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I apologize for any judgement I may have shown in my previous posts. It was uncalled for and unhelpful in for the sake of this discussion. I am not saying (and have never said) that my opinion is the end-all right answer to this thread. (how ridiculous would that be?) I am merely saying that I think larger houses are bought not out of need, but out of a want. They are a luxury. I also am saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as people realize it is a luxury. For example, I enjoy going out to eat, but I also realize that is is a luxury.
I am saying that, to me, a better use of time and money is charity and working for my community, rather than spending time and money on home renovations, cleaning and yardwork.
Again - just my opinion. I am not judging you for owning a larger home. I merely was disagreeing with the opinion that a larger home is a need. Does that make sense?
It makes total sense. People are getting defensive and automatically throwing out all the jealousy crap. It is a luxury, no one "needs" a huge house, no one "needs" a small house. All we really need is one room with enough space to protect our families from the elements, enough heat to stay warm, and enough food/water to eat, everything else is a luxury and in truth a waste of resources. I waste LOTS of resources in my life, to deny it would be lie. I have a right to that in our free country and others have the right to question whether this is a good idea for the planet and future generations.
People have different sized homes for different reasons. Need is dependent on personal and business requirements for such a home and can not be measured with a "one size fits all" application. Some have a priority for entertaining due to business and the like and so contain multiple rooms of sufficient size for handling dining, visiting, cooking, etc... without hindering the guests.
Some have multiple bedrooms because they have guests over frequently and the like.
The point is, you have no idea what a person needs speaking in such a general manner.
You think you do because you have established your priority based on resource consumption and so this dictates all other issues. It means you will "deal" with inconveniences, impractical use, etc... because you think that is far more important and a "need" than that of the solutions that would violate that priority.
It is fine that you have an opinion, you are welcome to it, but it would be the height of ignorance and arrogance to assume that because people do not think like you, prioritize as you do that somehow they are "wrong". This issue is subject to each individuals requirements and you are not qualified, nor authorized to establish what each person needs.
Again, as I have said multiple times, I gave my opinion. I never once claimed that my opinion is right for absolutely everyone. Please actually read what I wrote before posting something like this.
I stated that a large house is a luxury, as it is. A family CAN survive in a smaller home. There are many, many that do so on a daily basis. I NEVER said it was a bad thing to enjoy the luxury of a larger home. I simply stated that (unless you have extenuating circumstances such as having many children or are running a business from your home), a large home is a luxury, not a need.
Again, this is the third time on this thread I have said that, and you seem to have glossed over it yet again.
It depends. Some big houses have many rooms. We don't like those kind of houses.
Our big house (4600 sq ft) has few rooms, but they are all big. Like the family room is big, the formal living (where we keep a pool table and sitting area) is big...but there aren't a bunch of extra rooms all over the place. Three bedrooms (each bedroom is big), a gym, and a movie theater/media room. So you don't have extra rooms you don't use - each room you use is large. It feels good for me, as I have claustrophobia issues...and it keeps the house well lit all over, as I also have darkness issues and bask in natural light. And it sits on half an acre, so no 'mini yard' to deal with. Pool and plenty of room for the dogs to run.
See, I would consider a gym, formal living room and movie theater/media room extra rooms. They would be completely extraneous and pointless for me, so I don't have them. I'm glad you enjoy them, though I've always thought the idea of a 'media room' was ridiculous, although I have quite a few friends that couldn't live without them. I have my tv in my living room and I'm happy... tvs are not allowed in the bedroom at my house.
I've always liked smaller spaces, it gives me more opportunity to be creative with my organizing and furniture choices which keeps my brain going I suppose. At my old place our extra room had a bunch of wire shelving where we could just store boxes of crap. When I moved I made 4 trips to Goodwill and 2 trips to the dump... it was so liberating to get rid of all of that
See, I would consider a gym, formal living room and movie theater/media room extra rooms. They would be completely extraneous and pointless for me, so I don't have them. I'm glad you enjoy them, though I've always thought the idea of a 'media room' was ridiculous, although I have quite a few friends that couldn't live without them. I have my tv in my living room and I'm happy... tvs are not allowed in the bedroom at my house.
I've always liked smaller spaces, it gives me more opportunity to be creative with my organizing and furniture choices which keeps my brain going I suppose. At my old place our extra room had a bunch of wire shelving where we could just store boxes of crap. When I moved I made 4 trips to Goodwill and 2 trips to the dump... it was so liberating to get rid of all of that
We use the gym (can't use the bad weather as an excuse!), and I have wanted my own pool table since I was a kid, so those are totally worth it. But I agree about the theater room...that was one room we didn't really care about. Easily converted to a guest bedroom if necessary. My favorite thing about our house is how there isn't extraneous crap everywhere...we enjoy the lack of knickknacks try to keep our horizontal surfaces clear. Just some warm houseplants.
We are a family of 4 that moved from a 975 sf house. I felt we needed more room. Now we live in a 1300 sf house and it feels huge. I'm not a fan of the extra cleaning. Big houses are nice to look at but I'd never want to live in one.
I, like many others, in recent years have been taught that big houses bring big status because they are a visible symbol of wealth. A century ago farm houses were large to accommodate the large families required to run a fairly large farm. The old houses were not a symbol or a luxury.
Big houses are considered an open symbol of wealth. The obvious wealth confers higher status compared with smaller dwellings. The appearance of wealth is very important to some people particularly if they are social climbing as part of their careers. Another reason for big, or maybe just expensive, houses is they have had a higher speculative return in recent years. The work involved in flipping a 150k house may actually be greater than the amount required for a 600K house. Given a proportionately lower down payment for the larger house and a 30% gain on the flip the bigger house yielded more money. Not necessarily more utility but a lot more money.
My wife and I live in a small condominium because it is big enough for us, but not for us and our books, unfortunately. As I cannot afford a bigger house we are evicting the books.
I admit to daydreaming about having more room. These dreams run to buying an old textile mill and living in the office building and playing in the mill. Having a complete machine and metal working shop comes to mind. Nice dreams but not likely, because disease is taking away my control over my hands, even if I had the money,
Our house is an investment, also, and we will just hold on to it until the market turns around. I am in the same boat as you are with our house.
We have over 4,000 square feet and 3 people living here. It is perfect for us as we have large rooms and our house is designed perfectly to entertain - which we do a lot of. Parties, dinner parties, bonfires out back, poker nights in the game room/bar room, oyster roasts and so forth. On most occassions, I would rather have friends and family over to enjoy good food and company than go out to a restuarant or bar.
My home is about the same size on an acre of land, and I am the same way. I much prefer dinner parties at home to any restaurant. I entertain regularly. However, I do not need the 4 bedroom home I have now. There are rooms I have not been in for years except to dust.
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Originally Posted by stayinformed40
My husband is a fortunate (I say this with a straight face) residential and commercial builder. We have been very blessed through this economy. We were not left holding the bag too badly when things turned down and he actually has had the best and busiest year ever this past year with loads more on our books for next year. He has a great reputation and builds to an old standard not seen everywhere. He builds everything from 200,00.00 homes to 5,000,000.00 and all get the same quality of construction.
Our house could be deemed a smaller 'mcmansion' by some, but is most definitley built very well. A previous comment was made on this thread that large homes are not built well and that is not true!
You are right, it is not true. Homes are only as good as the contractor building them. My home was built new, and I had the opportunity to inspect the home as it was being built. So I know that no corners were being cut.
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Originally Posted by stayinformed40
When we do move, we will probably not scale down in size much - just look for a more premium lot. As I have said before, to each his own! What works for one may not work for another - neither is right nor wrong. Only jealousy brings on judgement!!
When I no longer have to drive into Anchorage every day, I am selling my home and moving northeast to either Delta Junction or Tok, Alaska, where I do not have to pay property taxes. I can get by just fine with 1,000 to 1,200 square feet on about 5 acres.
I also agree that "to each their own." Everyone has different needs. As long as they can afford the home they purchase, there is no right or wrong.
I noticed that.. Not one of us with with "larger" homes said anything negative about those with smaller homes.. but boy did the bashing come out against us... I wonder if there is something to be said about that...
My house was really small for a very long time. Really small. Now I am looking for a much larger place as I need room for my inventing to take place. Also I am trying to figure out a revenue stream as it takes money to make money. Have a really good holiday season
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I've always thought the idea of a 'media room' was ridiculous, although I have quite a few friends that couldn't live without them. I have my tv in my living room and I'm happy... tvs are not allowed in the bedroom at my house. 
