We have one wall the adds separation between a family room and the dining place, and we're in the process of adding a hole in it (though the reason is increased light.)
In general: we love it.
The article is right about the enormous energy inefficiency of it all. We have no way to separate living room/dining room/kitchen/family room from each other, so we're heating the whole thing in the winter.
It's also true that sounds travels everywhere, but in our case, with only 1 kid, that's not a problem.
We have a 1500 sq ft house with 2 kids. We have 3 bedrooms so each kid has their own room. We also have 2 added sunrooms off each end of the house, one of which I use for my office. Part of our garage has also been converted into a gaming area for my son and his friends. We don't want anything bigger. It really is the perfect size for our family. We all have our own space when we need it but still close enough so we aren't totally alienated from each other.
Thanks for sharing and it is a great idea. I am currently in same situation where we are moving to a new home where it is big enough for my family and parents to live in one place. There is a lot of activities to do near by and weather is milder where we are going but agree the separation of space you have is the best to avoid petty disputes/differences that occur when living together.
I grew up with 2 parents and a sibling in a house under 1,000 square feet. I guess just a different approach to wastefulness and what it takes to be comfortable.
I truly do not understand what you’d use that space for? Your house has more space per person than our entire house has in total (800 sqft, for 3 people). I mean, I can imagine enjoying an extra 200 sqft, but that’s about it.
> but that seems like an odd standard to base your home purchase around
My wife and I made several house (and furniture) purchase decisions based off this. Big families like to have big parties in family settings - it's an important feature of the house for us.
We've made do in ~300 square feet in the past, and just didn't enjoy the compromises on comfort and the constant extra effort to keep the space livable.
Where I'm from, most people I know live in smaller apartments than these houses, often with two kids. The trick is to have the minimum number of rooms (only bedrooms + bathroom + kitchen + living room - or fewer), and to allocate a good portion to the living room, which can be adjusted according to the needs of the moment. Many households have extendable dining tables, foldable chairs (either hollywood-style or fully wooden), etc.
Having a couple stay for three months would be troublesome, but dinner for eight or ten is perfectly doable.
Like I said in another comment. I grew up in a similar situation 4 people, home under 1,000 square feet. Just takes a different mindset and more conscious thinking about stuff and what you really need, I guess.
Good point. Also note that a 4-family home is going to be generally much more energy efficient than 4 single-family homes, since there are fewer walls that leak heat to the exterior. So the author's recommendation to build more multi-family dwellings is on point in that respect.
Bedrooms, multiple kids, large spacious bathrooms, an office, a gym, a combined living room/kitchen/dining room open space for hosting parties, and most importantly of all, storage space. That can become 3000 sqft fairly quickly, of which you only use 1000 sqft frequently as a family :D
What particular problems did you run into while raising a family of three in a condo? It's not a common occurrence around here, but I've concluded that more of it would be a good thing, so your input would be helpful.
Your last point hits home to me. We have two and a third due next month. Room is starting to get cramped, but I highly value a place where my kids can grow up entirely within its walls.
Also, I've done a lot of renovations to the home myself to cut cost and also update it faster: wood-look tile floors throughout, new flooring in bathrooms, update kitchen appliances & cabinets, deck, floor trim, etc. I often think that my commitment comes from all the blood and sweat (and even more tears) thrown into those things.
I mean, it isn't some weird flex with me going yeah it's cramped BUT WE LOVE IT THIS WAY. Like, yeah, this house would be too small for 4 people. But right now, with just me, wife, and a baby on the way - no problem.
>>my parents bedroom was the 'big' bedroom and it was just large enough to fit a queen sized bed, a chest of drawers, a gun case, and then a night stand on one side of the bed
That's exactly what ours is, minus the gun case ;-)
Media/theater rooms, library/study/office, formal dining room (probably a complete waste of space 90+% of the time, admittedly—I turned ours into the library/study), dedicated play room so the kids' shit doesn't take over the rest of the house (in smaller houses this may just be a second, less-public den/living-room area, probably mixed with the media room concept). Separate bedroom for each kid plus a spare bedroom if you can manage it—spare room, if present, may double as an office if space doesn't allow a dedicated room for that. Big bathrooms and closets that allow one's morning routine to be conducted entirely outside the bedroom proper (handy if partners don't wake up at the same time, plus makes tidying easier) and feature things like large tubs and big two-person showers. Entertaining spaces/bars, usually separated from the bedrooms as much as possible, probably mixed in with the media room/theater concept if space doesn't allow them to be separate. Exercise rooms. Those last two are often in a finished basement. Workshops. "In-law" suites (basically a 1-bedroom apartment), often in the basement. Usually several, but not all, of these things are present in a (by today's standards) mid-size or larger suburban house. Bigger houses may have all or almost all of them.
I've seen wine cellars (climate controlled, not legit caves) and steam/sauna rooms in houses that were large but not zomgwtf large, so those might be present in the middle-upper range of McMansions depending on the preferences of the owners.
Real monster houses that go beyond those may have mansionesque crap like ballrooms, elevators, indoor pools, et c., but then you're approaching or exceeding 7 figures even if the house is in the middle of no-where, so that's actually rich people with poor taste (or maybe they really do have large dance parties on the regular? Who knows. And indoor pool—I mean, if I could easily afford that, yeah, of course I'd like it) not middle-class people trying to imitate the rich.
Plus, remember, these giant houses usually have 3+ car attached garages (you'll have trouble selling a newly-constructed house with fewer than 2 garage bays in the US 'burbs these days—older houses sometimes have only one, or none, though) and maybe another bay around back if the basement is walk-out. Those make them look bigger than they are, as far as living space goes.
Not advocating/defending any of this, just providing an answer to the question :-)
Maybe we can put an addition on our house to make it a work space or move the kids to the addition and use their bedroom as my work space. It has an insanely large window and overlooks the lake.
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