For most people when we think of a house, we think of coming in through the front door to a suite of rooms including the main living space and kitchen and then going upstairs to the bedrooms. But does this always have to be the case? There is a growing trend for ‘upside-down’ houses, where the bedrooms are on the ground floor and the living accommodation is on the upper floors. Upside-down houses are generally thought to originate in Scandinavia, with the trend also being popular in Australia.  So is this a design choice that you should be considering when planning your new home?

So what are the pros and cons of living in an upside-down house?

Pros of upside-down houses

• This can be site specific, but many people choose to build upside-down houses because there are amazing views from the upper floors which would not be visible from the ground floor. In these cases there may be an argument for being able to wake up to a wonderful view in the morning, however for the majority of time we spend in our bedrooms we are fast asleep, so these views would be wasted.
• Having the bedrooms on the ground floor means that it is easy to keep them cooler and darker, as lower floors are easier to shade. One very attractive method of doing this is to install a veranda around the first floor which increases your living space and also casts shade on the floors below.

Cons of upside-down houses

• Privacy – for many people the thought of having their bedrooms downstairs is off-putting because of the privacy issues, especially if your house is in an urban location where you are likely to get more passers-by peering into your bedroom windows. Although of course, you could just install blinds etc.
• Increased cost of installing utilities – in some cases these can be higher as you have to install a greater number of these on upper floors which can lead to increased costs.
• Another downside of upside-down houses is that it can have an impact if you wish to achieve seamless inside/outside living. Whereas if your living space is on the ground floor you can easily move between this and your outside space, separating these by a floor can put a sizeable barrier in the way.

For more information about designing your perfect home, contact the experts at Wisecraft Ltd today.