factored into the current price.

Splits were considered desirable starting in the early 1950s through the 1970s because they were relatively "open plan" compared to the traditional pre-War closed plan, but there was separation between areas half open to each other by level change.

It was considered a relative convenience to be "a few steps way" from the LR or family room, and you could see into it but there was still some separation like people were used to. And there was some efficiency in partially stacking the living spaces, and utilizing the basement as semi-above-ground living space. By contrast, some of the sprawling gigantic one level ranches some of my parents' friends lived in had bedrooms that were 70 feet away.

So, in daily living, you go up three steps from garage and family room to the house. The only time family would be up and down would be a shortcut from the family room to the LR via the Foyer. Happen much?

Is there a basement? I see some little 'bridge' in the back yard, leading to the tennis court and viewing area. (Water issues?)

Is it priced competitively, with a discount for the 'levels'? A million and a quarter on two acres...taxes? Is the house sound -- you are only concerned with the layout?

I think taking out that left wall from the foyer picture where the 4 steps are would make a difference; with steps going wall-to-wall to the LR (room with fireplace.

There's a basement. No water issues. I feel like its priced aggressively for a split level but I do feel 1.250 is still too high for a split level, even for Westport. Taxes are 11k. Id want to close at 1.150 or 1.160 max.

Gorgeous! I my own self love it & would climb up & down those stairs for the privilege of having that back yard.

Live is short:

If you love the house, treat yourself to it & take your glucosomine.

Chisue- it's also an issue with guests coming thru front door and foyer. They have to go up or down.

I live in the "dreaded" 50's split level! Yes, we bought it to get into an upscale town and live on a pretty street.

That said, for us it's only 6 steps up or down to somewhere.

It's true, splits are a thing of the past. Those in my neighborhood are being torn down and replaced with much larger colonial style homes. Yes they are beautiful. But, would I want to go up that long staircase a few times a day? Not really.

I am not sure if this style matters or not in Westport. You can do the research. But, if you are planning on staying in this home for the next twenty years, I can tell you that you will appreciate the 4 steps, the 1 step and the 3 steps rather than the traditional long stairway.

I recently looked at an split level (open house) the common areas were all one level with one bedroom on the main level. Up several stairs to the master and two more bedrooms. A few steps down was a large media room and two more bedrooms and the garage I loved that the stairs were at the rear of the house so you didn't see stairs when entering the front door, the living room and dining room were large and open. I remember negative split level talk on this forum and wonder if that is why it isn't selling. It is nice, would be nicer without all the heavy marble floors and columns, maybe that is just me, but I'm tired of seeing all the heavy marble..

I have been in two split levels - I wouldn't have wanted to live in either of them. I think it is the small foyer and then having to go up stairs or downstairs. I am not sure. Whatever, I know I would never buy one, regardless of the deal unless I was going to scrape and build.

Split levels/raised ranches/tri-levels and quad-levels are popular here, but they are usually family homes in which you can get more square footage for your dollars. I don't think that is the case with your million dollar home (which is lovely!) Unless you are getting more square footage than you would with other million dollar homes in the area.

I have not lived in one, but have friends and family who have and they got tired of the steps or thought they were a safety hazard. One key complaint I hear is if you have to do stairs to use the bathroom.

Fifteen years ago while house hunting I had loved a house very similar in plan to yours. But reality set in...there were single steps down from the foyer into both the living room and dining room, then from the kitchen to the family room and even worse, 3 steps down from the master bedroom to the master bathroom. After much consideration, we knew that both the steps down to the master bath and warning everyone as soon as they came into the foyer not to back up or move sideways so they wouldn't slip down that single step, would get old really quickly.

It's not the steps I minded, as we bought a regular 2 story home instead, but the placement of those steps.

Otherwise, the house is lovely. I'm somewhat familiar with Westport, as my nephew recently sold his home there, so I believe that the asking price is fair for the home, but it will be a difficult sell even with the other plusses this home has.

Just got home from a partee at a split level. Nobody bit it, so it was OK and not our home. Hubby has a lot of random wine on his clothing, but nobody died.

I'd ignore the Foyer-to-anywhere unless you entertain constantly. Look at how the *family* will use the house. Glad to hear there is a basement. Glad you won't need it for family use -- because you have the lower level Family Room.

There is a valid concern in the thread about where the bathrooms are located. Is there at least one facility per level -- or one can be added?

(You'd pay a lot more RE tax in my area.)

There isn't a bath in that main area where kitchen, fireplace LR, DR are. There's a bathroom down 3 steps from kitchen (most convenient) and another bathroom up 4 steps from kitchen (where bedroom hallway is). All of the bedrooms are on the same level upstairs.

Blueprints: http://www.planomatic.com/54410

Just sold a split. It was on the market 4 days. Comps for splits came in around 10 to 15% lower than 2 stories. We got multiple offers at the mid range of the 2 stories. So selling the house wasn't an issue.

I loved the house. When we bought it it was the least expensive psf in the neighborhood so that is the draw.

I love the look of this home. Reminds me so much of living in the east.

We did not find going up and down stairs to be a hassle. Older visitors preferred the half levels to our new 2 story.

It looks like a good house. Not sure what the price is compared to 2 story's in the same area.

You know, a kiddo or adult falling one or two steps is not nearly as likely to get seriously hurt as one falling a flight of stairs. My grandmother fell the entire flight of stairs when I was a teen (misjudged her step in the dark -- didn't want to wake us and was licky to have a broken wrist and some colorful bruises) and my son fell the entire flight of stairs in our last home when he was old enough to walk them but not old enough to have the judgment to not climb on a chair (maybe two chairs stacked - the story has changed) to get the key on top of his brother's dor frame at the top of those stairs. We were incredibly fortunate that the little guy had the instinct or presence of mind to grab the handrail and keep himself from going over onto the marble floor -- just boom, boom boom down the rest of the way on the stairs. I might not have had a son with a concussion. To me, one or two, three steps doesn't sound so scary. Kids will have tumbles. Smaller ones are generally safer than big ones.

There are nice splits and there are splits that are not nice. There are more not-nice splits than nice ones, but one shouldn't generalize and say all splits are horrible. When we were house hunting I said "no" to all splits. Then we found a beautiful one and bought it. The split the OP has posted also looks like a nice one. It's open and spacious, not like the typical cramped ones. And nothing like what some here are referring to as splits, but are really raised ranches in my part of the country (which is the same general area as the OP).

With a split (not a raised ranch), we do not go up and down stairs all day. There are fewer stairs to get from our living area to the bedrooms than in typical two story houses. And we have at least one bathroom on every level, so there are no stair issues. As far as the "hard to sell" argument, our home was on the market for a whopping 4 days before we bought it. And there were competing offers.

The house the you posted is a lovely house in a great community. I would buy it if you like it, and not be swayed by people many of whom are not familiar with the market in your area and are not even operating under the same definition of "split>"

What sas95 says. I love my sponsors' split level but hate split foyer. This sounds like a sort-of-split foyer if there is nothing on the same level as the front door. The house I love is on a hillside - everything on the left/downhill side is the same level - front door, foyer, kitchen, dining, nook, living, garage. The right/uphill side is split so that you go down to a 1/2-built-in-to the hill guest rooms, bath, family, or upstairs to the master, baths, guest/den. Only downside was no bathroom on that main level - had to go up or down 1/2 flight of stairs to get to one. Probably cheaper to construct bathrooms directly over each other though.

I'd buy it. It looks soacious and beautiful. I've had a split level since 1973 and like the layout.

Most of the complaints about splits that I have heard over the years was the work of vacuuming so many steps and lugging the vacuum up and down them. You have wood steps, and aside from the noise of wood steps, you just need to dust mop them. Gorgeous house!

I read just a few of the comments and went no further because I wanted to put my oar in, in favor of the house.

it is beautiful and the position of the house is lovely as well. If you like it and are planning to live there for at least ten years or so, buy it!

Split level houses are reviled only by market area. In the mountains---anywhere in the world----split levels are the norm, they are just called multilevels or mountain architecture. I've been recently to a multi-million$ beautiful home in a Utah ski resort that is laid out over four levels with just a few rooms on each level. My SIL lives in a gorgeous multilevel in NC that has four levels that are not full floors one on top of the other. It was designed that way for the site. Many very contemporary and modern designs are also designed over many levels to add interest. It is not an ideal home for aging in place unless there's a bedroom on the main floor----but that can be said for ANY two story house.

Raised ranches or split levels are not usually designed that way because of siting considerations but rather to maximize space, and they do that very well. The house you are shopping looks spacious and gracious because of the generous and well-proportioned rooms.

I would buy that house in a red hot minute if the size, price and location were just right. It presents beautifully from the street and IMO would make a wonderful family home.

You know - we shouldn't generalize about house styles. You know, think that "Victorian houses are bad because ...." or "split levels are bad because..." It just depends on the specific house and how they pulled it off - good specimens of any style or age are going to retain good value. Not-so-good specimens of any style or age might be hard to sell

I looked at the pics expecting it would be like the type of split level Ive had experience with - you come in the front door and its like a dark dingy stairwell with stairs leading up and down and really no entry way to speak of. This is not like that! Not at all. Very open, airy, spacious and welcoming. It looks like theres room inside the door where guests can be greeted and talked to and then directed to go wherever;.

Interesting thread - as an old house nut its given me appreciation for this style. The fact that the levels are separate and retain some privacy makes it much more appealing to me than the typical current open style of house which is one big cavernous barn-like space. All the appeal and charm of a Holiday Inn conference center - ugghh! Well there I go generalizing about house styles again - oops, sorry!

The stairs wouldnt bother me at all. To be honest, I like that the entry is separated from the living area. When you walk in my front door, you walk right into the kitchen/dining/living room area. With the separate entry, your house is kept private from delivery people, etc. If you can get the house for a price you feel comfortable with, and you like the home, I would go for it. I think the house looks great, plus you get two acres. The surrounding land looks beautiful.

One thing I would check on is if the tennis court needs to be resurfaced. Also, I personally dont like the dropped ceiling in the basement, but this would not be a deal breaker for me in any way. I wonder if you could remove the ceiling though. I would rather look at exposed pipes than that ceiling. I know it's a basement, but still...

Should be comfortable with the baseboard heat and separate air conditioning.

A bit of a negative without even a powder room on the same floor as the LR, DR, Kitchen. That's my only quibble.

Honestly, I usually don't care for split levels at all...but this is a really gracious, lovely home. From the photos, it looks like it would live well. I think it would suit a family with children nicely. The tennis court looks like needs to be resurfaced....maybe you can knock off some $$ for that.

Crack repair and resurfacing run about $10k in our part of the country (Georgia). Don't have it done before winter, wait until spring when the ice and snow won't start ruining the work right away. We have lived I. This house for about ten years and have had our court resurfaced twice.

I think it's a beautiful house! I would buy that! My brother just sold a split level and had no problem selling. Maybe it depends on what market you are in?

My bet, it is unusual in the area. Yes with a split you have limited buyers but if you love the home & it works for your family is what matters. Log homes have limited buyer pool as do small but luxury homes. That said there are buyers. If you go forward enjoy the home.

AO at 1.162. I think this is a fairly good deal for us.

I just looked at the link again and realized you are in CT! I'm from Middlebury! Split levels aren't uncommon in CT at all actually. I dont think resale would be an issue. Enjoy your new home!

Windows downstairs are same size as the upstairs which goes a long way. Too me, from the outside, it looks an expanded colonial (expanded to the left).

Still curious on what others think about the exterior and what to call it.

Split ranch? It has the feel of a colonial. Did you buy it? It's a beautiful home.

I think it might be a split colonial. Similar to this colonial split from the exterior..

http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/media/scene/big2/00/07/96/45/7964569.jpg

Beautiful lot and house - the split wouldn't bother me. In fact we lived in a split entry for 23 years and I'm an above knee amputee. When we were looking for that house I said no split entry - well I was wrong on that. We sold that house in three weeks. We also had a four level split weekend lake home - lived there for 16 years and sold it without a realtor. We don't have kids though and we did buy homes now with all the required living areas on the main floor as we approach retirement age.

Yea, we like how all 4 bedrooms are on the same level (up 6 steps from great room). And the great room, seasonal room, kitchen are on the same level, which is nice for entertaining.

I realize that this is an old thread. Did you buy it?

My opinion: I lived in a split for 15 years and hated every minute of it. It was also tough to sell. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. BUT - if you love it, that's all that matters. Nobody else's opinion.

To me this, this is the traditional split everyone thinks of when they hear the workd "split"

http://www.westport-news.com/realestate/article/On-the-market-Split-level-has-full-range-of-6722323.php

Our home doesnt look anything like that.

Yikes, modernct, that home is what we call "remuddled". Two houses slammed together.

ottawa, thats not our house in that link above; I agree though, that link I posted of that home is awful.

Our new house is further up, the white one.

Yes I realized that when you said "our home doesn't look anything like that" :) It would have been quite rude of me to comment if it was your house. Yours is nice. The addition on that last house wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't made the roof lines so different.