What do you consider a large house?

[*JoGo*]

My house and neighborhood was built in the 1950s. All the houses are cape cods and our lots are tiny. My house is just under 1200 sq feet. The kitchen, dining room, and living room are large. Although because of the vestibule and picture window, the living room layout is frustrating, there isn't a good spot to position furniture and tv, it's also rectangular. There is one bathroom which has just enough room for the sink, toilet, and tub - no storage. The bedrooms are decent with the smallest being about 9x11.

With the four of us, we wish we had another bathroom and another living space. Especially with 12 and 10 year old boys. However, if we moved to a bigger house, in a few years (crossing fingers! ) the boys would be out and we would have too much space. But I could fill it with cats. Because of the lot size, we cannot add on. Because of the layout, we cannot build up. Also, the neighborhood is depreciating in value and quality of people living here. I want to pick up my house and move it to a larger lot.


However, the previous owners didn't use the living room at all. They used the dining room as a living room and put a table in the kitchen. They also only used one bedroom. So the exact same house was enormous to them and they moved to a smaller space.

 

[4nana]

I think it depends on your area also . DH and I started out in a small house and as family grew he built our current home 30+ yrs ago, a 2500sf split foyer on 3+acres, then he recently added a sunroom (and workshop underneath) making it about 3000sf. I think it's considered medium for our area. It was wonderful raising 4 kids here and plenty room for grands visit now, but too big for 2 of us too upkeep and we really need to downsize.

On the other hand, DD/SIL recently built their new 5500sf house that is considered on the large size with 6 BR and 5 baths, etc., however there are many larger in their area. I think we've been in a phase where we feel bigger is better and tend to build much more than we really need. I feel my DH & my time it was more about practically and in time I feel the economy will force buyers to move back to the basics.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Anything over 2500 finished square feet would be large for me. 2000-2500 would be medium large 1500-2000 would be medium and anything under 1500 would be small. Finished means completely finished. Heating and air in, floors in, walls in and painted, everything. Unfinished means a concrete floor or wood floor decking, electrical and drywall over the electrical but not finished. A basement with dirt counts as nothing here. Also garages don't count in the SF here either.

 

[herdtoDisney]

I grew up in small houses (typically small ranches) and had my kids in a small place too (7 people, 1297 sf 1 bath, we would have stayed if we could have added a bed and bathroom). So when we got our house now, it seems so huge-2800 sf, five bedrooms 2 full baths. Three years here and it is still huge to me!

It was origionally a 1950's era split level with less than 1000sf. In the eightes, it was expanded. So it's the biggest house in the neighborhood, and is a, well, distinctive color (came with, I didn't pick it!). So it's 'that' house you can't miss it.

I already know I'll move when the kids are grown. It's a lot of cleaning and I wouldn't need it then. Lots of stairs too. It's great for now. This is the first home I've had with 2 bathrooms and I really like that More than that would be a waste though, I don't think more than 2 of us ever need to go at once lol.

 

[denisenh]

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

 

[DeltaDiamond001]

Around here, 5,000 sq. ft. homes are the norm. That's not to say they're expensive as compared to 2,500 sq. ft. homes. Just the opposite actually. A lot of times, you'll see a smaller home for more money and a larger home for less.

Our old house was about 2,000 sq. ft., and the one we live in now is over 6,000 sq. ft. It's nice to have all the space, but a pain in the butt to clean.

I personally consider anything over 3,000 sq. ft. to be large. That said, I wouldn't want to live in anything smaller than that. We just have too much junk.

 

[mombrontrent]

Our house is 2000 sq ft plus finished basement so there is 3000 sq ft of living space. 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths on the upper two floors and the basement has a bedroom, full bath a family room and play room. It is the perfect size for our family of 5. Before this house we had a 1050 sq ft townhouse plus a finished basement that added maybe 300 more sq ft. Only one bathroom and the house felt so small for 5 people. I actually felt it much harder to keep that small townhouse clean then our current house. There was just no storage space or area dedicated to playroom. Plus keeping that one bathroom clean was much harder then keeping 4 clean here. Our house is about average for our area, some are smaller, some are bigger. We are thinking of upsizing again to allow more room for an inlaw suite for my mother.

 

[FINFAN]

1000-1200 is small

1500-1800 is medium

2000-2500 is large

anything over that-too big to clean

and furnish, and pay heat/electic for, paint, re-carpet or re-sand hardwood..not to mention all that opportunity to collect *stuff* that you can then never part with and your kids get stuck with, lol.
I am more about functionality than square footage. We have 2400 sq ft farmhouse style 4/2.5, but I think our last place, 3/2.5 1650 of tri-level felt just as roomy in many ways. Vaulted ceilings, family room one level, bedroom top level, look out basement under all that, garage was a bit larger too. I know I gained a large laundry room, larger kitchen and another bedroom and larger lot, full basement when we moved (DH work)but many a day I don't notice those things. I knew when our last home sold in under 3 days that we were letting something good go.

 

[Fortuosity]

Tiny: Under 600, 1 Bdr, 1/2 or 1 bath
Small: 600-900, 1-2 Bdr, 1 bath
Medium: 900-1300, 2-3 Bdr, 1-2 bath
Large: 1300-1800, 3+ Bdr, 2+ bath
Huge: 1800+, 3+ Bdr, 2+ bath

 

[a1tinkfans]

well i am in large and i want O U T!

 

[JessicaR]

1000-1200 is small

1500-1800 is medium

2000-2500 is large

anything over that-too big to clean

Anything over that and you have someone else cleaning it. (hopefully)

Over 5000 sq ft is large to me.

 

[Poohforyou]

I think it really depends where you live. Around where we are a 2000-2500 sf house is on the low end of average. Most average size homes are more like 2500-3000 sf. A large home w/b 3000-3500. Over 4000 would be a McMansion, which we have a lot of.

Our house is 2400 sf & seems small sometimes (except when I'm cleaning it).

 

[marcyinPA]

We are just shy of 1900 square feet on three floors (finished attic). We have one bathroom, and an unfinished basement. Our house is old- over 100 years old, and is a half of a double, or a twin. It probably sounds small, but it is fine for four of us. I only wish we had another bathroom, or even a powder room would be nice!

 

[Planogirl]

Our house is about 1700 sq ft and it feels small. I wanted a smaller house though.

I would say that anything over 3000 sq ft is large.

 

[disykat]

Tiny: Under 600, 1 Bdr, 1/2 or 1 bath
Small: 600-900, 1-2 Bdr, 1 bath
Medium: 900-1300, 2-3 Bdr, 1-2 bath
Large: 1300-1800, 3+ Bdr, 2+ bath
Huge: 1800+, 3+ Bdr, 2+ bath

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

 

[sunshinehighway]

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

I live in New England and that is pretty accurate to me (although I wouldn't say Huge until you get over 2500sq feet). There are so many old houses here and most of them just aren't the square footage everyone else seems to be describing.

Of course, there are newer houses and even huge old ones. They usually come with a huge price tag too.

 

[DeaverTex]

Another Austinite here. Our house is listed as 1,800 s.f. on tax rolls, although the previous owners raided about half of the garage to create a small bedroom with its own half bath. That puts it just over 2,000 s.f. It's average to slightly larger than average in the immediate area, though there are larger houses as well. I'll second the PP's statement that you just don't see basements around here. You'd have to rip them out of solid limestone in most neighborhoods.

I think that anything much over about 2,500 s.f. is a large house. Over 3,500 s.f. is just freakin' huge, and I would NOT want to pay for air conditioning a monstrosity like that.

 

[monkeybug]

Wow, some of you live in really big houses!
I grew up (family of 5) in a house that was less than 1,200 sq. ft. and I never remember thinking it was small.
Most of the homes we've lived in have been about that size too. Our current house is just under 1,800 sq. ft. and I think it's a good size for our family (5), but I wish it had a more open floor plan.
The house we will be moving into is 2,800 sq. ft. and to us it seems massive! It's only 3 bedrooms (and a media room that I suppose could be a 4th, but it has a wet bar in it...so that would be a little weird.) and they are all much bigger than we are accustomed to.
The other houses in the neighborhood are 3-4,000 sq. ft, and our landlords house (across the street from us...better keep my lawn looking neat!) is over 7,000! Yikes!
We almost signed a lease on a 4,200 sq. ft. house...but I just couldn't wrap my mind around cleaning it or the utility costs.
We are really excited to be moving to such a nice home, but I would have liked to have found something smaller. Less utilitys would have equaled more Disney.
It's the first custom home we will have ever lived in though, and the extra touches (like ice makers and water in the fridge door, we've never even had a working ice maker. So sad!) will be a nice change over standard issue military homes, and the builder grade rentals we've lived in.
I was really surprised to find that 2,800 sq. ft. is likely the new average though! Seems so big!

 

[Clio]

In my neighborhood 1200-1300 sq. ft. is average for a house. They're all ranches or split levels. Mine is about 1200 with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath but I have a 1/4 acre lot which is nice.
Liz

 

[Colleen27]

I think of small as 1000 or less. The house I grew up in was a 1000 sq ft 3/1.5 ranch and that was tight quarters, especially with only one bathroom.

Our first house was just shy of 1300 sq ft and that was a nice size for our family except for the lack of storage space. If we'd had either an attic or a basement it would have been perfect, but not having anywhere out-of-the-way to store seasonal and occasional use items or sentimental keepsakes was a chronic problem there.

Our current house is around 2000 sq ft plus a full basement and unfinished attic/bonus room, and to me this is comfortably large - not luxurious or ridiculously big and not so much that I hate cleaning it, but plenty of space for the 5 of us. It is an old house with a very compartmentalized floor plan that suits us perfectly - if one of us is on the computer, another playing Xbox, and someone else playing piano we're all in different rooms so the noise from one isn't bothering the others.