Are houses getting too big?

Gardenlover

Gardenlover

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This goes along with the thread "Too much unnecessary furniture."

Seems like many have an appetite for larger and larger homes, My grandmother lived in a shotgun style home. Growing up it was two kids to a bedroom and one bathroom. My wife and I's first home was a small two bedroom home, 1200 sqft. Like many other urbanites we continued to move up to larger and larger homes, filling them with more and more "nice" things, whatever that is. To be honest the smaller homes were cozier in many ways and cheaper to heat and cool.
 

I watched a documentary once about Levittown, the first real suburb, built intentionally for the thousands of young couples looking for homes right after WWII ended. Some of the original owners were still living and listening to them rave about how thrilled they were with their little basic 750 sq ft houses made me feel ashamed for my entitled generation.
 

Are houses getting too big? There are two trends I notice in some western Canadian cities (and suburbs, too). Yes, there are homes being built that are much larger than those of the 1950s, and some people feel that two bathrooms are indispensable. The other trend is toward apartment buildings and condos, which seem to be the outcome in neighborhoods undergoing "renewal".

The prices with these options are hard on the pocketbook. The larger home with spacious kitchen & dining room, more bedrooms, two baths, basement storage area, and some sort of yard in front & back is becoming the ideal on the cities & burbs. Then the spaces need to be furnished & decorated. But that or even a modern condo, if attained, puts many people in quite a stretched financial situation.
 
Getting too big ? I guess not as long as a person / couple can afford them.

I don't care for huge houses, but that's my choice. This house is 1200 sq/ft, and plenty large enough for me. I wish the laundry room was a bit larger but other than that it suits me fine.

A friend of mine feels about the same, and his house is about the same. But his daughter has a 3000 sq/ft monster, and it's just her and hubby.
 
I think it's getting to the point where people can't afford them. That's why they are renting.

I think people are being sold you need an office, a man cave, a craft room. Watching house hunters, I heard some realtor say that bathrooms and kitchens need to be updated every 20 years. WT actual F? But people fall for it.

I worked with a couple who put a triple wide mobile home on their land replacing the old one. Judy later told me it was too big. She didn't even use her sewing room. She would sew on the dining room table so she could be near and visit with her husband while he watched TV.

She further stated she told her husband that if they ever wanted to sell, all they had to do was put a sign on the road and a Mennonite family would buy it. And that's exactly what happened. I think they moved to Montana or Wyoming or someplace.
 
What Iā€™ve noticed is that the houses are being built taller. No basements must save money for the builders. Theyā€™re a great place for a workshop, spare bedroom, storage.
Definitely two, usually three bathrooms, often more.

I watch House Hunters too and itā€™s shocking to see the size of some homes and listen to the expectations.
 
I donā€™t have a problem with people buying large trophy homes if they can comfortably afford them but I do think that big homes often give children too much privacy and limit their ability to develop many of the social skills that make living in close quarters possible.

Growing up in a small Cape Cod or mid century ranch was a good training ground for many of us. šŸ˜‰šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚
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Around here most single-family new construction is absurdly large McMansions in new walled subdivisions. 3000+ square feet, faux Greek columns out front, a 3 (or 4!) car garage. And worse yet high solid board fences around the back yard so... what vistas there are get broken up like an egg carton. And I suppose they never have to meet their neighbors.

Locals don't buy these, they're mostly California Riche flush with cash and real estate profits from their former subsidized economy.

After a few years they often have to sell. Wages aren't inflated here like on the coasts (thanks, NAFTA) even though a gallon of milk or a treadmill from Amazon is priced the same here as when they were given twice the salary back home.

Today many of these sit for a long time after construction. The newer subdivisions of this ilk are sitting with more empty lots than built upon now for years.
 
I grew up in America in a large Victorian house with multiple floors and bathrooms. In my life having two bathrooms was the norm and you get used to that fast. Trust me. It does not seem like a luxury after a while. Some modern very large homes may look a little too large to me, but it's a matter of taste and none of my business. If it pleases the owner, the job is done.
 
Having done a lot of side work in construction, Ive seen some ridiculous houses.... one was a 5000SqFt 2 story one bedroom 3 bathroom, each with a laundry room. We raised our kids in 2000SqFt 3Bd/2Bath and downsized to 980SqFt 2 Bd 1 Bath.
 
We probably have a very wide range of living conditions right here on the forum. Some people are living in small places and don't have much extra room, or the money to expand or have new things. All the way to people living in big houses with many extra rooms, with lots of property, and money to but nice things and go on vacations. I would think the exchange wish rate would be about the same also. Many like living small, and many like living large, but a few would like to switch that around by magic. :)
 
It may be because of the price of land going sky high. Builders want to get as much profit as possible from each lot so they put big houses on them. New subdivisions seem to have very little space for yards. If you want a big back yard, buy an older house.
 
From Montana here and what I see are young couples with 2.5 kids under 5 yrs old coming to Montana to 'live free'. They buy the biggest most remote place they can. The man commutes to the city for work---usually a professional---and the wife plans to stay home and watch her kids play in the big yard while she is in the kitchen. No thoughs that they cannot do that or they could be dinner for a bear. Within 3-5 yrs the couple has so many complaints about their living conditons they slap a for sale sign on it. The next buyers buy the place for the same reason...and the beat goes on.

And they proceed to rip out kitchen and all baths because they are 'outdated'. Makes me crazy!!!
 
They are building a new development adjacent to mine. All the homes are McMansion types. In fact, I don't know of any new home, around here which isn't a McMansion.

As a home health nurse, I saw too many with beds in the living room, because they couldn't use the stairs to get to the 3-4 bedrooms on the second floor.

That brings me to my pet peeve- the open kitchen/living room trend of a McMansion. I want two distinct rooms. I don't want to be sitting talking to friend in the living room and looking at a damn dishwasher.
 
Della said:
I watched a documentary once about Levittown, the first real suburb, built intentionally for the thousands of young couples looking for homes right after WWII ended. Some of the original owners were still living and listening to them rave about how thrilled they were with their little basic 750 sq ft houses made me feel ashamed for my entitled generation.
Click to expand...
My dad's brother had one. 1949.


Ed 1949.jpeg Ed.jpeg
 
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