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As I approach the empty nest years, I am growing less and less enchanted with the demands of a family home. Others in my circle are thrilled at the prospect of maintaining a large house for visits from the children and grandchildren, but, honestly, it doesn't appeal to me. (The big house, I mean, not the children and grandchildren.) I have become mildly obsessed with moving back to a gorgeous, century-old English Tudor apartment complex that has been converted to condominiums in a village outside my hometown. A one-bedroom, 750 sq. ft. unit runs about $50k and the monthly fees cover basic utilities and building maintenance. It's walkable to the village center and the bus line runs into the nearby city. While it's too early yet to make definitive plans, I'm working on my husband. I think we could be very happy there without the yard, basement, extra rooms, and all the stuff that goes with them. Sadly, I don't think he'll bite.
Last edited by randomparent; 05-22-2016 at 07:23 PM..
As I approach the empty nest years, I am growing less and less enchanted with the demands of a family home. Others in my circle are thrilled at the prospect of maintaining a large house for visits from the children and grandchildren, but, honestly, it doesn't appeal to me. (The big house, I mean, not the children and grandchildren.) I have become mildly obsessed with moving back to a gorgeous, century-old English Tudor apartment complex that has been converted to condominiums in a village outside my hometown. A one-bedroom, 750 sq. ft. unit runs about $50k and the monthly fees cover basic utilities and building maintenance. It's walkable to the village center and the bus line runs into the nearby city. While it's too early yet to make definitive plans, I'm working on my husband. I think we could be very happy there without the yard, basement, extra rooms, and all the stuff that goes with them. Sadly, I don't think he'll bite.
Oh my gosh -- this sounds delightful! English Tudor architecture is nifty...the price is sure reasonable.
Condo fees reasonable?
Where is it -- maybe we can be neighbors?
My parents retired to a condo complex (Florida) and pretty much liked it except when the building they were in needed a new roof and there was a sizable assessment for each owner...
It is a beautiful old building, LD, but living there would be a step back in time. It was constructed in 1928; therefore, the apartments have neither dishwashers nor laundry hook-ups. Many of the bathrooms have the original tile, which is often mint green, pink, or turquoise with black detail strips, which doesn't typically suit modern tastes. The galley kitchens are tiny and very basic with extremely limited counter space. The building is heated with steam, and only a few units have been outfitted with central air. Nonetheless, I am enchanted with living there. The building has classic Tudor Revival architecture with some units featuring tall leaded glass windows, dark beamed ceilings, and white stucco walls. I just love it. Are the condo fees affordable? Not really, but the utilities are included. I can't really explain why this place has captured my imagination, because it's not practical at all, but I've loved it since I first encountered it as a teenager.
Back on topic, I do think there's value in the enforced simplicity of living in a small home with little storage. The bane of my existence is the black hole in my house called the basement. Once something gets taken downstairs, it's rooted there for all eternity. No amount of pleading will convince my husband to clean it up, and doing it myself causes resentment, so I keep the door closed and try to pretend it doesn't exist.
As I approach the empty nest years, I am growing less and less enchanted with the demands of a family home. Others in my circle are thrilled at the prospect of maintaining a large house for visits from the children and grandchildren, but, honestly, it doesn't appeal to me.
We are deep into the empty nest years. Well, the last married in 2010, so it has been 6 years now
And we are among those who are thrilled to have houseguests.
Just a few weeks ago, the three extra bedrooms were full. It was nice to have the space, to have family together and to NOT have everyone scatter to hotel rooms (or to have the added expense of that!).
I have friends who downsized, some even migrated south.
Several have recently sold their condos and moved back into single family houses. They missed having their family close when visiting. And their families agreed.
Different strokes for different folks...
ETA: Our house is not huge (2400 square feet), but it IS organized and very decluttered. We use the basement as living space (no storage) and the cars fit in the garage.
Yes, indeed, but maybe we should keep in mind that the thread is about living in uncluttered, small spaces. My comments should not be interpreted as an invitation to debate those who enjoy having house guests. Frankly, I don't really care about your housing preferences. I was simply providing my personal take on what the OP sees as the benefit of living without ample storage space.
I was responding to the OP, who actually did seem interested in what I had to say and followed up with a question about what I posted. You, however, apparently took what I wrote as an invitation to debate and side-track the thread, which I do not understand at all. Moving on...
Yep, small spaces or even medium-sized ones without much storage suit us and our pack-rat habits.
We're having new siding put on our home and the contractor said to takes pictures, mirrors, and breakables from the cupboards and put them away from the walls. The siding work is going to shake the walls. Bam, bam, bam!
Well, today was a moment of truth. I had stowed away 2.5 sets of dishes (one set is service for 4) and so many glasses, including champagne glasses that I used once at least ten years ago--12 of 'em! And vases! Who needs that many?
So after the siding is up and the hammering stops, this simple living wanna-be is going to purge a lot of china and glassware. Again, it was all "out of sight out of mind"..but now it's all over the house and overwhelming. More clutter's got to go.
Oh, gosh, yes! First thing I thought about living in the tiny kitchen featured in those apartments is that there is absolutely no space for storing extra dishware and glassware. I have twenty-four glasses in my cabinets in three different sizes, eight wine glasses (and we don't drink), eight teacup & saucer sets, and a few random mugs from here and there. That might explain why I have to run around the house every morning collecting glasses to wash. It's too easy to just grab a clean one from the cabinet. If there were just six glasses for cold beverages and six mugs for hot beverages (one for each member of the family, plus one), maybe my husband and kids would occasionally rinse one out and reuse it! I pride myself on having a simple and uncluttered home, but to be perfectly honest, there are so many other examples of this kind of redundancy around here. I understand having ten pairs of underwear & socks, but forty-plus drinking vessels seems a little excessive.
Here in the South where the water table is high we don't have basements. Very few have usable attics outside of a few sq. ft. up under the rafters. My "attic" is unusable because the pull-down stairway is narrow and I can't get up there carrying anything. Lots of people have sheds or use their garages as storage while their vehicles sit in the driveways.
I keep trying to pare down things around here. I just went through my closets and donated a bunch of clothes. I once lived in a 2-room efficiency apartment and I was content there...until DH moved in with boxes and boxes of business records. Landlady was not amused and said it was a fire hazard and we should either get rid of them or move. We had a new house just built so we picked up all the boxes and moved!
I don't think I could live with a hoarder. I know I do not have that much patience.
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