What is considered a "big" home?

[Claire&TheBoys]

I think anything over about 3500 sf is large. We live in Florida, though, so no basements. All the square footage is living space.

Our first house was about 1350 sf (3 bed/2 bath), then during the red-hot housing boom we wanted more space but couldn't afford to move so we added on an additional 300 sf for an enlarged dining area and playroom/office. We bought our current house 5+ years ago and it's about 2700 sf, plus we have a "Florida room" (glassed-in porch) that adds another 400 sf of space that we don't use often. We have 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, formal living room (which is really the office), formal dining room (which we do use every single night for family dinner), family room, playroom, kitchen with eat-in breakfast area, laundry room. The kitchen could be bigger but it's workable. I'd kill to have more cabinet space. I love the layout of the house with its split plan and the common rooms in the middle of the house. It's great for entertaining and we do have family and friends over pretty often because the kids have a separate place to hang out. We have a good-sized lot (100x150, I think), 2-car garage that we do park in. We hosted my husband's family (7 extra people) for Christmas a couple of years ago and made it work. It's nice to have the space to do that. I don't think we'll ever downsize. I told my husband when we moved in that I'm planted and rooted and not going anywhere!

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Threads like these never disappoint. Flashing neon signs and all...

I guess for the most part I'd say once you are above about 2500 you are crossing into the "big" category, but there are many things to take into consideration when making that decision.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I looked at the website, it says my apartment is 959 sq ft.

 

[ronandannette]

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!

I would have "liked" your post but I didn't want anybody to think I was endorsing the weird little house.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Our home is 3300 including a finished third floor. It was built in the 80's. It seems today in our area the homes are just getting bigger with really open floor plans. I am amazed at the new neighborhoods going up here that have anywhere from 4000-10,000. Here is the crazy part as well, a custom built 5000 sq foot home would go for about 500-650 hundred thousand dollars. Placed on about half an acre. When my aunt an uncle come from California they love to look at houses on the market and do a price comparison.

OMG... I wish.

A 70 year old, addition-added 2000 sq foot house on a lot so narrow that you can literally touch your neighbors (I can stand at my side-door and reach out and touch my neighbors house) will run about $400-500K in my neighborhood. This of course means it is fully renovated - new flooring, new kitchens with granite or quartz countertops, same with bathrooms, finished basements, etc. But honestly, the houses themselves are not that special. Mostly city-like brick bungalows and cape cods. I even have granite in my tiny kitchen and bathrooms. My house is worth about $275K and trust me....it is NOT anything special! LOL

In my old state, $500K will buy you a 3000 sq ft new build on a 1/2 acre lot on a lake with upgrades. Sigh. But you gotta live where the jobs are, so I guess you gotta take what you get.

 

[piglet too]

For me? Anything bigger than my tiny condo (850 sq ft for 5 of us) is big. We have friends who's house is beyond big. They paid to have under the garage dug out and finished, adding an extra 900 sq ft. Yes, their extra room is bigger than my whole place. I estimate, including the fully finished basement, that their house is at least 8000 sq ft, if not closer to 9000.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

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!

I would have "liked" your post but I didn't want anybody to think I was endorsing the weird little house.

My DD loves that show! I always think it's so funny how the people who obviously KNOW that they chose to start looking at tiny houses walk into them and start looking for a closet for their shoes LOL and are all concerned because of the lack of space in the bathroom.

I saw one episode where the mom was so overwhelmed with her 1800 sq foot house and taking care of her 3 kids that they decided to move into a 240 sq foot tiny house. They looked at a few, including a 500 sq foot one, which they quickly vetoed because it was "too big" LOL They finally picked this one house that had two lofts without railings that were only accessable by a ladder that you moved from one side to the other side when you needed it. The parents ended up having to sleep one with each kid so the kids didn't take a tumble off the side of the lofts!

Crazy.....but they seemed happy with their decision, so who am I to judge!

 

[xlxo]

Micro suites and tiny houses are coming to my area as "affordable housing". In Hong Kong... there's "cage housing".

Some homes in my area are subdivided for rental. Who wants the crawlspace under the stairwell?

 

[indygirl99]

We are living in 650 and looking for 500 for our retirement home. We are having a problem finding that small house so looks like we will probably buy a few acres of land and build our retirement home.

Growing up we lived (2 parents, 7 kids) in 900 sq feet so I think 2000 is a big house.

 

[Jessie Tanner]

I think it was a better size, but it wasn't designed in a way that made the downstairs areas very usable.

 

[eliza61]

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!

LOL I love HGTV and saw that show. I read an article in the parade magazine about folks who moved into tiny houses also, usually under 1000 sq ft.


It's interesting how different cultures view different spaces. when I see travel shows about visiting Europe it seems like there are tons of "farms" and tons of open spaces.

 

[mom2rtk]

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

I get what you're saying. But there reaches a point where big is just big.

I think 99% of the population would find a 5000 square foot house big.

 

[mustlovecats]

This thread is very interesting.

I live in Southern CT about 50 minutes from NYC and in my area "big" starts at about 4,000-4,500 sqft.

To my NYC coworkers that live in the Norther NJ/Hoboken area 1,500 sqft seems big.

To my parents who live about 20 minutes from me, 70 minutes from NYC big starts at only about 3,000 sqft.

Of course, this is all regarding sizes of actual homes. I live in an apartment that's 1500 sqft which is considered huge. The average apartment size for 2bd/2bth is probably about 900 sqft.

 

[TippeeCanoe]

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!

I find it an intriguing concept but I know I could never do it for more than a day or two. If I wanted a tiny house, I'd buy an RV, which is essentially what tiny houses are. They are built to be mobile, so most don't have the conveniences of a house.

Back to the topic, I think anything over 2000 square feet is big.

 

[luvsJack]

Whether your own house seems big is going to probably depend a lot on who is in it. Lol

Our house is a good size. 3 bed, 2 bath. LR and an open kitchen, family and dining. Much of the time its just me and dd so there are areas never used. It seems big. Then everyone comes over for dinner and it shrinks!

My niece's house seems huge. Half again as big as mine. She has young kids who are quite active and she complains all the time about not enough room.

We have a neighbor who built a antebellum style house. No idea of the sq footage but huge. Its just him and his wife. I would think that their home seems cavernous to them.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

We live (2 people) in 400 sq ft and it's the 2nd largest appartment I've had in 30 years of living in Paris and the region.

The smallest was 204 sq ft but I was on my own and the largest was 602 sq ft but it was in a horrible area

Here your rent can't be more than a 3rd of your salary or a 4th if you live in central Paris plus there isn't the room like in the country so everybody has small places

 

[North of Mouse]

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

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

Really messes up my mind to see people in beautiful homes with garages, with their nice vehicles sitting out in all kinds of weather!
We take very good care of our vehicles that cost so much $$$'s - would never leave them to the elements.

A 70 year old, addition-added 2000 sq foot house on a lot so narrow that you can literally touch your neighbors (I can stand at my side-door and reach out and touch my neighbors house)

Now that would drive me absolutely nuts! We are in a subdivision, but have 2 1/2 acres, some as little as 1 acre, up to 4, but not less.

I get what you're saying. But there reaches a point where big is just big.

Agree completely! After so much room, it is all just extra 'space' to maintain - don't care who you are. You can just live in so many rooms in any given day. As empty nesters, we do have a couple guest rooms, with another bdrm. turned into a hobby room for me, but with an open floor plan, do enjoy all our space.

I find it an intriguing concept but I know I could never do it for more than a day or two. If I wanted a tiny house, I'd buy an RV, which is essentially what tiny houses are. They are built to be mobile, so most don't have the conveniences of a house.

Yep, they are really 'cute', but we say the same things about them. We have a motorhome that can be 'mobile' in an instant, unlike a tiny house that takes a little effort to make it 'road' ready! Would never want to live that way as a lifestyle.

 

[Daisy62]

I think anything over 5k is big, but not huge. I love the look and space of larger homes. I just don't want to have to clean it! Ours is 3500 sf and that is enough.

 

[FINFAN]

I'm in IL and I would say for homes built after 1980 3200 sq ft or more is large. We have 2400 (not counting 1200 basement) and I would trade 1/2 of it for more land. I crack up at subdivisions with the word "Estate" in it and the homes have 12 feet of land on all sides between houses. Give me an acre minimum with an 1800 sq ft ranch style home and I will be living large for sure. If in tornado region, I would add a safe room or basement tho. That said, if I was given the ranch home in the Parent Trap..I would happily accept and "deal with all that extra room, lol. Even though it was filmed on a sounstage for the most part, it's my dream home/property

https://www.google.com/search?q=parent+trap+house+floor+plan&sa=X&espv=2&biw=731&bih=380&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ved=0ahUKEwjknaKAn8rKAhVsvIMKHfhlAn8QsAQIIw#imgrc=ZoKRKqzJJ8d9pM:

Annie Potts home is a lose second~it's awesome
http://hookedonhouses.net/2014/09/25/annie-potts-puts-colorful-spanish-style-ranch-on-market/

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Really messes up my mind to see people in beautiful homes with garages, with their nice vehicles sitting out in all kinds of weather!
We take very good care of our vehicles that cost so much $$$'s - would never leave them to the elements.



Now that would drive me absolutely nuts! We are in a subdivision, but have 2 1/2 acres, some as little as 1 acre, up to 4, but not less.



Agree completely! After so much room, it is all just extra 'space' to maintain - don't care who you are. You can just live in so many rooms in any given day. As empty nesters, we do have a couple guest rooms, with another bdrm. turned into a hobby room for me, but with an open floor plan, do enjoy all our space.



Yep, they are really 'cute', but we say the same things about them. We have a motorhome that can be 'mobile' in an instant, unlike a tiny house that takes a little effort to make it 'road' ready! Would never want to live that way as a lifestyle.

It used to crack me up when it snowed & I was still working in STL. I would be driving my perfectly clean 10-year-old pickup truck. And there would be guys in Porches & 7 series BMW's with 6" of snow on their cars. Really? $100,000 car & no garage????

Little different down South where they can't HAVE basements due to ground conditions. But, I'm surprised they don't use a different floor plan to achieve more storage space rather than so many who just park outside while having a garage.