1. We managed growing up to have a master bath and one other bathroom for three kids. Shocker. We survived.

2. The trend among buyers is what your neighborhood supports. In my neighborhood of retirees, no one wants 4 bedrooms to have to clean and take care of. In a neighborhood of starter homes, you can build 4 bedrooms but if all the other houses are 3 bedrooms you won't get much of a premium for your 4th bedroom.

Building trends are neighborhood specific.

If you can afford it comfortably I would want 4 bedrooms. The 4th room can always be set up as a home office. Unless this is a home in the upper, upper price range of houses in your area 1 bath is fine. What do other homes in this price range have? That will be important.

Our builder talked us out of the second bathroom upstairs with the three bedrooms (first floor master suite plus a powder room). It's money and square footage that could be better spent elsewhere, it's a room that will get dirty even when not being used and who wants another bathroom to clean, and most importantly with no plans to have a second child, it was impossible for us to justify it.

To make the room more usable when guests are staying over, the bathroom has two sinks and a separate room for the tub and toilet.

I would definitely do 4 bedrooms. Probably the biggest decision you can make with regards to future value.

Depends on the layout of the house, but generally speaking, I personally would be okay with 2 bathrooms (and we have 5 young kids so far). We have 2.5 now, and never use the second full bath, for various reasons.

I also live in a fairly temperate climate, and have mostly boys, so 80% of the year, if they have an emergency, they can always go water the grass.

As for the second question about buyer trends, I haven't a clue, lol. Depends on your neighborhood. :-)

At a certain price point, in my area, it is a given that a house have at least 4 beds and at least 3.5 baths. Houses that are 4 bed, 2.5 baths are generally production homes not custom. It may be different in other areas, but if resale is at all important to you, in my area....I'd put in at least 1 more bath. I don't think an extra bath is a huge additional expense percentage-wise in a custom build. You don't have to do marble, custom cabs, expensive tile...,

We have a Master and 3 bed, we put in 3 baths (master and 2 more) since we are at 4 kids, and may be adding one or two more.... Three kids in a bath is tight, but doable for the teen years. Thnk about getting ready for school and such, when everyone wants in there- and 4 teenage girls for our family! We did single vanity with 2 drawer stacks, but a double sink would be nice, too. Also, if it is a guest bath too, consider if you want it to be for 3 kids and guests.

We also situated it so that one of the baths is attached to the largest (non Master) bedroom, in case we have a grandparent or other adult living with us in the future.

I agree it's area specific but I think with a four bedroom house a decent option could be Master Bath, 1 full bath, and 2 half baths; or one Master, one full, one 3/4 and 1 half.

I don't think the water pressure in most areas and the water heater in most houses could support three simultaneous baths or showers going on anyway. But it is convenient to have multiple sinks and mirrors for make-up and plenty of toilets in the house if a bunch of people are getting ready at the same time.

I was involved in a project with one of those over the top shower systems in the master that they figured out would need it's own pressure and hot water system because 1) the water would be barely a trickle anywhere else in the house if the shower system was all powered up, and 2) the hot water would run out in a matter of minutes if the shower system was all powered up.

Well, without considering any family issues or any architectural issues, a 4-bedroom house will almost always appraise higher and resale higher than a 3-bedroom house. That's a no brainer.

As for how many bathrooms, I'm afraid the answer depends a great deal on the size/type family and the architectural/budgetary possibilities. As a guide line for a 4-bedroom house, I'd say a master bath, another full bath and a powder room would be a reasonable minimum for the baths.

As palimpsest suggests, be sure to take the bath count and location when selecting and locating water heaters, instant re-heat devices, etc.

The Georgian Colonial in which I was raised had three bedrooms up (including the MBR) and one large bathroom. Three steps down, over the 2-car garage, was a guest room with a shower bath. There was a powder room on the first floor.

I agree with palimpsest. Two half-baths could work well. Full baths are bigger and have expensive tubs and showers. You can *wait* to bathe! LOL

it has occured to me that i'd like to have an arrangement a bit like the old college dorms had one large bathing "facility" and several half baths ....except for the master suite where i must have at least one of everything available....... and that would probably cost twice as much to build

Start planning with each bedroom gets it's own bathroom, plus one powder room per floor. Eliminate bathrooms or powder rooms or bedrooms as the money runs out.

2.5 baths is perfectly fine, but it is a bare minimum for a new 4 bedroom home, I think. And that third bath could actually be a 3/4 bath, outfitted with an inexpensive, prefab shower if you want to save money and space. I dislike the two 1/2 bath suggestion because it would either mean putting a half bath back (or up) where the bedrooms are, which seems odd, or putting it in the main living area of the house, forcing people to walk some distance between bed and bath when getting ready in the morning.

As someone mentioned, it also depends on the neighborhood. We are finishing up our build, and it is in an area where newer homes (say yr. 2000 and later) are expected to have at least 4 beds/3.5 baths. New builds never ask a bath to serve more than two bedrooms. If that bed and bath count would seem outrageous in your neighborhood, then don't do it if you don't need it. But if it's reasonable for the area, and you can afford it easily, then I would do it.

I have just two small kids, a boy and a girl, who have thus far always shared a bath. I considered keeping it that way in this new house because I don't want to spoil them too much... but when I envision them ten years down the road as teenagers, I foresee lots of fighting and frustration in the mornings. So, they're each getting their own, small bath.

It is a bath that has a toilet, a sink, and a shower stall, but no bath tub.

A powder room with just a shower (not a tub). You usually see these in the basement. We'll have an unfinished basement with a rough-in for bathroom down there, which helps for resale as we can get to a 5 bedroom 3.5 bath when we finish the walk-out basement.

One of our half baths was between the kitchen and front door / door to garage and it had lots of vanity storage so it was very convenient for brushing teeth or fixing hair in the morning without taking up a full bath and/or going back upstairs, so it depends on the layout.

I agree it depends on the location/market on what buyers will expect. 4 bedroom houses certainly sell faster in this are compared to 3 bedroom. We currently have 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths and 3 children ages 10 and under. We are building a larger home than we currently have but it will still have 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. For our family, I didn't see a need for an extra bathroom.

We're 4/4. Master & hall bath upstairs, full baths on first floor and in basement. I suppose the first floor and basement would be 3/4's per a previous post, but we don't classify them like that here.

We're quite happy with how the house plans came together, I'll let you know for sure after its built and we've lived in it a year.

When did we become so spoiled that a girl and boy growing up in a house or three children of mixed gender can't share one bathroom?

Most people in other countries would be laughing at us and how each child needs their own bathroom among other things.

My brood frequently shares the powder room pedestal sink for tooth brushing. The 4 older kids + me holding the baby, crammed in a 3x7 room, all spitting into an 18"x24" oval... Cozy!

It's hard to speak generally, when every family is different.

I grew up with 9 people sharing one bathroom. But-we had a restroom separate, bathroom separate. Not fun, but as us kids were little-we didn't care. I think grown ups weren't that happy. We were two kids...the rest were grown ups:) Two families..

Separation helped though.

Then we moved, and it was only six of us-much easier. And also-bath separate, toilet separate. Everybody had this where I'm from, nobody had a room that incorporated both.

So. Still getting used to the idea of putting bath and toilet in one room. Luckily we have an enclosed restroom now, in the master, and will have it again in the new house. Why to have master suite at all, if only one person can use it at a time?

Anyway. Needs change, circumstances change, families themselves change...I had no idea I'll ever need a 4 bedroom home(even though it's much easier probably to host friends and family, I thought), but then things happened and we had to buy one.

I don't know what trend is. Although there probably is some trend, depending on location. But even at the same location-different kinds of houses are built. To accommodate different families. You cannot just take it out of the equation. I care about needs of my family at a given time. Which might be totally different from yours, or mine 5 years ago. But yes, additional powder room can never hurt.

2 story or 1 story house also plays a role of course. And a layout too.

I visited my cousin a lot in her old Victorian..there were two baths, but both on the second floor..and we slept on a first one. And the stairs were really steep. Not much fun to go to the restroom at night, I can tell you that.

April thanks again for the reminder of how lucky we all are to worry about having extra bathrooms. :)

In my area it's not uncommon for someone to pass on a house because it doesn't have enough bedrooms or bathrooms (real or perceived need.) But I've never heard of anyone passing because there was an extra bedroom or bath.

I have 2 teens. Our 2nd floor has 4 bedrooms, one master bath and two hall baths; there's a half bath on the first floor and a full bath with shower in the basement. I can tell you that with one boy and one girl it's awesome for them to have their own bathrooms. When both were in high school (DD is now in college) there were plenty of times when we all took showers at the same time in the a.m. And even when we've had overnight guests using the shower in the basement bathroom when we showered upstairs, we've never had problems with water pressure or hot water. Maybe we just have a good water heater?

Lest you think we're high maintenance, we're a family who loves to camp and have spent many nights in tents or cabins without plumbing. But on a daily living basis, we appreciate having our own space when we need it.

some people do pass because of an extra bed. It's the perception that they'd be paying extra money for a space they didn't need. So let's just look at 3 bedroom homes....

Oh, and more space to have to keep clean.

It was definitely my budget-minded house hunting attitude back in 1991. And as apparently nature abhors a vacuum in more ways than one, I'm so glad I didn't buy something too large!

My father was the youngest of 10 children and born in 1901. They, their two parents and a grandmother lived in a house with 6 bedrooms but only a 2-hole outdoor toilet. Did they manage? Of course they did but who would want to live that way today!

Yes, we do live in an era where people want more and more bathrooms. It really depends on the price range of your house. My son lived in a 6400 sq ft house in the Gold Coast of CT. On the first floor, there was a MBR and two master baths - his and her. Also a guest room with a 3/4 bath that also served as the powder room. There was an additional 1/2 bath at the other end of the house near the garage entrance and the kitchen, family room and play room. But upstairs there were 3 bedrooms and only 1 bath. It was a HUGE bath with a walk-in large shower, and a huge soaking tub. One reason he ended up divorced was that his wife felt that it was "inappropriate" for her son and daughter to share a bath now that the daughter was 8 yrs old. My son did not agree! He now rents a 1 bedroom apt with a loft (true staircase to get up there), with only 1 bath. DGD complains about it constantly but he has no intention of paying an additional $1500 a month rent to get a 2nd bathroom when they only visit 2-3 weekends a month.

But when they went to sell that house, not having a 2nd - or even 3rd bathroom on the 2nd floor was a deal breaker for most who looked at the house and they took a huge loss when they sold.

It isn't that much more to add a bath when building if the placement of the pipes is carefully thought out. Find out what other comp houses in your area have and do the same. If you are living in a middle-priced subdivision, then it is most likely not necessary, but if it's a higher end area then you ideally should have an ensuite bath for each bedroom plus a powder room on the first floor.

I would want 3 baths. The reason is if I had kids and a guest, I wouldn't want the guest sharing the kids' bathroom. Also, it'd be nice for the kids when they got older.