Smaller homes....is the McMansion era over?

jim king · August 22, 2010, 12:26:16 PM

My wife and I had our first house 45 years ago and is was about 1600 sq. ft. on a lake in Northern Wisconsin and it was a wonderful place. Then we started the wandering life from city to city taking a better job every chance I had and living in apartments. Then we started wandering the world and living in huge third world houses with pools surrounded by compound walls , 6 or 8 bedrooms that we rarely ever went into etc.. These monsters were a lot of work as the upkeep in the tropics never ends. You start a man painting and he never gets done , when he gets back to the starting point he can start over.

Now we have gone full circle back to 1600 sq. ft. one story 3 BR and for two old farts it is all we need and easy to take care of. We have one person who comes in every day to help with the animals and mops and waxes the floors etc.. All tile floors, and open type design. 12 foot ceilings for the heat so it stays cool and it does seem bigger than it is with the high ceilings.

The big difference between here and North America is the costs, Here a 6,000 to 8,000 sq. ft. McMansion used to rent for about $500 a month but that is was not including maintanence . As the economy is quite good in general prices have quadrupeled in the last couple of years.

I think I posted some photos of our new little house when we built it but here are some again. The kitchen is quite large with a dining area and a sitting room. The living room we never use but my office is in the corner, an open patio for the rum and coke hour overlooking the garden and three bedrooms and one bath. We dont need a garage as we dont need a car and I still maintain a shop at the mill. The attic is FULL.

The best thing about house is that it cost about $14,000 to build and our taxes are now about $100 a year.

Now as I said we went back to where we started and it is to our surprise a very homey feeling and we enjoy it.

pigman · August 22, 2010, 01:48:13 PM

Roxie , you just described the house my wife and I hope to build or buy.

pineywoods · August 22, 2010, 02:40:16 PM

Lots of good ideas here. I'll add a few that I don't see mentioned. If you intend to live the rest of your days in your dream home, you'll need a few simple considerations. Sooner or later the ole bod becomes old and feeble. Welcome to the world of canes, walkers and maybe even wheel chairs. The more open the better. Smaller rooms may provide privacy, but sooner or later those walls will start to close in. Hallways are a waste of space. A floor level walk-in shower and an easily accessable bathroom can mean the difference between staying at home or an assisted living facility. Support structure for pull-up bars and handrails are easy to provide during construction, but a royal pain to add later. Step-ups and step-downs in the floor are an open invitation to stumble. Likewise thick throw rugs. I wouldn't recommend carpet to my worst enemies. Just pull up a corner in a high traffic area and look under neath...nasty.. Keep maintenance in mind. You can't enjoy a home if you have to spend all your time on upkeep.

Okrafarmer · August 22, 2010, 02:44:31 PM

Yes in that case, you may want to make it all one level, or include provision for an elevator in case you ever need it! ;)

Bibbyman · August 22, 2010, 02:54:45 PM

This past weekend I drove up to Minneapolis and helped son and daughter-in-law move from an apartment to the house they just bought in the suburbs. The house they bought is probably over 5,000 sq ft. It has five bedrooms, three baths, 3 car garage up and 3 down. The smallest bedroom is as big as our master bedroom in our house. BIG family room downstairs, 10" ceiling height up and down, vaulted ceiling in living room, on 5 acres at the end of a cul-de-sac. It also has two all season porches (basically big rooms with thermo pain windows you wouldn't have to heat but can), the lower one has an 8 person hot tub. The yard is all landscaped with lots of trees, shrubs and flowers.

They don't plan to have kids. But they've got two big dowgs.

I won't tell you what they paid, but I suspect it was half of what it would have cost in good times. They justified it as an investment. If the economy does not return, they may be living in a white elephant.

They looked at a place that was priced at $500,000.00. It had sold a couple of years before for 1,500,000.00 and the new owners put $800,000.00 into expanding and upgrading it.

Mary and I have been looking at property in the northwest as possible place to retire too. I just looked again this morning and noted a lot of prices have fallen. One place had been listed for $138,000.00 was reduced to $89,000.00. Many others had been adjusted down at least 10% from what they were only a month ago.

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Okrafarmer · August 22, 2010, 02:59:58 PM

It's definitely a buyer's market if you've got the money, but I would not consider investing to flip even now-- I fear the market will go even lower as political and economic things continue to deteriorate. If you buy property now, choose carefully and buy only what you hope keep. Don't even think about reselling-- it may never be practical, you just don't know. Don't buy a place you don't want to keep.

sandhills · August 22, 2010, 03:19:22 PM

Quote from: pigman on August 22, 2010, 01:48:13 PM
Roxie , you just described the house my wife and I hope to build or buy.

Same with us we even know right where its gonna be. Just have to keep workin at it!

DouginUtah · August 22, 2010, 06:20:01 PM

Don't forget with all the planning and dreaming that most places/states require you to build according to the UBC/IRC. :(

LOGDOG · August 22, 2010, 10:17:20 PM

My wife and I favor the small house notion. We don't have children and aren't planning too. We do have two dogs though. Small house, big shop seems to fit our lifestyle.

On the other hand, one of my clients is getting ready to build a 17,000 sqare foot home on the gold course. Empty nesters.

To each their own I guess. Me ... I'd prefer a 17,000 square foot shop. ;D

beenthere · August 22, 2010, 10:30:39 PM

To see "smaller", go to PlicketyCat's blog
http://www.jenninewardle.com/

and page back to her tent life last winter (and still I assume).

;D It'll make a body want for some space, and looks like they are on the way to getting some footings poured. Wish them well, and good weather before the winter sets in again.

LOGDOG · August 22, 2010, 10:45:15 PM

Here's a link to some blogs I follow focused on small houses. Up towards the top of the page you can click on the links to take you to the various areas of focus.

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-landscape/tiny-house-in-a-landscape-3/

SwampDonkey · August 23, 2010, 04:34:26 AM

My uncle was always saying he was going to build a tiny cabin up the hill on the old farm and down size. He had two camps he never looked after and let fall down, so I don't hold much hope. ;D

His feet and knees are giving him trouble form gout the last few years so I think the old farm house will do him out. ;)

Bear · August 23, 2010, 05:17:53 AM

My cabin in northern Maine is my ideal house for when i retire, 1200 sqft. with a full basement bringing it up to about 1900 of useable space. Its two bedroom two bath with a nice size loft, i feel it will be a perfect size for the misses and I to retire to. I'm only 28 so I guess i have along time to go before i'm retired but i can dream can't I

. Right now the misses and I are thinking of children so we feel we need more room than the cabin will offer use so were building a 2200sqft home in CT to raise our future children in. Its not that much bigger than the cabin in the long run but the lay out will be alot better to raise 2 or 3 kids. Each on will have there own room and the family/living room will be bigger so we wont feel as cramped when were all together. As for being dept free I hope to be there by the time I'm 45, so I can save money for an early retirement.

Well i guess all i have to say Piston is just do what makes you happy build to soot you and the misses.

thecfarm · August 23, 2010, 08:09:55 AM

In my eyes I would have to say no.Most feel now that every child needs their own space.Their own room,TV, computer.Seems like some want more than they had growing up or should I say deserve more.I grew up in a small house we shared rooms.Nothing fancy at all,but we was warm and well fed.

We had our home built that we hope we will retire in.We put in 3 foot doors on every room,in case one of us is ever in a wheel chair. Wife had some operations that put her in one 3-4 times so we had the house tested.No overhead cupboards,everything in draws.Open a draw,look into it,take out what she needs.We have a high hopper,a walk in shower and no rugs. We are both outside alot.Makes it alot easier to keep clean and with my allergies it's easier on me too. Only thing that separate the kitchen and dinning room is a fireplace. We also had the fireplace raised about 18 inches. No bending over to feed the fireplace. Makes for a nice bench seat too. Raise the outlets up some too. No bending over to the floor to plug in the vacuum. Washer,dryer is on the living quarters level too. We do have a basement,but no upstairs.Wife does not do stairs too well.If the wife likes to cook a walk in pantry is nice. We put a root cellar into our basement too.

Sprucegum · August 23, 2010, 09:56:59 AM

The wife and I raised 3 kids in 1000 sq. feet with a full basement. Soon as they grew up and left we moved into a smaller house so they can't come back ;) :D The two married kids are now rattling around in 3000 sq. foot houses :

When our grand daughter wrote an essay in grade 2 she commented that Grandpa's house is really small on the outside but its bigger on the inside because their TV room is underground.

iffy · August 23, 2010, 01:03:17 PM

We are empty nesters, soon to be retired. We are just finishing our log home. The main floor is around 1350 sf. This floor has one bedroom, large walk in closet, 1 1/2 baths, laundry room, kitchen, great room, and walk in pantry. All interior doors are at least 30", most are 32". Shower is curbless. This is built over a full walk out basement using ICF forms, so is well insulated. The basement has 3 bedrooms, living room, large combination bath/laundry, and large mechanical room that will eventually be my gun room. We also have a half loft that is about 500 sf. The loft is entirely open with attic storage behind knee walls on two sides and two futon type couch/beds. It is mainly an area for the grandkids.
We are using geothermal hvac, and the roof is sips. All windows have high insulation ratings. The basement takes virtually nothing to heat and cool, as it tends to stay a very even temperature. We can keep it pretty much closed off and when we have company they have their own space. Younger folks or sports fans can watch what they want on tv on one level, older folks can watch something else on another level. Or not. The youngsters have the loft to play games or watch cartoons. Everybody gathers on the main floor for meals.
So, in reality we have over 3,000 sf of living space, but most of the time are heating and cooling only half of it.

Patty · August 23, 2010, 02:20:55 PM

When our boys were home, we built a ranch style home with a full basement, for a total of 5400 sq ft. It had 4 bedrooms on the main floor, a large eat-in kitchen and family room and a quieter living room area that could be closed off from the hub-bub of the rest of the house for quiet conversation. The lower level or basement was a walk-out style with two large rec rooms for the boys. We were the house everybody went to to hang out. I loved it. We provided a pool table, foosball table, pinball machine, large screen tv and video games, plus cable for the boxing pay-for-view matches that the boys liked to watch. They had poker tables set up, a weight room, and bathroom/washroom to complete the area. There would be 50-70 kids down there laughing, playing and staying out of trouble and off the back country roads drinking, because they had a fun place to be; while Norm & I stayed upstairs in the relative peace & quiet.

Sometimes homes are created for pleasure instead of for how to save a nickel. Our boys and their friends still talk about coming to our house to hang out. Their parents always thanked us for providing a safe place for their kids. We have since moved and downsized a bit from those days, but I will never regret building for our pleasure and not our pocketbook. Life is too short.