Is there a such thing as *too* big a house? (floors, Home Depot)

[pkoons]

I agree with most of the comments - though if a person can find a use for 10,000 sq. feet of space, more power to them. I think most single people or couples are more than adaquately served by 2500 sq. feet + garage. Everyone gravitates towards 4 rooms anyway, a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. Everything else is just icing on the cake. I'm in a 1200 sq. ft bungalow 2 blocks from the water - personally, when I move, I'll probably go no larger than 2000 sq ft. and hope for waterviews. (WaterFRONT is way too expensive in my area - $1M+).

[poprocksncoke]

I would never want a huge house like that. I don't care if I won the lottery, am an actress or what, but I wouldn't need a house that big, ever. If I suddenly popped out 12+ kids, then I can see the need to upgrade the house. But, my husband and I are looking into putting a contract on our first home (which is 4 beds and 2 bath.. def. big enough for us) and it is around 1700 sq ft. The more rooms, the more cleaning (even if you don't use them regularly, they still accumulate dust ) I would think that we would never go larger than 2500 sq ft home. Its just not necessary.

[Cosmic]

That ain't what he is talking about.

When is the last time you tried heating / cooling some old big Ark of a place over a hundred years old?? Do you really expect something reasonably upgraded to any sort of standard for very cheap money???

Doesn't anybody understand what it takes to put those type houses in some sort of decent energy usage state. I have taken apart / fixed / remodeled / repaired my share of old houses as a contractor. Making some big old Ark livable ain't cheap, quick or even in some cases doable. After you have ripped out enough old plumbing, wiring and heating systems it finally dawns on a fellow what a nice house is all about. A good modern lighting system is super desirable. How many very old houses do you see with original plumbing that have been properly vented?? Lots of things to go wrong in big old mansions.

And we are probably talking something over a 100 years old in some imagined state. What do you expect the air infiltration rate to be and how do you plan to heat it?? Helps to have a little experience in a Northern climate.

My last major project as a contractor was a rebuild on a building 36 x 36 feet square 5 levels formerly used as a boarding house. Owner paid us something like 345K to do a fairly good yeoman type rehab. Nothing fancy, it got converted into 4 apartments, we didn't do all the work and the owner ran out of money in the end. Using this theory I suppose something like that is desirable as a single residence. You are right just cleaning the place would be a full time job. Even Noah if he had to rebuild the Ark would probably do it smaller next time round.

I am just completing the rehab of a smallish 3 bedroom house I bought couple years ago. The amount of work and level of detail that must be accomplished to make it comfortable can be mind boggling. Main goal was to make it super energy efficient. Only a mere 80 years old but with your typical construction quality of years ago. Supposely was updated but turned out to be the typical shoddy crap you find so often from way to many contractors. Challenge was to do all the utility upgrades as new within some reasonable budget. Get the basic shell super tight with new windows / doors, a perfect insulation job. Talking the total rehab as new for ~9K for pretty much a complete make over without gutting it.

It is one thing to talk about super large new modern designed / built houses. Even those will probably kill you with the utility bills. It is another to talk about buying an old Ark for very cheap money and what the living experience might be like. I would expect many choices to be required and most of them restricted or bad in some manner.

A far better way to spend money on any house is pay very strict attention to how energy efficient it may be. In my case something like solar heating or even an independent way to generate electricity is far, far more desirable in the long run than some super sized house which is going to probably be difficult to just use all the space. If I eventually get around to building my own house, probably go for a comfortable 2 bedroom job. It ain't the size, more the quality, comfort level and how low you can reduce your normal living costs that really counts over the longer run.

[Need_affordable_home]

Good replies! Positive reputation for all of you! It looks like everyone has a size limit, many of you with a limit of about 3000 living square feet! My size limit is atributary, I dont really have a size limit but id say past 5000 living square feet it starts to become overkill as ill never be able to use more space than that. If I had millions to play with, id get the biggest, nicest mansion for no more than 20% of my net worth. Just because I can and thats what people with way too much money get. Theres some nice 10k to 20k living square feet mansions id like to chose one if I won many millions in the state lottery! Id have enough for maids to clean and butlers to cook. Ill invite lots of friends and those extra beds/baths will come in handy for those parties also ill collect everything and fill up bedrooms with stuff like thousands of candles!

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Good replies! Positive reputation for all of you! It looks like everyone has a size limit, many of you with a limit of about 3000 living square feet! My size limit is atributary, I dont really have a size limit but id say past 5000 living square feet it starts to become overkill as ill never be able to use more space than that. If I had millions to play with, id get the biggest, nicest mansion for no more than 20% of my net worth. Just because I can and thats what people with way too much money get. Theres some nice 10k to 20k living square feet mansions id like to chose one if I won many millions in the state lottery! Id have enough for maids to clean and butlers to cook. Ill invite lots of friends and those extra beds/baths will come in handy for those parties also ill collect everything and fill up bedrooms with stuff like thousands of candles!

For me it goes around the size of the rooms. I like no more than three to four bedrooms and three baths, but... I do appreciate large rooms. My house in Las Vegas was beautiful, five bedrooms, three full baths, two story, etc., but, I didn't use two of the bedrooms and the master bedroom wasn't that large. My home now is slightly larger in total sq. footage, but it has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, and the rooms are HUGE. My master bedroom is gigantic and my living room is very very large. All the bedrooms are big too. To me that makes more sense and I use them. One bedroom is set up for guests who could arrive at any time and it has a sitting area in it as well. The bedroom I'm using for a tv/pc room is where I'm now and that's where I usually am. The hallways are extra wide too, so I feel like I have space to spread out in. I like that.

[elfyum]

Fascinating! I guess NAH & I are the only ones "into" huge houses!!!
I would LOVE at LEAST a 5000 sq ft home!!!!!!!! In fact, 15,000 would be AWESOME!!!!!!!!
OBVIOUSLY this is assuming I can afford it! (electric, taxes, etc) But HELL yeah!!!!!!!
The more space the better! If you saw our house, you'd realize that I wouldn't worry about how clean it was... As long as it's not NASTY! Cluttered is fine, but then, that's one of the advantages of a humonstrous house!!! With a room for everything, there'd be no room for clutter!
A computer room, an exercise room, a game room, a kitchen the size of a huge living room ,
bathrooms the size of a huge kitchen... GOD how I'd love a HUGE kitchen & a HUGE bathroom!!!!!!!!!!
A living room, a "filing room" - a room with a bunch of cabinets & drawers etc for all the important stuff & also keepsakes, (of the paper type - cards, etc) a huge sauna, a storage/junk room - as many as needed so as not to have clutter! , a meditation/stretching room - yoga mats all & cushions all over - that type of deal, laundry room... HOW MANY ROOM ARE WE UP TO?! You see? You can NEVER have too many rooms!!!!!! I want so much space (INCLUDING 640 ACRES!!!!!!!! ) that we have to have an intercom system!!!!! I want to get lost in my house!!! And I want this all on one level! I'm TOTALLY serious! I would LOVE this!!!!!!! Of course I'd take a "normal" sized house with the zillion acres over that anyday, but hey - we're dreaming here aren't we?
I'm really surprised that no one wants this besides me & NAH!!!

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by elfyum

Fascinating! I guess NAH & I are the only ones "into" huge houses!!!
I would LOVE at LEAST a 5000 sq ft home!!!!!!!! In fact, 15,000 would be AWESOME!!!!!!!!
OBVIOUSLY this is assuming I can afford it! (electric, taxes, etc) But HELL yeah!!!!!!!
The more space the better! If you saw our house, you'd realize that I wouldn't worry about how clean it was... As long as it's not NASTY! Cluttered is fine, but then, that's one of the advantages of a humonstrous house!!! With a room for everything, there'd be no room for clutter!
A computer room, an exercise room, a game room, a kitchen the size of a huge living room ,
bathrooms the size of a huge kitchen... GOD how I'd love a HUGE kitchen & a HUGE bathroom!!!!!!!!!!
A living room, a "filing room" - a room with a bunch of cabinets & drawers etc for all the important stuff & also keepsakes, (of the paper type - cards, etc) a huge sauna, a storage/junk room - as many as needed so as not to have clutter! , a meditation/stretching room - yoga mats all & cushions all over - that type of deal, laundry room... HOW MANY ROOM ARE WE UP TO?! You see? You can NEVER have too many rooms!!!!!! I want so much space (INCLUDING 640 ACRES!!!!!!!! ) that we have to have an intercom system!!!!! I want to get lost in my house!!! And I want this all on one level! I'm TOTALLY serious! I would LOVE this!!!!!!! Of course I'd take a "normal" sized house with the zillion acres over that anyday, but hey - we're dreaming here aren't we?
I'm really surprised that no one wants this besides me & NAH!!!

Well, if one could afford a mansion of that size, 'humonstrous!", one could afford a cleaning crew too, so that would work. For me though...I don't like strange people in my house touching my things and being in my space, so I've only hired a cleaning crew once....when I needed a thorough cleaning getting my Las Vegas house ready for sale. I needed help with the ovens, bathrooms, and really deep cleaning. But normally I don't like strangers in my house among my things...creeps me out. So too big a house would mean I'd have to overcome this ....phobia...and I'm not sure I'm ready!

[SpeedyAZ]

For me it goes around the size of the rooms. I like no more than three to four bedrooms and three baths, but... I do appreciate large rooms. My house in Las Vegas was beautiful, five bedrooms, three full baths, two story, etc., but, I didn't use two of the bedrooms and the master bedroom wasn't that large. My home now is slightly larger in total sq. footage, but it has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, and the rooms are HUGE. My master bedroom is gigantic and my living room is very very large. All the bedrooms are big too. To me that makes more sense and I use them. One bedroom is set up for guests who could arrive at any time and it has a sitting area in it as well. The bedroom I'm using for a tv/pc room is where I'm now and that's where I usually am. The hallways are extra wide too, so I feel like I have space to spread out in. I like that.

I'm with you, I appreciate a large home with large rooms than a large home with a load of small rooms. My house is 2700 sq ft yet it's only a 3 bed/ 3 bath. All the bedrooms are huge and that's how I like it. My master bedroom feels like a MASTER bedroom and yet there isn't a whole bunch of furniture in it. I love wide open spaces to strech out in and I hate clutter.

My study could be converted into a bedroom but I have no need for a 4 bedroom home. If you have a load of kids then I can see the need for a monstrous home but otherwise it's just there to show how much money you have.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Ill invite lots of friends and those extra beds/baths will come in handy for those parties also ill collect everything and fill up bedrooms with stuff like thousands of candles!

OK but you know that you can get electricity and that new flameless light! Don't forget to install that home rec center, you need to have something to do up there in the boondocks!

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by elfyum

Fascinating! I guess NAH & I are the only ones "into" huge houses!!!
I would LOVE at LEAST a 5000 sq ft home!!!!!!!! In fact, 15,000 would be AWESOME!!!!!!!!
OBVIOUSLY this is assuming I can afford it! (electric, taxes, etc) But HELL yeah!!!!!!!
The more space the better! If you saw our house, you'd realize that I wouldn't worry about how clean it was... As long as it's not NASTY! Cluttered is fine, but then, that's one of the advantages of a humonstrous house!!! With a room for everything, there'd be no room for clutter!
A computer room, an exercise room, a game room, a kitchen the size of a huge living room ,
bathrooms the size of a huge kitchen... GOD how I'd love a HUGE kitchen & a HUGE bathroom!!!!!!!!!!
A living room, a "filing room" - a room with a bunch of cabinets & drawers etc for all the important stuff & also keepsakes, (of the paper type - cards, etc) a huge sauna, a storage/junk room - as many as needed so as not to have clutter! , a meditation/stretching room - yoga mats all & cushions all over - that type of deal, laundry room... HOW MANY ROOM ARE WE UP TO?! You see? You can NEVER have too many rooms!!!!!! I want so much space (INCLUDING 640 ACRES!!!!!!!! ) that we have to have an intercom system!!!!! I want to get lost in my house!!! And I want this all on one level! I'm TOTALLY serious! I would LOVE this!!!!!!! Of course I'd take a "normal" sized house with the zillion acres over that anyday, but hey - we're dreaming here aren't we?
I'm really surprised that no one wants this besides me & NAH!!!

It's a shame that you live in Miami, because that's a place a home like this will never be in your reach. As for getting lost, I have a tiny home and have gotten lost in the garage, it's so full of stuff that if the power goes off and it's dark, you're lost! If you stumble on the wrong stuff on the way out, you may be in there permanently!