I'm trying to sell a house that is a little unusual. It was built as a small clubhouse/ event center, but has been used as a residence for several years. It's about 1400 SF, but it is completely open plan (except for the bathrooms).
Its basically like a studio apartment layout, except it is a detached house.
The question is if a bedroom requires partitions and/or a door to physically separate the sleeping area from the living area.
The sleeping area has been defined by the furniture placement. It's has proper egress, smoke detectors, plenty of square footage, easy access to the living area of the house, high ceilings. Just no walls. There is no 2nd sleeping space, so privacy and locks are not an issue.
Appraiser is saying the bedroom needs actual walls. But I don't read the code that way.
Thoughts?
Property is in AL if it matters.
No idea but I sent a message (with a link) to Glenn Mathewson on Instagram - he is a builsing codes educator and writes a column in Fine Homebuilding magazine. If I get a reply I will share it. Since he does this for a living I'm not sure if I'll get a reply.
https://instagram.com/buildingcodecollege?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
No. Unless your state has made that a rule.
The appraiser may be alluding to having a separate bedroom it will be easier to sell.
In reply to Shadeux :
It's already sold. This is a pre-closing inspection.
With the growing interest in Tiny Homes, smaller houses, and alternative living spaces this seems like a odd requirement.
Especially since studio apartments have always been ok.
Maybe a weird loan requirement?
In reply to Shadeux :
Maybe. I hope not.
Dan Tanna parked his Thunderbird in the living room, I can't see an open bedroom being a problem. Other than limiting your customer base, but that's in the past.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
It's definitely an unusual place, but a pretty cool spot for a bachelor.
8 wooded acres, still close to town, stocked bass pond, barn, octagon house with glass all around, stone fireplace, bar, cathedral ceiling, separate screen house with an outdoor fireplace, 3 different outdoor patio seating areas.
I mean, I'd love living there!
In reply to SV reX :
That sounds entirely cool.
Was it advertised for sale as a zero bedroom house?
It wasn’t advertised. Private sale to someone familiar with the property.
A master suite wouldn't be that hard to add.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Im moving on from this. Clean break.
I am not aware of any requirement that the sleeping area be an enclosed room.
I designed a small house that had a sleeping loft as a second bedroom. I did have to provide egress sized windows, but I absolutely did not have to enclose it.
A person could always add floor to ceiling track curtains as seen in hospital rooms if someone wanted privacy while changing clothes and such.
I think that only matters for listing. That it's technically a "0 Bedroom" house if there isn't a walled off space. Studio condos and apartments are perfectly legal. Same thing.
Same way that if you have a finished basement in the house, it doesn't add to the calculated square footage even though there's more usable space.
VolvoHeretic said:A person could always add floor to ceiling track curtains as seen in hospital rooms if someone wanted privacy while changing clothes and such.
There's a bathroom/ changing room with walls
Beer Baron said:Same way that if you have a finished basement in the house, it doesn't add to the calculated square footage even though there's more usable space.
It definitely counts in GA for property tax purposes. "For sale" listings on the other hand are all over the road - clearly unregulated.
In reply to OHSCrifle :
I thought that had to do with whether the space was conditioned or not.
Since there are so few finished basements in GA, that one might be tough to figure out.
Atlanta has quite a few walkout finished basements... that's different too.
What constitutes the definition of "a wall" ? Might just be curtains hanging from the ceiling to define a space. 
There's a house near me that has the master bedroom suite separated from the rest of the house by an 8 foot wall. The whole house has a cathedral ceiling ,so the wall doesn't go all the way up. That includes the walls for the walk-in closet and the bathroom. No doors either, just overlapping walls to create a slight maze that prevents line-of-sight views from the main room. My sister and BIL live in an open plan house with the bathroom being the only walled space, too.
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