As many bathrooms as bedrooms and large houses with few bedrooms (floor, pool)

[tvdxer]

I've noticed that many newer houses have as many bathrooms as bedrooms, or one bathroom less than bedrooms. For example, 4 br 3 ba, or 3 br, 3 ba.

What's the point of this? Is it really a common scenario that everybody in the house minus one will be using the bathroom at one time? I come from a family of 5. We had 6 in our house at one point, though it's now only four. We do just fine for the most part with 1.5 bathrooms (1 with a shower and toilet and sink, one with just a toilet and sink). My brother tends to take very long showers, but if I really need to I can get around that by getting in it earlier, or the night before. It just seems kind of overload to have 4 bathrooms or 4 or 5 people.

Also, what's with relatively big houses (2000+ ft²) having only 3 or even 2 bedrooms? This seems to be another recent trend. I saw a house for sale, posted in an earlier thread, 2,418 ft², with just 3 bedrooms. Our house has about 1,500 ft² of livable space (large but unfinished basement not counted), with 4 bedrooms, and each bedroom is a decent size. We also have a living room and kitchen. A den or larger living room would be nice, but I can't imagine both alone adding on 900 ft². Do square footages count the garage or something? I'm curious.

[laysayfair]

Out here in Socal the newer "estate " houses (McMasions) have MORE bathrooms then bedrooms. They read "5 bedrooms ,7 1/2 bathrooms"! I don't get it either. I wonder if they're including the bathrooms that are in guest houses or pool houses in with the total? Or is it just the new status symbol?

[alterego]

No, square footage does not usually count the garage. Newer homes will have big bathrooms with double sinks and separate shower and tub. Also, they will have big walk-in closets and a large utility/laundry room which all takes up a lot of square footage. Some homes now even have a game room or media room in a addition to the den/study. Kitchens will also have a dining area in addition to the separate formal dining room. Master bedrooms are often large with a separate sitting area.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by alterego

No, square footage does not usually count the garage. Newer homes will have big bathrooms with double sinks and separate shower and tub. Also, they will have big walk-in closets and a large utility/laundry room which all takes up a lot of square footage. Some homes now even have a game room or media room in a addition to the den/study. Kitchens will also have a dining area in addition to the separate formal dining room. Master bedrooms are often large with a separate sitting area.

I don't get it though...do people actually use all that space?

[NC~Mom]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

I don't get it though...do people actually use all that space?

I'm in these types of home all the time...and most homeowners do not use all the space...lots of them are barely even furnished. Young homeowners with too much debt to buy furniture.

[gentlearts]

I think it depends on one's lifestyle and the ages of those who live there. We're empty nesters, so when we have friends or family stay with us it's ideal to have a private bathrom for each bedroom, so everyone has their privacy.
If you're parents of a bunch of little kids, you only need one bathroom for the kids, since you're probably going to dunk them all at the same time in the same tub. When they're teenagers, you'd want at least one for the girls and one for the boys, or it would get pretty chaotic.
As far as the bedroom question, we have 2700 sq ft with only 3 bedrooms. To me, they are barely big enough. I don't get how you would have 4 bedrooms in a 1500 sq ft house that are anywhere near big enough.

[golfgal]

We have a 4br/4 bath home, we have 3 kids. We have a bath off the master bedroom, one in the hallway upstairs that is a full bath, a 3/4's bath in the basement (sink, stool, shower) and a 1/2 bath on the main (stool, sink). Most houses will have a similar configuration of bathrooms. Yes, we do use all that space with 5 people getting ready at the same time.

[sbd78]

Many of the new houses around here have less bedrooms than expected for the amount of sq. footage because builders are putting these huge lofts/second family rooms on the second floor by the bedrooms.

[mawipafl]

We're a family of three with a 4/4 plus bonus room house about 3000 sq ft. We do use all the space since rooms have become non-multipurpose, and living in Florida as we do means a lot of guests coming and going. The bonus room with full bath upstairs is our daughter's space; two bedrooms on one end of the house share a full bath in between and that's the guest room and den/library/extra guest room; another 3/4 bath on the other end of the house is outside another bedroom that we use as an office, and the bath's shower has been converted to a coat and linen closet (this bath is good to have when we're having a party and there are overnight guests at the same time); lastly, there's a bath off the master bedroom (and we converted the "garden tub" into a bench and plant stand).

On paper, a 3000 sq ft, 4 bedroom, 4 bath, bonus room house may appear large, but it really isn't. Square footage is eaten up quickly with the open floor plan, the oversized baths, the separate laundry room. The bedrooms themselves are not gigantic (about 12'x12") and the master has a sitting area that's not used for any sitting - just display of family furniture.

I truly don't understand the trend for large and overly spacious baths. I do know that some people love soaking tubs and double vanities and separate water closets, but I personally spend so little time in that room that I'd rather have the square footage devoted to my sewing machine and craft projects.

I wish my house was built with Legos so that I could rearrange the interior :-)

[KristyLiz]

We have a 3300 sq ft house - 4 BR and 2 1/2 baths - and we are a family of 5 (3 boys, 7, 5 & 2).

We have a lot of space - living room, dining room, kitchen, florida room, office, family room, laundry room, full basement - and use it all (and it's furnished!).

I think it depends a lot on how you live. We entertain a lot, and all our friends/family have kids, so when we all get together, it's really nice to have space.

Could we live perfectly well with less space? Of course - but this is our 4th house in 8 years and I love having all the room.