<p>I understand driver’s sentiment. We live in a 125+ year old farm house on 25+ acres and I often feel exactly that way.</p>
<p>We still have children at home, but at some point in the not too distant future we will have to think about down sizing. The house will be too big for us and the property too much for us to maintain.</p>
<p>Yet like driver</p>
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<p>I don’t know how we will resolve the dilemma of wanting a smaller space, yet still wanting to host large gatherings. I wish someone could design a house that most of the year would have one or two bedrooms, but you could press a button and presto! two or three more bedrooms materialize and then when they are no longer required they disappear again.</p>
<p>Well … I have been to Thanksgiving dinners held in the basement and/or the garage. If you started out thinking about using the space that way, you’d semi-finish the space with wallboard, ceilings, and lighting.</p>
<p>Bedrooms are easy in summer. They used to be called sleeping porches. Winter is a little tougher …</p>
<p>having a big house if I entertained regulary large groups would be one thing-
but having and maintaining a big house so that I could host holiday dinners once a year, or have the kids rooms like when they lived here, would feel to me like having an Explorer, becuase during that week when I was hosting out of town guests I needed the room to drive around.</p>
<p>I would rather have something that was easier to maintain, and if need be, rent out space someplace for gatherings.
I remember too many family gatherings where the hosts were too stressed to enjoy anything. My yard is big enough for more causal get togethers, and there are lots of great restaurants or other facilities to hold bigger gatherings.
It depends what your priorities are though
My brother, used to his 5 bedroom home in Indiana, bought a bigger house than he could afford in teh Seattle area, because they like to have people from out of town.
I see a lot of people servicing their homes- living in a larger house than they can afford, so they work longer hours than they would otherwise, and retire later. It doesn’t seem like in their case they even get to enjoy their mega house because they are never home!</p>
<p>THen again some people are erally hung up on appearances- My sister refuses to go to Thanksgiving at her sister in laws, because she uses paper plates ( for 20 + people) instead of china.
So my sister hosts the dinner herself ( because she has the china) ,but it takes her a week to prepare and a week to recover- and it takes everyone else longer than that :(</p>
<p>A friend of mine just added on to her house making it now over 6000 sq. ft. Admittedly, its beautiful, but her husband travels and the kids are out and about at their ages. Its a wonderful place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there, or maintain it! I think she’s alone alot in it.</p>
<p>now my neighbor is 93- and she has a relatively small house, all she has to do is have someone come and cut the grass and she has some people help with bigger things, but she is still really active ( she was going to go hiking today, but changed her mind since it is in the upper 80s)</p>
<p>Being close enough to access services for elderly people or easy for people to visit is a big plus I think to consider- which is something I at least have in the back of my mind</p>
<p>well. the contracts have all been signed and the closings set for september 1. i have hired a painter, and made arrangements to have new carpet installed…just have to find the right colors by the end of this week!</p>
<p>i am so excited. i have loved every minute that i have lived in this larger home, but i am really looking forward to the new place–and it’s not really downsizing that much–we just have to do some work in finishing the basement.</p>
<p>at least it’s keeping me busy and giving me something to think about besides my baby taking off for college!</p>
<p>My mom and I just moved my son into a studio apartment in a triplex; the studio totals about 300 square feet. The kitchen is maybe 5x10 feet, the bathroom is so small you can barely turn around in it, the bedroom-slash-living-room is about 15x15 just enough room for a bed, a desk, a chair and a throw rug. A communal laundry room is out back. After we got over our shock at how small it was and then spent some time and $$ fixing it up, we were both sort of jealous. It just is so simple, and he has everything he needs but not more. Streamlined and lovely and easy to keep clean and orderly. We each thought we could see ourselves living in a place like that, but perhaps not if we were still married. ;)</p>
<p>I really rather admire the growing trend toward “simplicity” of lifestyle that the Small House Movement exemplifies. It’s a logical counter-reaction to the “cult of excess” that’s held sway in the American mindset since the Reagan Admistration. I think many of us DO have too much. Too many clothes, too many cars, too many houses, too many 70-80 hr. work weeks to pay for it all. Too little time. </p>
<p>Living in a significantly smaller place requires one to really think about what’s materially necessary.
Our understanding of the limits of global resources and the need for conservation has increased. We see how the economic fortunes of some traditionally third world nations have shifted toward western style prosperity. Naturally, they are demanding a larger portion of the world’s finite natural resources pie. That means there will be less of it for those of us who have historically possessed the lion’s share. </p>
<p>Does this mean most of us can pratically live in a 500 sq.ft. house? I don’t think so. But many of us can probably live happily in a much smaller space and come to appreciate the advantages of doing so.</p>
<p>I’ll probably get flamed for this, but one thing that I really do like about living in a larger house with school age kids is that we can get away from each other if we want to. When my 8th grader has his pals over, its nice to send them upstairs where they can hack around, play video games and be out of my hair. H and I can sit downstairs where its quieter and TALk sometimes without ears listening to every word. I have a friend who says she’s always in one room with her kids and H (family room) and I think to myself “no privacy”. Maybe I’m just weird that way.</p>
<p>Our first apartment (no kids) was the top or attic floor of a narrow house. Tiny kitchen, bathroom under the eaves with a 1/2 size bathtub, bed took up the entire bedroom, no closets. You could only walk upright down the center hall and all the furniture (desk, a chest of drawers) was against the slanted walls. My father-in-law said it was like living on a submarine. But we were happy there–we were both in graduate school and the rent was cheap.</p>
<p>dke, i really understand! i loved my big home when it was full of kids. for me, though, the house has “outgrown” me. i don’t need the poker room over the garage, the four baths, the five bedrooms–you get the picture. it is quite hard to downsize and know what to do with everything, but the new place has a basement, so i’m taking anything i might want later. i can sort it out at my leisure.</p>
<p>there is something to be said for a big house when there are lots of kids around…and hopefully, i’ll find something equally as positive about a smaller home with fewer kids…</p>
<p>I love those old three storey turn of the century mansions. Every time I walk by one, I start to mentally picutre myself living there.</p>
<p>I grew up in a large three storey house circa 1920 and when my boys started primary school, H and I moved into something a bit larger than the house I grew up in–but not quite mansion scale (6000+). Gorgeous! Leaded windows, terrazzo floors and staircase. It was a joy to entertain in–but I did see that the sheer quantity of stunning interior space meant the boys spent more time indoors than when we lived in a tiny bungalow.</p>
<p>When we moved overseas, H wanted to live on one floor (memories of the ranch houses he grew up in!). We seriously downsized to a turn of the century villa with stained glass transoms, carved fireplaces in every room and 11 foot ceilings–very similar to some of the old houses of New Orleans and about 2500 sf. At first it was a bit shocking to go back to living cheek to jowl–but we adjusted. It did foster a closeness with our teenage boys than we otherwise would have had. Although the house has a second floor, we use that for guests.</p>
<p>It does have the massive dining room and living room though. I couldn’t live without entertaining 14 at a time at my dinner table! As for books, I give away tons but still have boxes and boxes in storage.</p>
<p>No flames from me Dke. I don’t believe I could live very happily with my kids and H in a house much smaller than the one we have now. My kids are wonderful and our household is by and large harmonious, but I often can’t wait for school to start again in the fall. I often find myself craving solitude, and most of the time, there’s just too much activity going on: music, television, video games, telephone, and too much going to and fro from room to room. I think the average American family’s lifestyle is just not conducive to living in close quarters. But the average American family is changing—at least the average middle class family is. There are fewer children, for one. Couples are marrying later, and in many cases, deciding NOT to have children at all. Several couples in my own family have made that decision, including my brother and his wife, who are very happy to call themselves “DINKS”. </p>
<p>I think the Small House Movement will find its most staunch aficionados among young singles, childless couples, and retirees.</p>
<p>interestingly, my sister inlaw divorced a couple years ago from her husband ( who was the best man at our wedding) never wanted children ( her ex, thought he could change her mind- he now has a preschooler at 48 and is thrilled)
However, she always apparently wanted a huge house, so now she is building one with her new boyfriend!</p>
<p>We do have a small house, but we also have a yard, a detached garage and a basement , so if you really want you can get space. It also isn’t far to the closest coffee shop with free wifi, the park or the library.
Getting out of the house, is maybe why I viewed going to the grocery store not as a chore but as a reprieve when the kids were small ;)</p>