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Old 09-13-2019, 08:43 AM
 
17,487 posts, read 38,929,023 times
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I like a bit of "open-ness" but prefer delineated rooms. We just purchased an older (1950s) home and it has the perfect floor plan for us - it is a Florida ranch style, you walk into a spacious living room which is L-shaped with the right side a small dining room. The kitchen is next to the DR and is partially open, but still has a bar/counter separating the dining room, which lets in a lot of light.

The living room has a double doorway into a beautiful "Florida room" (or den) and it has wood and glass pocket doors so that it may be closed off. There is a laundry room and bonus room which are actually separate from the main house, but still under roof. I really love this floor plan, it gives us the best of both worlds. We are currently living in a small 1950s rancher that basically has one big room. It's a beautiful room with vaulted ceilings and massive roof beams, but it has no walls to divide it up, so I find it impractical. It is the size of 2 or 3 average rooms.
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Old 09-13-2019, 08:46 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MISSOURI
20,756 posts, read 9,378,342 times
Reputation: 15498
Quote:
Originally Posted by UNC4Me View Post
I get your issue, but if buyers prefer open floor plan homes that’s what they’re going to build. If buyers start demanding closed off plans, they’ll build those. You’re in a bad position because what you want isn’t what the majority of buyers in your area prefer.

Maybe you could find a builder who could add some walls to one of their existing floor plans for a price??
Fortunately, I'm not in house buying mode, just generally ranting.

And the other problem is, not all buyers prefer open floor plans, as this thread (and elsewhere you can find on the internet) testifies to.

-- Probably only 50% of home buyers prefer open floor plans. I actually saw a survey the other day which indicated precisely that. In fact it was a little less than half.
-- But 100% (or darn close to it) of new homes are built with open floor plans.

As I said at the outset, builders just build open floor plans without even thinking these days. It's pretty much a knee-jerk reaction. It seems to be the hip and fashionable thing for builders to do, because they don't even seem to question it. Which means if you don't like them, your're screwed.
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Old 09-13-2019, 08:47 AM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,533,504 times
Reputation: 24590
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Bond 007 View Post
If walls exist for good reasons in bedrooms and bathrooms, does it not occur to anyone anymore that walls might exist for good reason in kitchens, living rooms and dining rooms?

Is anybody ever going to start questioning the fad, realizing it's not a big deal? Or will we be condemned to slavishly believing open floor plans are still a good thing 100 years from now?

/rant
isnt this kind of absurd? walls exist for reasons in bedrooms and bathrooms. if those reasons dont exist in a kitchen, dining or living room then why should there be walls there?

ultimately, everyone should choose whatever they like. im not sure why it bothers you if people like an open floor plan.

my house is very open and i very much like it.
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Old 09-13-2019, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,079,310 times
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I will never buy a home without an open floor plan, as it best suits the way my son and I live our lives. I can't imagine why anyone wants to split their living area into multiple small rooms. And I love that I have lots of options.
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Old 09-13-2019, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MISSOURI
20,756 posts, read 9,378,342 times
Reputation: 15498
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
isnt this kind of absurd? walls exist for reasons in bedrooms and bathrooms. if those reasons dont exist in a kitchen, dining or living room then why should there be walls there?

ultimately, everyone should choose whatever they like. im not sure why it bothers you if people like an open floor plan.

my house is very open and i very much like it.
It doesn't bother me that some people like open floor plans.

It does bother me that that's the only choice you get these days if you want to buy a new house (or even rent a new apartment).
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Old 09-13-2019, 10:22 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,440 posts, read 15,384,782 times
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I don't care for true wide open floor plans (i.e. loft-like). I prefer clearly defined rooms, though I do appreciate our home's approach to openness - the family room is two stories and clearly the house's hub. All rooms spring from it. Other than that though, each room is separate. I don't see the open floor plan option going away anytime soon. It's probably much easier to build an open home than it is to build one that is more compartmentalized. Who knows.
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Old 09-13-2019, 10:35 AM
 
24,113 posts, read 10,438,563 times
Reputation: 46021
Quote:
Originally Posted by turf3 View Post
What it means is that I used an example of a city I'm familiar with, to say that non-open plan houses are often few and far between. The non-responsive response to that was to say that he bought a house with a designed-in home office in the Dallas area.


In other words, a non sequitur (literally, "it does not follow") or a "non-responsive answer".


Telling me that you bought a house with a designed-in home office, does not answer my contention that houses being offered at the mid-price level are almost all open plan, either by original design, or having been subjected to remodelings that included removal of walls.
Please take your language lesson to the appropriate forum. Thank you.
You are looking at old homes which have been re-modeled not to your liking. There are plenty old and new ones on the market in DFW with designated home offices. This was one of the complaints about open floor plans. People live in houses and remodel houses to suit their life style not yours. Drywall is cheap. Close off the open spaces.
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Old 09-13-2019, 10:36 AM
 
24,113 posts, read 10,438,563 times
Reputation: 46021
Quote:
Originally Posted by James Bond 007 View Post
It doesn't bother me that some people like open floor plans.

It does bother me that that's the only choice you get these days if you want to buy a new house (or even rent a new apartment).
Again - you are just not looking. Builders build what sells. Small rooms apparently do not sell.
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Old 09-13-2019, 11:06 AM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,211,898 times
Reputation: 32249
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threestep View Post
Please take your language lesson to the appropriate forum. Thank you.
You are looking at old homes which have been re-modeled not to your liking. There are plenty old and new ones on the market in DFW with designated home offices. This was one of the complaints about open floor plans. People live in houses and remodel houses to suit their life style not yours. Drywall is cheap. Close off the open spaces.
Well, I'm glad for you that YOUR particular need, a separated home office, could be met.


This does not however address other people's desire for things like a kitchen that is separate from the family room; or a dining room that is separate from the living room; etc.


And you don't need to tell me that people are remodeling houses in ways that are not to my taste; I've actually been able to figure that out all on my own.


As to "adding the walls back" in a remodeled house, it's rarely that simple, as one of the big reasons this is done is to expand the kitchen - thus it no longer becomes a matter of adding studs and drywall, but rather a matter of returning the whole kitchen area (for example) back to what it was before, including all kinds of plumbing and electrical work. Not cheap.


I think you're just hacked-off that I bluntly told you that your response was not responsive to my post about the fraction of non-mutilated houses in Dallas. If you would like to provide some actual data that refute my claim, be my guest.
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Old 09-13-2019, 11:08 AM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,211,898 times
Reputation: 32249
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threestep View Post
Again - you are just not looking. Builders build what sells. Small rooms apparently do not sell.
Yes, I think OP has that figured out, and is wishing this fad would hurry up and run its course so houses with rooms would start selling again (and thus be built again).
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