"I once lived in a 900 sqft house divided into 6 levels., like a split level townhouse. There were two stacks of three levels with a 10x15 pad at each level and a 4ft wide stair case down the center dividing the two stacks.  It was so tight that I did custom built ins on almost every level to maximize storage while minimizing floor square footage.  It was always tricky.  Dealing with the clutter of life was always an issue because nothing fit there.  I ended up carving storage nooks out of every dead space imaginable.  I don't see a single functional kitchen in any of these pictures, much less places for all the random thing you need in a house. Where do you put the Broom, the vacuum, spare towels...Totally not functional. Pretty pictures though. "

"I would imagine this is an issue that started in 2005 when Chrysler released the first with the Stow-N-Go system.  At some point they figured out they could advertise this as a feature and the currently market it as Tailgating Seats."