Quote:
Originally Posted by Merc63
Something I usually have to remind people that say this sort of thing about houses/cars, whatever. People that have this sort of money usually don't have to choose either/or. It's not this OR that, it's usually both. They don't have one big house instead of a few smaller houses scattered around. They often HAVE smaller places scattered around as well as the one big house.
It's only us poor people that think that we'd have to take several lesser places instead of one big one...  |
Yup.
How many trophies does a person need? A big house is as much a signal of success to others as it is a home. There's a big difference between a house being large enough for a family's solid comfort and one that is so large that it becomes a place where all the family members can get away from each other all the time.
Too much house, I think, tends to destroy family closeness, not enhance it. There needs to be a good balance in size where everyone has some private room and space, but at the same time, small enough that natural family friction has to be settled in the ways families have always done.
No family is ever completely lovey-dovey all the time. Allowing member who are in contention for the moment to disappear into their own part of the house only allows a lot of minor stuff to fester.
I live in an area where there are a lot of huge trophy cabins. Most of the owners don't have any hired staff who cleans and maintains them, outside of some roof shoveling in the winters when there is heavy snowfall.
I've often wondered how much fun it is for them; Mom gets to clean the family home all week and then gets to clean the trophy cabin all weekend. The family all congregates around the cabin's TV and ends up doing what it does at home. I have no quarrel with that, but I can't help but wonder what the point is for the bigness.
My own family has a cabin. It's on our working ranch, and some of us use it as a place to live in when there's work to be done there, while others of us use it recreationally. It's just large enough to stuff 6 to 8 people in it if need be, but we kept it simple and very low maintenance; anyone can clean it stem to stern in an hour or less. For 2-4 people, it's roomy.
It's comfortable but not impressive, but it doesn't need to be impressive- all one has to do is step outside and nature is impressive enough for us, and we spend most of our time there outdoors.
For all of us, it's where we unplug. There's no TV, but we all take books up, new music CD's, and a new pack of cards every year.
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