A TikToker was baffled to find staggered stairs in an otherwise traditional family home, but the design is smarter than it looks

• Tony Shadman posted a video on TikTok of an asymmetrical, staggered staircase in a home for sale.
• The video shocked commenters, with many asking iterations of the same question: Why?
• Alternate-tread stairs are common in small spaces where every square inch counts.

A TikToker is racking up millions of views on a video showing an asymmetrical, staggered staircase in a house that's up for sale.

In the video from Sunday, Tony Shadman (known on TikTok as @themistershade) showed his thousands of followers the unconventional stairs in a $400,000, three-bedroom home he was touring in Columbia, Maryland.

@themistershade

##househunting and we said ##hellno to these ##stairs ##house ##fyp ##comedy

♬ Oh No - Kreepa

As of Friday, the video had nearly 11 million views and more than 700,000 likes. Many TikTokers baffled by the unexpected design left their thoughts in the comments.

"I don't know how to feel," one comment said. "Do I hate them, or do I love them?"

"I mean... what were they thinking?" another asked of whoever designed the stairs.

The compact staircase design is meant to save space

As bizarre as it looks, the asymmetrical staircase is more common than you might think, especially in smaller spaces.

The unique design, known as an alternate-tread stair, is meant for reaching high places and saving space, according to the home-improvement publication This Old House. Think of it as a compressed version of a standard staircase.

But while alternate-tread stairs save space, they're a bit awkward to use. To climb the stairs, you have to start stepping with the same foot every time.

Shadman didn't end up buying the home in his TikTok video, but he told Insider that he and his wife have been looking for a house in the Columbia area for some time. While they were interested in the home, Shadman said, the quirky staircase didn't seem like the safest option for families.

Since the owners weren't home when he viewed the house, Shadman asked the neighbors about the odd staircase, and they said they didn't have one in their home.

"But they also said the area prides itself on weird, quirky neighborhoods and houses," Shadman said. "That's part of the reason we want to move there."