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I'm not crazy about them...something about entry ways make a house seem inviting to me. Split levels lack character, imo.

I have a really strong aversion to them...one of my only absolute, set in stone requirements for our house was that it not be a split level. Walking in the front door and having to use the stairs just turns me off. It feels kind of like living in an apartment.

We are house hunting too, and I am not looking at spilt levels. Just not a fan and think resale would be to hard.

We did look at several split levels, if I liked the actual house enough I might consider it but in general I loathe and detest split levels for many, many reasons.

Generally they also seem like "cookie cutter" houses and I would hate to buy a home, then visit a friend and see that we have the same house.

I must not actively dislike them, because we bought one in April. They're not typical in our area, so it isn't cookie cutter, either, for our location. We were never told it was bad for resale, and our realtor steered us away from plenty of other houses for that reason.

Ours is only an external split-level, if that makes sense -- the garage is on ground level, the front yard slopes up and you take steps from the driveway to the top of the grass, then 3-4 more steps to our front door. The interior is all one level and there are stairs leading down into the garage from our back family room.

I can't stand the raised ranch type of split level because I think the layout doesn't make sense. You have the kitchen, dining room, formal living room and then some bedrooms on one level. And on the other level more bedrooms and the family room. It just doesn't make sense to me. I'd prefer a normal ranch or traditional 2 story with bedrooms on a separate level.

@regberadaisy: is that called a tri level?

I do think they can seem a little dated, but I don't hate them. In fact, I'm sure they will have their day again as everything old becomes new again. For example, I remember looking at my grandmother's midcentury furnishings and thinking that look would never come back in style.

I never minded them, there are a LOT in my area. But my husband HATES them. He says he hates opening the front door to a set of stairs and think it feels crowded. I think most people that grow up in a area with a lot of splits just get used to it and don't mind it as much. He's from TX where there aren't really any split level so he's just not used to them.

I would say my favorite styles of home are Craftsman and Cape Cod, and my absolute least favorite is ranch-style, which I think are about as ugly and lifeless as it gets. Split-level homes are somewhere in between for me. They aren't common where we live now so I don't foresee us ever buying one. Right now we live in a townhome which shares some characteristics with split-level houses, though: the main floor is up a flight of stairs from the entry way, and the bedrooms are up more stairs from that. I LOVE that. The views from the living room and master bedroom are so enjoyable to stare out on, and the elevation gives a great added sense of privacy. I would be sad to look out our windows and see nothing but the street outside or the yard on ground level.

I do not like them. I guess for the most part, I feel they are a tad outdated, and i do not like the floor plan... I wouldn't say I hate them, but given the choice I would go for more of an open, contemporary floor plan.

I like them! Growing up everyone I knew was either in a cape or a colonial - lots of old houses here. But one of my best friends lived in a split level. I thought it was so cool to have the downstairs to ourselves with a separate (garage) entrance. I'd love to live in one now. DH works from home and the lower level could be his home office.

Not a fan in general but if that's all I could afford in a particular area I'd live with it since location is more important to me.

I'd be unlikely to look at one. I think it's just a dated and tacky style. I guess I'd consider it, but only if there was nothing else.

@shopaholic: I thought that was a bi-level. Isn't a split level the kind where you have 4 floors? My friend growing up had one where you walk in and LR, DR and kitchen were on the main level, upstairs was all the bedrooms, down a few steps was the family room and an office and then down some more steps was the basement (with the mechanical and laundry and stuff like that).

@mamabolt: our house is exactly the same!! Crazy!

I think it's not that the majority dislikes split levels rather a misconception of what a split level home truly is.
Flow of a house was really important to us because you can't change that. The house we bought had what we wanted. We also gutted the main level so it's one huge open vaulted space now.

@scg00387: I think you need to talk to your realtor about what's in your area. Honestly when we were house searching we looked at everything. Even huge ranches even though I dislike ranches.

Split levels aren't popular here so I had to Google it. They look pretty! I like @regberadaisy's description. We have a normal 2-story and the separation of public and private is kind of similar. I really learned to love how the entertainment room can be a total mess, while the living room downstairs is semi-tidy.

Saying that, we did look at 1 split-level home. There was only a separate kitchen and family room. I really liked it, but the location wasn't ideal.

I don't care for them

I like them, but I really don't know why.