Split Levels

Yes, Rachel got mad at me because I said the D's house was a split level. Rachel lived in a split level house and apparently thought hers was the only one in the neighborhood.

Her house was the kind where you walk in the front door and are immediately confronted by two sets of stairs, up or down. The D's house was slightly different. The entrance opened right into the living room/kitchen/dining room part of the house and then over on the side were stairs down (to the family room) and stairs up (to the bedrooms).

I considered both to be split levels but for some crazy reason, Rachel was offended by this suggestion. She probably got mad at me and made me apologize for being wrong. Seems like that happened a lot.

Well in your FACE, Rachel, because my good friend Wikipedia describes a split level as:

The front door opens directly into what is usually the formal living area. This mid-level floor houses Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, and has a short flight of stairs leading up to bedrooms, and another short flight of stairs leading down to informal living areas and garage.

Ha! And it gets better! Turns out Rachel's house was actually called a "split entry":

The entry is between floors. The front door opens in a foyer or entry area located in a wing off the main house. From the entry, a short flight of stairs leads up to the top floor and another short flight leads down.

So who deserves the apology now, huh? It's only like 13 years later. There's still time. I'll be waiting. Man, I wish we had the the Internet and Wikipedia back then!

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Okay, okay... if you checked out that Wikipedia entry yourself and are on Rachel's side of the fight (jerk), you'd be quick to point out that it does say...

In some regions such as the Northeastern United States, the term "split level" is used to refer to a bi-level house with a split entry. This style of house is also known as a "split foyer." This is a two-story house that has a small entrance foyer with stairs that "split"—half a flight of stairs go up (usually to the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms) and half a flight of stairs go down (usually to a family room and garage/storage area).

So dammit. I guess we were both kind of right. We just didn't know which definition we were arguing over. Still wasn't cool for her to get pissed over it.

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And this has probably been more than you ever wanted to know about split level houses, huh? I promise this knowledge will be useful next time you get in a fight over suburban architecture.