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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't care about these neighborhoods but: yes, I want a house with a smaller footprint and less square footage. I do think you have to update the layouts because houses built in the 1930s or 50s don't make sense for the way we live now. But that doesn't mean you have to supersize everything.

My ideal house would be around 2000 sq ft, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The bedrooms and bathrooms do not need to be huge, and I prefer an efficiently and intelligently laid out kitchen to some massive space with a huge island. I like built in storage and houses with nooks and alcoves that can be used for reading or working without dedicating entire rooms to it.

Smaller homes are easier to take care of. I also don't want or need a huge yard and would prefer a smaller lot with a patio for outdoor dining and space for some plantings or a garden rather than an expanse of yard. I don't need space that will encourage me to accumulate more and more stuff.

We have friends whoa re in these massive 5k and up new builds and to be honest they always feel empty and strange. I think they are hard to furnish because they require a lot of furniture to make them feel full, but also they are all open plan so people stress over furniture going together and also a lot of the rooms in the main living spaces don't have a ton of wall space for storage or TVs, so it's a challenge. Yes there is more room for kids, but also that means often your kids are off in some distant part of the house -- sometimes it would be nice if they were just in the next room or at least within earshot.

I truly don't understand the appeal of these homes. They are built to meet a social media aesthetic that I think is divorced from how it actually feels to live there. Great for TikTok dances, but not much else.[/quote]

I disagree about maintenance though.  A larger house is easier to maintain IMO.  You don't have to clean as frequently, and the wear is more distributed.  When you clean or do maintenance you have more space to get things done.  I'm sure there is some threshold or optimum, like a big yard is a big yard.  But small houses you have to clean very often and it's often difficult to keep from tracking back on top of it while you're cleaning.

I agree about the open layout regarding storage, you sort of have to budget for hutches buffet's, display cases and what not.  As kids get older a large house isn't as important, because they tend to spend times at activities.  It really depends on the number and types of amenities nearby.  IMO a good gym nearby goes a long way towards making a small urban house livable as kids get older.

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