House size - family of 5

[Anonymous]

We’re a family of four and we have 5200 square feet, 6 bed, 4.5 bath. We would manage without the sixth bedroom but otherwise the space feels optimal, so ideal would be 4500-5000 sqft.

We previously lived in 2500 sqft 4bed, 3bath house and it felt crammed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Humble brag

It's all relative... I have friends who grew up in a modest townhouse who think our 3,000 sq ft home is huge.... and others who grew up in 4,000 sq ft homes who think that it is a little on the small side.
We're in Great Falls now and I can assure that most in our immediate area think our home is modest.

You can argue that your still right, but its only right from your perspective - not everyone's.

[Anonymous]

5,500 sq ft including basement. We use the basement bedroom mostly as storage though. It’s far too big for us day-to-day, but we like that it doesn’t get crowded when we have long-term visitors.

[Anonymous]

Family of 4 in 2300 sf main house, with additional 700 sf of (cheaply) finished basement under. The layout fits our needs and the rooms are comfortable, not enormous.

4 bedrooms and 2 full baths upstairs, 1 full bath on main level (attached to a family room that converts to a guest room suite), and a fourth full bath in the basement (which can also accommodate guests. We have a basement walk in entry into an unfinished part that serves as a "mud room", generally only used as such when it snows or the dog is filthy.

We have enough space that we can spread out as needed. (And sometimes it's really needed!) We're only really full when my brother shows up with his family of 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humble brag

It's all relative... I have friends who grew up in a modest townhouse who think our 3,000 sq ft home is huge.... and others who grew up in 4,000 sq ft homes who think that it is a little on the small side.
We're in Great Falls now and I can assure that most in our immediate area think our home is modest.

You can argue that your still right, but its only right from your perspective - not everyone's.

We have 1000 square feet so 3000 square feet is huge. Most of it is how you use the space and how you choose to furnish it. Your house is NOT even remotely modest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2300 sq feet - 3 boys, 2 parents - 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I wish we had one more bathroom. That's about it. We use all our house, and I'm so glad there isn't wasted space to furnish and clean.

What are do you use as office? How about exercise room? And guest room?

Why do you need an exercise room?
Dedicated guest rooms that sit empty except for a few weeks a year are a waste of space.

[Anonymous]

I would estimate 2000 sq ft per person works well. So for a family of 5, you're talking 10,000 sq ft. That gives everyone enough space to move around and have their own area for their own private needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2300 sq feet - 3 boys, 2 parents - 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I wish we had one more bathroom. That's about it. We use all our house, and I'm so glad there isn't wasted space to furnish and clean.

What are do you use as office? How about exercise room? And guest room?

Why do you need an exercise room?
Dedicated guest rooms that sit empty except for a few weeks a year are a waste of space.

I'm not that person, but in our exercise room we have a set of weights, two yoga mats, a yoga ball, a mirrored wall with two ballet bars, a balance beam, chin-up bar, etc. It'd be a pain to move all that out of a closet each day to set up and pack back in. And pre-Covid, we had visitors monthly if not more often.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 4 and I really wish we had another bedroom. With the pandemic we wanted an office for each parent plus a space for a live in nanny/au pair.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 5 and our house is a 1960s 2400 sq ft house in Alexandria. It is fine for right now but the kids are little. How will it feel in 5-10 years with 3 more large sized people in the house - probably small. Will probably upgrade but don’t really want to spend $1 million plus!

[Anonymous]

Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

Maybe you haven't met the right people yet. My friend lived in a mansion on Long Island and when I complimented the house to her mom ,the mom told me they had an entire section they never use and she was fighting with her husband to downsize.

My aunt and uncle were left a house when a relative died and they sold it because it was too big for their four-person, one-cat family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

No no i wpjldnt want 10k sq ft. Not all in one house. I want a bigger sunroom (double what it is now), slightly bigger kitchen and dining room and another 1/2 bath. We have 2500sq ft and 2 kids. If i had the $ i would just have additional property elsewhere in fun places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

Eh. I said we have 2700sf for 4 people. We can afford a bigger house but I don't want more space more than I DON'T want to deal with moving. I also loathe home maintenance, so more house isn't necessarily an unalloyed good.

[Anonymous]

We are 4 people and a dog in 4100 SF and it's perfect for us - 5 beds, 3.5 baths, big eat-in kitchen, 2 car garage and sunroom. We have a huge bedroom (24 ft by 21 ft) and a full bath on the 1st floor which we use as a play / rec room most of the time and as a guest room when needed. My H and I both WFH 4 days/week so we have separated offices - mine on the 1st floor, his on the 3rd floor. We made a mudroom in the garage and we have a small workout area on the 2nd floor. We have a formal dining area which we use when needed; the rest of the time is the homework area. We use every single SF of the house.