House with 4 kids

5 years ago

Help me out here, I know this has been asked a bunch. We have a 9 year old and twin 6 year olds, we will not be starting building for about a year, so both will be about 2 years older by the time we move in.l, as well as the last one due next summer. We have been back and fourth on a ranch or 2 story. End of day we want a main floor master and a extra bedroom on main floor for the little one while its young, and either an upstairs, bedrooms in the basement for the others, or maybe an extra room on the main floor? I understand it may be weird to have kids in the basement, but I plan on living here quite a while, ideally forever but cant guarantee that, and just feel sorta stuck to have the upstairs for the other 3 that are going to be around 8-10 years then hopefully off to college. Anyone else with 3-4 kids have input? I feel like cost wise the ranch works a bit better since we would finish basement in a 2 story anyway and want basically the same floor plan on main whether it has upstairs or not, and could possibly add a hearth area/second main floor seating area by cutting this cost? I know there isnt a one size fits all house, just trying to blend the now and the future best we can.

Featured Answer

B Carey

5 years ago

DH and I wanted a 1.5 story but decided that a ranch with kids in walkout basement was the most cost effective for us. We are on a good amount of acreage, driveway is 1/4 mile long. A driving reason was we wanted large bedrooms for the kids. The basement will be their cool hangout. When they are gone, We can use their rooms for a huge quilting room or something. Kids just turned 13, 11.5, 8.5. Starting this Spring.

My 8 year old sleeps all over the house. This week, she slept on the basement sofa 3 nights. My oldest had our basement room at 9 and loved it, the middle one got it a year ago and loves it.

Life is different than when we were kids. You can have silent alarms in the basement, tracking on their phones, and even a geofence set up on their phone. Sorry, but these teens are taking their phones with them when they sneak out! I also feel that the basement with a window a few feet from ground is safer in a fire than a 2-3 story upstairs!

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Comments (24)

Gargamel
5 years ago
My only advice is to make sure there is an accessible washroom and laundry on the main floor - so that if you do decide to stay in the house forever, you can live on one floor without negotiating stairs
johnny_outdoors
Original Author
5 years ago
Yes our plan was to have a oversized laundry/utility/craft arearea on main floor.
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OMG, it would be awesome to have "kid" dings in something you use every day. If you have company and it bothers you, toss a table cloth over it. Otherwise, enjoy the memories. I just painted my hallway. There was a "punch" in the drywall about 4 inches up from the floor - not bad. I was gonna patch it but I remembered when my son's best friend was using our treadmill in the office. He got it going too fast, it flang (that's a real word) him backwards, he hit one wall in the hall and richochted into the other wall, head first. That was 15 years ago. I was gonna frame it, just for kicks...."Josh was here." We love the memory as he died in a car crash 4 years ago. I have a 3' X 3' X 3' solid maple butcher block, used in 1890, full of dents, dings and divots, between the kitchen and the dining room. Even people new to my home (with a really nice sitting area in the living room), grab a dining room chair and gather there. As long as they keep their fingers out of my chopping place, it's all good. I have a couple of pieces of rustic, primitive barn board tables with doggie chews on the corner when the pups were teething. I have a wooden vegetable box that was my son's first cradle (long story there) that is turned long ways and holds a $500.00 Mill Creek piece. I have a 1930's wooden breakfast table that still has ciggie burns on it from where my grandpa fell asleep during Happy Hour. A hand forged, iron, tree pull thingie that loggers used, hangs on the fireplace mantel. I don't know the story behind that but our best friend found it up in the Oregon mountains while hunting, only the T end was sticking out of the ground and it's 10 feet long. "Roco, I just knew you would love this." "Thanks, Jim." (mud, dirt, leaves, probably a dead animal, all attached) I think of him every time I try to dust it. Now, I'm sorta learning to like that sippie cup drip stain from my granddaughter on the pine dining table. I could get it out but I don't want to. Enjoy every ding, stain, and imperfection. Live large.
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According to the Looney, Ricks, Kiss website, the Tucker Bayou plan got an Aurora award for homes in the $1,000,001 - $1,500,000 price range. So there's that. And you don't know whether that's a real retail price, or a price less donated materials (from advertisers), never mind land, legal, permits and site development. In my neck of the woods, this plan, at the finish level shown, would easily be a couple of million. This plan is going to be relatively expensive whether it's on a basement, crawl space, or slab. The framing itself is not simple, and all the little features that make it cute cost serious bucks. Also the large, numerous windows. And lots of porches. And custom millwork, custom cabinets, lots of upscale appliances and plumbing, hardwood and tile, etc. You're in the classic conundrum of a budget that won't budge, so you have a choice between a smaller house with more detail, or a larger house that's plain. IIWY I'd revisit the sloped part of the lot. See if you can put the kids' bedrooms, lauundry, "family" room, etc. down there on a walk out. Then put the rest of the rooms upstairs. Try to make it a one story with some high ceilings, and a simple shape, e.g., a rectangle. Build simple decks or gravel terraces instead of wraparound porches. Stuff like that. The point is, to save money, the whole house should have a much smaller footprint, an overall simpler concept, and that gives you a shot at making your budget. Unless you've really got a couple million to spend, in which case you might as well give Looney, Ricks, Kiss a call.
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Suki Mom
5 years ago
one story with extra bedrooms in basement with main floor laundry will serve you better over the long term. It is not weird to have kids in the basement. They will love the feeling of having "their own space". You will appreciate one story living as you get older and you never know what is in store for you in the future healthwise. Recommend 36"w doorways on main floor.
apple_pie_order
5 years ago
Do you have a lot to build on already? Many of your cost drivers depend on your climate and the local geology.
whaas_5a
5 years ago
Just ensure you budget to put multiple egress windows in now if single story. Cost anywhere between $1.5K and $3K vs $5K to $10K plus damage to your lawn after the fact.
johnny_outdoors
Original Author
5 years ago
Yes we have walkout/daylight acreage
skmom
5 years ago
We have 5 kids (had them in 4.5 years, yes there’s a set of twins, LOL!) and we currently have a two story home with a finished basement. Our kids are older now... aged 16-21, and they all still live at home. (We live close to some colleges and universities, yay!) Anyways, this home doesn’t have any bedrooms on the main floor, and that’s a regret we have in purchasing it so you’re smart to want 1-2 bedrooms on the main floor! Nevertheless, we don’t have all of our kids with bedrooms on the second floor, our boys all “live” in the basement. (3 boys, aged 18, 16, and 16) the twins share a large bedroom down there and the other one has a small bedroom, they share the bathroom down there which we remodeled to make it much larger. Our basement is also a walkout. They love their basement rooms! So, if I were you, I’d rather have a ranch with a nice basement. (That obviously meets requirements for exiting in an emergency) It won’t be very long before we are empty nesters, we do NOT plan on staying in this large house after that... it seems just yesterday when my kids were young like yours and I could hardly envision them leaving the nest. The grow up fast! Our spacious two story house with a huge basement is just too much upkeep for just hubby and me, especially without a master suite on the main floor.
shead
5 years ago
Your needs will change over time as the kids get older. We have a 15yo, twin 11yos, and a 9yo. In our last house, we found that it really wasn't a good idea for our oldest son to have a lower level bedroom away from "eyes" once he reached teenage years. I anticipate feeling the same towards the others as they approach that age as well. Our twins have shared a room about 99% of their life and they are reaching the point of wanting their own space from each other as well; however, that won't get to happen until our oldest goes to college/moves out or to the basement in a 3.5 years. We are in the planning stage of a massive addition/remodel of ranch house and we are planning to have 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on the main level and then there will be another bedroom and bathroom in the basement as well. We plan to keep all the kids on the same level with us for as long as possible.
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Climate and lot will determine a great deal of this. There are no basements in FL, and no slab foundations with conditioned attics in ME.
skmom
5 years ago
We DID have to put a camera/alarm on our walkout basement door after our oldest son snuck out one night and his older sisters caught him via Snapchat... LOL!
PRO
Anglophilia
5 years ago
I would NOT want any bedrooms in the basement, unless they were for a caregiver and that was the only place for good separation of space. Teens in the basement are a recipe for TROUBLE!
my_four_sons
5 years ago
No bedrooms in the basement. Trouble for teens, and young kids might be scared to sleep in the basement. My youngest is 8 and he would definitely be afraid to sleep in a basement. I remember all too well as a teenager sneaking out of friends’ houses who had basement bedrooms. No way.

Why not a ranch with separate wings? If I were building a family house I would do a “u” shaped house with master wing on one side and kid bedrooms on the other. WHen the kids go off to school their bedrooms could become the gym/library/study.
SJ
5 years ago
I have 4 kids too and we’re in the process of building a new home. My youngest is 2 and oldest is 13. At first we thought we wanted a two story and we were sure that’s what we wanted! Then, we found a ranch that has huge living space in the main areas; living room and kitchen.

I thought about it more and realized today my younger kids spend all of their time downstairs with us in these main areas. My oldest spends a lot of time in her room :) We have a two story now (master down and kids rooms up) but the kids aren’t upstairs much and don’t even use the game room upstairs. I also don’t spend much time upstairs so for us, it made more sense to go with the one story ranch.

I’m excited to have all of the kids on one level and think we will make better use of the space we have. Everyone has different needs so it’s really whatever you think will work best for your family.
johnny_outdoors thanked SJ
johnny_outdoors
Original Author
5 years ago
Dont you think if you can sneak out of a basement you can sneak out in general? I hear what your saying, but basically saying to build around a 5 year span of their lives. Enough technology that security systems can be hooked up to windows and doors, fear of parents goes a long way, we live in a more rural area, not really worried about sneaking out to the woods, would have to drive anywhere worth going. Whether they are upstairs or downstairs they still have some sense of freedom, we live in michigan, humidity isnt a concern for basements, we plan on being on a main level, idk if an 8 year old being upstairs or downstairs makes much of a difference, prob more of a fire hazard upstairs as far as escaping.
johnny_outdoors
Original Author
5 years ago
SJ are you putting all of your kids on the main floor or the basement? I was confused with your last paragraph
SJ
5 years ago
All will be on the main floor. We will have four bedrooms and 4 baths on main. My two year old is still in our room so she will share with her sister when we move into our new house. The two story would have given us a 5th bedroom but we decided we’re okay with the youngest girls sharing a room. Congrats to you all on the baby and new home!
johnny_outdoors thanked SJ
johnny_outdoors
Original Author
5 years ago
Just curious how big the main floor is for what you found or if it was a online plan of sorts to gget an idea of?
SJ
5 years ago
Here’s a picture of the base plan. We made a few modifications but this will give you an idea. For the dining area off the kitchen, that will be a game room for the kids. (We don’t need two dining rooms) This plan is 3500 sf on the main level. We had the option to build a second floor with another bedroom and bathroom and large game room but decided not to since in our current two story we don’t use the upstairs game room.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
5 years ago
I have a ranch with a walk out basement and our grankids love it in the basement bedrooms. They are in space meant for watvching TV playing games and lots of windows and an access to the pool . We purposely bought this house for when we no longer want to climb stairs I designed it to be able to live on the main floor and at that time we will alter the basement to be a rental unit. I think a sprawling ranch is a nice idea on acreage but thety are more expensive the bulid than 2 storey so I guess it depends on your budget. BTW an egress window eans exactly that easy to escape from so not a few feet from the floor unless there is a step up system to the window that can’t be moved.I am not sure about your property but I love walk out basements for good useage and never feeling like you are in the basement.
shead
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Sneaking out was/is not the reason that I suggested having a teenager on the main level. It's the isolation issue that I feel can lead to problems.
runnem
5 years ago
We will be building on a 100 acre working farm (cash crop). When we build, we’ll have a 7, 4, and 2 year old.

While we aren’t thinking of selling (if anything this house will be passed down to a child with the land), we do need to keep resale and appraisal values in mind to avoid overbuilding or underbuilding for our area. All houses here have basements and the majority are either a bungalow or a two story, typically under 2000 sq ft. We prefer a 2 story and all bedrooms on the second floor. We will work in an office/guest room and bath with curbless shower on the first floor should we need to use it. There are no first floor masters in a two story house here.

The plan is to build 3 or 4 bedrooms upstairs (will depend on whether the third child is the same gender as the first two, whether we do one or two bathrooms upstairs, and whether we do a second floor laundry).

We’ve contacted an architect so we can figure out where to build on our site. There was a previous house that burnt down but it’s too close to the road so we have a few different options. My husband will be clearing the rest of the farm and tiling it this winter/spring so we need to know now where we’ll build and put in a driveway to avoid the sacrificing of mature trees and to map out where to plant crops.
nini804
5 years ago
It seems like you will be living there a while so this may not be an issue....but I have a friend with an absolutely gorgeous ranch with master and guest room on main, and the children’s rooms, playroom, second kitchen downstairs in basement. It is a lovely lower level with access to pool and beautiful wooded 2 ac yard. Top quality finishes up and down (SubZero fridge, Wolf range, etc) and excellent location. Similar properties sell very quickly in our area. It has been on the market 18 months! That’s unheard of here. She said the one comment she keeps getting is “parents don‘t want their kids on a lower level than they are.” They don’t mind a master down with kids up, bc I guess mentally they feel like an intruder would have to get past THEM to get to kids. Just a mental thing...but it is driving my friend nuts...to the point they are getting ready to dismantle the study to make it look like a bedroom (even adding a closet!) This way they can advertise 3 bedrooms on main. Just a perspective you might not have considered.
johnny_outdoors thanked nini804
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Anglophilia
5 years ago
Call me old-fashioned...I AM! I want ALL my bedrooms on the same floor, with the possible exception of a first floor guest bedroom. I did not get it in the house we bought, but it worked as DS was at boarding school and we were on the Vineyard all summer, so it was only during the holidays that he was on the first floor and we on the second. And yes, he DID sneak out a couple times. OTOH, DD on 2nd floor could not do this - we would have heard the stairs creak (there is much good to be said about creaky floors and stairs where children/teens are concerned!).

But we had bedtimes, we expected our children to sleep in their own bed in their own room. DD is the same. She said that she was very glad she could see, when getting up to use the hall toilet, that DGS1 was still studying at 2AM and could insist he go to bed and know he did so. Yes, he actually WAS studying - he's that kind of boy. Now DGS2 would be making something on his 3D printer (probably yet another "penis light switch", which appear to be a popular item of which he sells many!

House with 4 kids

B Carey

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House with 4 kids

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