patrick.net

They have gotten smaller, it's called an apartment :-p

Now is your argument made on the basis of making current homes smaller or making smaller homes as a trend in at itself?

Downsizing a current home would involve putting up funds to accomplish what exactly? Towns don't want to lower property taxes so they'll encourage more enviro policy rather than making them smaller.

As for current homes I'd argue that a developer might buy out a contract to build everything on a new street. That and social pressures to maintain house size as to not stand out.

Here's an example of a house that stands out for being smaller...and yellow
http://www.themontyminute.com/yellow-man-of-hanover-ma/

mdovell says

They have gotten smaller, it's called an apartment :-p

Now is your argument made on the basis of making current homes smaller or making smaller homes as a trend in at itself?

Downsizing a current home would involve putting up funds to accomplish what exactly? Towns don't want to lower property taxes so they'll encourage more enviro policy rather than making them smaller.

As for current homes I'd argue that a developer might buy out a contract to build everything on a new street. That and social pressures to maintain house size as to not stand out.

Here's an example of a house that stands out for being smaller...and yellow

http://www.themontyminute.com/yellow-man-of-hanover-ma/

What world do you all of you live in?

I know plenty of builders in Dallas who won't contract for anything less than 3000 sq ft. My parents' house in Ohio is about 2000 but all the stuff that's gone up down the street from them in the past couple of years is ~2600 sq ft and up.

We don't all live like rats! There are more who don't than those who do.

I'm talking about new buildings. Reducing the size of an existing structure rarely makes sense.

If anything, houses (and apartments, for that matter) seem to actually be getting larger.

I'd much rather that my current home had more separate rooms and less square footage. The big, open rooms don't really serve a purpose. We're actually in the process of splitting some of our rooms just for that. It's just so...empty.

Root makes a good point I think: aren't Bay Area houses already tiny since land is so expensive? And in a moderate climate I'm not sure how much energy you really save by down-sizing anyway.

Just replace those crappy single-pane windows that are on so many houses out there.

I don't need a mansion, but I"m not living in a broom closet either.
If some nerdy Japanese or Some dufus Caligreen moron, want's to convert a 300sqft dumpster into a gadget transforming stowaway living module unit, then god bless them. The women I know, wouldn't step foot in the thing.

"I'm not stepping in your FORT!"

Local zoning laws probably require home builders to only build McMansions, since it's not about what people need, it's about what the local government needs, which is a justification for it's bloated property taxes.

Kevin says

he big, open rooms don't really serve a purpose.

That and new houses have way too many windows. That makes them use more energy to heat and cool and reduces ones privacy.

zzyzzx says

Local zoning laws probably require home builders to only build McMansions, since it's not about what people need, it's about what the local government needs, which is a justification for it's bloated property taxes.

Or if you live where I live, the local government jacks up property taxes regardless of house size. You'll pay $4000/year on a small P.O.S.

wthrfrk80 says

Or if you live where I live, the local government jacks up property taxes regardless of house size. You'll pay $4000/year on a small P.O.S.

Yeah, and $12K /year on McMansions. They gotta pay those bloated government pensions somehow!

zzyzzx says

Yeah, and $12K /year on McMansions. They gotta pay those bloated government pensions somehow!

Pretty much yes. That's why the smart kids move to North Carolina as soon as they graduate from college. The deadbeat kids stay here and live off the gummint. Which makes taxes go up even more. It's a positive-feedback cycle.

Kevin says

I'd much rather that my current home had more separate rooms and less square footage. The big, open rooms don't really serve a purpose. We're actually in the process of splitting some of our rooms just for that. It's just so...empty.

Aha! You have STARTED to see the problem. But I argue it's not the "not enough rooms" that is the issue. It's that most houses are very poorly designed for HOW WE ACTUALLY LIVE.

Mrs. Vicente bought this book many years ago:

http://www.notsobighouse.com/

Great stuff! Do you need a formal dining room, and a "home office" which lacks a closet (not easily converted to bedroom) and other fluff? No!

Our previous rental was a 950-sq. foot "mother-in-law cottage" and we loved it despite/because of it's small size and few rooms. We spent most of our waking hours in the one largish room that had the kitchen at the back with only a counter separating it from the main area. Higher ceiling, plenty of windows. Enough room for 2 people to work/relax and DS to play. The bedrooms were small but who cares? We were pretty happy in that 2x1 it had no excess rooms at all. If we were thinking about "needing" something which didn't fit in our space, well.... we didn't need it did we?

Then, growing family, need more bedrooms. So we ended up in a house about double the square footage which I like less. New rental has a large master bedroom which does what for us? Nothing!

Vicente says

Do you need a formal dining room

No. In fact I wonder why they still make them. It's not like they ever get used. I'm seriously thinking about throwing away my kitchen table and just expanding my kitchen into that area.

Call it Crazy says

Kevin says

Maybe it's just because everybody is getting fatter?

Well, that's a true fact but I don't think it's the reason.... most houses are too big because people have too much "stuff" that they can't part with... plus they "have to keep up with the Jones' attitude"....

Obligatory:

I like the idea of two separate living spaces. In my two person household, we have a one bedroom one bath apartment with a kitchen and two living spaces that can be separated by a pocket door. It is an awesome 100 year old house with 14 foot ceilings!

The best thing is the two living spaces. His and hers. The man's room and the woman's room. The man's den/office and the woman's den/office/dining room. It keeps peace in the family and no one is relegated to the bedroom to work or watch TV as they so desire. If we want to be together we open the pocket door or join the other person in his or her room for TV or dinner. Mostly the pocket door is open until one wants to watch something different.

I encourage people to use flexible living spaces and partition doors to expand the use of existing spaces. For sure formal eating areas are rarely used these days. I agree that big open spaces are only somewhat useful. Having the whole 4 person or more family end up in the one living/dining/kitchen area seems nice until no one gets peace and quiet to do whatever it is that they are trying to do. Sometimes separate spaces are heaven sent.

The only bad thing about the 100 year old pocket doors is that they are noisy! Needs some grease but I wouldn't even know where to start.

Call it Crazy says

Who actually uses a formal living room more than a couple of times a year??

Our kitchen table seats 4. So if we have anyone over for dinner, which is a few times a month, we use the formal dining room. A few holdouts still!

also the dining room has doors on both entrances, so when we have overnight guest overflow, it can double as a temp bedroom. Keeping with MsAnnaNOLA's comment about flexible living spaces and partition doors.

SiO2 says

it can double as a temp bedroom.

Aiming low. Ideally you want triple-duty. Some of Susanka's spaces are quad-duty.