Here in Brooklyn, it's not uncommon for a brownstone to have 3-4 floors + a basement. Dang, that's a lot of stairs! I'd be open to a brownstone with that many floors IF there was an elevator. Otherwise, I'd want just two floors + a basement. That way, when you enter the house... nothing is more than one floor away.

California is interesting, in that there are a lot of houses with no upstairs and no basement. That would take some getting used to for me!

What's the most floors you'd ever want a house to have?