JHZR2
Staff member
Its interesting to see the combination of comments regarding folks wanting larger homes, and folks wanting to downsize due to heating/cooling/upkeep/taxes. That's the circle and balance.
My grandparents have nine grandkids, and maintained a home until one of them died that was about 2800 SF. Old 1920's type, beautiful construction. It had four huge bedrooms, a walk-up attic with another finished room and a huge storage space, a full basement, a parlor and a living room, etc. Only the two main floors were considered in the sizing, and it was always perfect for having around 20 people for family events with two families sleeping there.
Another friend of ours has a decent sized (Id guess 2500-3000SF) home to which they added a 5000ish SF game display room and two guest rooms and extra kitchen. Really nice, but its like a cavern and so much of the space is only used when visitors are there (and it takes a LOT of people to fill the space up). He needs it for big game and entertaining, and its absolutely beautiful, but its so large that its almost too much.
I cant see the practicality of a tiny house, personally. I think the optimal is a home that has a true walk-up attic, a true walk-down basement, and a detatched garage and shed. Depending upon family size and some other factors, Id say somewhere between 1500-3000 SF is optimal, also depending upon typical occupancy and factoring in heating and cooling costs as well as external surface area (upkeep). Go much below 1500 SF and everything becomes cramped, even if you dont populate all the bedrooms, and go much above 3000 and I suspect that a lot of space will be wasted a lot of the time, and its just more to clean.
My 2c, subject to change...
My grandparents have nine grandkids, and maintained a home until one of them died that was about 2800 SF. Old 1920's type, beautiful construction. It had four huge bedrooms, a walk-up attic with another finished room and a huge storage space, a full basement, a parlor and a living room, etc. Only the two main floors were considered in the sizing, and it was always perfect for having around 20 people for family events with two families sleeping there.
Another friend of ours has a decent sized (Id guess 2500-3000SF) home to which they added a 5000ish SF game display room and two guest rooms and extra kitchen. Really nice, but its like a cavern and so much of the space is only used when visitors are there (and it takes a LOT of people to fill the space up). He needs it for big game and entertaining, and its absolutely beautiful, but its so large that its almost too much.
I cant see the practicality of a tiny house, personally. I think the optimal is a home that has a true walk-up attic, a true walk-down basement, and a detatched garage and shed. Depending upon family size and some other factors, Id say somewhere between 1500-3000 SF is optimal, also depending upon typical occupancy and factoring in heating and cooling costs as well as external surface area (upkeep). Go much below 1500 SF and everything becomes cramped, even if you dont populate all the bedrooms, and go much above 3000 and I suspect that a lot of space will be wasted a lot of the time, and its just more to clean.
My 2c, subject to change...
