danemodsandy
Well-known member
Lawrence:
When I was growing up in Atlanta, the only houses built with "basements" were houses on sloping lots, creating a house one story high in front, and two in back, yielding what was called a "walk-out basement." Even then, the little "utility" room was still often present on the carport - my aunt's 1960s house in Fayetteville has this arrangement. The washer/dryer connections are still present in the utility room, but at some point, a second set of connections was added in the basement, where the washer and dryer are now.
You're absolutely right about basement stairs eating huge amounts of real estate in a house's floor plan. I now live in Iowa, where nearly every house has a basement, and the repercussions are serious indeed. The space for the basement stairs is almost always taken from the kitchen, and I have seen many a midcentury house here with insufficient room for dining as a result. My own little house's kitchen (and I do mean little house - one bedroom, and only 480 square feet), can accept a dining table no larger than 30 inches square, and no more than two chairs. My house is exceptionally small, true, but I know of two-bedroom houses that can't seat more than three in their eat-in kitchens.
I am hoping to find a basement-less house at some point - I'm getting old enough so that stairs' wear and tear on my knees is a problem, and I'm not really a fan of carting washing up and down either.
When I was growing up in Atlanta, the only houses built with "basements" were houses on sloping lots, creating a house one story high in front, and two in back, yielding what was called a "walk-out basement." Even then, the little "utility" room was still often present on the carport - my aunt's 1960s house in Fayetteville has this arrangement. The washer/dryer connections are still present in the utility room, but at some point, a second set of connections was added in the basement, where the washer and dryer are now.
You're absolutely right about basement stairs eating huge amounts of real estate in a house's floor plan. I now live in Iowa, where nearly every house has a basement, and the repercussions are serious indeed. The space for the basement stairs is almost always taken from the kitchen, and I have seen many a midcentury house here with insufficient room for dining as a result. My own little house's kitchen (and I do mean little house - one bedroom, and only 480 square feet), can accept a dining table no larger than 30 inches square, and no more than two chairs. My house is exceptionally small, true, but I know of two-bedroom houses that can't seat more than three in their eat-in kitchens.
I am hoping to find a basement-less house at some point - I'm getting old enough so that stairs' wear and tear on my knees is a problem, and I'm not really a fan of carting washing up and down either.
