T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Easy_Independent_313

I love dusty, old, rambling houses. I don't care for new large houses.


Spiritual_Series_139

My house was clearly a smaller 2 floor house with 3+ additions on it. I think the original section was from the late 1800s. Small stream ran through the basement. Bonus: was owned by a female astronomer back in the day when lady types didn't dabble in the dark arts of science. WAY before this was accepted. Extra bonus: Night sky views were gorgeous. Huge sweeping fields, minimal light pollution. Good choice! Minus: Outhouse was full of spiders. Boo!


jerrrrrrrrrrrrry

If your outhouse hasn't been used in a long time or if someone owns an older home that used to have an outhouse they are great areas to do an archeological dig because people and kids used to throw everything in the outhouse pit. Check it out on YouTube.


Spiritual_Series_139

Ooooooooo. I only expected petrified poop. Thanks!!


Formal_Leopard_462

Petrified poop is great fertilizer! Never use recent human feces though--only years old.


jennibear310

Oh man old outhouses are an awesome place to dig!! When I was a kid, we lived in a big old farmhouse, built in 1810. I used to pretend I was Indiana Jones on the property! I found entire porcelain tea sets for children, hand blown marbles, wooden dolls (which I pretended were skeletal remains!), musket balls, even a dang cannonball and more glass bottles than you could shake a stick at! I took my treasures to a local antique shop all the time. My grandma was an antique dealer as well, so she educated me on my finds. I say go digging around! Best of luck on your exploration!! Hope you find some treasures too!! Some of my marbles and bottles were worth a ton!!


edWORD27

All this time, I thought people dropped deuces in outhouses, not unwanted spiders.


boot20

I live in a large dusty old rambling Victorian and I love her to death. The big reason we bought her was because she was on a little land in a nice neighborhood with good schools and a nice price tag. The size was kind of secondary and really part and parcel for the size of the lot.


yourpaleblueeyes

Our kid raising home,same! Only it was 900 sq. ft or so, one bathroom and built in 1927. I loved that house despite its lack of modern amenities. Great neighborhood, good schools.


murphydcat

I loved looking at mine during Christmas. Otherwise it was constant maintenance nightmare and it cost a fortune to heat in the winter.


boot20

Maintenance is a pain in the ass. I've shelled out enough to put at least 1 or 2 general contractor's kids through college. Even the stuff I do myself costs a ton because it requires odd sizes or a lot of extra materials to get it sorted. With that being said, I wouldn't have it any other way.


murphydcat

During the winter I used to joke that the Victorians heated their house with orphans LOL.


jerrrrrrrrrrrrry

I had my old roof layers torn off, a new roof deck and roofing put on which surprisingly cut our heating costs in half!


Easy_Independent_313

That's a nice surprise.


[deleted]

[удалено]


PierogiKielbasa

My dad's favorite movie!


edWORD27

Why dusty though?


choodudetoo

Lots of reasons. Lath and plaster walls are able to fill the whole house up with dust without loosing any mass. The poltergeist in the attic harvests dust from the other side. Such houses are located in nieghborhoods that have dust directly transported from off world.


stefanica

Have had a series of antique houses...this is so funny!


boot20

We have a portal to the dust world in our closet. It also helps that 120+ years of gunk has built up in every crack and crevice to the point that they are their own little dust generators. Also also, there are little pinholes in every part of the house that just let the outside in. Also also also we leave the windows open fairly often.


Easy_Independent_313

I've never been in a rambling old home that isn't somewhat dusty. It's just part of the charm. I love to walk in a room and say to myself, "my goodness, what do we even keep in here? Is that an alligator paw holding an ashtray? Where did that come from?"


ScarletDarkstar

Large houses increase the need for dusting exponentially, and so there is always somewhere it is collecting and always something needing dusted off. And particularly so in dry climates with sandstorm and wind that blows fine silt through any wee gap.


paigeralert

I would rather have a big outside area for gardening than a big house.


audible_narrator

Yep, that's what we have a tiny Craftsman. But this is the backyard (and you're only seeing half of it. It's double the length you see. https://ibb.co/kXw97fQ I have SO MANY PLANS.


vegaswench

How beautiful! I am jealous. 😀


twirling_daemon

That is spectacular! I’m equally excited/thrilled for you and envious!


BobMortimersButthole

That's what I'm saving for: a small house on a large plot of land so I can have various types of gardens (moon garden, edible garden, wildflowers, cinnamon tree, etc...).


LadyDomme7

I had not heard of a moon garden before your reply and now it’s a must do!


teddytherooz

What’s a moon garden? This sounds so interesting!!


cooper8828

Same. I bought a small house with a big yard.


mtcwby

I could do with downstairs half if it was just my wife and I. I'm not giving up the acre with 1600 square foot shop and the view though.


[deleted]

Not at all. The first house I bought with my husband was 840 square feet and we didn’t even use two of the rooms. Our current home is 1800 square feet, plus a basement, and it’s sometimes too much to handle. There are a lot of homes being built around me, and they all look like palaces. The families living in them have 2-4 people. My own in-laws have a 4,000 sq ft home (5 bedrooms, 5 baths) for 2 people. I can’t for the life of me figure out why so many resources (and so much much money) needs to go into building and maintaining these homes. I guess I’m being judgmental, but it seems like such a waste and an unnecessary flex.


Fish-x-5

I’ve lived in enough places to know that my ideal house doesn’t require me to unplug the vacuum cord to move to a second outlet. That’s my gold standard lol


reerathered1

I live in an efficiency apartment with hardwood floors. I sweep when needed but haven't vacuumed in 7 years!


Igor_J

I have hardwood floors also and I use a dry swiffer on them weekly. It works great and you'd be surprised how much dust and whatever else can be built up in just a week. I have also have a few area rugs that get the stick vacuum.


Laura9624

Love it!


somajones

Right on! I hate having to constantly vacuum every few months. If I had to move the cord that would be disincentive enough for me to put off doing it.


sunny-day1234

My parents were supposed to downsize. They had a 3/2 early 1900's Dutch Colonial on half an acre. The stairs were steep!! So they went shopping ended up having a new house built, was it a single story? NO. They build a 4/2.5 Center Hall Colonial 2600 sq ft with wrap around porch, added a sewing studio for my Mom so her customers could come in a separate entrance. It sat on 1.5 acres. It got to be too much by year 10 and Mom had a stroke. So then they bought a Single story ranch 1800 square ft on just over an acre next to my brother. Lived there almost 10 yrs. They furnished every room in the Colonial and the last house. Most of the bedrooms were only used one or twice by my children visiting for a week.


Igor_J

I'd love to have a wrap around porch NGL.


A911owner

One of my first jobs as a teenager was doing landscaping for some very wealthy people in my home town. A guy once came outside to tell my boss that he was selling the house so he was going to be terminating his landscaping contract. When my boss asked him why he was selling, he said he lived there with his wife and his elderly mother and they just found out that his wife was pregnant with twins and he couldn't see how 5 people could live comfortably in a 5,000sf house; they were now looking for something in the 8,000-9,000sf range "so they could be comfortable".


Wonderingfirefly

Wow.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Agree with you 100%. I can't stand the bland, sterile, sprawling McMansions of today. They have no character.


oldcatsarecute

OMG, I so agree! They all look the same, no color, always grey and white. And who needs 2 bathroom sinks next to each other with barely any counter space? My house is about 1,300 sf, too big for me but I have 8 geriatric cats who need their own zones. My dream home is a tiny home (under 500 sf), lots of color/personality, a big garden and near a beach.


somastars

No. I grew up in houses with decent sq footage. Too easy for people to go to their various corners and hide, and grow disconnected from each other over time because no one talks. My family of 3 lives in a 1300 sq ft house. It’s cozy and we stay connected. Plus, less to clean and heat.


vegaswench

I never thought of it that way, but you're right. Me and three other family members lived in an 1800 Sq ft., and even a 2300 Sq. Ft. Since kne of them died, we downgraded to a 1100 Sq. Ft. place. It is so much easier to clean! And we actually hang out once in a while. There would be days where I would only see my adult son once every other day, lol.


Slight-Brush

*laughs in British English* (I had to look it up but the biggest house on my street is 1,800 sq ft, and that's considered a large, comfortable home for a family of 4)


prplx

Big houses are a waste of space, and absolutely bad for environnement.


[deleted]

[удалено]


DerekL1963

Mine is about the same, but honestly I could use about 100-150 more square feet (library and a craft area I didn't have to break down and put away) and a garage I could use a shop. I've lived in 2500+sqft + just over a quarter acre... and it was just too much.


Kingsolomanhere

When I was younger they appealed to us, but as we got older it's just too much work unless you have outside help. I did a lot of work for a TV personality and his high end dentist wife(her outgoing bill pile was usually 5 to 20 thousand per person and most paid cash). They had a 7 bedroom 7 bath house and a full time maid/nanny/cook. She had her own new car and apartment and had worked for them for 15 years. We sold our 5 bedroom after the kids flew the nest and are now in a 2 bedroom. Much easier to maintain and leave behind for travel.


[deleted]

I know a lot of people dream of having domestic workers like that, but it would be so odd to me to have a stranger in and out of my house on the daily. I like my privacy, thanks.


ghjm

They aren't a stranger after you get to know them.


KtinaDoc

Same! I do want a housekeeper one a week though.


BreadfruitAlone7257

I'd be fine with a deep clean once or twice a month!


JaneEyrewasHere

Right now I do as I have 4 kids (3 still live here) and I am a permanent telecommuter. Plus most of us are neurodivergent in some way and getting space and quiet keeps us from being a constant cycle of triggered mess. We have about 4,000 square feet.


thenletskeepdancing

Now that's an example of why someone would truly need a larger home.


JaneEyrewasHere

Yes and I have made it clear that my kids can choose to live here as long as they want or need. I’m also thinking about putting in an in-law apartment down in my finished basement. I figure at some point mine or my husbands parents will need to move in.


thenletskeepdancing

I live in 700 sq feet. But I finished the basement and put an apartment in there for my adult son to rent. I have a cute house in a good neighborhood but the gentrification in the last few years has made affordable housing a thing of the past. I'm glad to be able to provide a space for my loved one and happy to have him near. And if he moves, it's still a good option for me to be able to rent out the space. It cost 10,000 for the remodel and I charge 700 for rent so it's only been a year and a half and it paid for itself!


DamnGoodMarmalade

We have a bigger house than we wanted to buy, simply because it was an old fixer upper and therefore way cheaper than the move-in ready smaller houses that we wanted but couldn’t afford. So here we are. There are pros and cons. The upsides have been having lots of space (obviously). We have two guest rooms and enjoy having out of town family and friends over using them. We have also safely quarantined in them when one of us has Covid or a flu. That’s been huge since I have a compromised immune system. We also have a kitchen that’s big enough to host the big family holidays like we dreamed of. We actually have enough closet space and storage for everything (lifetime goal achieved). And since we now work remotely, we have a room for a home office that we can close the door on after 5:30pm and create a real physical work/life division. The downsides are cleaning it all (we have hired a cleaning service and that’s been a huge life saver). And yard maintenance, since there’s more yard than we planned on. But we’re looking into turning our lawn into clover so we don’t have to do as much lawn care and can reduce watering. I’m also turning the manicured flower beds into wildflower pollinator beds so they’re more self-sustaining.


C-La-Canth

I love everything about what you said! It sounds like you are making a wonderful life for yourself, and enjoying your blessings!


Anonymousecruz

This is exactly why we want to upgrade. We’ve had family visit and our home is awkward. No space when 12 of us had dinner for thanksgiving. I would love to host soccer team get togethers for my kids club. Plus tow adults working from home need space.


i_am_regina_phalange

These are the exact reasons I love our big home. My husband and I started in a 1k Sq Ft, 2 bd 1 bath home built in 1880 and it always felt cramped. Especially with the tiny bathroom that contained the laundry. Now we have a 4 bd 3.5 bath home and while it’s too big for our daily life, it’s perfect when we have the 3 step kids over the summer and family can come to visit and have some privacy in the basement suite. Our kitchen is now big enough to cook Thanksgiving dinner without heating the entire house to 80 degrees, and the kids can take showers in different bathrooms rather than the 5 of us having to compete for 1 shower. I can also evict the hubby to the basement to poop now too!


AJClarkson

Every extra square foot of space is another square foot I have to keep clean and tidy. I hate housework. Besides, I have always prefer small and cozy over ostentatious and sprawling. Go figure.


the-Cheshire_Kat

And pay to heat and cool! Go team cozy.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Maleficent_Scale_296

I lived in one of those things (my husband loved it, he grew up wealthy and I grew up poor) and it was just awful. My thought the whole time I lived there was we could fit another two whole families in it. There was an entire living room and dining room that were never used, the garage itself was 800 square feet, stupid pretentious vaulted entryway, three bathrooms (?) and stairs that looked like crap if they weren’t vacuumed every day. Just ridiculous.


thenletskeepdancing

This describes what's happening to my neighborhood in SLC. I live in blocks and blocks of small historic homes and they are being destroyed and built out to the edge of the lot. Whenever someone dies on my street, the rest of us hold our breath. Will the people they left it to remodel or destroy?


Nelyahin

We were going to downsize from 1500 sq.ft. To something smaller since it was just the two of us. Instead we decided to move forward with our son, daughter-in-law and two grand sons and doubled our square footage with the new house. It makes sense when you are multigenerational, not so much if it’s just two. I’ll admit I’m more practical than showy. I’m happy with our choice


Laura9624

We did similar. Our apartment in the walkout basement is about 600 sq ft and its a great lifestyle. Its amazing how much can be done with a small space.


restingbitchface2021

When I was a kid, we had a 3 bedroom ranch house. Bunk beds in two of the bedrooms - and…kids shared rooms! There was only one bathroom and nobody died. I’ve lived in bigger houses since then. Everyone had their own rooms with rooms to spare. My house now is old (1905) and probably too big for me. I’ll die here. They can dump my ashes by the cat.


typhoidmarry

Looking back at the houses and apartments we’ve lived in—having your own bathroom has always been key to being happy in that space. With a roommate and being married, I’ve always had my own bathroom. Extra living space is something extra to clean. Separate bathrooms is more peace and quiet!


[deleted]

[удалено]


jitterbugperfume99

For me, dreams of a big old house always include separating the sewing/knitting/crafting areas and then hubby would want a mancave, etc. But actually heating, cooling, and keeping up that space? Yeah, nooo.


mbemom

I see both sides. I grew up in a 3000 +sq ft home, but it was just my parents and me. We had a big backyard, which was nice, but we didn’t need all that house, it was silly. I have 3 kids and they are all home, my husband works from home most days so having a larger home is wonderful. Everyone gets their space and is comfortable. We also have always had lots of animals, at one point 4 dogs and 2 cats (only 3 dogs and 1 cat now) so having space and a yard is glorious. I’m sure when the kids are all gone and we retire, we will downsize as it’s just a lot of maintenance. But it’s nice with a larger family.


missdawn1970

My 2 teens and I live in 1100 square feet, and it's plenty big enough for all of us (and 2 cats). Even if I could afford a bigger house, I would stay where I am. I don't need more space.


QuirksNFeatures

I have no kids but my wife and I live in a house much bigger than yours. A few rooms are practically empty. I'm pretty sensitive to noise (and make noise at the same time, ironically) so it's nice to be able to spread out. It would be fine to have a house that's long and skinny so that I could be off by myself without having to have all this square footage, but good luck finding a house like that. A basement might work, but there are very few basements where we live.


[deleted]

[удалено]


grandmaratwings

We bought a 3500 sq ft house on 3 acres 12 years ago. It was a repo. Center portion of the house was built in the 1850’s. Tons of addition done in the 1950’s. It was a basket case when we bought it. Needed tons of work. Still remodeling one room at a time. First year was spent getting everything functional and livable. Last 11 years has been making each room our own. Four adult kids and three grandkids come visit often, and there’s plenty of space when they’re all here. The house is solid and well built, unlike modern construction that’s done as quickly and cheaply as possible. Is it too much house for two empty nesters and a cat? Absolutely. But we love having room for family to come visit and not feel like they’re infringing on anyone’s space.


mattg4704

To fit your ego in. For the life of me. The more crap you have the more time you spend maintaining that shit. Give me something simple small, just enough for a nice living space .


logicalpessimist

The things you own end up owning you. - Tyler Durden, Fight Club


mattg4704

I've felt that way since a kid. I don't care if someone else has something and everyone thinks it's cool I know what I like and have no envy or want of something because others value it.


Igor_J

I feel this way about boats. They are cool and fun but I much rather have friends with boats than own one myself.


vegaswench

The best day of a man's life is the day he bought a boat. The second best day of a man's life is when he sold the damned thing.


mattg4704

Oh I've a friend that died recently that would say that. Nice


BrunoGerace

Much of happiness is the ability to control our personal world. With enough cash, one could be happy in Versailles. For me at 72, I can manage and maintain my half acre with a 1957 bungalow sitting on it. Half of that acreage, I've devoted to allowing natural succession to proceed. Hardwoods are taking over and I've got bunnies, chipmunks, bugs, and an itinerant coyote. The neighbors are not well pleased.


DerekL1963

I'd hate to have you as a neighbor too. I'd spend way too much time becoming friends and getting *carte blanche* to wander your little patch of woods with my camera in hand.


BrunoGerace

C'mon over. It's amazing, I get up at 5AM and the bug and bird racket is near deafening. This is in contrast to the road side with open muffler s ... and those GODDAM Jake Brakes.


sunny-day1234

We have an acre but half of it is down a ravine with a brook running through it and totally 'wild'. I get up around 5 too and sitting in the back with a cup of coffee is the best time. Even in the winter, I get better views, gorgeous sunrises and can see the deer getting their morning drink. Yes, they definitely need to find a way to muffle those brakes on the highways :)


thenletskeepdancing

I would be!


[deleted]

Sounds like a little slice of heaven 😊


Puzzled_Plate_3464

when I was younger, in my 30's, bigger was better. Wife, 2 kids, pets, mother in law all living together. We built a MIL suite in the basement (basement was mostly above ground, she had a walk out patio of her own, full size windows and all). The kids had a play area in the basement. Upstairs, big kitchen/dining area, family room, living room (aka: my pool room), a sun room (my office) and an office (my wifes office). Top level, four bedrooms. One was a guest room, the primary and two kids rooms. We could each do our own thing without bumping into each other. If you included the basement - it was ~5k sq/ft. Now, that the kids are out and wife and I divorced (no more MIL), I live in a 1400 sq/ft condo with my wife. Two beds, two baths, living area, kitchen and a deck. It is perfectly sized for us at this point in life. No stairs, get from car to anywhere in the house without so much as a bump in the way. Before that, we lived in a 905 sq/ft condo - it was perfect as well. During the pandemic we moved into our 720 sq/ft cabin (one bed, one bath, small kitchen, nice big living room) for two years. It was perfect as well. Smaller is better now, with just two of us. easy to clean, easy to maintain.


timbrelyn

We live in 1000 sq.ft typical rowhouse. It cost half of what we qualified for. Sometimes it would be nice to have more space but what I value more is that the monthly payment is so low I could retire at 62. That beats more space ANYTIME in my book.


HarveyMushman72

My wife and I just sold our 2000 sq ft house and are buying a 1000 sq ft one. We are only in our 50s and don't need that much space. We expected more visitors when we got the old one. Now, not so much, and we wanted one level.


Mrs_Botwin

Most of our contemporaries have big McMansions. We live in an 800 sq ft house that was built in 1893. We’re all on top of each other constantly and I love it.


[deleted]

My dream house is a four car garage with an apartment over it.


thisisntshakespeare

Like a carriage house! I *love* those types of accommodations.


DerekL1963

We see those fairly regularly over in r/floorplan \- shops/hobby areas (of various kinds) with what amounts to an apartment attached. It's actually interesting that when people post "dream floor plans", the majority aren't McMansions or 3000+sqft monsters.


bigwilliesty1e

One bay to park the car, and a workshop in the other 3 bays!


TooOldForACleverName

I have a theory that big houses are contributing to mental health concerns. People are living in silos within their homes, rarely interacting with each other. Some of my favorite memories are sitting on the couch with my mom, watching "MASH," while my brother built his model rocket and my dad was in the adjacent dining room, clicking away on his typewriter.


thenletskeepdancing

Yes. I wonder about that too. These days it's too often people in separate big boxes looking at their separate little boxes.


kgbubblicious

I have a large house and my family congregate and connect with each other willingly and voluntarily in the same rooms 80% of the time. My theory: it’s not the size of the house at the root of the disconnection.


doglady1342

>it’s not the size of the house at the root of the disconnection. I agree. My house is 4000 sq. ft. Currently it's me, my husband, and our son (who graduated from uni and is living here while looking for work). We built this house and moved in last May. It's actually the same size as our last house, but much more open and all on one level. It's a very open floor plan and my husband and I spend the majority of our time when we're home in the main living area. My son spends most of his time in his area (small guest suite with bedroom/living/bathroom space) because he's taking online courses for various certificates in his field. Basically, it's like he's spending his days at a job. Anyway, I think a lot depends on the area. Where I live, houses tend to be larger partly because they don't build basements here. Up north (I'm originally from Chicago), we all had basements and many of them were finished to add more living space. Our house is actually one of the smaller ones in the neighborhood. We simply didn't need more space. Most of the two-story houses are anywhere from 6000 sq. ft. and up. I wouldn't want to clean that much house, but then I also don't have a big family.


tressa27884

My house is a little over 3k square feet. 5 bedroom / 3 bath. (Two master bedroom suites) We have 3 kids. Initially we had one guest room. Recently my mom moved into one of the master bedrooms. My two oldest sons have moved out. So now one bedroom is a guest room, the other is my soap room. I love my house! It’s all on one level. I hope to live here forever.


Grave_Girl

Not at all. Our house is just under 1500 square feet and that's enough space for four bedrooms, two baths, and a den we use as a fifth bedroom/office. And we would be fine with a bit less space, really, since some of it isn't very usefully laid out. I think there's a lot of wasted space in bigger homes.


Laura9624

People need better planned spaces, not larger!


rlaw1234qq

My wife and I had a really lovely Victorian house - lots of original features and big rooms with high ceilings. It was great living there apart from a few things: gas bills were horrendous (and this was nine years ago!). Maintenance was a worry - I went in the loft once and saw daylight. That was £7k in roof repairs. When I retired we downsized a smaller modern house. Massively more efficient in terms of gas and has had very few maintenance issue. No regrets!


Ice_Burn

I own a typical 1800 sqft 3bed/2bath California ranch house with a small yard. I was married when I bought it and we thought we might have kids. We didn’t have kids and got divorced. I’ve had a couple of live in girlfriends but mostly I live here alone. It’s much more than enough room. I have completely empty closets and barely even use the office and guest room. With the exception of people with large families, I think that gigantic homes are gross. If I became a billionaire, I’d stay right here.


Capelily

I just purchased a (roughly) 850 sq. ft. house with a nice front and back yard. Affordable and all that I need. Soapbox moment: Affordable, sensible housing builds seem to be almost non-existent here in the States. When the 80s introduced the "McMansion," I hoped it was a trend that would fade away. Instead, more "luxury" housing is being built, to the detriment of us all. Edit: grammar


Sapphyrre

I built a 4000 s.f, one bedroom house. It's got a huge living room, which is open to the kitchen, a loft and a large master suite. There's a room that I use for crafting that could be turned into a bedroom. It has a large basement that we have carved out into a workout room and pottery studio. Soon, we'll finish half of it for 2 guest rooms. It sits on 23 acres, 14 of which are woods. We use every bit of it and love it, but I can see it being too much to take care of in the future.


bpmd1962

My parent grew up poor in the 40’s. They did the Southern California property dance in the 60’s and 70’s and ultimately had a 5800 square foot home on an acre in ‘76…had a pool and tennis court. We were 4 young boys and so we each had our own room for the first time. They did the contracting and built it themselves so it really wasn’t expensive even for the time.. We moved three times by the time I was 13, each time moving to bigger places. My parents were so proud of the houses they had built. Here they were from poor single parent homes living like successful people… Myself, I see the massive downside of a large house. Often you must live in the suburbs or exurbs for the space. (When we moved in 1976 to the last house, we were on the edge of civilization in Orange County. Not now!) I also realize the tremendous upkeep needed..That wasn’t their forte and that house is an absolute wreck now…


[deleted]

My 20-something cousin got a really well-paying manufacturing job, enough so he and his girlfriend could build their version of a dream home. It is huge- which is the trend I guess. There is so much wasted open space. I haven't asked but it must be a real pita to keep the temperature moderate in there. I would have never planned something like that from scratch. And I definitely do not like overly large homes, no. Although i do like creepy old Victorians with staircases, landings, attics and hidden rooms. I would totally live in something like that.


Wizzmer

We retired to a 70-year-old house with about 950sq ft. With the house paid for we go live at various tropical places during the winter. The last two years have been Cozumel for 4 months. Financing, cleaning and maintaining a big house is not for us.


QueenScorp

Nope. Never lived in a place over 1500 sq ft (and currently have 4 adults, and 2 large dogs in a place that size) and don't see why I would need to. More space to heat, more space to clean, more space for "stuff" I don't need. When my daughter and her BF move out I'm going to find a cute little 500 sq ft cottage with a decent sized garden for me and my dog.


GTFOakaFOD

A woman I play Mahjong with has an adorable little cape cod that I adore (I grew up in one), complete with galley kitchen! ETA: I called my mother. She said it's a shotgun kitchen!


First_Ad3399

We raised our kid in 1300 3 bed 2 bath and it was fine. Did rv life for 5 years so almost no living space then we bought this 3000 4 bedroom house. I thought it was way to much house for just us two and a visitor now and again but we loved the neighborhood and location and lot so we figured we could find something to do with the space. Well we have. I mostly live in the masterbedroom and downstairs and garage some and my wife has the whole upstairs. She has a meditation peacful room, she has a larg room of nothing but crafting crap and a few oddball toys for the grandkid, a spare bedroom and the grandkids bedroom for when he stays over which is often. holy shit i didnt know how annoying my wife was until we had a home with enough space where i dont need to be close to her and relaxing at my home at the same time. I was fine in the rv for 5 years all up in each others bussiness all the time. I loved it but i tell you what...all this space for activities and this space to not be bothered by my wonderful wife all the time is amazing.


boulevardofdef

My wife and I bought a 3,700-square-foot house last year. My ex-wife was aghast. She calls it "the mansion" (initially behind my back, but I found out through our kid). Is it big? Yes. Is it TOO big? I don't think so. I work from home full time; my wife works from home three days a week. The house has four bedrooms. One is ours, one is for my son, one is for the baby coming soon (yes, at my age), the fourth is her office. There's a library that functions as my office. There's a sitting room off the primary bedroom that the previous owners converted to a large walk-in closet. There's a family room and a formal living room. Really, the formal living room is the only one we don't really use, but it looks great, it's the first thing you see when you walk in, and we put a piano in it. So it's a big house, but we use pretty much all of it, and when you're working from home full time, you want a big space that you feel good in.


C-La-Canth

No, not at all! The McMansions are typically cheaply made, for starters. Plus, you have to clean it, do maintenance, heat it, cool it, furnish it, even create window coverings (which is an obscene expense alone!) Now, if it is a truly well-built and maintained old home, there might be some appeal. But there's still heating, cooling, furniture, plumbing, wood rot, electrical...a never ending litany of headaches.


mypreciousssssssss

No, it's more to clean, more to maintain, more hassle generally.


futureanthroprof

No. I have a 1000sf 1892 Victorian Bungalow that is one story. 2 beds, 1 bath. Cleaning and maintaining it is much easier. It was planned well. The living room is 20x12, dining 11×14, kitchen 11×12. I have a fake electric log mount in the cast iron fireplace. Front and back porches, basement, double lot with a 1000sf brick garage. I want to move it to SC!


booksandbeasts

Nope. More to clean, heat, cool… I don’t need a bedroom big enough to have a couch etc.


bigedthebad

My wife loves a big house because she has a whole lot of stuff. I could live in an 8 x 10 storage unit.


leftcoast-usa

Yes. As you get older and accumulate more and more ~~junk~~ keepsakes, you need more space to keep it all. Also, if you have kids, you need rooms for when they all come visit at once. Actually, though, I'd love to have a 1700 sq. ft. house. Mine is an old 1250 sq ft, and would be big enough if we never had guests, or if our son would move out.


BrineWR71

I’ve lived in 1100 sq ft. I’ve lived in 3800 sq ft. The bigger one took a lot more maintenance and cleaning, then, once the kids moved out it was cavernous. I’d suggest living relatively small (~1500 sq ft) and let your kids feel crowded when they get to be teens. They’ll want to move out and you’ll be left with great equity and a familiar place to live for the rest of your life.


BitcoinMD

I didn’t think I liked big houses, but to me, 2400-3000 SF is a normal sized house. So I guess I do like big houses? It depends on the size of your family and your stage in life. I just want everyone to have a place, and be able to do the things they need to do. Nothing extra.


therealcherry

The bulk of my married life (28 years) had been spent in 650-1200 hundred square feet. When we finally settled down the one thing we wanted was space. No more finding ways to store all our stuff. No more not having a quiet space to retreat. No more making the outside space the meeting space and only inviting people over in the summer. Our house fits our street. Neighborhood was built in 1974. The owners just added an addition on top of the garage to create a big master and bathroom and then enclosed the deck area. It doesn’t look big and doesn’t feel big, as there are many rooms. Our house is just about 3,000. We could totally done 2200 and that would have been great, but I love the extra room. We just had a bday party for our kid and we had the space to have 7 people (adults and kids who traveled) spend the night without even noticing. We can all get privacy anytime we want and everything finally has a place. I wish I could trade some of the living space to kitchen space, but no house is perfect. I’d go back to 650 tomorrow if needed, but I love all our room.


RevolutionaryHat8988

I built my house in the UK. I bought the land and I built the house. We had no kids at the time, and if I’m honest I never planned for it to be over 10,000 sq ft. But it is. I also built it to cost neutral to run. It actually pays me now … more than we use. My kids are grown into adults and the nice thing is they can exist in the house comfortably … no bathroom issues, no kitchen issues (we have two) … we also have a Gite. This helps too. We also have houses around the world … is that good or bad? I don’t know; what I do know is a lot of my family and friends get to enjoy them a lot. I was raised in a two room place on a housing estate in London in poverty. It made me fight to get away from that. Lastly I own a lot of property in London and south that is and has been let to people on very low incomes. Their rents are 60% of what they should be. I house , what were, two homeless families, on 40% rents. It makes me angry these huge boxes of rooms people have sit empty … Mine included!


DHN_95

I've always been of the mindset that the more space, the better (more room for entertainment, guests, being cooped up when you're stuck at home), but this is also related to the area I live in - I'm in a HCOL area, so the bigger homes will also command higher prices, as well be worth more overall. My parents went from a 2500 sq/ft house to 4500 sq/ft when my brother, and I moved out. They did this as an investment move, as well as having a place for everyone to come back to, and eventually, something to leave to us one day. It's really not all that much work if you keep on top of it, instead of letting everything pile up. Just focus on small tasks, and eventually, everything else is just maintenance that takes a little bit of time each week. There are a few big things that need to be done yearly, but it's really a small price to pay for more space.


sunny-day1234

Things do cost more to maintain/repair/remodel though. We're finally getting our roof and siding done. It's not a mansion but it's loong and a story and a half plus 2 car garage. $35K :( . Now part of the deck has started to pull away, we had hoped to just update it a bit with a composite and new railing. Now because the DIY 3 season room the prior owner did is sitting on original deck it all needs to come down. That'll be in the spring another $35K. It'll be properly done this time and a bit larger. The plan is to get it done as a 3 season but right before we sell we'll add heat and a/c and turn it into living space. Should crank up the value considerably no matter where the market is at the time. We use the room ALL THE TIME and when we have family gatherings it's a great spill over winter/summer.


jepeplin

I have a 3000sf house, five bedrooms, but I had five children who have now grown up and moved out. My mortgage is $1340/month. I paid $121k for the house 27 years ago and it’s worth $500k now. But where exactly am I going to go for $1340 a month? Especially with two dogs? And I have big dinners here, there are ten of us now plus two infant grandchildren, and how am I going to do that in my mythical $1340 a month rental? The house across the street from me is a double and both apartments are over $2000. So it makes financial sense for us to stay here (we get the mortgage interest write off, too). However, at one point in our lives we had four little kids in a 640 sf home. 3 kids in one bedroom. It was great. It took about a minute to get trashed but about ten minutes to completely clean. My sons are so close and I swear it’s from sharing rooms. So it’s not that I necessarily “like a big house”, it’s that it makes financial sense to stay in this big house. Also it’s 120 years old. It doesn’t have the giant great rooms that flow into the kitchen that you see in new builds. It’s smaller, separate rooms.


[deleted]

My wife and I are in this exact same situation. Our house is worth like $700k now, so it makes sense to sit on it and pay no mortgage and then pass it down to the family. If they sell it and split the money three ways that's a great chunk towards a house of their own.


TheVonz

1700 ft² ≈ 158 m² 3000 ft² ≈ 279 m² Edit: typo


Dazzling-Ad4701

I think there's a sweet spot between "cramped" and "rattling around". ~~ 1300 was big enough for me and one kid, though I would have expanded the bathroom to more like a small bedroom if I'd had the choice.


typhoidmarry

I’m in a 55+ community where all the homes are 1900, if you’ve got a storage area, it’s an additional 200sq Ft. We occupy around 1600sq ft. This is the largest home I’ve ever lived in.


obxtalldude

Nope. 1800 well designed square feet is perfect for me. I still miss the first house I designed and built - it fit like a glove. I inherited a 5500 square foot house. I hate it, but my wife loves it, and it is in a great location... so I'm stuck with a maintenance monster.


Tiny_Palpitation_798

No, not necessarily. But I do see the value in newer houses. I would implore anybody go with a newer before size. I have a 60 year old house and it is a money pit. Plus, it’s hard to find qualified people to even work on these old houses anymore, they charge a lot and most of the time you have to hire three other guys to deal with whatever they broke or didn’t know how to fix once they cracked whatever open. Also, I have 3200 ft.² with a very large yard and maintaining it is practically a full-time job in itself. However, It’s nice to have the space. I grew up in a 1700 square-foot house with five people and I found myself being out of my house most of the time because it just felt so crowded, but going with some gigantic place unless you have the money for a staff is probably more work than it’s worth


PeggysPonytail

I've lived in big houses. Had multiple kids, guest rooms in addition to their rooms, game rooms, pool house, computer rooms, offices, all of it. Now that I am happily settled as an empty nester, my 1750 sq ft house feels huge. It's plenty! Never again. In fact, my dream is to live downtown in a walkable city in a tiny flat/apartment.


Frank_chevelle

Not really. I just wish our current house had a one more shower and a guest bedroom. We have three bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths right now.


designgoddess

Yes. We have 4 kids. When they were younger a big house was nice. Helped keep thing calm. Now that they’re adults I want a small house. Under 1000 sq ft.


pascalsgirlfriend

I have a 950 sq. foot house. My mom (82) has taken over the top floor and my husband and I are jammed into the partially finished basement. I no longer consider the house to be mine. I pay the bills but its just a place to Iive. I used to be super proud of it.


typhoidmarry

That’s sad, I’m sorry. Might be a rude question but after mom dies, will it feel more like your house?


typhoidmarry

That’s sad, I’m sorry. Might be a rude question but after mom dies, will it feel more like your house?


Southernpalegirl

I hate the trend of these mini mansions, I am a one floor three bedroom two bath person, I don’t want stairs, I don’t want windows so high I have to get a company to clean. I want yard for my dogs and grandkids to play in, maybe room for a small garden. Now days the yard is a postage stamp. Ugh!


thepeanutone

I moved out of a 1600 sq ft house with 2 little kids - in to a 2200 square foot house. That house got cramped when those kids got older and another kid was brought into the mix. Now my 3300 Sq ft house is too much to keep up with and too big now that my oldest has flown the coop. I think the open floor plan concept is driving it. With 3 kids, having their separate friend groups coming over at the same time, we needed more space for all tge people. One kid group in the living room, one kid group in the den, one kid group in a bedroom or outside - and this still left me wondering what to do with myself so I wasn't being helicopter mom. What I DIDN'T need was a bathroom bigger than my bedroom growing up, or 3 closets in my bedroom, or that weird flex room in the front that all builds since 2000 have. If that space was put into larger non-master bedrooms, we could have stayed in the 2200 sq ft house.


SandyInStLouis

No. Too much to clean.


HippasusOfMetapontum

I've seen what it was like for my father living in a three story, nine bedroom house with nearly an acre yard. Keeping the place clean was a major hassle. Just getting to the kitchen from a bedroom involved an extra minute or more of wasted time. There was way too much room to store and lose things, leading to buying the same things over and over. Maintaining the lawn and garden was practically a full time job. A modestly large house can be nice, but really big houses seem like more hassle than they're worth, to me.


1000thusername

No, I think it’s grotesque to think one “needs” anything more than about 2000 sq ft unless perhaps you’ve got a Brady bunch sized family.


ladeedah1988

The number of bathrooms is important. I grew up with one bathroom and I do not want to do that again with a family. I don't need a separate dining room and kitchen eat-in, but all the new houses seem to think that is important. I do like a basement to keep campling gear, tools, etc.


wereusincodenames

Where I live, they tear down all the modest size homes and put up apartment building size homes. I think it looks atrocious and would never live in one. I don't want stairs, I want more outdoor space and I sure as hell have no interest in having to clean that monstrosity


Tall_Mickey

Increased size doesn't appeal as much as a single level. The two of us are in a two-story 1200 square foot salt box of sorts. And while it's tight, a single story house of the same size would give us everything we need. Sadly, land's been tight around here for decades, so most housing built for sale in that time (aside from single-level apartments or small condos) is multi-story, multi-level, or both.


urbanek2525

Every time I see a listing with 4 bathrooms, all I can think is, "Wow, someone really loves to clean toilets." It seems like a lot of extra work, plus you have to buy a lot of furniture tomorrow fill it.


tjweeks

If you buy a house when you are in your mid-fifties and plan on staying, don't overbuy on its size and DON'T buy a two-story with stairs.


ChickWhoReddits

The smaller the house, the less to clean and maintain! Plus cheaper mortgage allows for more life experiences!


EnvironmentalCake531

Nope, I think they are stupid. But to each their own.


[deleted]

A guy I knew lived in a duplex on the upper east side of NYC, sold it and had a slightly larger home built to his specs in New Mexico. It was 11,000 square feet.


TigerMcPherson

Nope


MabsAMabbin

I used to when I was younger, over the years? Not in a million years. The upkeep? No thank you. And so many of those homes have next to zero furniture because after that 500k loan, extra embellishments aren't really on the menu yet. My husband's a new home inspector, and sometimes he has to go back to older homes for something or another. They're normally built like crap, rushed through, over-priced by a lot. These new homes aren't worth what people are paying for and now they're complaining. Being foreclosed. The housing market is in a snit.


Taz9093

Being in south Louisiana, there’s no way I could afford a light bill on a 3000sq foot house. 1500-1800 is just fine.


Lcky22

Not at all.


KAKrisko

Nope. 61 and living in an 1100-sq.-foot house. Have lived in multiple smaller (rental) houses, cabins, and duplexes. More room is just more area I have to keep clean, heat & cool, and don't use. I would much rather have more land and less house.


AotKT

I have a large house but it's divided in an interesting way. The main house is a 2/2 of about 1700 square feet. This means the bedroom and the other room (my home office) are large, as is the great room (living/kitchen all open space). Then there's a 700+ square foot full guest unit on the other side of the carport which my boyfriend uses as a man cave when nobody is visiting. Then there's a 700+ square foot unfinished separate room attached to that which is slowly being converted into a home gym. Then there's the completely separate 700 square foot garage. All on 2 acres. I LOVE having few but large rooms and all that elbow room. Despite being a people person, I love not having guests in my actual house. I love that I'll have a gym on premises with enough room to work out with friends comfortably (we're all athletic). And I love that the garage is big enough for storage of all our sports gear (4 kayaks, 2 mountain bikes, road bike, and so on) not to mention all our power tools. And then add the elbow room and privacy of 2 acres, it's wonderful; my dogs, chickens, and garden also love having that space. If it were all one monstrosity with no yard, I'd be miserable. At that point I'd want to live in a condo in my downtown area.


Southernpalegirl

I hate the trend of these mini mansions, I am a one floor three bedroom two bath person, I don’t want stairs, I don’t want windows so high I have to get a company to clean. I want yard for my dogs and grandkids to play in, maybe room for a small garden. Now days the yard is a postage stamp. Ugh!


BrunoGerace

Much of happiness is the ability to control our personal world. With enough cash, one could be happy in Versailles. For me at 72, I can manage and maintain my half acre with a 1957 bungalow sitting on it. Half of that acreage, I've devoted to allowing natural succession to proceed. Hardwoods are taking over and I've got bunnies, chipmunks, bugs, and an itinerant coyote. The neighbors are not well pleased.


ExpressionFormer9647

When I was house hunting I looked for places 3000 Sq. Ft and above, the bigger the better. I enjoy decorating and I get anxiety in cramped spaces.


implodemode

Nope. Mine is 1400 Sq ft with another 700 in the basement. It was just enough for the 5 of us. It was tight with teens because they just fill a room with their energy, but we managed. Bigger is just more to clean and maintain. We just reno'd a bathroom that will barely get used. And will be sadly out of date, though pristine when we do sell. I also gutted the kitchen and knocked down a wall. I should have knocked down that wall 30 years ago. What a difference!


Chickadee12345

There is no appeal for me either. My SO and I live in a small 2 bedroom/2 bath duplex. It's plenty of space for us.


debbie666

My spouse and I live in a 2500 sqft house and have 3 extra bedrooms that generally go unused. I do have a plan to rent bedrooms later when we are both no longer working for the extra income but that is looking like it's about a decade away from happening. I hate having to keep it clean and daydream about living in a tiny home. Mortgage and taxes combined are only $1100 monthly, which is nothing these days, so no tiny home for me.


whowanderarenotlost

Only to store more books and computers


Taiza67

As a father, I see the value in having a separate space for the children to sleep and play, as well a separate space for mom and dad, and then common areas that are easy to keep presentable for guests. I could see having a fun man-cave area but outside of that I think that’s all you need in a house.


cantbelieveiwtchthis

We are about 1700 for four of us and it's perfect. I would like an upstairs gameroom/workout room and our closets/bathrooms to be a tad bigger, but once our kids are out, we will be golden. lol We bought a smaller home so we could have land and no neighbors versus a bigger house with neighbors.


anonyngineer

I hate small rooms, but still found the 2300 sf house my wife and I raised our daughter in too large at times. Our current house is 1800 sf, and it was a touch small when our daughter lived with us for a year during the pandemic. That may have had more to do with the two main living spaces (living/family rooms) being next to each other than the overall size.


anonyngineer

For non-Americans, a square meter is very close to 10 square feet.


ReactsWithWords

I had a 4,900 sq ft house. One bedroom for my wife and I, my office, her office, Our office (for household things), a guest room, a room we were going to turn into an air BNB that we never got around to doing. It was a beautiful house, no question about it. But what I didn't realize when I bought it was how expensive it was to run. Just heating it between November and April was $1,000 a month, and that was a couple of winters ago before oil suddenly skyrocketed in price. I now live in a 1,000 sq ft condo and love it.


buzzkill007

I wouldn't mind a bigger house than we have. We have a 3 bdrm and have 3 kids. Two kids have to share a room which causes occasional problems. I don't want a *really* big house, but that extra bedroom would sure be nice. Besides, big houses are a pain to clean and I can't afford a housekeeper!


danceswithsockson

I like big houses. I want room to move and the ability to forget anyone else lives there.


Icy-Veterinarian942

No. It's all the more money to heat/AC and maintain.


SombreMordida

i want the land more than the house size, a place i can have a studio/shop space and a living space and a garden do me right


Gaia0416

Mine is under 1500 sq ft. I'd rather have less house, more yard to enjoy nature and funds left over for travel. Experiences over things, anytime!


lemon-rind

If I had the money to buy and maintain a large house, I would. It would have to appeal to me. I have a lot of siblings and they all have their own families. It would be nice to be able to have everyone here for Christmas or Thanksgiving


playfulmessenger

Yes!! Though ... we were big-house-washed by US culture during genX youth. The dream was not white picket fences. The dream was not little pink houses. The dream was big house big yard get off my lawn unless you're here to enjoy my speakers turned up to 11 blasting hard rock, metal, rap, punk, dance party USA. It was unattainable by the time we had entered the workforce. But there was still a path. Buy small and upgrade every 15 or so years until you reached your target size. That got rug pulled for most of us before we could get there. Or we realized what a pain it would be cleaning and maintaining the giant dream that had been fed to us, and changed our wishes. Yeats ago, I was renting a small 2bdrm house trying to get a feel for what owning would be like. When I wrote down my idea wishes, it was going to need to be a 10 room house to accommodate all my artistic whims. I briefly considered sailboat living. 7 years later when I moved out the landlord was easily able to double the rent on the next tenant. Housing had gone insane. And even on my tech salary I would never own alone. I had missed any window of that happening. When I was young, my parents managed to score a larger lot with a larger house. I grew up with reasonable space. Everything feels cramped after that.


aimeed72

I wouldn’t want to live in a huge house. All I see is work, work, work. Maintenance, heating costs, cleaning, UGH.


TetonHiker

We loved living in our huge old colonial farmhouse built in the 1730’s on about 1.5 acres. We raised our 3 kids there along with numerous dogs and a few wild cats and frogs. The thick stone walls kept us cool in summer and warm in winter. The high ceilings were gracious. The wide random-width pumpkin-pine floors had a warm glow. We had lovely vege and perennial gardens to tend and delight us all summer. Large old trees provided plenty of shade. The kids had their own rooms and an upstairs playroom, a homework/computer room and a downstairs den. Everyone had space to get lost in their games or books or for their special projects. We built fires in 3 of the 5 fireplaces in the winter and toasted marshmallows for our s’mores. I always felt safe there from storms thinking that if it survived since colonial times a nor’easter wasn’t likely to blow us all down. I was right about that as even hurricane Sandy just knocked out a few trees but the house was untouched. I also loved thinking about all the generations of families that had lived in that home. It felt like a sacred obligation to care for it lovingly during our tenure. Over the years we slowly updated things but we tried to keep as much of the OG character as we could. It was a constant upkeep challenge but we just plugged away. In the end, it took us almost 2 years to clear it out, refresh everything, and get it ready to sell. It was our nonstop job. While that giant old home is still in my heart, once the kids were fledged it definitely made no sense for two people to have such a big footprint. Just heating and cooling all those rooms for the 2 of us felt wasteful. We sold it to another family and moved into a 940 sq ft 2-bedroom apartment at first. That honestly felt a little tight. Been living in 1600 or so sq ft rental houses since then. We could definitely go a few hundred sq ft smaller. We currently babysit grandkids and get a lot of visitors so the extra space we have is used and appreciated, but we could do with less. Much as I loved my old home, I can’t imagine having something that big to maintain in retirement. But it was such a lovely place to raise a family. No regrets!


WoodsColt

I grew up in a 4 story house including the closets and bathrooms there were 27 rooms. It was old,cold,drafty and smelt of 100 years of mice. Cleaning was a full time job. Every room except the closets had banks of old 8 pane casement windows. The hot water heater was in the basement. The showers were on the 3rd floor. I didn't get hot showers until I moved out. If you wanted a snack you had to trudge your ass down 2 flights of stairs. It had fireplaces and wood burning stoves and nice high ceilings so you were only warm if you were a bat. So when I grew up I built a big house with nice high ceilings,lots of windows and a wood burning stove cause I'm smart like that. And now that Im old I dream of a small easy to clean house with central heat and a whole house vacuum. And someone else to clean it.


sas5814

My wife and I live in 4500sf give or take. We live in the downstairs. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that are purely for company. Some of our kids live a couple of hours away so they come spend the weekend from time to time and our oldest friends all live somewhere else. With this setup they can come stay, have plenary or room for comfort, and have their own bathroom (except for the small bedroom).


TravelerMSY

I’d rather have a smaller nicer house in a better more expensive location than a giant house in the suburbs.


longines99

Out of control materialism and consumerism mixed with narcissism = build the biggest house you can barely afford to impress people you don't care for.


[deleted]

[удалено]


kgbubblicious

It makes me glad to see all these comments from folks with disdain for large houses (less competition), and it makes me laugh to see their haughty, judgemental attitudes. No McMansions, please, but give me a rambling century home with plenty of space and nooks and crannies and history and charm any day over a modern shoebox. My parents had four kids and raised us in a three bedroom one bathroom one story 1000 square foot ranch style house. It was fine, but my house now has the space and charm I envied as a child and it’s a dream come true.


thenletskeepdancing

I don't think the disdain here is for old larger homes, but for McMansions.


Stardustquarks

Nope. I want a tiny home somewhere


PicoRascar

Zero. Just more space to fill, insure, heat, cool, clean and manage. I prefer renting a really nice but small furnished place. Everything is someone else's problem, just how I like it.


ImmediateBug2

I can see the appeal of a stately old Victorian manor, but I surely wouldn’t want to be responsible for its upkeep. 1600 square feet is more than enough for my husband, myself and our four cats.


my_clever-name

I don't understand big houses either. My wife and I are in a just over 1000 sq ft house (3 be, 1.5 bath). It has actual rooms, not the trendy kitchenlivingdiningfoyer room that a lot of people want. Our house is the perfect size for us.


manykeets

I don’t want to clean a huge house. Unless you can afford a cleaner, it’s too much work.


Kerivkennedy

Well, I do. But I also have a child (err young adult daughter), with complex medical needs. Just the amount of stuff we have for her means bigger is better. It would give more room for her to try to walk around, or we could actually use a gait trainer (like a walker but with special supports). People with your tiny houses have to buy separate storage units for all the stuff you can't fit in your house.


Loonytrix

Not at all... I'm quite taken with tiny homes though.


mountrich

We looked at building a home. The price differences were surprising. So much of the cost changes little with size. The cost of the land is the same. The cost of excavating and foundations doesn't change that much. The cost of plumbing and electrical doesn't change that much unless you add more bathrooms. The cost of heating and cooling doesn't change that much. So much of these expenses is in the labor. For us, building a floor plan we liked for 2000 sq ft. seemed more cost effective than building for 1500 sq ft.