I have one of those odd houses with a basement that isn’t fully recessed into the ground.
What most would consider my first floor is actually elevated and has to be accessed by stairs in the front and back of the house.
When you get to the basement, the windows looking out are bigger and the ground is at chest level as you walk from room to room. Typically a basement is recessed to the point where only a foot or two of space above one’s head overlooks the ground outdoors. As a result, my basement isn’t as tornado safe as a traditional basement, but I live on the east coast so it doesn’t matter. I have a fan-forced heating system in the basement. It has separate air duct that isn’t connected to the a/c. The air duct for the oil heating system is along the ceiling in the basement, while the air duct for the a/c is inside the attic above the main floor. When the oil heating system was installed more than 2 years ago, I told the heating and cooling corporation to put the fuel reservoir underneath the front porch. Putting the oil tank here meant that the Heating, Ventilation, and A/C servicemans who stop to refill my fuel have access to it from my driveway. They can run the hose from the truck without needing to drive into my side or backyard. I suppose that my heating and cooling company cares about having full access to the oil tank in the front of the house. However, occasionally I have to get my snowblower out to clear the driveway after a large snowstorm, otherwise they can get to my house.