We sleep separately and very soundly, and I would never go back to sharing a room. Like others in this discussion, my husband and I have very different sleep schedules. I cannot get to sleep unless it is perfectly quiet. He falls asleep easily but noises-like kids and spouses living life after the sun goes down-wake him up very easily. I like to read for a couple of hours in bed to put myself to sleep, he wants lights out at 9 pm. He likes the room warm, I like it cool. And so on. In our house, I've got the master bedroom and he sleeps in our florida room, on a daybed. I do agree that if someone is going to be sleeping in it regularly, get a daybed or even a real bed. I wouldn't want to make my partner sleep on the couch, no matter how comfortable it is. For us it's been a blessing. My husband can go to bed early and he is in the back of the house where he doesn't get disturbed by people watching tv, wandering in and out of their rooms, taking showers etc. I can read myself to sleep without bothering anyone. Both of us sleep so much better. For a long time it embarrassed me that we didn't like sleeping together, but my systems analyst spouse has always insisted that if most people (especially long marrieds) were honest they would admit having your own bedroom is great! Ann

People are giving me a lot to think about. And I did broach the idea of a lift to DH. The lot is just over half an acre--150x160. For what it's worth, I've been watching the expanded northwest/west Chicago suburban area for homes with extra large garages (or both an attached and detached garage). There aren't many and they disappear fast. They will only appeal to a certain market, but to that market, they're in high demand. (Car collectors, people who have a hobby that requires a large workshop) As for garages in the neighborhood, the few existing homes have 2--several with an additional detached garage. The new homes mostly have 3--and a few have 4. I know it's not what everyone would do but that's one of the reasons to build instead of buy--because we can plan for the things that are important to us, even, or especially, if they're not commonly available. But when it comes right down to it, few of us only have as much house as we "need". I *need* a place to sit with a computer. I want it to be comfortable (desk with pullout keyboard tray), and I want a window to look out of, and I want to have nice furniture in it. I don't need any of those things (although my chiropractor might make an argument for the keyboard tray). But I want them and can't think of any reason why I shouldn't make them happen. We're all different--there are those on this board who prefer jack&jill bathrooms. I hate them. There are those who think a 2nd sink for a hall bathroom shared by kids is a waste of money. I disagree (and so would my kids)--but that's okay. We want a house with a large double shower and don't care at all about a soaking tub. Someone else wants that tub enough to devote 36 sq ft to it. That's all okay. Looking at houses on-line, I saw zillions of "newly remodeled kitchens" that I hated. Some were objectively bad designs. But most of them weren't--they were just finishes that I didn't like at all--and knew we'd pay a premium for that 'newly remodeled kitchen' even though I'd want to rip it all out. It's all part of why people build instead of buy. We want what we want--and some of us are fortunate enough to be able to make that happen.

Frhomez1, another thought came to me about this. You don't mention whether you have others living there. If it were just me living here I wouldn't think anything about leaving my hobby out in the "common" areas of the home. But I have DH who although he supports my having hobbies and thinks they are wonderful, I don't think he would like them being in his face all the time in the living/kitchen/dining areas. Just the same if he had a hobby I wouldn't want it in my face either. Just a thought. Knitting and crochet are easily put aside in a basket, etc. in the living room but it's different with a sewing machine, cutting table and stacks and/or bins of fabrics and supplies. When I'm in the middle of a project it gets messy, no way would I want to have to clear it out all the time. And I wouldn't expect DH to want to look at it, either.

I have lived in both recently. One advantage of a downstairs master is sound control. I know it sounds strange and is certainly design dependent, but sounds travels vertically a bit easier. One specific thing I do is build so that there are 2 doorways from master bedroom to rest of house so that helps on the horizontal sound transmission. No way to do that between floors. If the master bedroom is above the kitchen or living room, sound will travel. Even if not - the "diagonal" sound transmission is harder to stop also. One unforeseen downside of 1st floor master is comfort level about windows being left open at night. It was really unremembered because we had it 15 years ago and it was an issue. And then we moved more urban and built 1st floor master. Speaking of commutes, a big commute can be an issue for coffee drinkers.... (Typing 10 feet away from my Miele which is another 15 ft from Master bed - it is almost perfectly centered). The same issue comes up with laundry.