We have a rather unique home that has J&J bathrooms like this. On one level of our home is a hallway with two guest rooms at each end. Behind/parallel to the hallway, in between the two room are the bathrooms. Off of each room is a room with sink and toilet, and then the shower accessable from each room. I hate it.

With nothing but two shower curtains separating them, only one of us can use the toilet. So, calling out to see if someone is on the other side is just weird. The layout makes putting in solid doors impossible too. It's just not great.

We have a large master bath with two sinks, one toilet (in a separate little room), a deep soaking tub, and a separate shower. That said, I have from time to time thought it would be nice to have two toilets in the master bathroom, but since it's just the two of us living here in a three bathroom house, there is always another toilet available if we both need one at once.

However, a few years ago in the Building a Home forum someone posted the plan for a home he and his wife were building, and I took and saved a screenshot of the master bathroom because I really like it. It has two separate toilets -- and the "his" even has a urinal. I regret that I did not note the poster's name. But this is the screenshot:

We toured a house once that had what you describe.

Here is a picture from the listing photos. The person taking this photo is backed up against a 6 foot vanity and to their right is a soaker tub. You can see this side's toilet room behind the shower and through the shower to the other side to another vanity and a second toilet room. The door on the right leads to a vestibule in the shape of a hexagon with a matching door to the other side of the bathroom and doors for his and hers closets on either side.

That urinal reminds me of a conversation I witnessed between a friend and his mom many years back:

Friend: When I get a house I’m going to have a urinal in my bathroom.

Mom: That’s disgusting!

Friend: What’s disgusting is that I have to use the sink because we don’t have a urinal!

Cleaning one toilet is enough work, as far as I'm concerned. We do have double sinks on our vanity and share a shower.

This seems like a poorly thought out wish list and plan. Build or do not, there is no try.

Anything is possible. Have you discussed this with a local architect?

My parents' guest rooms are set up with a bath that has a toilet and sink/vanity for each room with a bath/shower room in between. Each toilet/sink/vanity room has a door to its bedroom and one to the shared bath/shower room which allows each section to be used independently.

Their master suite contains completely separate bathrooms and closets for each of them. As they have aged, having separate facilities has worked wonderfully well as we've been able to set up their bathrooms for their specific needs. If you have the square footage available, I would recommend having two separate bathrooms.

Please share the floor plan. While you can't expand OUT for the kitchen, 3400 square feet is huge, and you might be able to incorporate another already-existing part of the house into the kitchen. OR you might be able to polish up the kitchen you have now and add a huge pantry to give you more storage.

Same thing for the bathroom. What you describe is kinda odd, but perhaps you could enlarge by taking in an adjacent space.

Since you like your house except for these two spaces, I'd suggest trying to work out a renovation plan before looking into building.

I have discussed with a design/ build whose owner is an architect. We are looking at property.

Our home is great but stairs are a pain

We can move our kitchen, just thinking this might be a younger families home.

Stategery, I will be sure not to ask you over.

I say go for it! My In-laws built a home from scratch at 70. They never regretted it. They too had a turn of the century home with a lot of stairs and not enough bathrooms. Even in the new home Father used one bathroom while Mother used another. Why share when you are only two and you have four bathrooms!! I don't want to stand at a sink brushing my teeth while DH shaves--NO THANK YOU. I will never concede that this is a room that should be used in tandem EVER..toilet or not. Oh and DH cleans his own bathroom!!

Everyone has their own ideas about bathrooms. We have a bathroom with a big shower, rainshower at one end, rail at the other. Two sinks, one toilet in its own room (don't tell Mark Bischak 😉). If one toilet is occupied, there's another in the other bathroom. It's enough for us.

We have 3 Bathrooms--one is mine other is hubby's the 3rd is for guests--works fine for us as there are just the two of us.

We built our own home and it has worked out perfectly for us. We spent many years in design though, thinking through our every action and how we want to live in the space, and how the space is to serve us.

One consideration when it came to the bathroom is, the bigger the bathroom, the colder it is. We live in a climate where it's cold much of the year, so we like it when the shower helps warm the whole room. If the room was too large, it wouldn't happen. We wanted to keep the size of the upstairs smaller, were finishing the basement so we decided to put the tub downstairs in the guest room bath as we seldom use it. This helped make the mbath even smaller, and it does get cozy warm in the winter from the shower. And the shower includes a steam shower which can really get us toasty.

We toured a *lot* of houses when we were building in search of ideas. I do recall one house with a huge master bath. You walked in and in front of you was a tub. Behind the tub was a glassed in shower that was sunken by a couple of steps with windows out to a walled garden. The steps were on both sides and there were 2 shower heads. As you walked into the room, on the left was a water closet and vanity and on the right was another wc and vanity, his and hers. But the room was huge with a large open space in the middle.

You might explore here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393853929887963772/ for some ideas.

I would rather have two smaller bathrooms, or a 1.5. Some private things are better left private.

For the master bedroom, I'd much rather have two complete small bathrooms, one for me and one for DH, than share even a great big huge one. Our previous house had a bath with toilet, sink, and shower for DH and a larger 'jack & jill" bathroom for me. That worked well because it was J&J'd with a seldom-used guest bedroom (and it was set up so that without too much trouble it could be split into two complete separate bathrooms if future owners desired.)

Remodeling our current older home, we added a powder room to our bedroom for DH. I use the hall bathroom. As Annie points out, size makes a huge difference to heating (and cooling) a space, so I do not admire oversized bathrooms.

When we watch HGTV shows I always shake my head at people who insist on double sinks but don't twitch at a single toilet. A sink can be used by two people at the same time, the other fixture, not so much! Also, I don't care for toilets in tiny little claustrophobic rooms.

So my advice would be to build two small complete bathrooms, using high quality fixtures and finishes to get that luxurious feel.

I think your idea sounds pretty cool! Very nice to each have your own water closet. The photo Kim posted is a very custom look. We have radiant heat stone flooring in the master bath, another consideration if your in a cold climate. Big bathrooms spell "luxury" to me!

Our previous home had two bathrooms in the Master.

When you approached the "vestibule" the master closet was in the center, and the 2 bathrooms to the right & left.

One bathroom (both fully equipped) had a large garden tub, and the other had the shower.

We really liked it!

“Big bathrooms spell ’luxury’ to me!”

Me too. This house is the first time I’ve had one thats bigger than needed and it’s one of my favorite things about it. The WC needs to be way bigger though. Get claustrophobic closing the door.

I’m with ShadyWillowFarm though, even separated by doors I don’t feel the need to be going potty together. There are other bathrooms in the house.

Off topic: Yesterday my wife mentioned that she’s been seeing a lot of listings referring to ”primary bedroom” instead of ”master.” I guess master can have negative connotations to the hypersensitive? My question though, what does the master bath become? Would it be primary, too? Doesn’t sound right.

We have had jack and jill bathrooms bathrooms in this house and the last one. I no longer like them. Doors are a hassle and it limits wall space. These were for the kid's rooms and it just never really resolved any problems we wouldn't have had otherwise. My husband and I have had separate sinks in the last two houses and that works well. I like having two master closets as well.

Something I have seen that may or may not work for you would be to have your master and another bedroom closet back up to a laundry room. One of you could use the master bathroom and the other could have home base as the other bedroom. Since this is a retirement home, I would focus on designing one bedroom as more handicap accessible where you could have someone in the shower to help or not have to worry about tripping as you got out.

Anne -- I don't think the bathroom is as important for Seniors as getting into a one-floor home. DH and I built ours at ages 60/63, and we've enjoyed it for twenty years -- through two hip replacements and one other major surgery (me). I think the 'family home' and the 'Senior home' are two different animals.

We considered remodeling the fifties ranch we bought for the lot and neighborhood, but are very glad we did a teardown/all new build instead.

We do have a nice MBA. ('Primary' is just plain silly!) The BR, closets, bath are in one long rectangle (16' X 40') with a short hallway between BR and bath. Closets flank the hallway. The bath has toilet room, jet tub, shower on the outside wall and sinks flanking the doorway (backing to closets). The floor is heated under the tile.

"Oh and DH cleans his own bathroom!!" <= this!

I like my private space for private stuff. In my last house, my kids each had their own bathroom, I had the master to share with my DH and then by myself (after he passed), plus a half bath on the main floor and a full guest bath in the lower level. Some would say that's too many toilets to clean, but my kids learned to clean their own bathrooms (a bonus when they got their first apartments) and I'd rather do a quick clean in a few loos a couple times/week than share mine multiple times/day. Personal preference for sure.

we have done several master bathrooms where the shower is in the middle and sink areas are seperated. i would not make the shower the walkthrough. here are a couple floor plans that accomplish the seperation. both showers has skylights above them and have either art glass or translusent film to make them feel a little more private... they can feel like a fish bowl otherwise.

I was always fascinated visiting older homes with one bathroom and a large family. I don't know how they did it! Or worse, having a community bathroom shared with others.

Actually, I did grow up that way and I don't remember it being a problem most of the time, but it would be for me now that I am older.

Are you guys talking about 2 toilets in one bathroom??? Like you would each use one at the same time???

Our home is great but stairs are a pain

We can move our kitchen, just thinking this might be a younger families home.

So ... maybe you aren't as happy with your current house as you implied in your first post?

I do not admire oversized bathrooms.

Me neither.

Also, I don't care for toilets in tiny little claustrophobic rooms.

Again, me neither.

Very nice to each have your own water closet.

That I don't understand. You use the toilet -- what? -- 10 minutes a day? Not such a difficult thing to share.

Big bathrooms spell "luxury" to me!

That's not true in my mind -- size and quality are two different measures.

The WC needs to be way bigger though. Get claustrophobic closing the door.

Yup. Toilets should never be shoved into closets. If you want it separate, go with a half bath, which is more comfortable, gives you a sink nearby and is easier to clean.

”primary bedroom” instead of ”master.” I guess master can have negative connotations to the hypersensitive?

That's my take on it. I've also seen "Owner's bedroom".

My DH was one of 10 kids and grew up in a house with one bath. He doesn't remember any fights over it and really thinks he had the best childhood ever, remains very close with all his family. His father had bought some property on the other side of the river, and built the family home a bit at a time as money allowed. Paying cash, one week some lumber, the next payday a keg of nails or window. Four tiny bedrooms with tiny closets and one bath. (kitchen was big)

I can remember visiting my paternal grandfather when a child. Right at the dike in Yuba City CA - apartment building literally up against the dike. My fathers sister and her daughter lived with him in an apartment with a hallway bath shared by another apartment!

We're all so spoiled now ;0) The two of us are in a 3 bath single story home. We don't share, we each have a bath we use leaving one spotless and made ready for guests.

There is a gorgeous house on this street that has a walk through shower in the master. Vanity on one side, walk in closet on the other. It works for the house, but its a custom build designed for the site which is a view hillside, and the house itself is in multiple levels, with multiple decks. The first time I was in it was after dark, I was completely confused with the way it was oriented when unable to relate rooms to anything outside that night. Half stairway here, another going down over there - and about 5000 sq ft I think. Owner later had a knee replacement and when I heard, all I could think was 'OMG'....

Are you guys talking about 2 toilets in one bathroom??? Like you would each use one at the same time??? ritamay, I don't think anyone meant that! That's way too much togetherness!

What I like is two entirely separate complete bathrooms, both for the main bedroom. Double "en suites" rather than double sinks.

Will this work? Could be a romantic shower... :)

I have a water closet in my master bathroom here in Cathedral City, and the last place I lived in San Francisco had two water closets. The one sink was in the bathroom, and believe, the W/Cs got used much more than the sink. To me, it makes more sense to have two W/Cs, and I like to have them be separate from the main bathroom. It's nice to have them close to a sink, however.

You should be able to use the toilet when someone else is using the rest of the bathroom. The W/Cs I had in San Francisco both had exterior windows.

Anne, if you build I think you should try to build what suits you and your needs. If you want to WC’s I would just make sure they are spacious enough (usually around 3’ wide or slightly more is good) so as to not feel claustrophobic. Sit down and measure across where you are sitting and see what feels right.

DH and i prefer a rather spacious bathroom. We are tall, and having been in 2 previous houses where our bathroom felt rather cramped, width wise, we opted for larger when we built 20+ years ago. Have never regretted it. The other thing we love is the warm tiles (heat system) we had installed under the tile. Best investment ever, and we live in the south. No cold feet in the mornings here.

Note that the in-swing door on a WC can be considered a safety hazard as, if someone is in there with the door shut and falls, you can't get in to help them.

This is our guest level's J&J with a shared shower. These are the only bathrooms in the house besides the master. I would never have designed it this way, but we're not the original owners/builders.

There is a pocket door into one side from the hallway. These two rooms and the baths are the only thing on this level of the home.

You can see why I hate it...

That J&J makes no sense!

I think I learned something here ... is a "water closet" a tiny enclosed room with just a toilet, no sink or any other fixture?

WC is an English term for 'toilet room'.

I doubt that those in private homes are equipped with a coin-operated locking device, negating the need to 'spend a penny' (silly female code for using the facilities).

lol I'm aware there are different terms for 'facilities' overseas, but had not realized Americans might be calling the room of claustrophobia and unwashed hands the WC.

Big bathrooms spell “waste of space” to me. When you are in the bathroom, you are accomplishing a task. Git’s done, get outta there. Extra space could be much better used for storage, closets, socializing, spending time together, etc.

Spire… your concept is close to what i am thinking of just a seond tpilet

.i think we would enjoy it but i get those who think it is otp and appreciate your thoughts (except for those that think you dont ponder anything….)We are thinking about a fairly modest home. it would have a walk out woth guest rooms. our children live close by so not a tom of overnight guests but room for overnight

Annoe denibaugh… you have talked about inswing doors before and i would never again have one on a pwder or bath……I had to bust down a door in my own home while a guest was uncon

If you haven't seen this one about the WC....it's very funny.

http://www.mrdclassroom.com/The%20Wayside%20Chapel%20Story.htm

I prefer to not meet my husband in the WC!

I grew up pretending that stuff didnt happen! I remember when i had small kids and my father would come over and read… he was flabbergasted that there were books about p😟😟ping

The toilets would seperate…divided by a wall and a side wall

The whole point is to share a shower amd tub but a wall between toilets

I appreciate your responses. I am so crazy about a property and then will have ti get archithect involved. if we build it will not be a luxury home but we both agree we like the idea of two toilets for our main and the other bathrooms for guests….. The property we want is getting insane bids so let us hope….