How the other half lives . . .

I'd note that there has been some movement in certain communities to regulate and limit home size. Consider this article on the "swelling McMansion backlash." Honesty, as judgmental as you may think it is, I'm not alone in my concern over rising home sizes. Nor am I alone in thinking that our seemingly personal decisions about how and where to live do impact our communities as a whole. From an NPR story on the average size of American homes, I found this quote from a Cornell professor of management and economics to be point: "We know there are all sorts of situations where individual choices that are perfectly rational add up to a total outcome that none of us likes very much. [Large homes] is one of those."

This scenario really gets me. This house wasn't enough:
Main house: 12,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 8 1/2
Garage: 3-car
Guest house: 1,100 square feet
Value: $4.5 million

So it was demolished for this:
Main house: 22,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 5 full and 5 half-baths
Garage: 3 buildings
Guest house: 6,000 square feet
Value: Still being assessed; building permits over $3 million (total finished value was guesstimated to be ~$10 mil.)

Seriously? A 22 thousand square foot home with only 3 bedrooms and a guest home almost 3x larger than the average American home.

No one can ever tell me that this isn't purely for show. And the sad part is that the house they razed was really kind of cool looking. It was low and subtle and blended into the property. The new place is a monstrosity whether viewed from the street or from the lake. Gargantuan and gaudy.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

I'm not alone in my concern over rising home sizes. Nor am I alone in thinking that our seemingly personal decisions about how and where to live do impact our communities as a whole.

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Indy, of course you're not alone. I share those concerns too. I think a lot of people do. What I say below is NOT in response to your particular comments at all.

Most people on this forum live much more comfortably than most of the world does. Even if your houses are small and you only have one bathroom. I'm not a big fan of putting small groups of "other" people down for being wealthy, in that context.

One poster suggested home baked goods. This gets my vote for a housewarming gift, provided you enjoy baking and want to do that. If baking is not your thing then perhaps specialty coffee or teas. Everyone likes treats and even if the homeowners don't particularly care for coffee or tea they could serve them for guests.

Your original post suggested a very natural human response and that is comparison. We all do that about things whether it is cars, bikes, kids or homes and in the presence of largess it's not that hard to feel dwarfed. I loved your response to that feeling in that you went home and began scrubbing your floors. That might be something I would do too.

You saw something enormous and overwhelming and were in awe of it and in the process you peered into a lifestyle that is very different from that of most people. Your post did not indicate a hint of envy or scorn for that lifestyle, just a realization that it is very different from your own and that is very natural.

I was born into modest living, in some of my years I throughly enjoyed bigger and better and lots of "toys". I'm a bit older now and my tastes have changed and things I value have changed also.

To each his own, live and let live are comfortable words to live by.

We have our own super-monster house in my neighborhood. There are a few mini-monsters, I hate 'em, but they're not mine, so I ignore them. But this one....gawd, talk about your sore thumbs.. Almost 6,000 sq ft, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths. Most homes here are about 2500 sq ft. ranch style homes.

The first owners lost it to forclosure, I think it's already on it's third set of owners.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...s/monster2.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ds/monster.jpg

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

This scenario really gets me. This house wasn't enough:
Main house: 12,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 8 1/2
Garage: 3-car
Guest house: 1,100 square feet
Value: $4.5 million

So it was demolished for this:
Main house: 22,000 square feet
Number of bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 5 full and 5 half-baths
Garage: 3 buildings
Guest house: 6,000 square feet
Value: Still being assessed; building permits over $3 million (total finished value was guesstimated to be ~$10 mil.)

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Where was this at?

I got a full tour yesterday. There are many secret passageways and hidden rooms. There's even a panic room. It's pretty cool. The reason they have so many bedrooms (and 4 kitchens!) is that they have guests that will stay with them for several months at a time. The mother-in-law is currently visiting them for 3 months and will eventually live with them full-time I imagine.

These people have more money than I can even dream of. As DH said, the interest on their savings alone could probably build that house every year. And in a time when no one has been building, they employed quite a few people over the last year. I'm thankful they reinvested the money locally.

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Originally Posted by limewave

Where was this at?

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South Shore Dr., in Holland...about halfway down towards Lake MI.

Ha, now I notice that the URL was messed-up because it contains the word d*ck. It's the DeVos house. Let me fix that with Tinyurl...
Here's a functioning link.

I was just in Holland this week, sure wish I could have seen this from the water. WOW, what a house!

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Originally Posted by Bike Writer

You saw something enormous and overwhelming and were in awe of it and in the process you peered into a lifestyle that is very different from that of most people. Your post did not indicate a hint of envy or scorn for that lifestyle, just a realization that it is very different from your own and that is very natural.

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Surprisingly, I didn't feel any twinges of jealousy. However, I DO get VERY jealous when I read about new bikes on this forum! :):eek::):eek: Which is why you almost never see me comment on those threads :p

Holy Schnikeys!!! The guest house alone would house half my neighborhood. ;)

The article says they want that house to be a gathering place for multiple generations of their family, and I take that to mean extended family, as it's a vacation home, or so it's described in the article. It looks like a hotel or a B&B to me.

As for three bedrooms, I think a room has to have a closet to be listed as a bedroom. There may be a dozen more non-closet rooms that may provide sleeping quarters for all the cousins, but I'm guessing.

As for buying bigger and better, it doesn't really bother me all that much if the person doing the buying can afford it. We live pretty modestly, ourselves, but DH has no problem plunking down some serious cash on bikes. It's about priorities.

I have a friend who is building one of those huge houses on a canyon near where they currently live -- I tease her and call it a compound because it will have multiple buildings and a huge pool, etc. -- but she's doing it to provide homes for her parents and her mother-in-law, and for her kids and their families when they grow up, plus they'll be doing summer camp enrichment-type stuff like yoga and dance and art classes and all sorts of stuff like that for their many friends and their kids during the summer. I'm kind of happy to be in that group.

Roxy

P.S. As for the housewarming gift, I'd pick a dozen or so pretty bulbs to plant. Something that will grow and multiply, like daylilies, and then every time they bloom, she'll think of you.

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

We have our own super-monster house in my neighborhood. There are a few mini-monsters, I hate 'em, but they're not mine, so I ignore them. But this one....gawd, talk about your sore thumbs.. Almost 6,000 sq ft, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths. Most homes here are about 2500 sq ft. ranch style homes.

The first owners lost it to forclosure, I think it's already on it's third set of owners.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...s/monster2.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ds/monster.jpg

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It looks like a village.

Well, in some vicarous way it is interesting to know someone and visit a large home...mansion like, etc.

In our building, we sneaked up to see the penthouse before they sold it.

We were underwhelmed and couldn't see why it was worth paying the extra $$$$ for more space but everything else wasn't extra special.

For a house warming gift - if you haven't already sorted something else out

When we moved into our home some friends of ours gave us a folder with all of the local restaurant take-away menus
They both had written little notes on each of them on what was best to order at each, or directions or where to sit when eating in
It's been absolutely invaluable - and was the best house warming gift I've ever gotten
Thoughtful - and cost them nothing except time :)

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Originally Posted by RadicalEdward

For a house warming gift - if you haven't already sorted something else out

When we moved into our home some friends of ours gave us a folder with all of the local restaurant take-away menus
They both had written little notes on each of them on what was best to order at each, or directions or where to sit when eating in
It's been absolutely invaluable - and was the best house warming gift I've ever gotten
Thoughtful - and cost them nothing except time :)

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What a great gift!

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Originally Posted by RadicalEdward

For a house warming gift - if you haven't already sorted something else out

When we moved into our home some friends of ours gave us a folder with all of the local restaurant take-away menus
They both had written little notes on each of them on what was best to order at each, or directions or where to sit when eating in
It's been absolutely invaluable - and was the best house warming gift I've ever gotten
Thoughtful - and cost them nothing except time :)

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Wow! That is a great gift idea!

How perfect for anyone who might be moving into a new neighborhood.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RadicalEdward

For a house warming gift - if you haven't already sorted something else out

When we moved into our home some friends of ours gave us a folder with all of the local restaurant take-away menus
They both had written little notes on each of them on what was best to order at each, or directions or where to sit when eating in
It's been absolutely invaluable - and was the best house warming gift I've ever gotten
Thoughtful - and cost them nothing except time :)

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Yes! This for sure!!!! I would have LOVED to have gotten that when we moved into our new neighborhood!

6 1/2 bathrooms? Really? REALLY?

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Originally Posted by Brandi

6 1/2 bathrooms? Really? REALLY?

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Bet they don't have mold either....:D;):D

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Originally Posted by channlluv

As for three bedrooms, I think a room has to have a closet to be listed as a bedroom. There may be a dozen more non-closet rooms that may provide sleeping quarters for all the cousins, but I'm guessing.

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Hmmm, maybe they are playing the house value assessment game: The number of bedrooms might be a factor in what the government assessor calculates. Plus, based on the style of the new house, I bet the owners might prefer armoires instead of closets.

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Some people choose to spend their money on big, nice homes. Others on fancy cars. Others on fancy bikes. We personally spend a ton of money on groceries because I'm picky about what I eat and we can afford it. What's the difference?

Personally, if I had a LOT of money (we are talking millions here), I'd design my own tiny house on a HUGE piece of property with spectacular views and a nice long driveway so that no road noise could be heard from the house. And I'd buy only the very best for what goes IN the house because I'm tired of junk that doesn't last as long as it should (like appliances and furniture). But that's just me. ;)

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This describes us exactly. We don't have a huge house (1,200 sq ft, with a separate in-law suite we can rent out if we want to, it's 400sq ft). But we are saving, saving, working toward a large piece of land where we can either fix up a beat up little house or build our own, totally off grid. Not anyone else's idea of paradise, but it would be ours. Big garden - because we also spend a LOT of money on good food.

Some people like their McMansions. I don't really want to have that much to clean, or to have to buy that much furniture, or have a big pool to keep up (or pay to clean it) but that's ok, all of us are different.

My husband is from SC and we have a house there that is in the 3000 sqft range. I could never keep up with it! Something always needed cleaning that didn't even get used and it was too spread out. A few years ago, we decided that we would build a vacation house in Louisiana so that we could spend half of the year here to be near my family more. It's around 1600 sqft and I couldn't be happier. I can't stand the upkeep that larger houses require and really, really appreciate the necessity of keeping your crap to a minimum that comes along with a smaller house because my husband is "sentimental." (Homeboy is a freaking hoarder.)

The folder is an awesome housewarming gift!! If I lived in the city, that would have been an amazing gift to receive. My personal favorite gift, for any occasion, is booze. Unless the person is a teetotaler, you can't go wrong!

Speaking as a fairly recent transplant to the US from the UK, I have to admit to loving the bigger American houses. We had a fairly typical 4-bedroom single family home in the UK - we don't tend to talk about square footage the same as here, but I estimated it to be around 1200 sqft - so a fairly decent size, and similar to the house I grew up in and my parents still live in. Coming to live in a 3000 sqft home is bliss! - it's not a constant battle of trying to find places to put "stuff" (we have kids)' and of course if we have visitors now they stay for a couple of weeks or more so it's great to not feel you are tripping over people all the time. And garages big enough to actually park your cars in! - we had a single garage before which was full of bikes, camping stuff, DIY stuff etc etc. I LOVE living in the US!!

Everyone is different, but I am sure that I don't need the 3,000 sq. ft. house I have. But, I love it. I wish I had it when my kids were teens. But, we had a 2100 sq. ft. house with a 300 sq. ft. finished basement, and it was fine. We built a huge screened in porch on the last house (2 rms) and that added a lot of space for 4 months out of the year. I don't need a Mc Mansion, but I have serious qualms about moving into a townhouse (our next move). I really want 3 bedrooms and perhaps a lower level family room and DH thinks 2 bedrooms are OK. It's not so much the size, just the amount of rooms. I need my space. Well, it won't be for at least 5 years, so we have time to decide.

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Originally Posted by limewave

Seriously, what do you get them for a housewarming gift? I really want to welcome them to the neighborhood, but everything I can think of to give them seems podunky.

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Give them something from your heart. They have money to spend with wanton disregard. Sounds bit too gaudy for my taste. Can we say Trump, Liberace in Vegas. Yuck. nouveau riche. Sorry but that is what they come across as. But hey, it's a free country, they can spend how they like. No I'm not jealous.

My new place is around 2400sq ft. It's much bigger than we need but the view is to die for. And the size of the property was tad on the smaller side than what I wanted but I can plant about dozen fruit trees and add another dozen or so blueberry bush... I'm loving the place, the house...

Gainfully unemployed is nice too. I wake up in the morning, sip on my chai latte, listen to the traffic report and go, "wow I'm glad I don't have that stress anymore.." then gaze at the panoramic view of Mt. Hood. I love the slower pace of life. Play with my cats, dogs...

When I imagine myself winning the lottery or coming into millions of dollars from an unknown wealthy relative, I picture myself staying exactly where I'm at with my same job . . . but with infinitely less stress. Not having to worry about money for the kids future or retirement. Being able to travel when and where we want. Putting new siding on the house and updating the kitchen. A house keeper to clean while I bike. Things like that. I guess I'm not a big dreamer . . .

As for the house-warming gift: I went with a folder filled with a "wealth" of information on the neighborhood! They are from a different city so I thought it was a fitting gift to get them acquainted with their new home. I included our top 5 pizza places, menu's from our favorite restaurants, business cards and flyers from places I thought they may frequent, a "popcorn bucket" from the local gas station that gives the owner free popcorn for the year. DH thought that was a little tacky, but they have movie theater popcorn! And the buckets sell-out every year, so I thought it was a fun "local" gift.

That's a perfect gift! I don't think it's tacky at all.

That popcorn is like crack...I would love one of those buckets! :D

I think you done good, Limewave!

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Originally Posted by NbyNW

I think you done good, Limewave!

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Agreed!!

Sounds like the prefect welcome gift!!!

I fall into the "each to his/her own" crowd, although I do agree w/Mimi's point about social responsibility.

Always find it amusing when people have to compare their homes/possessions w/mine ("my house is bigger than yours is, nah nah nah!"). As if I'm a loser for choosing that simple is better for me. I just ignore it, change the subject. Actually, it's kind of sad when someone puts so much value on material possessions because those can disappear in the blink of an eye.

I thought smaller homes were becoming chic for those to whom things like that matter?

Our house is very small -- 2 br, one bath but a toilet in the basement, next to the dryer -- built in 1940. We consider ourselves fortunate to have purchased it before the big real estate boom. There is a lot of infill in our neighborhood, which is distressing. They tear down these solid, brick on brick constructed homes to put up big plasterboard mcmansions that don't fit in w/the surrounding homes. I love the older pre-war/ww2 era homes, imagine the folks who lived in them, kids raised in them, etc.

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Originally Posted by Selkie

Our house is very small -- 2 br, one bath but a toilet in the basement, next to the dryer -- built in 1940. We consider ourselves fortunate to have purchased it before the big real estate boom... I love the older pre-war/ww2 era homes, imagine the folks who lived in them, kids raised in them, etc.

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Hijack here--I could have written this, down to the size of the house and when I bought it. I bought my tiny house from an elderly woman who had lived there (and smoked, ick) for 40 years. She and her husband raised their son there.

A storage area under the screened porch was padlocked when I bought the place. After about 5 years, I cut off the padlock and found the son's hideout. He had a desk and chair, light, carpet, fixed up very cute. I found two plastic bodybuilder figurines and a 50s era girlie magazine. His name was drawn in the concrete floor.

When I moved in, the neighborhood was full of elderly people who had lived there for years. Now they've all died, and I'm the old-timer on the block.