IMO you do what works for you and I am pretty sure not everyone needs 5 bedrooms I actually like the idea of all sleeping spaces on the same floor and especailly with young kids I think adding another bedroom on the main floor will not be better but it is nice to have guests apart from the other sleeping space.

You will probably get the best answer to your question from realtors local to your area.

If you plan to have an "office" downstairs maybe you can design it so it could work as an office or a 5th bedroom.

Agree with Lindsey. In my area, 2 master bedrooms is considered a huge advantage particularly if one is upstairs and one downstairs, but it may be different in your area.

If all others have 5 then you will likely be ok as not all buyers will need that and your arrangement sounds very flexible for many reasons. It could be a multi-generational house with mom/dad and children bedrooms upstairs and aging parents of mom/dad downstairs. Nice guest area if need be. Live-in nanny space, or for people like you who want to be able to sleep on the same floor while the kids are young and then move downstairs. The upstairs master would likely work great for 2 kids to share too since it would be larger so I don't think it would be a bad thing. I would buy yours over the 5 bedroom just for the flexibility.

Would the upstairs 'master' also have an ensuite bathroom? I'm assuming the downstairs one does.

Or is it just going to be a bigger bedroom?

I personally would consider 2 masters to be an upgrade, especially since you still have 2 other bathrooms.

Appreciate all your responses. loving the different ideas and POVs. Yes the 2nd master bedroom would have an attached master bathroom. and we have a separate office room downstairs, but it doesnt look good to be used as a spare bedroom.

so, bottom line it sounds like creating a 5th bedroom downstairs is not much of a value add? im pretty sure i wont use it and it costs big bucks. But my concern was, rest of the houses in the community are 5 bedroom houses. so want to ensure the word '4 bedroom' is not a disadvantage should we resale.

Agree with others. Dual masters would definitely be a plus, especially with multi-generational households becoming more common and ageing in place. Assuming by combining 2 bedrooms you'd get an ensuite bath. The only way I think this might not be a good idea is if you don't have another office space (since with 2 master bedrooms and 2 secondary bedrooms, there's no other space for an office if you have 2 kids).

I dont know what is common or adds value in your area, but we searched a lot to find a house with the 2nd bedroom ( and bath) downstairs for my parents.

Maybe not relevant to your situation; however, we have a one-level house in San Antonio and have found it to be unique enough that it is very attractive to buyers and renters (its currently rented). We originally built it that way because we have a relative in a wheelchair, and we also wanted our kids on the same floor as the MBR. Our house is designed with no interior steps and only one short step up at the garage entrance. This is a relatively uncommon configuration in newer homes.

If I was building it today I would try to find a design with a MBR and large guest/grandmother suite on the 1st floor, and two more bedrooms and a sitting/family room on the 2nd floor. I would have the kid share the large 1st floor guest suite when they are young, and then move them upstairs when they get old enough to want their own space.

Bruce

Not a professional but I would assume that having two masters on different floors would attract as many people as would actually prefer four small bedrooms upstairs.

I can think of many scenarios in which having a master bedroom on the main level would be desirable because of the flexibility. It means the house is attractive to people with older children who don't need to be on the same level as well as a younger family.

How many people actually need five bedrooms?

Presumably, 5 bedrooms is good for families with 3 kids to leave 1 guest room. That is a small and shrinking population.

It is done I think because people like to live in big houses and at some point, they add another bedroom. Generally not used. The reality is that people want a certain amount of public space and when you go to a first floor master, then upstairs has to have 4 bedrooms just to balance the 2 floors. Or you can do what we did and only have a 2nd floor over part of the 1st floor. But appraisers like to use the $ per sqft ridiculousness. So then it makes more sense to cover the entire first floor - hence 5 bedrooms. And if you also build over a 3 car garage, then you have that bedroom count all with their own bathrooms and still have space for 500 sqft bonus room.

We are so screwed up in our priorities....

I think a nice bedroom with a bath attached would be good. It just gets confusing when it's a 'massive' master suite. That is how my area seems to be. People love an Guest Room or In Law idea on first floor.

Agree with the others -- I would see that as a great feature, it gives a great arrangement for accommodating a guest , or Mother-In-Law suite potential. I would far prefer this arrangement to having 5 bedrooms.

Multiple thoughts, not all in line with the majority:

- Five bedrooms is a huge house. The potential field of buyers who want the space and upkeep of a house that large (and who can afford it) is relatively small. More plainly, You're looking to build a house that only a small percentage of buyers can afford to buy. Wanting a thing and being able to afford a thing aren't the same. Your pool of resale buyers will be small, so selling could take a long time, or you might be forced to take less than you want.

- Yes, people will like the idea of a "master up and a master down": live-in space for mom, space for a live-in nanny or elder care-giver. Plenty of reasons people would like the space. But the real question is, Will your resale buyer be willing to pay what it will cost you to build it? Personally, I think you'll attract plenty of interest, but you may not attract the necessary dollars at resale to make this worthwhile.

- How old are these small children? By the time you finish building this house, they'll probably be at least a year older -- how long will you want to have bedrooms close by?

- I'm a highly practical person: you're talking about a short time when kids are small. To save money, could you sleep in a "non-master" upstairs for this short time, then move downstairs?

- How "master" do you see your "masters"? That is, when you say "master bedroom", are you envisioning a slightly larger room with a modest walk-in closet and a private 3-piece bath ... or does "master" to you mean a spacious room with a seating area, a massive closet and a luxury bath? The question isn't just, "Should I have two masters?" It's, "Just how much will I put into a master?" Your own vision of "how much" can make a world of difference in this question.

- Don't overbuild for your neighborhood. Remember that the biggest, most expensive house in the neighborhood is "drawn down" by the more modest houses that surround it.

- Summary: Don't be caught up in just whether this is a desirable idea -- it is. Consider first and foremost whether it is an economically viable idea.

If you have four bedrooms, will there be a separate room for a home office? I live in central NY and in our area are rare, but a lot of people want four bedrooms with a home office considering the trend towards working from home. This gives them a bedroom room for each of the two kids, a guest room and a separate home office.

But ultimately, it depends on how long you’re going to live there. It doesn’t seem like it would make sense for you to spend significant extra money on space you won’t use if youre planning on staying long term.

I think two master bedrooms (one on the main floor and the the other upstairs) is a great idea! I would buy one like that! Good luck.

When we built our home in 2007, we put a master on the 1st floor and a 13 x 18 bedroom with 2 WICs on the second. We put the 2nd floor 2-part bath (walk thru 1st part with 2 vanities in an L to 2nd part with shower/tub and toilet so 3 people can use it at once) immediately next to the large 2nd floor BR and there's a 9' wide dormer nook (x 13') opposite the bath with space for 2 desks.

The other two 2nd floor BRs are past the nook and bath thru a door to the bonus room. These 2 BRs (12 x 13 & 12 x 15) are at each end of the 12 x 17 bonus room plus a 6' wide nook (which can be used as a play room or an office). We had space for another bath on the 2nd floor, but I hate cleaning them and another one wouldn't be used much. There's also a 5th (guest) BR/office with a bath next to it in the lower level walkout. I think 3-1/2 baths - one on each floor - is plenty!

Our lot is a little over an acre.

Anne

Our daughter and husband have a large home in Connecticut. There are 5 bedrooms upstairs but none downstairs. There is a large library off the kitchen and large family room. I think the house is about 6000 sq ft. The only place for an extra master on the main floor would be the library. The main floor has two 1/2 bathrooms but no full bath.

Upstairs, there are 5 bedrooms plus a large additional family room. Off that family room is a bedroom with an attached full bath. That bath has two doors opening to the family room and the bedroom. When we visit, we stay there and it is very nice. Their kids are teens now so don't use that 'playroom' off the guest room.

We have always enjoyed staying there as it is private and quiet, and we have the bathroom.

However, we have now gotten older. Husband is 88 and can no longer manage stairs safely. Our option is to use the library on the main floor but the bath is only a 1/2 bath, no shower.

Our daughter is thinking of doing something to make that 1/2 bath into a full. Problem is that library is right off the kitchen. The 1/2 bath is open to the kitchen (very large kitchen). She would face problems with changing configuration and being so close to the kitchen.

If you are building and have the possibility of older parents down the line, I think having a full bath/bedroom on the main floor would be wonderful.

We retired to Florida and prior to the pandemic would spend a lot of time with our children and grandchildren up north. We know my husband would have to use the library now because of the stairs. But the lack of a full bath on the main floor presents a problem.

Jane

I'm all for the up and down Master bedrooms. As long as you're starting a new build I'd suggested making that first floor bedroom as disabled accessable as possible: larger doorways, barrier-free, and a reasonably designed accessable bath. This will make that area even more sellable but won't hinder you from using it yourself when your children are older.

We searched hard for a house that had 2 masters on seperate floors as we have aging parents that will be moving in with us and our kids. We’d prefer to be upstairs with the kids and have the parents on the main floor (both for added privacy/ seperation and for the fact that they are getting much older and my father in law is in a wheel chair) but since we are both used to sleeping in master bedrooms with ensuite baths we wanted everyone to keep what they are comfortable with despite coming together so we can help them.

Where I live it’s really hard to find a main floor master and the rare time you find one - it doesn’t have a second floor master .

I’ve also seen a trend with new builds in my area that it has two masters on the second floor. I think this has a lot to do with a rise in multigenerational homes. With a mix of both an aging population and rapidly rising house prices in my area we have a lot more people living in multigenerational homes.

You’d be best off speaking to realtors in your area who know the market. But personally, it took me a long time but was very desirable to me to have two masters on seperate floors.

Is there something specific that characterizes a "Master Bedroom"? For me, it's just the largest bedroom in the house. Maybe it's the one with a dedicated (private) bathroom.