May 26, 2007 - 11:55 am
By all accounts, Americans are hungering after bigger and bigger houses, while families are getting smaller and smaller. In 2007, the average home is 4 bedrooms 2.5 baths. And, not surprisingly, even though these newer homes are more energy efficient, their environmental footprint is every bit as dramatic, if not moreso, because of the square footage now required to air condition and heat.
Almost 2 years ago, my Honey and I bought our first house here in Bellingham. It’s a lovely Victorian in a cute, older neighborhood. This house has CHARACTER and is such a wonderful change for our last one, which had (you guessed it) 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The yard is relatively low-maintenance and shady (with a little garden mixed in) and the kids love their flunky and colorful bedrooms.
We bought this lovely place because I missed my sweet little cottage. The small spaces and one-bedroom easy cleaning darling that I lived in with Morgan and Zander. In the end, kids with their forts have it right: There is something comforting about small spaces, with low-ceilings, and white appliances. Something sweet and pure and lovely.
When you have kids, or get older, or both, creating and sustaining a home that feels safe, secure, and cozy, seems so much more important. In my 20s, I could move every 6 months just for the fun and sport of it. Now I want to create a home that feels warm when you walk in the door. Meanwhile, even though I’ve found my home, I can’t break my habit of surfing for real estate all the time…
How about you? What’s home to you? Are you a secret real estate hussy like me?
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My favorite place I have ever lived was 450 sq ft and filled with old spirits.
May 26th, 2007 at May 26, 2007 - 12:57 pmHaving just moved from an 870 sq hovel to a bright and shiny 1200 ft home, I know me some real estate. If you plopped your house in my area of Seattle, you’d easily get over 600K. Crazy, huh?
May 26th, 2007 at May 26, 2007 - 1:40 pm4 bdrm and 2 1/2 bath’s here as well. I miss my 3 bdrm./2 bath “cottage” as we speak. Well actually I miss the easy cleaning part. Too bad we couldn’t have moved the cottage to the school district we wanted.
Also, I’m a “real estate hussy” as well. But it’s not really a secret. I was online yesterday looking in fact.
May 26th, 2007 at May 26, 2007 - 9:04 pmI am happy with my relatively small 1744 square foot house. It isn’t huge but with a full basement for storage there is plenty of room. Superhubby and I built it ourselves so price wise we did great.
May 27th, 2007 at May 27, 2007 - 7:07 amMy favorite TV shows are house hunters and flip that house, actually anything that you can nose around in other peoples houses. A couple of people in my family have decided to move to town lately and I love going house hunting with them.
I totally think the warmth you create depends on the layout and vibe of the house, though I’d agree that cavernous spaces preclude this. I love our house, even though it’s somewhat large (but NOT a McMansion). The key, is, it isn’t cookie cutter new construction, which I loathe. And it has enough spaces and nooks and crannies to feel cozy, and have been told so many times by visitors. We also have 2 acres with gardens and space for the kids to run and play. I want to stay for a long time
May 27th, 2007 at May 27, 2007 - 10:03 amI love real estate. I wish I could own a dozen different properties, reno them and flip them and start all over…
However, that said, it is important to the hubs and I to have one home for the kids to grown up in and not move about. We moved to our property for the land and lived in a 640 square foot hovel for four years while we saved our sheckels. Eventually we got rid of the hovel and built our home. It’s cozy, only 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and just shy of 1600 sq feet…with no basement or stairs. I love every inch of it and it’s quick to clean too!
My best friends just showed me their house plans for the house they are building…it’s a small McMansion and I shudder to think of living in it.
To me, smaller is better.
May 27th, 2007 at May 27, 2007 - 10:09 amAs you know, I like the small cottage vibe…
May 27th, 2007 at May 27, 2007 - 11:53 amI loathe the McMansions or “Garage-majals” as we call them. I’m a Realtor in the midwest, so I’m fortunate to get to see houses in every size, shape and price range. It helps me appreciate my 1950’s ranch with 1308 square feet, with a basement and 1/4 acre lot.
Your house looks lovely!
May 27th, 2007 at May 27, 2007 - 2:04 pmThis hits home for me, as my husband and I may be potentially moving from our current sweet little cottage to find a larger (newer?) home in Western MA (new job for him AND larger home may= having more children)fairly soon.
However, I LOVE our little house (ceilings in bedrooms - 6 ft.)It’s 115 years old, and we’ve put our blood, sweat and tears (literally) into transforming it from hovel into home. My 1950’s-diner style kitchen (complete with a booth!), the N.E. beach colors of the living room (and 10-min. walk to the beach!), even the roses in the backyard.
This is the home where he proposed.
This is the home where we conceived our bambina, and where we brought her home from the hospital.
This is the home where my heart is.
May 28th, 2007 at May 28, 2007 - 6:56 amThis is only the second house I’ve lived in with my husband and it’s the one we’re staying in. We just keep adding on.
May 28th, 2007 at May 28, 2007 - 10:52 amJust moved house last week and am only just getting on line today! We have the Cranky guest suite ready.
Everyone in the UK is a real estate whore. Your property in my area would be worth around 2.4 million dollars.
May 28th, 2007 at May 28, 2007 - 4:20 pmWe did extend a bit [er …..addition?] but that’s it = too much too clean otherwise.
May 28th, 2007 at May 28, 2007 - 8:46 pmCheers
Obsessed. Absolutely obsessed with real estate! Before becoming a mom, I’d regularly hit the open houses just to see what else is out there. Love it!
We’re in a big house now … “upgraded” from 950 square feet to about 2700 sq feet - and I miss my little home. The Husband and I have been talking about downsizing and although I know we wouldn’t fit in 950 sq ft anymore, I’d certainly love something a bit smaller without so much to clean!! We’ll see …
May 29th, 2007 at May 29, 2007 - 11:10 amI’m real estate obsessed, though generally I find it depressing. Like, shit, if we only made $100,000 more a year, we too could afford a split-level house in Chadds Ford, PA. Sometimes I just don’t get the market or how people live in it.
That being said, we are in the process of moving to an even bigger house. 6 beds (though 2 of the beds are stretching it). Both our families live out of town, and it’s not uncommon for us to have more than one couple wanting to stay with us, so we wanted a bigger, more comfortable guest space where guests could have their own bath as well.
It’s a 1920s house, really great for my architectural conservator husband, stone and stucco. And affordable, though we sacrifice good public schools, and will now have to figure out how to do private.
May 29th, 2007 at May 29, 2007 - 2:23 pmI dream of owning a large house… but here in Silicon Valley, a small fixer upper (the size of most midwest garages) cost a million dollars. I am serious folks. Chances are, if you live in SV, you rent or own a really small house.
I am contantly in awe of large homes. Yes, I have house envy. I love our charming house (charming equals small), 1925 bungalow, but for what we paid, we should be living in a mansion!
May 29th, 2007 at May 29, 2007 - 6:16 pm[…] Another old house in my beautiful neighborhood is getting knocked down. It is a house kiddy-corner from our apartment building and granted, it was on the market for a very long time and then for rent for an even longer time. It is not beautiful, not in great shape. But it is an old house on an over-sized lot with a great yard and its own character. And like many other homes turned construction sites within blocks, a Starter Castle will surely be built up in its place. With lots of bathrooms, more bedrooms and no trace of Earth on the lot.This McMansioning of America cannot be surprising to anyone who owns a home, is buying a home or just walks past homes in their ‘hood. A recent report citing one in five homes now have four bedrooms and 2.5 baths is up from a one in six ratio in 1990. This trend toward bigger home size doesn’t match up with the trend toward shrinking family size. It is, however, right on track with our need for more expansive space to fit all our stuff, no matter how much greenspace it means we chop away or how big our environmental footprint is on our cities, counties or country. All this construction comes at a price (and not just environmental). The average home price has risen 40% since 1990, hitting $167,500. I almost choked on my latte when I read this since our family’s hunt for even a crappy fixer-upper keeps landing us at doorsteps with at least a $400,000 price tag. While I loved our own Crank Mama’s ode to small spaces and while I can go on and on and freaking on about the horrific crapification of monstrous new builds in our neighborhood, I know that when we are finally ready to move out of our tiny apartment (noooo, not bitter about that at all), I will have every home-office/playroom/kid’s bathroom/guest space/art studio/fitness room reason in the world to hit all the 4 BR/2.5 BA open houses I can find. […]
May 30th, 2007 at May 30, 2007 - 9:06 am[…] (House) Size Matters […]
June 23rd, 2007 at June 23, 2007 - 12:09 pm