We are desperately trying to move and there is very little on the market. We have quite specific needs and viewed a house today that ticks a lot of boxes: big garden, enough bedrooms for an office (I wfh) and a guest room (we’re overseas and when family come they stay for weeks at a time), perfect location.
BUT the house is tall and narrow: four floors, two small rooms per floor, so there are a lot of stairs. it’s a totally different layout and feel to what we’re used to (big open plan flat) and the stairs especially (not in the advert, so I wasn’t expecting them to look like that) have thrown me - they felt rather treacherous, but I’m wondering if they could be made safer. DS is a toddler (almost two) so I feel a bit stressed at the thought of him going up and down, though obviously he won’t stay a toddler forever.
The individual steps are marble with a protruding lip. The staircases are narrow, enclosed and steep and the individual steps are very tall and deep. I’m wondering if there is some kind of runner that could make them safer and softer? The staircase is central with a room on each side. Instead of the landing going straight across you step down into the stairwell from each side (this may be the norm when staircases are central, I can only think of one house I know where that’s the case). So even between the two rooms on the same floor you have to step down then up again to move between them and we’d have to use stair gates. DS currently sleeps with us but I’m worried about how that would work once he’s in his own room, even if we picked two bedrooms on the same floor.
Is this just all too much hassle or is it something you can get used to? For our budget and the area we want we will have to compromise on something (or several things) and having a tall thin house gives us a lot more space for our money, so it seems a little crazy to be put off by the stairs. Any advice or experience to share?