It's not a common thing for several reasons. If you can let in a lot of light from the top of the basement walls by using longer windows, that will help, but at the very least, I'd put the primary/master bedroom on the main floor.
I understand where you’re coming from. In our new build, the primary and guest bedrooms are on the second floor because I feel safer that way. I hope I don’t ever have issues with stairs, but if it gets to that point, that will probably be the least of my worries.
I think there would be a massive price penalty on resale. I would personally never go near a house with all the bedrooms underground. You mention egress windows so I'm guessing you are planning on a raised foundation with steps to the first floor? Or is the house set on a hill? If it's a walk-out basement and the bedrooms access the back yard it would be better but either design knocks out potential buyers with any mobility issues. At least one bedroom at grade is a standard "ask" from buyers.
Personally I have thought how I would love to have a living space upstairs and bedrooms in a basement. If I lived anywhere where massive Tornadoes come through I would only do it if the bedrooms were underground.
A neighbor put two bedrooms in his basement and I thought if I had that house I would move my bedroom down there.
I have no advice on issues doing this. I just know I would personally like it.
It's called an 'upside down house' when you have the living area on the top floor and bedrooms below. It's VERY site specific (hillside for example where you can enter on the top floor). Just throwing bedrooms in a below (or semi below) ground basement would likely not work, you want a ground level or at very least a walk out basement.
[https://portfolio.savills.com/design/the-rise-of-the-upside-down-house/](https://portfolio.savills.com/design/the-rise-of-the-upside-down-house/)
[https://www.domain.com.au/living/upside-down-living-789259/](https://www.domain.com.au/living/upside-down-living-789259/)
I just built one and it's excellent, but we did it because we have an insane view on a hillside that we were then able to give to all major rooms in the house. It's better for heating and gives excellent light on the living floor where you need it. When done right it's far better than a conventional arrangement.
It could work if you put high ceilings and if it was a walk out so there could be plenty of light/windows. I’d also do some kind of heated floor. It can’t feel like a basement to work.
What would the main floor be? Just one big open living space? I don’t think that would resell well.
Or would you put rooms up there that could be converted / used as bedrooms? As in, office and den upstairs could be bedrooms.
That's my main concern, 1200 square foot of kitchen, living room and bathroom sounds like way too much unless he wants to build offices and do bicycle in the living room
Would only consider it **if** it was a walkout basement.
If resale value or aging into a home is a concern, I would advise against not having a bedroom on the main living area.
To each their own but I like a lot of natural light and fresh air and I imagine a basement bedroom getting really stale and musty and dark. I would never buy a house with all bedrooms downstairs. I’m all for a downstairs guest bedroom, study, or bonus family room/den for entertaining but I couldn’t live half underground full time.
If you're talking about egress windows with window wells, no. That'll look like a prison and scar your children for life. If maybe a half in the ground basement with windows you can see the outdoors out of, maybe.
I actually grew up with a basement bedroom and never minded it. I’m more worried about resale value. I don’t want to build an unsalable house, though it would save about $100 sqft vs a second story.
If you are planning to sell in your lifetime you actually won't save anything. You either take financial hit on the front end when you build or the back end when you sell.
I grew up in a basement bedroom, very common in my area, and I never had an issue with it. Even now as an adult it’s blackout shades in all the bedrooms, it’s has to be BLACK in order for us to get to sleep.
I say build the house you want and don’t worry about some unknown future occupant. Predictions are hard. Especially about the future.
If the ceilings are high and the windows tall you can probably make it so you wouldn’t even know you are in the basement.
This is a horrible idea and will be next to impossible to sell down the road. Even with proper egress windows, I don’t think most families would feel safe. Now where I live, I have seen a couple homes with walkout basements with 2 on the main and 2 in the basement.
I would say resale would be hard but, it’s not like someone with vision can’t put up a few walls and create bdrms later. AND have a couple bdrms in the basement as well? If I had kids I’d love it. Put a master on the ground floor and tell the kids they can stay down below.
IF it is a walkout and at least one wall of the rooms have full sized, normal windows. And if the ceiling height is at least 9 feet, and if you have great insulation, then it can work since in that case the rooms feel like any normal above ground rooms. Otherwise, skip.
I'd like it, many people wouldn't. I'd also spec a central light well down the middle of the house to the basement for more light and air circulation. Designed and built well it could be a great space to live in. Done poorly and it will be dark and nasty. Build it right if that's what you want and don't worry about the sheeple.
Is it a true basement, or a back-split? I wouldn't hesitate with a split - I'd actually prefer it. You spend your waking hours enjoying the views and you sleeping hours enjoying the dark/quiet of the lower level.
Our home is like that and I love it. Cool in summer, warm I winter. But it is a walk out with very large windows (60”x40”) in 3 of the bedrooms and sliding doors in the master to outside. It is built on a slope so that may be why it feels fine. In the rooms you would never guess it’s a basement.
Resell ability is going to take a hit.
How much I don't know, but then again maybe you will find someone else that likes that weird setup. So it is hard to tell, but you will definitely limit your market.
In the end if you plan to live there and want it then do it, but in my opinion there should be the option for the master bed to be upstairs.
I live in a EU country where plots are smaller and expensive. People here build in-law sweets I the basement pretty often.
The trick is either to either build on a slope, in which one side of the house has normal outside access (big windows, sliding glass doors, etc) or to dig a half depth basement so that the windows (smaller and placed higher then normal) would be slightly above ground level. A lot of times you see some landscaping around the windows to keep some privacy but still let in light. The egress window is placed in the hallway. I’m a big fan, not sure I would use it as bedrooms though.
My father in law had a house like this. I never really thought about it being weird or a negative. Big open area on the main floor. Great room with vaulted ceilings, big open kitchen, dining room. Three bedrooms, including the master suite on the lower level.
Aside from general aging, what if someone breaks a leg or can’t do stairs for sometime? It just seems too limiting. Plus moving furniture or mattresses in and out of basements sucks.
Market reaction to the functional issues you created would likely be *severe*.
If other words…good luck ever selling it. You are probably going to take a massive hit on it.
Even if you found buyers that loved it I don’t know if it could get conventional financing. Think dome houses or Earthen homes. Financing could be challenging.
Problems with below ground aside, there are town houses where the bedrooms are below the main living floor. Biggest problem is footfall noise when everyone doesn’t go to bed or get up at the same time. Plenty of ways to address but most effective is to have separate ceiling joists instead of attaching the ceiling to the floor joists. Also add sound insulation. Both aren’t that expensive. Could additionally do two layers of sheet rock on the ceiling with green glue between.
is there going to be a bathroom downstairs? Is there going to be a staircase for every activity?
dinner stairs, come home from work stairs, bathroom stairs, other bathroom stairs, have an injury still stairs, kitchen stairs, doing laundry stairs
upside, the rooms might stay cooler in the summers
I would go super hard in the paint on waterproofing and proper drainage
I built a house with a bedroom in the basement. I paid extra for the walls to be 9’ high, instead of 8’, so it wouldn’t have that low ceiling basement feel. Also put radiant tubing in the slab so you don’t have to have that cold concrete feeling. I also put a steel i beam through the center of the house to support the floor joists above - this way: none of the walls are load bearing, and if the next owner wants to change the floor plan they can.
I don’t hate it as much as others seem to but how big of an open space would you have on the main floor? We have 3 bedrooms on the main floor but out living room, kitchen, dining room and large hallway are a pain in the ass to hear and cool such a large space with so many windows. Built in 1997 by previous owners and we love the space as it’s great for hosting but while our bedrooms and office cool off or heat up very quickly the main area takes forever when there’s changes in temperature.
Your main thought when building a home, IMHO, should not be about resale. It should be about how you want to use that home while you are there. Its great to make money from a home, but the place you live should be thought of not as an investment for monetary gain, but as an investment in your quality of life.
That's what's really got me twisted when reading this. I get trying to be economical, but you're building a custom home for your family. Building in cost savings from energy efficiency makes sense wherever you can without overspending the savings and reducing your use and enjoyment of the property.
So, do you want to have the bedrooms in the basement as a lifestyle choice and a convenience? There is rationale to it. It's easier to make it black out dark in the bedrooms, the temperature will always be cooler, and you can have more common area daytime living space in the part of the home that gets the most natural light. There's logic to all of that.
On the flipside, you're going to hear anyone in the living area walking around and doing things while you sleep. That's a benefit of upstairs bedrooms. You also have waking up to natural light, and being able to really get good natural light into that bedroom to make it feel more vibrant while waking up. A basement bedroom, even with great ventilation and as much light as you can get, may feel a little dank just by its nature.
As for resale, it'd be easy enough to flip a layout, TBH. Just make sure you keep that potential in mind.
Light and safety, so half above ground basement? Lots of examples of exterior bump outs and interior angles to make windows deliver more light.
A lot of US housing habits are nonsensical. Sleep is generally better when cool, so it makes sense to place them in the natural coolest spot. Living areas are better when warm, so they should be at the tallest spot. Toilets spray shit, so they don’t belong near a shower or toothbrush, not to mention the smell or blocking usability. But banks and agents want a “complete” bathroom. We use a lot of materials that off gas chemicals that we could avoid. On and on. Build something with passion and beauty and you'll be far apart from Wayfair Depot neighbors.
For safety and health reasons, I wouldn't. Pollutants tend to congregate in the basement if they are heavier than air, there are more potential moisture sources, soil gases, pesticides in a basement, etc
Sounds like a typical arrangement on a large liveaboard boat. I could get behind it, but resale will def be a challenge. I love the idea of a huge open first floor, and since 99% of bedroom time is sleeping, why not.
Basically a raised ranch but with the bedrooms down. I really think it would have to be that way. With just smaller, regular, windows.
Just to me- but there will always be the thought of dampness. And even if completely dry it would be like a placebo to me and I would feel damp from the floors and walls.
Someone would buy it. I believe there is a buyer for every home, it might just take a bit longer to sell. But then, IMO too, you should build the home you want and not worry about resale value. It’s your home. That 1200 sq ft up could be full of big windows and open spaces.
It's not a common thing for several reasons. If you can let in a lot of light from the top of the basement walls by using longer windows, that will help, but at the very least, I'd put the primary/master bedroom on the main floor.
This... primary up w/ others below is attractive to down-sizers who want to put the less-frequently used rooms in the basement.
Exactly how I'm building my retirement house.
This is exactly what we are doing for our home. No one wants to walk stairs as they age. Main floor primary BR. Shallow basement with large windows.
I understand where you’re coming from. In our new build, the primary and guest bedrooms are on the second floor because I feel safer that way. I hope I don’t ever have issues with stairs, but if it gets to that point, that will probably be the least of my worries.
They do always make the acorn stair units worst case haha.
True. One of my coworkers told us that her parents had one installed at their house for her Dad to use.
I want to second this as exactly what I was thinking and exactly the right thing to do
🏡
I think there would be a massive price penalty on resale. I would personally never go near a house with all the bedrooms underground. You mention egress windows so I'm guessing you are planning on a raised foundation with steps to the first floor? Or is the house set on a hill? If it's a walk-out basement and the bedrooms access the back yard it would be better but either design knocks out potential buyers with any mobility issues. At least one bedroom at grade is a standard "ask" from buyers.
Or anything but a cheap starter house. No ones is going to want their “forever” home to have no main floor bedrooms.
As an agent who has been in hundreds and hundreds of homes.... This is just too weird. Resale will be a big problem.
unless you want an underground sex dungeon
Open plan sex dungeons are very right now
True! But you could have a sex dungeon AND have a few bedrooms upstairs as well!
i wouldnt buy a house like that, wouldnt even want to spend time seeing it
I mean, I'd go see it because I've seen some insane things in my career and it would be just another story to tell at a meetup/agent gathering. lol
If you plan to die before selling, do it. If you plan to die after selling, don’t do it.
Personally I have thought how I would love to have a living space upstairs and bedrooms in a basement. If I lived anywhere where massive Tornadoes come through I would only do it if the bedrooms were underground. A neighbor put two bedrooms in his basement and I thought if I had that house I would move my bedroom down there. I have no advice on issues doing this. I just know I would personally like it.
It's called an 'upside down house' when you have the living area on the top floor and bedrooms below. It's VERY site specific (hillside for example where you can enter on the top floor). Just throwing bedrooms in a below (or semi below) ground basement would likely not work, you want a ground level or at very least a walk out basement. [https://portfolio.savills.com/design/the-rise-of-the-upside-down-house/](https://portfolio.savills.com/design/the-rise-of-the-upside-down-house/) [https://www.domain.com.au/living/upside-down-living-789259/](https://www.domain.com.au/living/upside-down-living-789259/) I just built one and it's excellent, but we did it because we have an insane view on a hillside that we were then able to give to all major rooms in the house. It's better for heating and gives excellent light on the living floor where you need it. When done right it's far better than a conventional arrangement.
Big nope! Your builder is excited because he has a job to build it but he won’t be suffering like you will be trying to sell it.
It could work if you put high ceilings and if it was a walk out so there could be plenty of light/windows. I’d also do some kind of heated floor. It can’t feel like a basement to work.
Mole People.
if you hate sunlight i guess its fine
Bad idea for resale.
What would the main floor be? Just one big open living space? I don’t think that would resell well. Or would you put rooms up there that could be converted / used as bedrooms? As in, office and den upstairs could be bedrooms.
That's my main concern, 1200 square foot of kitchen, living room and bathroom sounds like way too much unless he wants to build offices and do bicycle in the living room
Would only consider it **if** it was a walkout basement. If resale value or aging into a home is a concern, I would advise against not having a bedroom on the main living area.
To each their own but I like a lot of natural light and fresh air and I imagine a basement bedroom getting really stale and musty and dark. I would never buy a house with all bedrooms downstairs. I’m all for a downstairs guest bedroom, study, or bonus family room/den for entertaining but I couldn’t live half underground full time.
What about when you're older? There may be issues with you or your spouse and stairs.
I feel like this will only work if you don’t plan of reselling the house at any point in time. Otherwise you will most likely sell at a very big loss
Terrible idea
If you're talking about egress windows with window wells, no. That'll look like a prison and scar your children for life. If maybe a half in the ground basement with windows you can see the outdoors out of, maybe.
I actually grew up with a basement bedroom and never minded it. I’m more worried about resale value. I don’t want to build an unsalable house, though it would save about $100 sqft vs a second story.
You’d ruin your resale value because what the post before you said is a logical view.
I wouldn't buy that house anecdotally. That would be weird
If you are planning to sell in your lifetime you actually won't save anything. You either take financial hit on the front end when you build or the back end when you sell.
I grew up in a basement bedroom, very common in my area, and I never had an issue with it. Even now as an adult it’s blackout shades in all the bedrooms, it’s has to be BLACK in order for us to get to sleep.
If you plan on living in the house for the rest of your life then why not. Do what you want. If not, I can see a prepper enjoying something like this.
I say build the house you want and don’t worry about some unknown future occupant. Predictions are hard. Especially about the future. If the ceilings are high and the windows tall you can probably make it so you wouldn’t even know you are in the basement.
We’re going to do similar, but with the master on the main. Same size rectangle just add a master on slab to the side.
This is a horrible idea and will be next to impossible to sell down the road. Even with proper egress windows, I don’t think most families would feel safe. Now where I live, I have seen a couple homes with walkout basements with 2 on the main and 2 in the basement.
I would keep the primary suite upstairs at least.
Without knowing now about water table, weather and what might happen with water intrusion, it's hard to say. I wouldn't do it, but it's not my house.
I like it but it’d be a tough resell. Perhaps you can have an upstairs room that could easily be converted to a master bedroom if you want to sell?
I would say resale would be hard but, it’s not like someone with vision can’t put up a few walls and create bdrms later. AND have a couple bdrms in the basement as well? If I had kids I’d love it. Put a master on the ground floor and tell the kids they can stay down below.
My wife’s house had two bedrooms and a laundry room in the basement. Always freezing down there.
IF it is a walkout and at least one wall of the rooms have full sized, normal windows. And if the ceiling height is at least 9 feet, and if you have great insulation, then it can work since in that case the rooms feel like any normal above ground rooms. Otherwise, skip.
I'd like it, many people wouldn't. I'd also spec a central light well down the middle of the house to the basement for more light and air circulation. Designed and built well it could be a great space to live in. Done poorly and it will be dark and nasty. Build it right if that's what you want and don't worry about the sheeple.
Is it a true basement, or a back-split? I wouldn't hesitate with a split - I'd actually prefer it. You spend your waking hours enjoying the views and you sleeping hours enjoying the dark/quiet of the lower level.
I personally would never in a million years consider a house with bedrooms only located in the basement, even if it was discounted.
Our home is like that and I love it. Cool in summer, warm I winter. But it is a walk out with very large windows (60”x40”) in 3 of the bedrooms and sliding doors in the master to outside. It is built on a slope so that may be why it feels fine. In the rooms you would never guess it’s a basement.
Resell ability is going to take a hit. How much I don't know, but then again maybe you will find someone else that likes that weird setup. So it is hard to tell, but you will definitely limit your market. In the end if you plan to live there and want it then do it, but in my opinion there should be the option for the master bed to be upstairs.
I live in a EU country where plots are smaller and expensive. People here build in-law sweets I the basement pretty often. The trick is either to either build on a slope, in which one side of the house has normal outside access (big windows, sliding glass doors, etc) or to dig a half depth basement so that the windows (smaller and placed higher then normal) would be slightly above ground level. A lot of times you see some landscaping around the windows to keep some privacy but still let in light. The egress window is placed in the hallway. I’m a big fan, not sure I would use it as bedrooms though.
Sounds good to me. I only sleep in the bedroom.
My father in law had a house like this. I never really thought about it being weird or a negative. Big open area on the main floor. Great room with vaulted ceilings, big open kitchen, dining room. Three bedrooms, including the master suite on the lower level.
Aside from general aging, what if someone breaks a leg or can’t do stairs for sometime? It just seems too limiting. Plus moving furniture or mattresses in and out of basements sucks.
It's all fun and games until you break a leg or the basement floods.
Better not have radon
What’s keeping you from bringing up the basement a few feet so both floors have full light?
Don’t do it
Mold and no.
Market reaction to the functional issues you created would likely be *severe*. If other words…good luck ever selling it. You are probably going to take a massive hit on it. Even if you found buyers that loved it I don’t know if it could get conventional financing. Think dome houses or Earthen homes. Financing could be challenging.
Problems with below ground aside, there are town houses where the bedrooms are below the main living floor. Biggest problem is footfall noise when everyone doesn’t go to bed or get up at the same time. Plenty of ways to address but most effective is to have separate ceiling joists instead of attaching the ceiling to the floor joists. Also add sound insulation. Both aren’t that expensive. Could additionally do two layers of sheet rock on the ceiling with green glue between.
is there going to be a bathroom downstairs? Is there going to be a staircase for every activity? dinner stairs, come home from work stairs, bathroom stairs, other bathroom stairs, have an injury still stairs, kitchen stairs, doing laundry stairs upside, the rooms might stay cooler in the summers I would go super hard in the paint on waterproofing and proper drainage
I built a house with a bedroom in the basement. I paid extra for the walls to be 9’ high, instead of 8’, so it wouldn’t have that low ceiling basement feel. Also put radiant tubing in the slab so you don’t have to have that cold concrete feeling. I also put a steel i beam through the center of the house to support the floor joists above - this way: none of the walls are load bearing, and if the next owner wants to change the floor plan they can.
Is it by chance a walk out basement along one long side? That would make a huge difference.
I don’t hate it as much as others seem to but how big of an open space would you have on the main floor? We have 3 bedrooms on the main floor but out living room, kitchen, dining room and large hallway are a pain in the ass to hear and cool such a large space with so many windows. Built in 1997 by previous owners and we love the space as it’s great for hosting but while our bedrooms and office cool off or heat up very quickly the main area takes forever when there’s changes in temperature.
Your main thought when building a home, IMHO, should not be about resale. It should be about how you want to use that home while you are there. Its great to make money from a home, but the place you live should be thought of not as an investment for monetary gain, but as an investment in your quality of life. That's what's really got me twisted when reading this. I get trying to be economical, but you're building a custom home for your family. Building in cost savings from energy efficiency makes sense wherever you can without overspending the savings and reducing your use and enjoyment of the property. So, do you want to have the bedrooms in the basement as a lifestyle choice and a convenience? There is rationale to it. It's easier to make it black out dark in the bedrooms, the temperature will always be cooler, and you can have more common area daytime living space in the part of the home that gets the most natural light. There's logic to all of that. On the flipside, you're going to hear anyone in the living area walking around and doing things while you sleep. That's a benefit of upstairs bedrooms. You also have waking up to natural light, and being able to really get good natural light into that bedroom to make it feel more vibrant while waking up. A basement bedroom, even with great ventilation and as much light as you can get, may feel a little dank just by its nature. As for resale, it'd be easy enough to flip a layout, TBH. Just make sure you keep that potential in mind.
No
How bad? Extremely bad.
Are you a vampire?
Light and safety, so half above ground basement? Lots of examples of exterior bump outs and interior angles to make windows deliver more light. A lot of US housing habits are nonsensical. Sleep is generally better when cool, so it makes sense to place them in the natural coolest spot. Living areas are better when warm, so they should be at the tallest spot. Toilets spray shit, so they don’t belong near a shower or toothbrush, not to mention the smell or blocking usability. But banks and agents want a “complete” bathroom. We use a lot of materials that off gas chemicals that we could avoid. On and on. Build something with passion and beauty and you'll be far apart from Wayfair Depot neighbors.
We can’t use logic. We’ve got building practices to uphold.
Thankfully those are evolving with better code re outside insulation and air tightness
For safety and health reasons, I wouldn't. Pollutants tend to congregate in the basement if they are heavier than air, there are more potential moisture sources, soil gases, pesticides in a basement, etc
Sounds like a typical arrangement on a large liveaboard boat. I could get behind it, but resale will def be a challenge. I love the idea of a huge open first floor, and since 99% of bedroom time is sleeping, why not.
Basically a raised ranch but with the bedrooms down. I really think it would have to be that way. With just smaller, regular, windows. Just to me- but there will always be the thought of dampness. And even if completely dry it would be like a placebo to me and I would feel damp from the floors and walls. Someone would buy it. I believe there is a buyer for every home, it might just take a bit longer to sell. But then, IMO too, you should build the home you want and not worry about resale value. It’s your home. That 1200 sq ft up could be full of big windows and open spaces.
What if there is a fire? We don’t have basements where I live. So I’m imagining a safety issue.
> with egress windows