I have built a number of different types of homes and throughout the years have lived in and had friends and family with different types of homes so lets go over the basic types of homes you might want to live in and look at their good and bad points.
Whether you are buying an established home or building one on your own land many people draw from their personal experiences when selecting a style that meets their needs. Now there are all types of designs but what it really comes down to are three basic styles. Single Level, Split Level and Two or even Three Story Homes. Each of them have their own advantages and it is very important that you consider how late into your older years that you will be living there.
Single Level Homes
Many people live in single level homes and they can come with or without a basement or crawlspace. The main advantage of this style of home is that all of the rooms are on the same level. This is especially true for homes built on a slab or crawlspace. With all of the rooms on one level it is very easy to take care of the home and like mentioned when you get older you won’t need to climb steep stairs to get to your bedroom. Another advantage of single story homes is that they are very easy to build so if you are a homesteader you won’t have to consider how you will lift your trusses or lumber up to a second level. Additionally you probably won’t have to hire anyone to help with the building of your home so that cost is much less. Roofing is also a consideration on all of the homes but it can get much more dangerous to climb onto a two story roof to do repairs than a single story home.
Split Level Homes
Split level homes are a compromise between single and two story homes. They bring a lot of advantages in their ability to segment off areas of your home for different use and also their staircases are only half the height of conventional two story homes. Normally a Split Level home is built into the side of a hill and the floors of the home are divided down the center of the front face of the home. On the Left Side the basement is under ground and a single story built above it for the kitchen and living room. To the right side of the house a half level up would be the garage and an entertainment room for visiting guests. Above that area a single story is built for the bedroom areas. What you end up with is a three story home with an additional basement but the levels are only half the size of the full footprint of the home.
There are many advantages to this type of home. First is that they fit very well in areas with hills. It makes the building of the foundation much easier and the building of the home easier. Above the ground only half of the home is two stories high so caring for the home is normally easier. They are great to entertain a number of different guests especially if your children have different friends they can find their way to different levels of the home and not bother each other.
The disadvantage to this type of home is that the final roof height is still rather high and can be difficult to manage and repair. Additionally you are going to have problems repairing and running HVAC and other services throughout the home because the ceilings on the above ground levels are normally drywall.
And although the stair heights are not as high they can still be an impediment for disabled or older adults.
Two Story Homes
A Two or Three Story home is just that its a home where the first floor of the home covers the entire footprint or outline of the home and the second or third story is built directly on top and matches the entire footprint of the home. There are some homes where the attic space has been built to provide a second story and normally knee walls about half the height of the room then transition into the angular ceiling of the roof. I strongly suggest against buying or building a home with this type of ceiling because they are always difficult to live in. I just don’t consider that living space if you can’t walk standing to the outside edge of the room without hitting your head. However for conventional two story homes you are normally building bedrooms, bathrooms and possibly office space above the first level and the primary advantage is that you double your living area without doubling your foundation or footprint of the home. On smaller plots of land this is a good consideration especially for a growing family. Additionally since the sleeping area is on the second floor it does give you some slight advantage in privacy and security. Entertaining is done on the primary level of the home and your personal life is shielded from visitors for the most part.
One of the drawbacks is heating and cooling of your home. Normally first floor HVAC Ducts will be placed in a basement or crawlspace but on the second floor of the home you run into the problem of drywall in ceilings and joists that don’t allow the duct work to be easily run. This means that often those ducts are forced up into the attic space of the home and this is really not a great idea. Heating and cooling should never be run outside of the normal insulated living space. The exception is a half height crawlspace home where the perimeter is enclosed and insulated. Although those areas aren’t normally heated they are also not exposed to extreme temperature shifts and your ducts running through hot or cool areas will not only have an effect on your comfort but also in the efficiency of the system and the requirement that the system be built much larger than a single story home with the same square foot of living space. Even worse some contractors will put HVAC systems in Attic Space because it is easier for them to install ducts and have air circulated. I strongly suggest you never buy a home with the Furnace or AC system placed in the attic. It is just very bad practice to do that for many reasons even if it is due to retrofitting a very old home.
Basement Considerations
Having a Basement in your home is a very serious consideration. The cost of a home built with a full basement can be 20% higher but the advantage is often paid back in the overall comfort you will have from a full or half basement home. The first thing is that all of your utilities can be located in your basement including your water and sewer service, Electrical, Data/Telecommunications and HVAC systems. Although they will run up into other rooms on the first or second floor running the services to those rooms is much easier.
Additionally basement space is a good area for kids play rooms and for entertaining. Yes your living room and dining room will do the bulk of your living but having a basement in the summer will reduce the amount of air conditioning you need to provide a cool place to stay. If you live in a northern climate then your basement might also be one of the warmest areas in your home during winter.
Storage is also another consideration. While you might have smaller areas in your attic able to store some of your things you might want to set aside space in your basement for storage of larger items or even a large pantry.
If you want to run wires for your Antenna, Cable, Data Connections it is very easy to run one wire to the basement and then come up through the first floor walls where ever an outlet is needed. This is especially true for single story homes. Consolidating all of your utilities in one area makes life much easier. Having to do this in your living area space on the first or second floor of your home can be intrusive and take out an important closet. Placing this equipment in the attic is not a consideration because heat will destroy the electronics over time.
Final Note
These are some of the considerations you should take into account when buying or building a home. I would strongly suggest that you talk with older relatives and neighbors and ask them to be open about what problems they may have had over the years and what ones they are facing now in their older years. You will often see older adults that are forced to sell and downsize their home after living in their community for many years just because it becomes too difficult to care for or live in.
Also you have to consider the function of your home and why you might consider one style over another. I see a lot of young homesteaders building two story homes and they have very large lots. The expense is so much higher and they are putting themselves into a bad situation in their older years. I have even seen them build on slabs instead of excavating for a basement which can easily be used for storing food where whole rooms or sections can be easily enclosed and insulated and a simple mini split used to cool that area even for meat storage let alone other things. Then the worst part is they build themselves a really bad root cellar that is far from the home which makes no sense at all.
You must consider everything when buying or building a home and not just for immediate reasons but for the rest of your life if you want to stay in your home late into your older years.