Anyone live in a town house? Advantages and disadvantages

[sanityforlunch]

I am starting to look at houses with a view to buying a new property for me and my two dc. I had never considered a town house before but have been to see a couple, all different layouts.

A couple have the living room and kitchen on the Middle floor. It feels odd to me. How does that work? Some of them had a bedroom/study area on the ground floor. Would that ever get used?

Others had the biggest bedroom on the top floor. Would I go in there or my eldest aged 12? I don't like the thought of me being on the second floor and not knowing what was going on on the ground floor.

I am also thinking of privacy as the dc get older. My 12 year old likes to do his own thing a lot of the time these days eg play on the iPad, chill out in his room. So it could work quite well if he had a big room with ensuite to himself as he becomes a teenager.

How do they work as a family home in practice?

Thanks for all your replies. That's really useful.

I would definitely consider one as I think you get a lot of space for your money but still worried about underuse of the garden which would be a shame as I am a sun worshipper. Also as a pp said, the gardens can be small.

Will also ensure living room and kitchen are on the same floor.

I grew up in one. 4 storeys - 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in the basement, one bedroom with French windows to little patio garden; kitchen diner and toilet on ground floor; living room and study/bedroom on 1st floor; master bedroom and bathroom on top floor. At one point my parents let out the basement (put small kitchen in smaller bedroom).
Downsides - lots of stairs! DM was always running around with a child needing the loo - we didn't have a loo on every floor (and there were 4 children).

We slept all throughout the house. Children's bedrooms were in the basement,master bedroom 3 floors above! In the days before baby monitors.

The small room next to the living room was useless as a child's bedroom because of evening noise from adults/TV in living room.

When I was younger my parents had their loft converted into a room (so not the same as a townhouse but still three floors). They decided that the loft conversion would be their bedroom so that when we got older and were coming home at silly times in the morning, they wouldn't be too disturbed. my db still lives at home and works unsociable hours (and is out partying at unsociable hours when he's not working) so it was definitely the right decision!

As everyone says, it depends on the layout. When we moved in to our townhouse there was a garage and utility on the ground floor, open plan kitchen and sitting room on the first floor, and three bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor. We didn't like this at all, as the ground floor was essentially dead space. It was also a pain having the garden and living areas on different floors and as a consequence it was hardly used.

Anyway, we decided to convert the garage/utility into a large kitchen/diner that opens out onto the garden. That works really well as we can hang out there while the kids play outside, and we now have a really spacious first floor sitting room. I also like that the bedrooms are well away from any kitchen noise/smells.

As for townhouses not being suitable for small kids, we have toddlers, as do many of our neighbours, and it hasn't been a problem.