How the other half lives . . .

[Rebekah H]

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!

[rollinat]

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!!

[Crankin]

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.