As far as heating and cooling. I live in a large approx 3k sq foot hme in the burbs. Moved from a small ranch I Arlington. I thought my utilities would be through the roof. They are the EXACT same as in my small ranch. New windows and the latest and greatest in insulation goes a LONG way. We also have special siding that is insulated. It apparently cost the previous owners 20k to install. We also have a pellett stove in the middle of the home and the only time we need gas heat is when temps dip below 30.

Overall this house is less expensive than the Arlington house since I'm not knee deep in updates and repairs. It felt so good to move into a finished home that only needed paint in our color taste.

Anonymous wrote:I love rambler/ranch style houses. I grew up in one (with a basement), I live in one now, and if I move, I would like to live in another one. My house does not look like any of the ones pictured, so I guess it probably looks like a trailer to some people. I just think of it as a regular old suburban house. And my kids have told me that they love our HUGE house (it's 1500 sq ft), so I'd say we must have plenty of room for them.

I'm with you on this. Those gigantic houses in the burbs are just ridiculously huge in my eyes. I have no idea what I would do with 3K+ sf! We're in just over 2K sf now, and we have rooms we don't know what to do with right now. I've been out to some friends houses in Brambleton with 4K+ sf and I just think "Why?"

Not to mention the cost of heating and cooling that much space. I'm already nervous about our bills since we just doubled our living space.