What is considered a "big" home?

[DawnM]

When I lived in SoCal our house was 1500 sq. ft. and I really wanted about 2,400. Now we live in NC and our house is more than double our last house and I do agree it is big.

 

[tvguy]

2200 - 2600 sq feet is an average house size to me.

But it totally depends on the layout. Some bigger homes that have chopped up rooms or more square footage upstairs instead of on the main floor seem smaller to me.

Your numbers are high. I can only find numbers for NEW houses build in 2015, and the average is 2,169. In 1973 it 1,525 so I would assume the average of all existing houses would be somewhere in between. Lots and lots of houses in my area built in the 1950's and 1960's are right around 1,200 square feet. My house was built at 1756 square feet, and with the addition we put on it is 2010 square feet.

https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf

 

[RedAngie]

One thing I've found is that no matter how big a house you have, you always seem to accumulate enough crap to fill it.

WAY more than enough crap to fill it. There are thousands of public storage rentals throughout the country.

I learned that you never realize how much crap you have until it's time to move.

 

[Monykalyn]

Here in the midwest basements are noted-our walkout lower level is included in the sq and so is my MIL's (they are wanting to sell their house and the lower level is included-fully finished).
We bought ours as a foreclosure 6 years ago-3/4 acre, finished walkout lower level (2 sides above grade)~3300 sq (4 bed, 3 1/2 bath, 2 living area, office, 3 car garage) Fits the 5 of us but I am wanting to downsize in the next year or 2. We don't really use all the space but the lot is great. My MIL place OTOH is nearly 4500sq lake front (if anyone is looking for a new place LOL) and that place is big. A well designed and functional 2000-2300 sq house would suit me better than the bigger house we currently have...

 

[disykat]

1850 sq. ft., no basement. Perfect for normal living for our family of four, tight sometimes when entertaining. Still perfect for empty nest stage - no need to downsize.

To me, anything over 2500 sq ft is big and would have been too much space for me to want to clean.

 

[Disneylover99]

Your numbers are high. I can only find numbers for NEW houses build in 2015, and the average is 2,169. In 1973 it 1,525 so I would assume the average of all existing houses would be somewhere in between. Lots and lots of houses in my area built in the 1950's and 1960's are right around 1,200 square feet. My house was built at 1756 square feet, and with the addition we put on it is 2010 square feet.

https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf

You're quoting numbers of the median square feet of a house in the US, not the average. The average square footage is listed at 2392. Btw, your numbers are from 2010, not 2015.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

We've been in our new house for about a month. It's 2300 square feet and feels really big. Its 5 bedrooms 3 baths and a family room and formal living room. The old house was 1200 sq feet, 3 bedrooms 3 baths so we've doubled our space. Absolutely loving the additional rooms (a toy room so the garage can have cars in it instead of being a converted play room, and a man room for my husband).

 

[North of Mouse]

Definitely different sizes for different folks. We started out with our first home 1,500 sq. ft. - seemed large at the time with an infant, now, we have 3,000 sq. ft. and are empty nesters, but we seem to use all our space - can't imagine much smaller.

teacher - how can you have so many rooms with that sq. footage? Guess our rooms are all fairly large, just hadn't thought about it.

 

[tvguy]

You're quoting numbers of the median square feet of a house in the US, not the average. The average square footage is listed at 2392. Btw, your numbers are from 2010, not 2015.

Sorry, pasted the wrong link. The average you are quoting is for NEW home in 2015, not all homes.

 

[disney4us2002]

I think big is anything over 3500 square feet. I have about 2400 with 3 bedrooms and two baths so I have no idea how anyone can have 5 br in this size house. I would love to get into a "big" home even though we don't need the space now that the boys are basically gone. I have zero interest in downsizing. We can finally afford my "dream" house even if dh & I live in it alone.

 

[Disneylover99]

Sorry, pasted the wrong link. The average you are quoting is for NEW home in 2015, not all homes.

Right. But if you look at the average square footage starting in 1999, you'll notice that the average new home is 2200 square feet and fluctuates throughout the 2000's up to 2500 square feet. So if you're living in a subdivision younger than 18 years old, 2200-2600 is roughly going to feel average.

The averages don't really matter anyways. Perception depends on what you're used to and where you live.

 

[asta]

Wow, that is not a big house to me that is a HUGE house!

I thought we had a big house until newer homes around us started being built bigger and bigger. I joked that it was a contest to see who could build the biggest. Right now the biggest one on the market in our subdivision is a little over 20,000 square feet. That includes a two lane bowling alley in the basement.

 

[StitchBuddy]

One thing I've found is that no matter how big a house you have, you always seem to accumulate enough crap to fill it.

Isn't that the truth!! We have a 3600 square foot home. I am still trying to complete decoating it after 6 yrs. Now our DD is off at collegeand its just the two of us.. Time to downsize.

 

[mom2rtk]

I thought we had a big house until newer homes around us started being built bigger and bigger. I joked that it was a contest to see who could build the biggest. Right now the biggest one on the market in our subdivision is a little over 20,000 square feet. That includes a two lane bowling alley in the basement.

Doesn't matter what's around you. 5000 square feet is still huge.

 

[Disneylover99]

Doesn't matter what's around you. 5000 square feet is still huge.

Not to the family living in the 20,000 square foot house.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

Definitely different sizes for different folks. We started out with our first home 1,500 sq. ft. - seemed large at the time with an infant, now, we have 3,000 sq. ft. and are empty nesters, but we seem to use all our space - can't imagine much smaller.

teacher - how can you have so many rooms with that sq. footage? Guess our rooms are all fairly large, just hadn't thought about it.

I guess it's because the kitchen is pretty tiny. The family room and dining are not overly large either but for the 3 of us it works great, especially since each room has one purpose instead of every room serving many purposes of that makes sense. In the old house the garage was storage, utility room, and a play room. The living room was also a play room and connected to the tiny dining room. The rooms here aren't large but the layout is open and the house feels spread out so it seems to be working well.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

When we adopted from Russia, we had to submit photos of every room in our house, including closets. They specifically wanted to see closets. We obliged. Later we asked a Russian (involved in our adoption) about it and they admitted that many were fascinated by American houses, including the closets. They loved to look at the pictures.

Our houses have gotten bigger over time. They've gone from 1650 to 1800, 2300, 2800, 3900. The next house will be an empty nest house and we plan on 2200-2500. Enough room for potential grandchildren to come home for the holidays and not be crowded and all one floor. All I care about is a big kitchen, big master bath, big master closet, and a separate garage from my husband's. I finally got that separate garage and it's heaven. No junk in it...nothing except my car.

I grew up in a house of about 1200 square feet. A lot of my family still live in houses that size. They thought I lost my mind when I built the 2300 SF house and only one has seen the latest/biggest one. Their very practical reaction upon seeing it would be, "How do you keep a house this big clean by yourself?" No, I don't have a housekeeper. We didn't necessarily want a house this big. I just wanted a HUGE kitchen and for some reason, builders only put huge kitchens in very large houses. At least 3500 SF. You can't get the kitchen I want in a 2500 SF house unless you design it yourself. That is probably what we will do when we build the last house.

See, in our house, it's my wife's crap I would love to get out of the garage!!!

To me many on this thread live in big houses. Ours is about 1750 square feet for the three of us and to me it's just a bit too small. I think that I'd like about 2200 square feet if I could do it over again. We don't have basements here.

In Holland, the houses are usually much smaller and people are happy with that. They might have a small often separate kitchen and just one bathroom and small bedrooms. They also seem to accumulate far less clutter from my experience.

My folks are near Austin & mentioned how many people wind up parking outside because all the crap that should be in the basement (up here) is occupying their garages LOL

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Sorry, pasted the wrong link. The average you are quoting is for NEW home in 2015, not all homes.

The average new home actually got smaller after 2008, but I believe it's on the rise again.

 

[ronandannette]

Eh. I think an "average" home is between 1800-2400 square feet. Much bigger than that, you've got a "big" home by most standards in the US. Our homes are huge compared to most other countries.

By standards where I live, you're correct. I work for a production homebuilder and we sell 400 houses a year. Almost all of them are within the size range you noted in moderate-density suburban neighbourhoods (8 - 11 units per acre). One of our largest models is 3,200 ft.sq. on two storeys and you're getting 4 bedrooms and 4 baths with a big bonus room upstairs and a triple-attached garage. They list out at around $800,000.00 and are not super-hot sellers for us.

Personally, I wouldn't know what to do with all that space. It's only ever been DH, DS and I and the biggest house we've ever lived in was 1,800 ft.sq. We downsized and moved to a 1,300 ft.sq. condo in a mid-town, urban neighbourhood 18 months ago and it's pretty near perfect for us. (Our basement storage space, double underground parking and ground level deck/courtyard with a gate to the street make it seem lots more spacious than it sounds.)

you need to watch House Hunters International.....overseas homes are small and kitchens are NOTHING like ours

2200 is mine....I consider over 3000 Big

I recently saw an episode in Finland or Norway (can't remember which); those horrible little "flats" they were looking at made me queasy.

 

[Neesy228]

I recently saw an episode in Finland or Norway (can't remember which); those horrible little "flats" they were looking at made me queasy.

Totally off topic....but have you watched any of those Tiny House shows on HGTV? Those make me queasy. Last night a family of four moved into a 230 sq ft home with one bedroom and a bathroom without a door. I love my family and all, but I'd lose my everloving mind!