Tariffs, high building costs, stingy lending make for curious revival of split-levels

Miami Herald

22-05-2025

With six kids, a housekeeper named Alice and Tiger the dog, the fictitious "Brady Bunch" of the 1970s sitcom filmed in a real-life mid-century California house, a perfectly groovy set for all the shenanigans that made the show so popular.
More than 50 years later, that split-level trend is resurfacing, but it's not because of a newfound appreciation for the retro style. President Donald Trump's tariffs - on top of already high construction and borrowing costs - have made the staggered floors of a split-level an affordable design that doesn't sacrifice square footage.
The "Brady Bunch" home was a quintessential split-level: semi-open living spaces spread through several off-set levels connected by short flights of stairs. The layout gave it an open feel that became a coveted option for suburban families that aspired to more than their boring, tract-style houses.
The initial obsession with splits, however, didn't last long. By the 1980s, buyers started favoring more impressive two-story houses and open-plan ramblers that offered one-level living.
Now, the "split" has new life thanks to several Twin Cities builders, who are betting a variation of that "Brady Bunch" house called a split-entry will help attract a new generation of budget-conscious buyers.
"We went several years without building any," said Dale Wills, the owner and founder of Centra Homes. "They're a major focus for us right now, and there's a good reason for it."
Split-entry plans, which typically have a foyer positioned between an upper and lower level, are the most common splits in the metro. Once inside the front entry, there's a few stairs going up and a few heading down to an only half-buried lower level.
Centra, a Twin Cities-based company that caters to entry-level buyers, started doubling down on splits when mortgage rates began rising in 2022, Wills said. And now, with house prices already at record highs and pending tariffs on building materials threatening to add tens of thousands of dollars to a new home's cost, the plan has become even more relevant.
Last month, the median price of all home sales nearly breached $400,000, while the price of a new single-family house in the Twin Cities topped $540,000, according to a new report from the Minnesota Realtors. The report also said a new house typically fetches a nearly 45% premium compared to an existing one.
With buyers still outnumbering sellers in some parts of the metro, builders are especially eager to attract first-time buyers like Kyleigh Besta and Michael Smith.
Besta said she and Smith, her fiancé, were originally shopping for an inexpensive, older house they could fix up and eventually flip. But they realized the cost of buying a new house was comparable to that of a used one.
So they recently bought a split-entry house within a Centra development called Fox Run in North Branch, Minnesota. Single-family splits there are now priced at $342,000 to $369,900, a sweet spot for first-timers.
"We found a new home that we could put equity in," she said. "And it had almost everything we wanted upstairs."
The equity opportunity is on the unfinished lower level, which will nearly double the living space once the couple completes it.
Because their lower level has foundation walls only half as high as a traditional basement, which is nearly fully underground, the floor has large, full-size windows. Smaller, egress-style windows often make stereotypical basements "feel more like a dungeon," Besta said.
The discount on such splits can vary dramatically depending on the floor plan and location. Builders said they can be less expensive to construct because they're a quicker build, which brings down labor costs. They also tend to have a more compact footprint, reducing building materials.
Centra's split-level Maple plan costs about $211,949 to build compared to $228,696 for its single-level Pine plan with a full basement. That's a savings of nearly $17,000, or about 8% less in hard construction totals alone, not including the land and other costs, Wills said.
Including the typical builder markup, the retail difference is nearly $20,000. Wills said that's a meaningful gap for current buyers, especially those trying to stay under financing thresholds or looking to avoid high monthly payments.
"In today's market, affordability and efficiency are driving consumer behavior," Wills said. "The split-entry home has emerged as a clear winner on both fronts."
Splits with a finished basement, Wills said, often provide more than 2,400 square feet of space, but they also offer buyers more flexibility than other floorplans.
"Many buyers love that splits can offer the feel of a two-story in a smaller package," he said. "With multi-level separation, that works well for today's families."
Plus, because a split tends to have a tighter footprint, they can also fit on smaller, less-expensive lots.
Peter Barile is a Twin Cities sales agent who is also on the board of the local chapter of Docomomo, a nonprofit devoted to modern design that has organized tours of architecturally significant split levels. He said the onus for many of those on-display splits, including the one he lives in, was to take advantage of relatively "unbuildable" lots.
Sloped land or areas with a high water table that wouldn't be suitable to a full basement, for example, also tend to be less expensive.
Lennar, the nation's largest homebuilder, has a split-entry plan in Zimmerman, Minnesota, with three bedrooms on the upper level and two bedrooms on the lower, listed for $369,783.
And regional builder Capstone Homes is offering what it calls a "budget-friendly split-level" plan at its Pine Vale project in Somerset, Wisconsin. A five-bedroom house there with nearly 2,300 square feet is on the market for $419,900. At Anna's Acres in Otsego, Minnesota, the company is selling a nearly 2,900-square-foot, five-bedroom split-level for $469,900.
Splits are a trend "primarily driven by cost," per Zach Adams, the owner of Wright Sherburne Realty and vice president of sales for Centra. When he started selling new houses in 2000, the split-entry was prevalent but eventually went out of favor with buyers.
"Some just don't want it," he said. "They want to come in (the front door) and live on the main level."
Adams said today, with so many buyers focused solely on price, a home's floorplan becomes a secondary issue. He also knows firsthand the appeal of multi-level living - he owned one in the early 2000s.
"My first house was a split," he said. "Now they're coming back."
Amanda Zielike, founder of an interactive website devoted to house histories called HouseNovel, said she isn't surprised at the split's return.
"It makes sense that more split-entry homes are being developed than split-levels, since they're likely less complex and more cost-effective to construct," she said.
In the middle of the past century, when splits peaked in popularity, Zielike said they were a go-to plan for builders looking to offer more space and flexibility. Buyers also loved the layout. It efficiently separated everyday living into distinct zones that reflected the lifestyle of the mid-century American family, which also wanted both openness and privacy in a modest footprint.
"While they don't often get the same nostalgic fanfare as Victorians or Craftsmans, they have a surprisingly unique history," she said. "It's been interesting to see them quietly making a comeback and re-entering conversations about practical and affordable housing."
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