My bees don't think that. I have SR's on many hives and my bees are certainly not swarm free. I just like the comforting homey feel SR's give me, and they make for good Fung Shei, which requires domiciles to have an entrance foyer.
The main door is called "The Mouth of Chi" in
feng shui, as this is how the house absorbs its much needed Chi, or energy nourishment. When a staircase is facing the main door directly, the
feng shui energy rushes up quickly to either the lower, or the higher floor, thus leaving the main floor without feng shui energy nourishment.
So, yes, your friend is mostly right. However, this is a very general feng shui statement as there are different variations of a staircase facing the front door, thus creating different feng shui scenarios.
The feng shui case of a big foyer with many grounding architectural features and the staircase far from
the front door will be very different from a feng shui case of a small foyer with stairs closely facing the main door.
In case of a big foyer with a staircase further from the door, the energy can settle in and nourish the space, gradually and harmoniously finding its way to other areas of the house. When the foyer is small, though, and the staircase is facing the main door directly, the energy takes a rushed and fragmented quality, being forced to quickly rush up or down the stairs.
The
feng shui cures in these cases are focused on creating a feng shui decorating style at the main door that will slow down the energy, focus it and then guide it to all areas of the main floor. This can be achieved with strategically placed art, specific
colors, a big plant or a vase of flowers, specific pieces of furniture or
mirrors (please note that mirrors should never face the entrance directly, as this pushes the energy away instead of drawing it in.)