Out and About - 'Round and 'round they go, but where will they stop?

Single-family homes and apartments, especially apartments, tend to have maximum appeal when they contain more than one level. Those one or more extra levels suggest more privacy for the individual residents and more flexibility of use. They also add variety to a space and, depending on the architect's imagination, even create drama: They can float, feature glass or metal details and otherwise make a stylish statement. It is not irrelevant that they also can waste space and energy – yours as well as electricity or gas.

In these days of burgeoning condo conversion, staircases of all kinds have become noticeably more in vogue that in the past. Confronting a narrow building and the marketplace's demand for bigger apartments that command big prices, a developer automatically thinks in terms of combining existing small units on more than one floor into a single apartment that has flair, space and a hefty asking price. The only way to get there is to add stairs, and that increasingly popular way of doing so is to order a spiral staircase that doesn't cost a lot, doesn't take up a lot of space, doesn't consume any time to build, and doesn't take more than few screws to install.

Never mind that they are difficult to negotiate, that furniture of any size cannot be moved on them, that they are an obstacle begging to bruise heads, that most aged or small pets can't manage them, or that some folks have phobias preventing them for navigating those structures. But, hey, they do the job. And some people take understandable pleasure in their qualities.

The Service You Can Trust Team's Aelita Brolis encountered an indecently large number of spiral staircases while looking at properties this week. Her indignation at their impracticalities prompts these musings.

Here's what she saw:

• Not only did the lights not work in this Capitol Hill two-bedroom, two-bath condo, but the apparent master bedroom's bathroom was at the top of a spiral staircase! Can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night needing to respond to a call of nature? After 101 days on the market and listed at $455,000, this property comes with a $10,000 closing credit. The rest of the unit, although updated and with a low condo fee of $167, can not possibly be worth the nightly hikes to the restroom.
  
  
• A three-story, two-bedroom plus den rowhouse in southeast Capitol Hill for $535,000. The kicker: Spiral staircases connecting all three floors. Although awkward to climb and horrible for moving furniture, the stairs at least have created more space in an already small home. Also of interest: The unit's presumptive kitchen is now a den, and the kitchen and dining room are now in the basement. A house in which all the right decisions have been made. Right!
  
  
• A beautiful, modern, airy, sunny condo in Dupont Circle. Its only defect, if you can even call it that, is the size of the small bedroom. The apartment is more 1000 square feet with hardwood floors, central air conditioning, in-unit washer/dryer, and a stainless steel and granite kitchen that opens up onto an extra-huge sitting area. The living room, with its 17-foot ceilings, is inviting and boasts a spiral staircase that goes up to a loft area - perfect for a home office. A parking space conveys. On the market for more than 60 days at $529,000 with a monthly fee of $529 that includes all utilities, this condo is by definition overpriced.
  

Among other properties seen in the past week:

• In Forest Hills, a three-story detached townhouse on a quarter-acre lot with modern center-island kitchen, one-car garage, well-proportioned rooms, high ceilings, French-style elevator and marble foyer. The home has lots of space, yet only three bedrooms, including the master with fireplace and a terrific bath. But there are only two full baths in the whole place and, therefore, no powder room on the main floor. Facing Rock Creek Park, the property has a steep, and largely unusable, rear yard, except, perhaps for climbing. The location explains the $1.675 million asking price, which would be far too high anywhere else.
  
  
• A 550-SF unit in the heart of Dupont. Al three windows face a wall or an alley. At $349,000 with no parking, this condo obviously offers little to look at and no reason at all to look at the apartment itself.
  
  
• In Logan Circle, a two-bedroom, one-bath condo with a modern, albeit interior, kitchen that has cherry cabinets, granite counters and second-rate black appliances. The 1990 converted pet-friendly building contains a number of similar units, each of them with fireplaces, crown molding, hardwood floors, central air conditioning and in-unit washer/dryers. The 824-SF apartment really should have just one larger bedroom, and the unit unfortunately faces a car wash from the first floor. But the layout is not an embarrassment. Without parking, which would cost extra to rent or buy in a neighborhood where doing so is imperative, the condo is somewhat overpriced at $469,000 with a $168 monthly fee.
  
  
• A 963-SF Foggy Bottom one-bedroom apartment in a well maintained building with amenities such as a concierge, exercise room and extra storage. The unit is burdened with low ceilings, courtyard views and a dark outdated '70s kitchen, but it is a reasonably airy space that includes a washer/dryer. This condo, which comes with an assigned garage parking space, is offered somewhat too aggressively at $480,000 with a $466 monthly fee that cover basic cable TV.
  
  
• In Dupont Circle, a one-bedroom apartment with nicely finished parquet floors, good flow, ample closets, tired interior kitchen, and central air conditioning. The centrally located, pet-friendly building has a 24-hour-desk, newly brightened public spaces, and a rooftop deck for watching fireworks once a year. At $359,900 with a $419 monthly fee, the asking price for this condo represents value.
  
  
• A Logan Circle condo that has been on and off the market at various prices for many months. Originally listed at $464,000, the one-bedroom 1,000-SF apartment with half-glamorized kitchen and half-improved bath once attracted an offer of $425,000. But the owner-agent rejected the price as too low. He's now hoping for $399,000 or, undoubtedly, more. He shouldn't get that for such a place, which is on the third floor of a bland pet-friendly building that has a 24-hour security desk and rooftop pool included in the $592 monthly fee. A garage parking space would be extra.
  
  
• In Dupont Circle, a pleasant one-bedroom co-op with cracked 9-foot, ceilings, a wall of built-in bookcases, refinished old hardwood floors and an updated kitchen with Corian countertops, 42-inch cabinets and a half-size dishwasher among appliances that are not top of the line. Overlooking a boisterous street, the apartment is attractively priced at $319,900 with a $353 monthly fee. The building is pet friendly and offers nothing but street parking, which will not be easy.
  
  
• A three-bedroom, two-bath attached row house in Capitol Hill East listed much too high at $485,000. Although renovated, many details were overlooked, making their absence especially disappointing, given the potential. Water damage in the kitchen, ridiculously high kitchen cabinets and non-existent washer and dryer are just a few of the reasons this unit has been on the market almost 150 days.
  
  
• A four-story, 1900 Beaux-Arts townhouse in Georgetown. Recently renovated with careful attention to proportion and detail, this beautifully maintained residence has two parking space, five bedrooms, five and a half baths, and two entrances on both of the lower two levels. The rectitude of the price can be in the eye of only the buyer who knows what he or she wants. It's $2,302,719.
  
  
• In Dupont Circle, a bi-level condo that is only mostly above ground but somehow has a cozy ambience. The tiny, partially updated kitchen with slanted ceilings in a rowhouse building would be a drawback for the serious cook, but the two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath condo has modest rustic appeal because of its beamed ceiling and roughly finished walls. Despite being on a lower floor than a similar apartment that just sold above it for $1,000 more and despite its alley aspects, this condo sans parking may somehow find a buyer for close to its asking price of $495,000 with a $328 monthly fee that covers little of importance.
  
  
• An absolutely huge 1,700-SF three-level, two-bedroom condo between Dupont and Logan. This unit boasts an open floor plan, cathedral ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, a full granite kitchen, whirlpool and fireplace. The library is a nice touch too. With parking, the apartment is listed at $749,000 but still sits after 115 days. Maybe a price reduction is in order?
  
  
• Off the U Street Corridor near Logan and Dupont, a lovely, but very slightly eccentric, end-unit rowhouse with three bedrooms sharing a single upstairs bath, one and a half additional baths and, accountably, four doors in the small dining room. There is a well updated open kitchen at the rear, plus exposed brick walls, two alley parking spaces, a rear deck, nice old hardwood floors and plenty of light. Given the lack of a finished basement level, the price of $949,000 may prove to be too high.