Well, “need” is a funny word. I think it’s basically irrelevant how much house anyone “needs.” A person doesn’t “need” to bathe once a day, or have more than one set of clothes, or have a car that’s more than just basic transportation (i.e., air conditioning and a radio etc. are wants, not needs), or eat more than people kibble (i.e., a basic nutritious diet). But almost all of us want those things, so we do them, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Having a small house is no badge of honor IMHO.
My flat is under 650 square foot and is not considered small for a flat in central London. There are just the two of us here now (one parent and one child, plus a dog), but it’s intended for two parents and two kids. In other parts of the country people might expect more space, but not for two people.
American standards are way different to those in the UK.
And for those who’ve visited before: it did seem way smaller when my ex was living here. She has TONS of stuff, including lots of big musical instruments, and is really messy.
The spouse and I and our 7 cats live in a 2-story, 4-bedroom house that’s just shy of 1600ft. I’m kind of a clutterbug so it feels a bit close sometimes, but we barely use the living room (the TV is in the family room). Of the four bedrooms, one is the master, one is the spouse’s “office” room, one is my work room (I telecommute most of the week) and one is my “office” room, but mine is really more of a storage nightmare right now since I moved my gaming rig downstairs and took over the dining area with it (I was feeling too shut in and antisocial gaming in my room).
I think if I got rid of about half my clutter and we downsized to a bit smaller furniture (we have a huge coffee table in the living room that I love but it’s just too big for the room), the place would be plenty spacious. Right now it feels too small.
I have a 1500 square foot 3 bedroom house, and I live alone. Two of the bedrooms and half of the living room simply don’t get used. My first abode as a productive adult was a 10 x 30 foot mobile home. That was a bit small, but I’ve lived in 600 and 750 square feet arrangements quite well.
Are you talking small, or are you talking Tiny Houses? They are talking about 10’ x 16’ (160 square feet) to 12’ x 28’ (336 square feet.) Then there is this Micro House. “Because less is more sustainable.”
Full disclosure: Spouse and I live in a 2000 square foot house. When I have insomnia, I can go to the other end of the house and I don’t wake up the breadwinner. This, I believe, is one secret to a successful marriage.
kunilou really nailed it here - chances are good that if you’re an intentionally childless couple that you will want a condo (no yard/maintenance) or rental (no maintenance/mortgage). Also keep in mind that many empty nesters still want like 1500-2500 (ETA: zoned out for a moment, I meant 1200-2200) square feet all to themselves and to have a bedroom or two spare for their kids (especially since they expect their kids and their kids’ spouses to stay and visit sometimes), so even that slice of the market isn’t looking for ubersmall housing. I see the decline of McMansions inevitable, but people will always want as much space as they can reasonably afford.
ETA: TexasDriver: that and double sinks 
You got that right. And his and her computers.
I have a vacuum outlet theory to “comfortable” home size - 1 “plug-in” per person living in the house. 1 person = you can vacuum the whole house without unplugging the power cord / 2 people = you move the cord once (2 "plug-ins)… If it takes more, then the house is too big; if it takes less, then it’s probably a bit cramped and cluttered.
I’m in a one story, 2 bed 2 bath townhome - about 900 square feet - with three indoor cats and we have more than enough space. I can get the whole house vacuumed in one plug-in. I have one room - the dining area, which is virtually empty, and one of the bedrooms was pretty much never used until I started working from home. I do have a garage, so that definitely helps keep the house clutter free (for the most part). I don’t think I’d be very comfortable with another person here though. We’d certainly have enough room, but not enough space.
The size of houses people seem to think are necessary drive me crazy! My sister (married, 1 child) was always moaning about how small her house was (3 bed, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft). They have recently bought a 5 bedroom 3 bath house that is over 4000 sq ft and that just seems wasteful to me.
But of course people can buy whatever they can afford, and she feels more comfortable in her new house.
I am married and we have 4 kids, so 6 people. We live very comfortably in a 4 bedroom, 2000 sq ft home. It was actually a little bigger than we were looking for, but the location is great and the price was right so we bought it.
I was in a hurry when I posted this, so I will amend my last sentence =)
With the whinging idiots that need to own 300 pair of shoes, and enough clothing to clothe a small town in Wales, both the husband and wife apparently neeEeeeEeeEeed a walk in closet each [read the word need in the whingiest voice warble you can manage] and the bathroom hAaAaAs <whinge voice>to have both a separate shower stall and a huge “soaker tub with jets” [I know they cant use brand names on tv, but typically most people just say jacuzzi] and a vanity with 2 huge vessel sinks. The kitchens must have granite, stainless steel appliances [refrigerator, dish washer and range at a minimum. Now they are insisting on a wine fridge too lately] and space for a huge island, also granite topped. They must have a dining area for entertaining so they can put in a huge dining set [while they still eat sitting on the couch watching tv] and they also need a mayaaaaan cave<grunt> with a huge flatscreen suitable to a huge sports bar.
Mrs. Dash, the two Dashlings and I live in a 3-bedroom, 2 bath house, 1240 square feet. It’s more than enough room for what we need. When the tiny one gets to be about 2 years old we’re going to move the kids into the same room and keep the third as an office/spare room; we have a large kitchen that is quite spacious, and our living room is good sized as well.
When I saw the thread title, I immediately though of this house in Berkeley, CA. It’s a 420-square foot cottage built in the backyard of another house. It has a loft large enough for at least a queen-sized bed, full kitchen (if short on counter space), dining nook, and full bath. I would probably get claustrophobic in there after a while, but I’m 6’2" tall.
My condo is a one bedroom with a bath and a half, plus a “bonus” room that has become my cave. I rarely use the living room and never use the dining room. I also have a screened in back porch that I sometimes use but wouldn’t miss if it wasn’t there. I think I’m actually using maybe 750-800 sf and I’m comfortable.
Would you like to have this same analysis applied to your own life? I bet I could list 10 things that you use on a daily basis that are “wants” and not “needs.”
Aruvqan, what do you mean? People are asking too much, but two bedrooms in a 1200 sq ft place is absurd? That seems contradictory.
It’s natural that people will compare their home sizes to those in their own country, ergo people in the US expecting much larger homes than in the UK and people in the UK expecting larger homes than some other countries though I can’t bring any to mind right now.
But 2 bedrooms plus living room, kitchen and bathroom (or two) would be easy to fit into 1200 sq ft with ample room in each bedroom for a wardrobe, chest of drawers, nightstand, bookcase or two, a washing basket, and a chair or sofa as well as a double bed and room to walk around. We’re not talking sardines in a tin.
See, that size to me seems fine for a one-bedroom place for two people, but gets cramped for two bedrooms. A bargain at 300,000 quid. (Check out the floorplan).
Not everyone does (we could have bought a much bigger house, with all the lifestyle changes that would have entailed), and hopefully as a society we’re starting to get an idea that it isn’t the best way to run your life.
One of my current ideas that I like to pass along is the idea of examining your life and differentiating between wants and needs. It’s fine to have wants and to indulge those wants, but I think it’s important to not kid yourself about whether or not they’re actually needs.
This has been a very interesting thread, spark. Thanks for starting it.
I grew up in a four bdrm, 2.5 bathroom, two-story house. I’m guessing it was about 1500-1600 sq ft. For a family of six, it was fine. I figure we had at most (rounding) 270 sq ft per person to enjoy (though things were kinda staggered, with the spacing-between-siblings thing). But 270 sq ft per person sounds about right to me.
Currently my parents live out in the 'burbs, in the most stereotypical McMansion you can imagine. In a cul de sac even! Five bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, the obligatory great room and a separate living room, a huge dining area, a moderately-sized kitchen with an eating area, and a two-car garage. Plus a sprawling deck with a big screened-in gazebo. Not counting those two external features (and the swimming pool), I’m thinking my parents currently enjoy 3500 sq feet of house. More than twice what the entire family grew up in! Yeah, occassionally a grandchild or two will spend the night. Or I will when I come down to visit for the holidays. But why do they need that much room? My mother almost brags how she never goes upstairs (she hires people to clean). That makes no sense to me, having all that space and not ever seeing it. Whole families could be squatting up there and my parents wouldn’t even know!
They have stuff that they need now, but apparently didn’t need then…back when they had kids to support. Like a giant flat-screen TV and two sets of living room furniture (the great room’s gotta be furnished too, remember). My father has two offices, one inside and one in the garage. I’ve never seen him working in either space, mind you. They just hold his “officey” things. My mother’s closet is big enough to count as another room (complete with windows), and it’s stacked to the rafters with clothes and shoes–stuff she probably never wears. “Her” vanity bathroom has both a shower and a delux bathtub, and a toilet that hides behind a door (a toliet room!) It’s a gorgous area, with marble floors and countertops, and special lighting to boot. But…my mother never takes showers. The only time that shower has been in use is when I have used it…which was just once. So why in the hell does the thing not work anymore, I wonder? And why did they have to replace the house’s heating/cooling system after just six years of use? I just don’t understand.
I dread the day when their lifestyles will need paring down and we’ll have to find homes for all that stuff. I guess it’s great my parents get to live life so abundantly, as they like to call it–and they certainly worked hard enough for it. But goodness, 3500 sq feet for just the both of them? It makes it hard for me to take my self-proclaimed anti-capitalist, left-wing radical mother seriously. Sorry, Mommy! But it’s true!
I don’t know the current square footage of my apartment, but on an average day I only make full use of 30% of it. I pretty much live in my bedroom, where it’s warm and the lighting is perfect to work in, and I make regular forays into kitchen and bathroom when the need arises. The spare bedroom is a storage room (too cold to work in during the winter, too hot to work in during the summer). The living room is useless now that my TV is off-line, the windows too drafty to make sitting in fun, but I do use its south-facing windows to keep my plants alive. The dining area is where I keep a table piled high with junk mail, with various shoes and coats and other craziness strewn on the floor. Even when the weather is nice, I rarely go out onto the backporch, which overlooks a lovely parking lot. So yeah, I’d say 600 sq feet is actually more than I need. I’m hoping it will force me to keep to the basics and not accumulate unused, unnecessary junk. This is important to me.
My house will grant me plenty of room for guests. When my parents visit me, they can have the queen-sized futon in the living room (which will be about the size of a typical master bedroom, minus the closet). I’ll have a woodstove there, so they won’t have frozen toes if they come up during the winter. If my sister tags along, she can sleep up in the loft (which will normally function as my studio), on the double-sized futon mattress that I currently keep furled up in a closet. Or she can spread out in the the small second bedroom downstairs that will normally function as my den. The house won’t be able to contain a house party, but I don’t do house parties anyway. And if we do have a party, I’ll have plenty of yardspace for us to jam outside. I only host guests a couple of days out of the year anyway. If people don’t like my accomodations, they can mosey on down to the Holiday Inn down the street. 
People have bought houses to accomodate their stuff, it seems to me. So if you have a lot of stuff, of course you’ll need a bigger house. But the fundamental question is do we need all that stuff in the first place? And why should our stuff be dictating how we live our lives anyway?
My house, if it is approved where I want it to be (red tape, man), will be right across the house from an assisted living place. This is important to me for personal reasons, but I think it’s a potential selling point. If I were a recent divorcee with a teenage kid almost ready to go their own way and an elderly parent to care for, wouldn’t it be great to strip down to the basics, dump the big-ass house out in suburbia, and move into a smaller dwelling right across from where Grandma lives, with people her own age and staff who get paid to do things that I don’t have time or patience to attend to? I would be right across the street, so Grandma could come have dinner with us every night, or if something happens in the middle of the night, I can just put on my housecoat and run across the street to attend matters. And instead of burning money on heating costs (or repairing bathrooms I don’t even use), I can save for my kid’s college tuition. When she comes to visit during her college years, she can sleep in the living room. Because the loft, which used to be her bedroom, will be turned into my special place.
That’s why I call “bullshit” on my agent’s warning. The location practically begs for a smaller house. And I will tell her this the next time she tells me how I absolutely need to double the size of my house. Either that, or I’ll wave good-bye and find someone who won’t continue to nag me. I hope I can convey this in my face and voice the next time we see each other.
Woof. So many times I find I’m severely at odds with the average membership of the dope. The wife and I bought a 2700 foot house (750 foot unfinished basement, 4 car garage)…honestly, it’s got the amenities of a LARGER house, with fewer bedrooms and baths. We did this as we didn’t really outgrow the 1800 sq ft house we left so much as we wanted a way to enforce some savings (interesting, with the current housing market, but at least we’re right side up).
We did this before we had kids, we bought a house big enough that we could have a baby and still have a guest bedroom. Naturally, that meant we had twins.
Now, what on earth could we do to rationalize three times the average size of the houses in this thread? Well, our hobbies are pretty spacious. The wife likes Halloween and spends the year preparing for oct 31st. The stuff goes up, and comes down, that day.
I’ve been an avid car guy for the last 20 years or so, and am now an amateur machinist. We have 5 cars and a motorcycle. All run, all are used. We got to this point by not buying New cars, buying cars that maintained their value, and paying for them, not leasing them. Is it wise? Well there are plenty of Financial advisors that would condemn throwing so much money at appreciating items…but it hasn’t BEEN a lot of money, when you consider the timeframe, and the fact I do all the work myself, rather than paying someone else to work on a leased vehicle. They’re my hobbies, and they keep me sane.
We’ve got a gym in the basement…sure has been a lot cheaper than a membership.
I can see this house being a little too small soon, as the boys aren’t going to want to share a bedroom forever, grandma will have to sleep on the hide a bed.
We have a lot of STUFF. And counter to the “popular” desire to live in a single room with one pair of shoes and underwear, we don’t see much of a need to downsize. I also figure we’ll be down one or two moves over the average family, when you consider people that move when they outgrow a smaller house, or move due to work. (knock on wood)
I kinda hate the big yard, but what the heck, I wouldn’t trade it for the rest of the house. And that garage has actually saved us some money…we can’t find houses with larger garages for another $150k…meaning: we couldn’t afford to move into a larger house that would be worth it. We’re also in about the largest house you can get before you have to double the heating and A/C equipment.
You know, just so you hear the “McMansion’s” side of the argument.
Monstro, why are you so interested in whether other people “need” the stuff they have?
If you want a McMansion, that’s fine; just don’t kid yourself about whether it’s a need or a want. I want my own detached house with large yard; I don’t need it.