No elevator or space to put one in later?
@“Cardinal Fang” Relax. This is therapeutic.
Some neighbors are just piggish. Our’s across the street put a big man made hill in their front yard, then pitched their new monstrosity of house on top of it. As if the house alone didn’t dwarf everything around it.
@doschicos - I hope they budgeted for one. It costs about $200,000 to add one retroactively. And annual maintenance is a pita.
I have a friend who lived through this recently and it’s not pretty. I will say, based on her experience, that the drainage issues are real and can damage your property.
It’s a three story house, not a ten story office building. What do they need an elevator for?
Old age and stairs. It’s common these days when people of a certain age build a large multi-story house to either put one in right away or at least have space built into the plan to handle one to allow for aging in place. Often closets stacked on top of each other on each level.
It also comes in handy for groceries when a house is built where the kitchen isn’t on the main level which is often done to capture views from the living space.
Maybe they wanted to get more exercise at home? Though it may not be working if their physical fitness is not improving (i.e. better stair climbing ability).
Maybe they’ll add a chair lift (the chair that goes up a track.)
Old folks don’t do stairs well and have falls.
How far away is this house from yours? I wouldn’t plant huge things if your lot is already small or the house is close to yours. Are you losing the morning or afternoon sun? I’d rather lose the morning sun because I use my yard more in the afternoon, but there’s probably not much you can do about it other than adjust your landscaping to account for more shade. If you have a roof, I don’t understand how they can see every space in your house, but if that’s the case I’d get curtains and make sure they’re closed at night.
Many folks just cave in and overbuild because the builder says that can’t make the place smaller or they can build it so energy efficient that it would not make sense to make it smaller. 5 bedrooms with ensuite baths for a 2-person family is a pretty typical new home plan here where we live. And then the constitrution takes forever! Some folks in my area are into their third year of construction. The side neighbors had significant delays. Someone has to reclaim all that wood, you know!
I thought the trend overall was to smaller homes not the McMansions but this thread sure bucks that trend.
Come and visit, dos. If the land is expensive, the builder will want to build 200-300% which means a giant house.
For better or for worse, this thread is making me want to stay in my house. I’m friends with 2 women on the architectural review board , and when I wanted to paint my house, I just asked them to come over. (The painters finished early on neighbors house, and could fit me in. They do a lot of work in my area)
I hear awful stories from people living in condos, with noisy neighbors. It just makes no sense for me to have a 4 bedroom house. On the other hand, I’ve had visitors for the last few weeks. Son’s g/f was in the pool everyday, even tho it is still too cold for me.
We’ve thought of downsizing but I’m definitely not ready to go back to sharing walls with people like we did in our young adult days.
Public service announcement: If you want to build a new house, have an architect design it. Builders are not design experts. Bigger is not better. A good architect will design a right-sized house for you, and will help you understand how your housing needs will change in the future. (We LOVE our architect-designed house. Love it.)
Feel your pain. The house next door is now just a foundation. Don’t j is what is coming next. Luckily it is on the Eastern side. They can’t block much sun.
Likely will be prettier than the ugly 70s revamped Cape there before, so I’m zen about it so far.
I thought approved house plans were public information?
Regarding seniors and stairs, my mother walks a flight of stairs literally 20-30-40 times a day (I made her wear a fitbit one year) and when she was evaluated at PT recently, they said that her leg strength was impressive, most likely due to the stair stepping every single day. Start the habit early and maybe it will be safe longer.