What do you consider a large house?

[tvguy]

Here's an interesting table from the census on average new home sizes.
http://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf

2392 is the average of a new home built in 2010.

I live in an area with 4 subdivisions built side by side, one in 1950's, one in the 1970's, one in the 1980's and the last one was built in the last 3 years.

1950 subdivision homes are 1,000 to 1,200 square feet on large lots
1970 subdivision homes are 1,500 to 2,100 square feet on smaller lots
1980 subdivision homes are 1,700 to 2,400 square feet on even smaller lots
Late 2000 subdivision homes are 2,200 to 2,800 square feet on still smaller lots.

The houses keep getting bigger, and the land they sit on smaller.

My parents home is in an area of custom homes, theirs built in 1960, minimum lot size is 1/2 acre, minimum square footage is 2,000 by CCR. When these houses sell, they are normally torn down and 5,000 square foot houses built on the lot.

 

[Fortuosity]

I'm dying to know where you live. I'm guessing a city?

No. Quite rural.

I simply answered the OP's question as asked. I personally consider 1300-1800 large, and anything over 1800 to be quite large.

 

[ChristmasElf]

6800 sq foot main house and a 1435 sq foot pool house that our oldest has taken over.
But there are 6 of us total living here, so it doesn't seem that large.

 

[NYEmomma]

1000-1200 is small

1500-1800 is medium

2000-2500 is large

anything over that-too big to clean

I agree with this assessment. Our first house was 900 sq ft and even though it was just the two of us & we didn't need much, it still felt SMALL! Our current house is 1100 sq ft and I remember feeling like it was so huge when we moved in... but now we've added 1 kid and are about to be bringing in 2 more and I'm feeling incredibly cramped.

I'd like our next house to be in the 1750-2000 sq ft range if we can find a way to afford it.

 

[minniecarousel]

Just moved out of a two-story 3400 sq. ft. house - it was quite large.

Our one-story forever home is 2300 sq ft - just right for us.

No basements here.

There are homes in the area that are 4-6000 sq ft. (well...the other side of town!)

Under 1200 sq ft would be too small for me.

 

[Jeafl]

Around here the homes over 4000 sq. Ft are considered on the large side.

Ours is about 3160 sq. Ft, plus a finished basement with another full bathroom with shower down there. Probably around 4100 sq.ft. living space total. I can honestly say we use all of it though. I use my dining room at least once a week, and I sit in my living room fairly often. The kids mostly use the basement, and we all spend a lot of time in the family room. We do have a home office that gets used for a little while each day. I don't know what room I would give up, given the choice.

 

[shortbun]

3500 or more is large to me.

 

[indimom]

I'd say under 1,500 is small.
Around 2,000 is medium.
Anthing over 3,000 is huge.

Our house is about 1,800 I believe. I have run a day care in my home for many years and that makes it feel SMALL to me. I will soon be closing the doors on my home business and expect my 3bed/2bath house to feel just right for our family of four.


I have to add that the floorplan can play a huge part in how "big" a house feels.
Just using my kids' bedrooms as an example:

My son's room is only 8X10 and an odd shape. We made sure to use every bit of space when furnishing his room (high open shelving for his toys/collectibles, a tall/narrow chest of drawers instead of a dresser, no traditional headboard on the bed, underbed storage, etc.) We built a desk to fit the akward wall. We also chose colors and lighting that keep the room feeling bright and open. His room doesn't feel small and he still has floor space to play...

Our daughter's room is 12X15 so considerably larger than her brothers. BUT, it has two closets on opposite walls that eat up wall space, and a built in desk that takes up another wall. The window is centered on the remaining wall. She also has a HUGE dresser and the only space big enough is just to the right as you walk through the door so it feels like you are walking around it as you enter the room. All of this combined makes the room feel much smaller than it is. You can tell it's bigger than her brother's room, but it doesn't scream spacious, if you know what I mean.

 

[lakelandgal70]

I guess I have lived in a small house then. Our house is only 1300 sq. ft.
tigercat

That is about how big our house is and while some may say its small I wouldn't want anything over this size. Bigger size means more costs IMO and I am happy with my "small" house lol. Heck if I could live in small rv or cabin in woods say around 500-800ft I would be happy. Just think of getting rid of all the stuff in your life. Sounds good to me!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Is it awful that I don't even know the square footage of my house? How does one go about looking that up?

Anyway, I'd call it medium. Our old one was much smaller, but it's definitely not huge.

 

[Minnesota!]

Probably anything over 1500 sq feet would be HUGE to me. I grew up in...and now own....a house under 1000 sq feet. And we have plenty of room. Our old house had more sq feet - about 1200 - but was laid out so differently that there wasn't any space....now we have a full finished basement, 3 bedrooms, a big living room, etc. So it feels like we have room to spread out...

 

[Minnesota!]

Too Small:

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/products/epu/

Too Large:

There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators (The White House. Honestly....35 bathrooms?? Why?)

Just Right:

http://www.floorplans.com/plan-detail/AFLFPW05504/light-whimsy

See, I am gunning to have a house like that first one when the kids are out. The less space the better..

 

[mom2rb]

My house is 3000 square feet. I think it is great for now. DH wants to live here forever, I want to downsize when the kids move out. I have twins, so this house is going to empty out real fast.

 

[fairestoneofall]

we moved last year. our old house was the one DH and i bought a year after we'd gotten married. we bought what we could afford at the time, which was a 1,100 square foot ranch-style home with a one-car garage.

our current home is 3,600 square feet. it is big, but it doesn't feel HUGE to me. each of our three children has her/his own bedroom. we also have a fifth bedroom used as an office and a bonus room. it was an adjustment coming from the smaller house to this one. but we've managed to fill it up.

we don't live in a fancy neighborhood, but our house is the largest floor plan. honestly, it just worked out that way. we looked at many other houses that were smaller, but didn't like the layouts.

 

[HM]

My first house was 980 (2 bedroom/1 bath),
our second was 2200 (4 bd/2 1/2 bath),
our current is 3200 (5 bd/4 1/2 bath).
I think the first was tiny, the second was good sized, and our current is large (but not huge).

 

[mikron]

Our current house in Florida which we designed and were our own contractor is 2,800 sq ft. We have started 45 years ago when we married small. Our current house is our 4th house (ful ltime) and our last.

 

[mrodgers]

Large house, one with more than 1 bathroom as well as with a dining room, or at least a kitchen large enough to eat in. 2 things we really wish we had, LOL.

 

[Angeni11]

Our house is 3200 sq ft not including the 1400 sq ft basement which is unfinished for now at least. I think the layout of the house plays an important role as well. The house layout on this house is fantastic and it doesn't seem "big" to me.

Of course my first house was a condo that was 2100 sq ft so I guess I am spoiled and like a bit of space. Our last house was 2400 sq ft on all 3 levels on 3 acres but the layout didn't really work for us and always felt smaller then the condo did.

There are 2 sections to the development we are in here. The Lakes which have 2200-3200 or there about and the Estates which go from 2800 up to 9000 sq ft + with the basement finished.

A few of the 6k-9k sq ft homes are on the market and they are beautiful but no way would I want or need that much space. Besides who wants to clean 9k sq ft. Although I am sure most of those people hire someone to clean them for them.

 

[maslex]

Wow, seems like I must live in a shack.

We bought our house 20yrs ago when we were 21. It's a 3-bedroom, 1 bathroom ranch with a full basement. We did partially finish like half of the basement though. The ceiling and walls are done but we just have some carpet remnants down right now until we decided what type of floor we want. It really isn't for extra "living space". He has a HUGE table down there for his trains, a TV, a hutch that holds all kind of "stuff" and my scrapbooking/craft space is down there. The other half of the basement is for storage and washer/dryer.

We also have about 2/3 of an acre. Plenty enough for my boys to play outside when they were growing up. They had a sandbox, swing set, plenty enough room to run around, etc. We've also had an above ground pool for the past 18yrs.

While I would one day like a bigger house, I know it won't be anytime soon. My youngest son is 15 and the oldest will be 17 in August. So I'm assuming that in a few years, they'll probably be moving out and the house will be paid for. From there, we MIGHT move somewhere else, not sure. But I do know, that if we do decide to buy another house, I will know ahead of time what I'm looking for. Decent sized kitchen w/ lots of storage, a big living room (which I don't have now) and a HUGE bathroom w/ a window (which I don't have now) don't need a basement, would be one floor, with 2-3 bedrooms. I want a room to myself so I can have my craft room in it.

But until then, I will sit here in my little house.

 

[momto2girls]

I would consider a large house to be 4500-5000 sq. ft. I know that my thoughts are skewed by the town I live in though. I doubt that there are many houses that are smaller than 3500 (including finished basement) here. The bulk of the houses are probably in the 4500-5500 range and there are many that are quite a bit larger than that (8000-10,000 sq. ft range).