Someone explain the big houses in the burbs to me...

[Anonymous]

Why would you buy that large lot and build a house with so many stairs? Why not make it a one level instead? Is it just for the looks?

DH and I grew up in different countries but this is one thing that was common... houses are one level, mostly to accommodate a growing family (no stairs is safer for young children) and comfortable to age together there since the elderly have a hard time handling stairs.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

I wonder the same, or why buying a huge house without a backyard?

[Anonymous]

I can't explain why people want giant houses, but I can totally understand more levels: privacy. Guests just don't come up stairs. When we are old and our knees are bad, we'll move.

[Anonymous]

We live on one level and don't lack for privacy. There's a door to the hallway that goes to the bedrooms and we've never had guests wander.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't explain why people want giant houses, but I can totally understand more levels: privacy. Guests just don't come up stairs. When we are old and our knees are bad, we'll move.

OP here. The way the house is built makes it very private. I could never hear my brother listening to his crazy songs neither hear my parents in their bedroom. There's always a room between the social part of the house and the private part and often a hallway and doors.

And in case of an emergency everybody has direct access outside.

[Anonymous]

Land is expensive. Overall, it is often cheaper to build up than to acquire more land to accommodate the same square footage.

[Anonymous]

Yup, cheaper to build up, for a lot of reasons. Not just land.

[Anonymous]

I would hazard a guess that most Americans [at least on the coasts] finding sprawling one-level homes to be fairly unattractice. So, yes, OP, its the aesthetic. Also, most Americans do not live with multiple generations, just two. I dislike what is commonly called "McMansions" but I would find a sprawling large one-story house even more distatsteful.

[Anonymous]

I've heard placed like Texas have large one-level homes. They have large lots there and no basements so they spread out. It also probably helps with cooling the house in the summer. The second level of a house is always hard to keep cool. And yet here in DC we have so many townhouses that are 3 or 4 levels into the sky. Even if you had trees, they wouldn't be high enough to offer any shade to the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't explain why people want giant houses, but I can totally understand more levels: privacy. Guests just don't come up stairs. When we are old and our knees are bad, we'll move.

I am old and my knees are bad, and I can't find an acceptable one-level house! Very frustrating.

[Anonymous]

I think ramblers or ranch homes look like brick trailers for the most part

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think ramblers or ranch homes look like brick trailers for the most part

Do you mind sharing where you've seen a trailer like this?

[Anonymous]

Oh look, another gorgeous trailer...

[Anonymous]

If I could afford this trailer I would not even mind to deal with the lack of sidewalks on our trailer park...

[Anonymous]

those two houses are both ugly. they remind me of the kind of cheap place that would house "the real world." sorry.