Living in a smaller house

[syracusa]

Re: Living in a smaller house

syracusa, I live in a Cape Cod house. The ground floor of my house has about as much square footage as the aprtment I grew up in with my eight siblings and parents. It is somewhat true that people get a bigger house and then have to get more "stuff" to fill it! I am looking to de-clutter myself. My basement is a disaster! My wife would have liked a bigger house but that comes with bigger expenses and taxes!

A greatmany folks on this site are not in huge houses nor do they want to be. I orefer the coziness of my home. I don't want to live in a McMansion that is a cookie cutter of all the others going up! I have oak hardwood floors in my house. You don't get that today! I have a one car garage and we live on a 1/3 acre. That is palatial compared to how I grew up!

Don't assume that all AMericans are the same. You need to travel the country a bit to see what it is all about! We are as diverse a group as you'll ever meet!

No, of course I am not assuming that about ALL.
I have seen small, cosy, high quality and very beautifully decorated American homes - where you can just feel that "homey" spirit.
But I think that the trend towards large, poor quality, impersonal, ego-stroking housing is worrisome as mentality.
I am of course aware that most people on this forum would probably not prefer that kind of lifestyle.
Maybe it is preaching to the choir - that is probably the flaw in my post.
But you never know who reads it.

[PRICEPLUS]

Re: Living in a smaller house

Ego stroking housing is a problem as is the huge trucks people use to run to the grocery store. It sometimes gets crazy with the status symbol syndrome! I think people somehow think that flashy objects means they are superior to others. Pretty sad if you ask me! I have noticed the penchant for larger and more expensive homes. It truly is sad.

I don't think your post is flawed. It is just that most of the folks here are, as you say, not into the wasteful lifestyle anymore!

[Ima saver]

Re: Living in a smaller house

We just built an 1800 square feet, but then decided to finish the basement. It really does not cost that much to finish a basement and then you have doubled the space. So, this house now has 6 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and 2 kitchens and is almost 3600 square feet. I would love to move into this house. I could have my office and computer room on the main floor and not upstairs like I do now.

[syracusa]

Re: Living in a smaller house

Ego stroking housing is a problem as is the huge trucks people use to run to the grocery store. It sometimes gets crazy with the status symbol syndrome! I think people somehow think that flashy objects means they are superior to others. Pretty sad if you ask me! I have noticed the penchant for larger and more expensive homes. It truly is sad.

I don't think your post is flawed. It is just that most of the folks here are, as you say, not into the wasteful lifestyle anymore!

It's true.

[JanH]

Re: Living in a smaller house

The only thing I really had a problem with in syracusa's post was the definition of "art." I for one, don't feel that spending tons of money on some paint on a piece of canvas practical. And some of what I see in museums doesn't qualify as "art" to me. Although, I do like a lot of beautiful paintings. I don't have pictures of the kids on the walls or even in my wallet, but I reserve the right to do so if that is "art" to me. Every person's taste is their own, whether art or decor. They are the ones who live with and enjoy it each day.
Sorry for the "rant," but for some reason that bugged me a bit.

[boefixepa]

Re: Living in a smaller house

Syracuse, I happen to agree with you in my area. It's a general statement, and generalities are there for a reason. This forum leans to the more conservative minded people so many here will not fall into this generality. That said I agree with you....

[Gruntina]

Re: Living in a smaller house

In my case the sq ft house I mention (1300) would seem large in most cases but you can not walk in the upstairs since the ceiling except for 4 ft strip since the ceiling bows to the floor after 4 feet. Its 13 by 15 ft upstairs. I guess can be used for storage and not much else. The other room is super long and skinny. 13 by 7 feet. But the kicker is the closet is on end and the door is on the other long end. Can’t put a bed in there without jumping over it. so I feel the sq feet usage is miss leading and reality it just a one room house as the useable bedroom is large enough for a bed but only a bed with a limited closet. This house cost over 400,000 in the "as in" condition and there is just nothing with that price in any surrounding areas where I live stretch out for 3 hours around. So smaller house where we live does not mean cost efficient!


It’s either living here or live in a 600 ft town home with no yard and no privacy and only one bedroom surrounded in a very congested bad side of the city for the next level price. I much rather live out in the mountains were deers traverse on our yard.

I am seriously suspicious of how so many people own all these millions of homes located here. An older home of 40 years of age runs for 750,000!!!!

[tinapbeana]

Re: Living in a smaller house

syracusa, having lived in the atlanta area i can say that sandy springs is a hotbead of the mcmansion mentality and may not be giving you a very well rounded view of the area or country as a whole (and you're right, i say this not know where else in the country you have lived or visited).

most older american homes are right in keeping with what is a more traditional view: like the bungelows in candler park off of ponce between decatur and midtown. i lived in a 1300 sqft 3BR house in that area on a tiny lot and absolutely loved it. by current builders standards, you could never fit 3 BRs in 1300 sqft.

i think part of it may be the 'fill it up' mentality. america is a very big country, and places that are undeveloped can seem overwhelming. i think a lot of builders try to fill the space up. again, just one of my many opinions.

[JanH]

Re: Living in a smaller house

I, too, wonder what on earth people in this area are putting into these humongous houses and how many people actually live there. I'm not sure it is a totally new phenomenon. Last century, my great grandmother lived in a high-ceilinged, large roomed, three story house in town with a full attic and basement. Her neighbors did, too. We have Historic homes in this area that are fairly large, and plantations and other areas have mansions for the Vanderbilts and other high society. In other countries, there are castles and estates. I am sure there are many more of these huge homes than ever before, but the reasons for building them probably have been around for a very long time.

[JanH]

Re: Living in a smaller house

Okay, so I thought about the art thing again. A large, tasteful painting would look better on the walls. But I still don't have a problem with people putting photos on display. Especially those people who can take awesome photographs and capture amazing scenes, including those with their loved ones in them. I have several amazing ink drawings from a guy whose eyesight is now too bad to draw. I absolutely love some of these.

[tinapbeana]

Re: Living in a smaller house

well, room dimensions have changed with time, and high ceilings (at least in the south) had a lot to do with keeping a room cooler in the summer... same thing with doors that don't go all the way up to that high ceiling, the hot air doesn't move from room to room...

rooms used to have a slightly bigger sqft footprint to accomodate armoirs and chiffarobes like syracusa described, as opposed to having closets. bigger houses were made even bigger still by the need to have servent quarters/entrances/stairwells, etc...

all in all i find the history of residential architecture too darn interesting and almost as addictive as office supplies

[JanH]

Re: Living in a smaller house

My grandmother inherited HALF of the parlor rug among other things. Half a rug was the same size as one of my grandmother's bedrooms. I can't imagine how big just the parlor was in great grandmother's house! The room also contained a player piano. My mother was offered it, but it wouldn't fit into our mucho smaller house. My mother does have the large bedroom set. The bed is stored cos the headboard is too tall for modern ceilings. And don't get me started on how many dining pieces there are running around from there.

[MonkeyMama]

Re: Living in a smaller house

I really see both sides of the coin here.

I wanted to add that the reason we ended up with a larger house was not at all because we wanted a super large house. Frankly, my husband just wanted a dedicated theatre room and so we shopped for that perfect bonus room and bought the house that came with it - pretty much. BAsements are a rare find in Cali. Unheard of in the area we live. IT is a major flood risk area I imagine is why - ??? A basement would have done just fine.

We have been house shopping - wanting to get into an older neighborhood. But we have looked at smaller things that would fit us great and bigger houses that felt smaller. That aspect amazed me because I Feel our house is rather excessive and wastes a lot of space. But I appreciate now we knew what we are doing after looking at so many older houses that waste even more space. Layout IS everything.

One day when we move out of Cali altogether or win the lottery we will build that perfect custom home - I doubt it will be more than 2000 sf and it will have A LOT. Just pointing out I guess we bought more for some leisure things than needing a lot of living space. We have been looking at much more modest homes with oversized garages we could convert part of to a theatre room, etc. Anyway, we have a big house but there is nothing flashy about our lifestlye. Except our house I guess, which we actually downgraded to from our way overpriced condo in the SF area. HEy it was even cheaper than out super small space - another reason - we were just in awe of our buying power when we moved.

Frankly I had quite the attitide towards our neighbors that they must all be snooty to buy such big houses, but most of them are pretty darn frugal. So many from the Bay Area too, like us, just were in awe with buying power. Most of us are just grateful we can afford a home - any home. So our neighborhood really buck the assumptions of who buys big houses. We chose a newer house for many reasons - there are a lot of advantages. Roof is warranted for 50 years, has the most updated technology, so energy efficient, etc. I do not agree newer is subpar in the least. I do feel they slapped up the house pretty quick - yes - BUT we have been looking at a lot of older homes and frankly we can't afford the upkeep. Or the energy bills!

On the flip side, I have mentioned how amazed I Was at the 20-something crowd around here and their sense of entitlement. This area was pretty affordable until the last few years housing prices have almost tripled. I know a few 22-year-olds around here who grew up here and feel entitled to a McMAnsion. It is the ultimate status symbol I guess, but that everyone is entitled to???? I had a friend going into debt over renting a 3000 sf house she could not afford. Not even a college degree between her and her hubby - 2 small kids - but they were killing themselves for a McMansion. Sge was 22!!!!!! We have all talked how crazy real estate is and I mentioned many times to friends to start out with a small house, or a condo, and move up. OR just move out of the area entirely. They all look at me like I Am crazy to suggest these things though the only reason we have such a nice house is we did those 2 things. I find this more and more because frankly we have the fanciest house of anyone we know. What no one else understands is that our mortgage is lower than any rent they are paying. To them we are just *rich.* Ack!!! Frankly I don't have the heart to tell them their rent is $500 more per month for their small house than my mortgage is. Plus I geta tax break. This is a long way to say - yeah - BIG is *in* when it comes to houses, particularly for the young generation. And apparently needed when you are 20 or so. I guess it all makes me sick because I grew up where owning a 2-bedroom fixxer upper by the train tracks was not anywhere near our price range ($500k+). So you kind of freak out when people have much more affordable housing at their fingertips but are letting it go because all they can afford is a 3-bedroom house in a great neighborhood, and that is not good enough. Coming from my background I just want to smack them!

It is all relative, eh?

[dossin1]

Re: Living in a smaller house

We have 1350 sq ft and it feels cramped for the four of us. I wouldn't mind moving up to about 2000. The picture of the house shown on the website looked like a tool shed, I can't see anyone with a family wanting to live there, but to each his own.

[Elgin526]

Re: Living in a smaller house

My home is 1300 sqft and I think it's fine for up to 4 people. More than that, and I think it would be a bit crowded! We do have a full basement and the yard, while small, is large enough for a couple of kids to play in. I do wish my kitchen was a smidge bigger, and the upstairs is a bit small. Our house is a Cape Code, so the upstairs has a smaller floor plan than the down stairs. Three bedrooms and a full (but small!) bath in an area meant for two bedrooms only! There is a dormer off the back, but still the upstairs is tiny!

We do have a ton of closets though. I have 7 downstairs plus one in each bedroom upstairs plus the linen closet in the bathroom. Also two of the bedrooms have access to the attic through the back of the closets that's good for long term storage. It's a pack rats dream, I'm telling you!