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I don't know why it is so freaking hard for you people to understand what a few of us are telling you.
You say "quit being so upset, just buy a house that isn't open plan."
Great!!!! Just freaking find one, unless you have the money to build from scratch. In the areas where I've been looking for a slightly larger house for some years now, something like 95% of houses offered for sale have been "remodeled" by removing walls. It is becoming practically impossible in some areas of the country to find a non-open-plan house for sale. Even "putting walls back" is usually not an option because rooms (typically kitchens) have been expanded past the original location of the now vanished walls, so you would have to gut that area of the house and totally rebuild.
When you take a house that was originally designed with traditional room divisions and knock out walls and change the shapes of rooms, etc., it usually ends up looking weird, too. Very few of these remodelings are done well, either in the way they're designed or in the quality of construction.
I will say it again for those who seem to have difficulty understanding:
The reason those of us who don't like the open plan house are getting acerbic, is because there are fewer of them every year and there seems to be no reversal of the trend.
You like something that is unpopular, so it is hard to find. That's the way it works.
When I like something that most don't, I understand it is harder for me to get.
I don't expect everyone else to change for my tastes, and of course, it can be frustrating.
We are experiencing the exact same thing for a different reason. We want a nice two bedroom, 2000 sq or less. This is NOT available, all the houses are 3000 sq ft or more. We found a lot we like, and they have a requirement for 2500 or greater square feet. We are too young for a retirement community.
Also, I am not a fan of the gray color palette that is so popular, again, we deal with it. It seems to be popular with the majority.
What we want is not popular, so we are not going to find it. We deal with it.
But like the OP said, it is changing back to your tastes, so you should be happy. Though I have to admit that all the new homes we have looked at do not seem to reflect the OPs stance, but our viewing is limited to a very small section of the industry.
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What I like about open architecture is that my fireplace insert won't make one room 80 while the rest of the house is 60. What I don't like about open architecture is that the most quiet dishwasher still makes the TV difficult to hear.
Are people really trying to say that there is some giant conspiracy that is forcing open concept on the unsuspecting masses? Okay then.
While not as sinister as your words suggest, absolutey YES! t's much cheaper to build without walls. Watch how fast new construction goes up. Bing Bang Boom...Throw up some plywood and move right in!
Nothing today is built to last. All the McMansions will be falling apart in less than 50 years. We had to do some minor updating to our first post WWII house and the contractor was frustrated that simply moving the steps from the house to the backyard was a multi day project because it was solid concrete.
I don't know why it is so freaking hard for you people to understand what a few of us are telling you.
You say "quit being so upset, just buy a house that isn't open plan."
Great!!!! Just freaking find one, unless you have the money to build from scratch. In the areas where I've been looking for a slightly larger house for some years now, something like 95% of houses offered for sale have been "remodeled" by removing walls. It is becoming practically impossible in some areas of the country to find a non-open-plan house for sale. Even "putting walls back" is usually not an option because rooms (typically kitchens) have been expanded past the original location of the now vanished walls, so you would have to gut that area of the house and totally rebuild.
When you take a house that was originally designed with traditional room divisions and knock out walls and change the shapes of rooms, etc., it usually ends up looking weird, too. Very few of these remodelings are done well, either in the way they're designed or in the quality of construction.
I will say it again for those who seem to have difficulty understanding:
The reason those of us who don't like the open plan house are getting acerbic, is because there are fewer of them every year and there seems to be no reversal of the trend.
Got it, yet?
yes I get it. I might even be more inclined to sympathize that less popular choices are harder to find if you didn't spend so much time insisting that people who actually prefer open floor plans don't just have a different opinion than you do, but that they have an INCORRECT opinion. Being told that what I happen to like is wrong just because you don't like it means I can't really be bothered to have a whole lot of sympathy for your point of view.
And the fact remains that just like walls were taken out, walls can be put back in. So what if the kitchen was expanded, you can spend that same money removing the extra cabinets or counters or whatever, just like the people spend to put them in. Your complaint seems to be not that what you want doesn't exist, but that you should be able to find exactly what you want without having to spend money to make it that way. Guess what, lots of people have to spend money to make a house into what they want, and people who don't want open floor plans aren't exempt from that phenomenon.
While not as sinister as your words suggest, absolutey YES! t's much cheaper to build without walls. Watch how fast new construction goes up. Bing Bang Boom...Throw up some plywood and move right in!
Does the cost of the large supporting beams needed actually save money on the wall costs? I know those beams are much more expensive.
None the less, that floor plan is popular, whether it saves money or not.
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Are people really trying to say that there is some giant conspiracy that is forcing open concept on the unsuspecting masses? Okay then.
Anyway my new house is open concept for the main living spaces and I am really enjoying it. I personally hate to leave dirty dishes or other food or clutter around the kitchen, so that part is not an issue for me. I live alone, so I do not need to close off spaces because of noise and I like that everything is close at hand. So this layout is really suiting me. It's also a small house, so I appreciate the breezy openness and natural light throughout. Oh yes, and I am in the Northeast -- imagine that! Anyway, it works for me and that's all that I care about.
Not a giant conspiracy. Just that builders know that buyers watch HGTV and want what's shown there and that's open plan and so that's what the builders of mass homes primarily if not solely build, thus making it difficult if not impossible for anyone with a reasonable budget wanting to buy a new build to find one that is NOT open concept. It doesn't take a conspiracy to create this problem Trust me, I run into this a lot in my profession. Just like running into HOA's everywhere and a lot of clients who say they want to buy, but will NOT buy anyplace WITH an HOA, when HOA's, because of their reputation for preserving property values and their lifting of certain expenses from cities, are the way things are going making it difficult to find homes not in them. (Though builders are catching on and there are now quite a few subdivisions that anyone who loves HOAs would think were HOA neighborhoods but are not.) It's all about the bottom line, not what people really want, and turning that ship takes a while because so much is invested in the status quo.
Anyone notice that as the walls were coming down, a new one sprung up between the toilet and the rest of the bathroom?
People still wanted their "me" time!
I do not care for the toilet in it's own room. Ours is a really long skinny room. Wasted space. I like the homes where the toilet is against the wall across from the tub or shower, and there is a nice half wall between it and sink area. That is better than the groping in the dark trying to get to that toilet room while asleep.
I do not care for the toilet in it's own room. Ours is a really long skinny room. Wasted space. I like the homes where the toilet is against the wall across from the tub or shower, and there is a nice half wall between it and sink area. That is better than the groping in the dark trying to get to that toilet room while asleep.
We have a separate "water closet" (room) for our toilet in the master bath. Love it. Someone can be using the toilet while someone else is washing hands, doing hair, etc.
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