Small families with big houses

[Anonymous]

we have only 1 child and 5 bedrooms but one of the bedroom is in the basement so it makes sense for it to be an office. I take another bedroom for my own bedroom. Now only one extra hotel (guest room) is left empty and other rooms are fully in use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my searches in Arlington, there is often not that much of a price difference between well maintained, older 3-4 bedroom houses with 2500 sq ft (often around $1.5-$1.7 million) and relatively new McMansions with 5-6 bedrooms with 4000-5000 sq ft (often around $1.8-$2.0 million). So it can make lots of sense to just go for the bigger house, even if you don't really need the extra space.

In my N.Arl neighborhood every new build is 6-7 bedrooms and bathrooms, and many look like apartment buildings.

The builders make them this large because the lots are so expensive ($1 million+) that they have to build a huge house to reap a profit.

I know many downsizers and people with no kids or only 1-2 that are having trouble finding a home that is not a giant McMansion.

The smaller homes have huge bidding wars and go very, very fast.

Why can't the developer build a multi-family unit instead of one McMansion?

Zoning

[Anonymous]

I originally came to this thread with the attitude of "hey, different strokes for different folks" -- I have never really though that hard about what other families do, as I like our family size and house size.

Reading the thread has made me a convert though: y'all are horrifying. These people talking about 5k, 6k, even 10k houses for 2-3 people? It's gross. The PP who said that at that point, it doesn't matter how environmentally conscious your house is, it's environmental impact is horrific? Is correct.

I don't care if you have a couple spare bedrooms or not, if you have a living room and den, whatever. But when the overall size of your home is this big, you are doing something really selfish. I don't know, I live in an apartment in the city. I get that other people want more space and I don't begrudge that. But there has to be something between the way I live (3 people in 1000 sq ft) and the way some of you all are living. It's just so obviously unsustainable! Good lord.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 5 (plus a dog and a cat) in a 1900sqf, 110 year old bungalow. We are fine.

The rest of you are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I originally came to this thread with the attitude of "hey, different strokes for different folks" -- I have never really though that hard about what other families do, as I like our family size and house size.

Reading the thread has made me a convert though: y'all are horrifying. These people talking about 5k, 6k, even 10k houses for 2-3 people? It's gross. The PP who said that at that point, it doesn't matter how environmentally conscious your house is, it's environmental impact is horrific? Is correct.

I don't care if you have a couple spare bedrooms or not, if you have a living room and den, whatever. But when the overall size of your home is this big, you are doing something really selfish. I don't know, I live in an apartment in the city. I get that other people want more space and I don't begrudge that. But there has to be something between the way I live (3 people in 1000 sq ft) and the way some of you all are living. It's just so obviously unsustainable! Good lord.

Why is it gross? If they can afford it, what's wrong with it. We have 1000 square feet too and its a struggle at times especially with work at home and kids in virtual learning. Not to mention, all the kid stuff.

[Anonymous]

Bunch of Judgy McJudgingtons who can't imagine others have different values or priorities than they do...

[Anonymous]

We have one teenager and would like a larger house.

Ideally:
Kitchen
Living/Sitting/Reading Room (one room)
TV room/hangout room
Parent Bedroom + Bath
Kid Bedroom + Bath
Guest Bedroom + Bath (plus if it has a kitchenette/sitting area or apartment set up)
One half bath
Office for dad
Office for mom (can be smaller, or combined with another space)
Screened in porch
Garage + workshop + storage
Gym space would be a plus

We can give up a few of these for an otherwise great house, but those would be our ideal rooms.

[Anonymous]

^forgot dining room but we don't need a formal dining room as long as we can accommodate a table for 6-8

[Anonymous]

We have a 7000 SF house and only two kids. I honestly hate it more than half the time but DH loves it. My kids' rooms are too far from our room. Our house is like a hotel for extended family members, mostly DH's family. There are some nice things, but I feel like 4000 SF would be more than enough space, and I would prefer to never have a guest room again. Hosting family is exhausting. We both work full time + and have young kids, and the last thing I want is house guests at this point in life.

[Anonymous]

America is crazy, people think they need a separate room for everything. Gym, office, TV room, playroom, sitting room, etc. God forbid you have a guest stay in your office room! Or a desk in your playroom! I prefer smaller, older houses but I know I'm in the minority.

[Anonymous]

We have almost 3000 ft for three of us. It’s not so much the size but the way some of the space is ill-designed. For instance, we have a giant master suite with a semi-separate sitting area. That space is unused, while the kids’ bedrooms could use a little more square footage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I originally came to this thread with the attitude of "hey, different strokes for different folks" -- I have never really though that hard about what other families do, as I like our family size and house size.

Reading the thread has made me a convert though: y'all are horrifying. These people talking about 5k, 6k, even 10k houses for 2-3 people? It's gross. The PP who said that at that point, it doesn't matter how environmentally conscious your house is, it's environmental impact is horrific? Is correct.

I don't care if you have a couple spare bedrooms or not, if you have a living room and den, whatever. But when the overall size of your home is this big, you are doing something really selfish. I don't know, I live in an apartment in the city. I get that other people want more space and I don't begrudge that. But there has to be something between the way I live (3 people in 1000 sq ft) and the way some of you all are living. It's just so obviously unsustainable! Good lord.

Why is it gross? If they can afford it, what's wrong with it. We have 1000 square feet too and its a struggle at times especially with work at home and kids in virtual learning. Not to mention, all the kid stuff.

The planet cannot afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I originally came to this thread with the attitude of "hey, different strokes for different folks" -- I have never really though that hard about what other families do, as I like our family size and house size.

Reading the thread has made me a convert though: y'all are horrifying. These people talking about 5k, 6k, even 10k houses for 2-3 people? It's gross. The PP who said that at that point, it doesn't matter how environmentally conscious your house is, it's environmental impact is horrific? Is correct.

I don't care if you have a couple spare bedrooms or not, if you have a living room and den, whatever. But when the overall size of your home is this big, you are doing something really selfish. I don't know, I live in an apartment in the city. I get that other people want more space and I don't begrudge that. But there has to be something between the way I live (3 people in 1000 sq ft) and the way some of you all are living. It's just so obviously unsustainable! Good lord.

Why is it gross? If they can afford it, what's wrong with it. We have 1000 square feet too and its a struggle at times especially with work at home and kids in virtual learning. Not to mention, all the kid stuff.

Environmentally. Imagine if every human on earth needed 2000 sq ft just for themselves, even if living in a family unit. I don't care if they can afford it or not (I can afford a giant house in the suburbs too, I just choose to live in an apartment in the city for other reasons). It's that it takes resources to build these homes, to heat and cool them, and having lots of people in 6k or 10k homes means that we will need to develop every square inch of land for these houses. That's miles more utilities, more paved roads, more gas to deliver things to these homes. It's just endless.

I am totally fine with the idea that some people prefer more space, but yes, at some point it is no longer a reasonable preference, it's selfish and gross. And it's not about money at all. I'm rich, basically. And if you are willing to get away from coastal cities, you can by huge mansions for less than a 3 bedroom apartment in the city. But why? What is all that space for? I get wanting a bedroom for each of your kids plus a guest room. I get wanting a home office. I get wanting a living room and a den, I get wanting a bigger kitchen. These are all things I've craved at different points while living without them. I don't understand living in a 6-bedroom house with a family of 3. It's weird and wasteful. I have no issue judging that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I originally came to this thread with the attitude of "hey, different strokes for different folks" -- I have never really though that hard about what other families do, as I like our family size and house size.

Reading the thread has made me a convert though: y'all are horrifying. These people talking about 5k, 6k, even 10k houses for 2-3 people? It's gross. The PP who said that at that point, it doesn't matter how environmentally conscious your house is, it's environmental impact is horrific? Is correct.

I don't care if you have a couple spare bedrooms or not, if you have a living room and den, whatever. But when the overall size of your home is this big, you are doing something really selfish. I don't know, I live in an apartment in the city. I get that other people want more space and I don't begrudge that. But there has to be something between the way I live (3 people in 1000 sq ft) and the way some of you all are living. It's just so obviously unsustainable! Good lord.

Why is it gross? If they can afford it, what's wrong with it. We have 1000 square feet too and its a struggle at times especially with work at home and kids in virtual learning. Not to mention, all the kid stuff.

The planet cannot afford it.

Agreed, plus this is a weird metric because a 3-bedroom condo in DC can cost a million dollars, and you can buy a 5 bedroom house in an exurb for less than that. Buying a huge home is a personal choice that does not correlate with wealth, so this is not about trying to punish rich people. A lot of people living in huge homes simply live in low COL areas and are doing it for the hell of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have almost 3000 ft for three of us. It’s not so much the size but the way some of the space is ill-designed. For instance, we have a giant master suite with a semi-separate sitting area. That space is unused, while the kids’ bedrooms could use a little more square footage.

Layout is everything. Our best friends lived in Berlin for the last decade and recently moved back and are really frustrated by how poorly laid out everything is here. They lived in an apartment in Berlin (as most people do) and never felt crunched for space. They did not have a huge kitchen or big closets, but the actual living spaces were laid out just right -- the apartments there are designed for family living, entertaining.

Here, everything is designed for like one person to live in it. Here is your enormous master bathroom, here is your huge walk in closet. But then the second and third bedroom are charmless boxes. The kitchen is massive but somehow not conducive to cooking. Everything is open concept so there is never anywhere to just go read or have a quite conversation if someone is watching TV nearby. And the newer builds are the worst.

We live in a 2-bedroom house (1 kid) and have looked at bigger homes because we'd like more outdoor space and a guest room/home office. But most of what we look out is just so much wasted space. Our current house is laid out perfectly. I just want it to have one more room and a bigger patio or a little yard. Like instead of 1100 sq ft, I wish it was 1400 sq ft and a slightly larger lot.

It doesn't seem to exist.