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We wanted to buy a 4000 sqft house a few years (too bad we didn't !!!) and thought it would be perfect for two. It had a theater room (which would be used a lot!) upstairs along with 4 other bedrooms and a huge game room/loft. The Master was downstairs.
However, to clean it would be another story! My house right now (1500sqft) is too small now. I hate being in bed and hearing my BF doing the dishes in the kitchen (well, actually I do like hearing that he's doing them!). The noise travels bad.
I think 3000-4000 sqft would be great (with maid service). IF I was super rich I'd go bigger and on the side of a mountain.
I'd much rather have a condo or a nice apartment in an urban area where you can walk to places. Living by myself in a big house would freak me out and make me feel too isolated.
I'd much rather have a condo or a nice apartment in an urban area where you can walk to places. Living by myself in a big house would freak me out and make me feel too isolated.
Ditto.
I've never understood why a person living by themselves, or just with a spouse, needs a 7 bedroom house. It just seems more for show than for anything else.
It's also always struck me as weird, even in much smaller "average" homes, when people have a room or two that they just either don't use or rarely enter. You go over to a friend's place and are stopped dead in your tracks before entering some room by the person who wants to keep the room an immaculate showroom and the only way you can enter it is as if you thoroughly shower, wear sanitary gloves and douse yourself in holy water to have the "priviledge" to set foot in the room. I'm sort of from the school of "if I paid for it, then I'm sure as hell gonna use it".
I've never understood why a person living by themselves, or just with a spouse, needs a 7 bedroom house. It just seems more for show than for anything else.
Yeah, you would think for most. But for us, we use every sqft of our house for 2 people. Now having a big mansion on a side of a mtn is because I love them and I love real estate. (a bit of it would be for show, I have to admit). But I'd love to look out over the valley, watch the sun set, enjoy a breeze, and have it be quiet for once!
I live in a 1500 sq foot home now and it's fine. But I need a 2500 sq foot garage for the cars and maybe a 1500 sq foot basement for the recreation room. It all depends on what you want to do withthe house. If you're a "gog in the wheel" you need to live in a city so other people can do what you cannot and you can earn enough income to pay them. This is the city life in a nutshell, you own little and pay for everything, in exchange for the opportunity to experience large quantities of people. If you livein a backwater town or an area with nothing, you may prefer to stay home. To get friends to come over you might want to have things to do, and that takes space. You'll need living space, recreation space, space for the toys you could never have in the city (boats, RV, atv's) due to no space and less disposable income. If you have a business at home you need more room. Some people live in their business. To me the most important thing is to be able to maintain such a property. I would like a concrete home, roof and all just like mine, 100 feet long and maybe only 20 feet wide, one bedroom home with living room and library, smaller than many condos. But the basement would contain the bowling lanes and gym, and a seperate garage would be nearby. I don't like a home that looks big and expensive, but extra room is what's important.
Yes, IMO a house can be too big. My wife, sons (13/11), and I have a 2100 sq. ft. home and don't feel cramped at all. If I were rich would I get a bigger one, yes. But not to the degree that I'd have tons of wasted space and space we never/seldom use. This "sky is the limit" and entitlement mindset of many American's is why so many are in debt out their ears. Enjoying life is the key to me personally, and I see more joy actually getting to spend relaxing, quality time with my family rather than working all of the time so we can have "things" rather than being together. Spending like there's no tomorrow, never getting ahead, and constantly worrying about bills is no life I want, you know?
Practical, sporty-me reason: Toooo much time cleaning and straightening. Yep even with the full-time staff. I'm the type who cleans before the maid comes (anyone else??? lol).
You sound like my sister... they have a maid come about once a month, and she always cleans first! To me, that seems like a waste of time, since I'm kind of a slob.
And in regards to the original question, I think there is such a thing as too big! Gi-normous houses just feel impersonal to me, and I'd be annoyed about the waste of space... I'd much rather have something around 3000-4000 sq.ft., with at least 4 acres. My dream is to have horses & other animals, with the space for them to run safely. Speaking of too big, when my brother was a kid, he had a friend with a ridiculous house (probably 10-12,000+ sq.ft.)... one day when they were playing, my brother got lost & had to use the intercom to call for help! He never wanted to visit again, because he was afraid of getting lost. Now that, in my opinion, is a sign your place is too big - LOL.
I can't imagine owning anything over 2000-2500sqf of living space. We just barely use all the space in our 667sqf apartment and there are three of us.
Other people's arguments also ring true for me: Too much to clean, too much space to attract clutter and fill with things we wouldn't otherwise need, too much extra electricity and heating costs for rooms/space we don't use.
That aside, I would like a bit of land though, maybe 2-5 acres.
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Living by myself,
You sound like my sister... they have a maid come about once a month, and she always cleans first! To me, that seems like a waste of time, since I'm kind of a slob. 
