well, i think it will be nicer if they leave the whole stair untouched by white paint. Just re sanded and the true color of wood will speaks for itself.
I think it will be nicer if they leave the whole staircase untouched. The natural color of wood will add some character to the room.
I think this looks absolutely great, and yes, I'd do it. But you'd have to seal it with something matte if you wanted it to stay this way over time - this will get very dirty.
We had one of these in the house where I grew up for a while. Eventually it got painted over and had multi-colour foot and paw prints painted up it... sounds cheesy, but it actually looked quite good!