Thoughts about three story townhouses?

[Pepperwand]

Our estate agent encouraged us to view a house that we'd initially discounted because it's on three floors. Kitchen, living room and a WC on ground floor, three bedrooms (one ensuite) and family bathroom on middle floor then master bedroom with ensuite on top floor.

We have two young DC and the thought of their bedrooms being on a different floor to us have always put me off plus I think townhouses can feel a bit top heavy where the living space doesn't match up with the bedroom space.

Surprisingly though both DH and I really liked it. We wouldn't need to do any work, the garden is particularly good and the master is like a hotel suite. Bedrooms are all very good sizes but it's not ideal one being ensuite that isn't the master.

Does anyone live in a townhouse or have any thoughts? I can't decide whether I'm letting preconceptions get in the way of a great house or whether it would drive me mad running up and down stairs all the time!

I live in one the same as you discribed. Only pain is when you need something on the top floor. We also only have dormer windows and a small gable window up there so no view.

Interesting thread, we’re looking at town house for our next move, ours is more about location though and it’s a town house or an apartment(5 min walk from beach). Layout we want is the living/kitchen on first floor, ground floor will be perfect for young adult DS, as he’ll have use of bedroom & bedroom /study - thinking of putting tea making and microwave in ground floor utility for him, we’ll have the 2nd floor and we can meet in the middle, thinking he won’t disturb us when he comes in at silly o’clock. I guess the different layouts appeal to different ages of children and whilst I’d like him to get his own place he could be with us for a while to come and we’d have a semi separate living arrangement like this.

At the moment you have all the bedrooms you need on the first floor, so you could use the second floor room as a guest room and/or study, so it might be a good choice. But do you plan to have more children?

You could keep the middle floor with en suite as a guest room while dc are little and wait for them to fight over that room when they are older! Or use it as a study or quiet room now. You presumably will not have the biggest lounge and kitchen because many of these houses are more spacious with the bedroom m2 for obvious reasons. Using a bedroom for something else other than a guest room makes sense if you need more space for living. We have an upside down town house as our holiday home and I have a bedroom as a tv room/reading room. It has great views and it’s lovely. Better than just sleeping in it!

Used to live in one.
Large lounge/diner kitchen loo and utility on ground
Lounge dining room and bedroom family bathroom on middle
Master suite shower room and third bedroom on top.
Children were on top floor with us.
So maybe that made a difference-not sure I would have liked them on separate floor .
Loved the house we lived on ground floor mainly.
Could cook clean and be with the children.
Easy to bring pram into utility no mess in living areas.
Middle floor adult space no toys etc.
Was as fit as a flea could fly up and down the stairs.
It was a bigger house than we expected to be able to afford possibly because at the time late 90s wasn't as popular a lay out as now in new builds.
Moved to a different city and often think fondly of the house.
Easy to heat too.

Sorry, maybe I need to learn the definition of a townhouse. This is the floorplan.

I lived in two growing up.

The first had the front door, back door, hallway, downstairs toilet and a bedroom on the ground floor, living room and kitchen in the middle and two massive bedrooms and a bathroom on the top. I was the eldest, so I had the ground floor bedroom. Right next to the back door. Probably would have been awesome as a teen for stealth nocturnal adventures. Didn't love it so much aged 9. It was scary and cold being near the back door.

The second one I lived in age 11 to 19. Kitchen and toilet on the ground. Bedroom and living room in the middle, 2 bedrooms and bathroom on the top. My mum slept on the middle floor. It worked well. My brother and I grew up having our own space at the top of the house as my mum would use the downstairs toilet, including to brush her teeth, so literally only came upstairs to bathe. My brother and I were at opposite ends of a hallway too and we lived on the end so we only shared one wall, and they were solid and soundproof.

The houses I grew up in wouldn't suit us as a family now as they are traditional townhouses with the living space on the middle floor, but the one you describe sounds great! I love a floorplan, thanks for posting! It's more a traditional house that's been extended upwards.

We are planning to renovate our current Edwardian terrace and will end up with a similar layout with two double bedrooms and large bathroom in the middle for the DC and DH and I are going into the loft extension.