Dumbest Townhome Floorplan Ever

[lcc179]

I know alot of people on this board dislike the 3 story townhomes (I personally like them), but this one takes it to a whole nother level:

http://www.urbanliving.com/developments_de...=FLOORPLANS#mid

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I understand that they put the living area on the 3rd floor to have higher ceilings, but this has got to be the least practical design I've ever seen in a townhouse. When guests come over, they have to go up 2 flights of stairs past the bedrooms just to get to the living area? And the deck is off the hallway stairs?

Seriously, what were these guys thinking?

[kylejack]

I live in one right now where there is 1 painfully small BR on the first floor by the garage, living area on second floor, and 2 bedrooms on the top floor. I understand that they don't want to put a bedroom on the first floor, but this is a painfully stupid idea. I guess the other benefit they're after is a higher view from the living area, but still.

[rbarz]

I know alot of people on this board dislike the 3 story townhomes (I personally like them), but this one takes it to a whole nother level:

http://www.urbanliving.com/developments_de...=FLOORPLANS#mid

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I understand that they put the living area on the 3rd floor to have higher ceilings, but this has got to be the least practical design I've ever seen in a townhouse. When guests come over, they have to go up 2 flights of stairs past the bedrooms just to get to the living area? And the deck is off the hallway stairs?

Seriously, what were these guys thinking?

Not everyone likes to entertain so I could see this appealing to some people. Plus the view might only be from the third floor and I think a view is wasted more from the bedrooms than the living room and kitchen.

I hope they installed a dumb waiter to get your groceries up to the third floor!

I always thought it was crazy to have the master on the third floor... what happens when you do things like forget your keys? Jog up two flights and come back down... of course I am in the group that doesn't like the three floor townhouses. These look horribly ugly and I couldn't imagine them selling, but I am surprised all of the time!

Edited May 8, 2009 by rbarz

[TheNiche]

I know alot of people on this board dislike the 3 story townhomes (I personally like them), but this one takes it to a whole nother level:

http://www.urbanliving.com/developments_de...=FLOORPLANS#mid

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I understand that they put the living area on the 3rd floor to have higher ceilings, but this has got to be the least practical design I've ever seen in a townhouse. When guests come over, they have to go up 2 flights of stairs past the bedrooms just to get to the living area? And the deck is off the hallway stairs?

Seriously, what were these guys thinking?

I have a design sketched out for a dream townhome, cylindrical in shape, with the walls cast using a slip-form concrete pouring process, and with a glass-paneled geodesic dome on top, which encloses the completely open fourth-floor living room over a third-floor kitchen/den/office combo. Bedrooms are relegated to the second floor. A hydraulic elevator makes it workable. I already have a site selected--it will overlook the Houston Ship Channel from Magnolia Park.

I'm gonna need a lot of cash, though. Financing this thing with very much debt at all would be impossible.

[Houston19514]

Not everyone likes to entertain so I could see this appealing to some people. Plus the view might only be from the third floor and I think a view is wasted more from the bedrooms than the living room and kitchen.

I hope they installed a dumb waiter to get your groceries up to the third floor!

I always thought it was crazy to have the master on the third floor... what happens when you do things like forget your keys? Jog up two flights and come back down... of course I am in the group that doesn't like the three floor townhouses. These look horribly ugly and I couldn't imagine them selling, but I am surprised all of the time!

There is a dumb waiter shown on the plans.

[jgriff]

I have a design sketched out for a dream townhome, cylindrical in shape, with the walls cast using a slip-form concrete pouring process, and with a glass-paneled geodesic dome on top, which encloses the completely open fourth-floor living room over a third-floor kitchen/den/office combo. Bedrooms are relegated to the second floor. A hydraulic elevator makes it workable. I already have a site selected--it will overlook the Houston Ship Channel from Magnolia Park.

I'm gonna need a lot of cash, though. Financing this thing with very much debt at all would be impossible.

I think we're all hoping the "Nichelair" will happen someday.

[Highway6]

I think we're all hoping the "Nichelair" will happen someday.

This would be NicheLair II actually.. He has others already planned for elsewhere around the city. What his diabolical plan is, we can only speculate at this time.

[HtownWxBoy]

I know alot of people on this board dislike the 3 story townhomes (I personally like them), but this one takes it to a whole nother level:

http://www.urbanliving.com/developments_de...=FLOORPLANS#mid

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I understand that they put the living area on the 3rd floor to have higher ceilings, but this has got to be the least practical design I've ever seen in a townhouse. When guests come over, they have to go up 2 flights of stairs past the bedrooms just to get to the living area? And the deck is off the hallway stairs?

Seriously, what were these guys thinking?

I am currently selling my 3 story townhome... should close end of this month... I personally loved having 3 stories as opposed to 2. I didn't want the living quarters or bedrooms on the first floor... just the garage and office there (where my bf worked from)... and I like that the bedrooms are on a separate floor from the living room / kitchen area.

As for the floorplan above... it does seem very weird... the only thing I can think of is they wanted to have the living quarters on the top floor for better views.

[HarrisCountyEx]

And the dumb waiter comes up to the third floor storage - then you have to go through the powder room then living room to get to the kitchen! "Honey, before you use that restroom, could you bring the groceries to the kitchen?". Awkward.

[IronTiger]

Hmmm...my uncle lived in a townhome in NJ for a few years...you entered from the third level, and in the third level, there was a kitchen, living room, dining room. This looked into the second level, which was kind of an open office area, and then the first level, which were bedrooms and bathrooms. I kind of liked it...except the stairs were kind of less-than-half a level, so they were kind of like mezzanine levels.

[texas911]

At least they're trying something different.

[Highway6]

At least they're trying something different.

Difference for difference's sake doesn't equal good or smart.

[Jrnavid]

Difference for difference's sake doesn't equal good or smart.

well, you have to think very carefully about the people that are going to use the building and living quarters your going to design and think of the impact it's going to have on those inhabitants. How will they be impacted? I, personally, would never design something like this, because its uncomfortable both to the residents and to their guests. Those are too many stairs to climb. The floors are in the wrong places, so you are correct, different isn't always good, mostly it is though, not in this case.

[Arivechi]

I know alot of people on this board dislike the 3 story townhomes (I personally like them), but this one takes it to a whole nother level:

http://www.urbanliving.com/developments_de...=FLOORPLANS#mid

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I understand that they put the living area on the 3rd floor to have higher ceilings, but this has got to be the least practical design I've ever seen in a townhouse. When guests come over, they have to go up 2 flights of stairs past the bedrooms just to get to the living area? And the deck is off the hallway stairs?

Seriously, what were these guys thinking?

Right, regardless of whether I would want to live here, I could have friends that might buy one and I'd be sure to wear my hiking boots to get to the top. Or I'll stop for a rest at the 2nd floor deck :-)

Dumb waiter is a great idea yes. --- but lame placement in the upstairs powder room. If they switched the kitchen to the powder room location (yes, changing a couple walls) it might make more sense. Then the dumb waiter would be far more convenient possibly put adjacent to a pantry. Fireplace can be moved to accommodate this, too. Actually I hate where the fireplace is currently placed... I mean you can put a couple chairs in front of it but it's certainly not a focal point since it's right next to the kitchen. Why not over on one of the living room walls?

The existing kitchen's "triangle" looks a bit big.

I think the deck on the 2nd level is fine since it's adjacent to the master bedroom... but why no additional deck on the 3rd level? Put a big deck off the dining room! That would make for a selling point if indeed the design was to take advantage of some amazing view or have high 3rd level ceilings for entertaining. (after looking at the pictures and satellite view of the map I'm not sure that the 3rd floor has any better views than the 2nd floor since there's some other big building and parking lot to the southeast).

I'm also curious why they'd label the 3rd level bathroom as "powder room" when it has a shower... call it a bathroom! To me it would seem like a big selling point. Powder room to me conjures "half-bath".

All the built-in shelves and desks and cabinets are a nice touch.

[IronTiger]

I'm also curious why they'd label the 3rd level bathroom as "powder room" when it has a shower... call it a bathroom! To me it would seem like a big selling point. Powder room to me conjures "half-bath".

I'm pretty sure that the powder room IS a half-bath and the term is just a fancy way of saying it (sort of like "water feature" or whatever)