And let’s not forget about the “no plans for built-in storage” models that most modern houses come with. Seriously, closet pantries, poorly planned kitchen cabinetry and weird room layouts as default? Whatever happened to spacious pantries and rooms that at least reflected that there were people who lived in the house who didn’t sleep in the master bedroom? I’m not asking for a suite, but it’s seriously dumb to have a huge master suite and teeny closetlike secondary and tertiary bedrooms.
I think your primary gripe is with design, and it sounds like you’re only using tract housing as your modern example. You’re also forgetting that old houses often didn’t have a bathroom attached to the master (if it had a master at all), had tiny kitchens, zero walk-in closets, fewer bathrooms, etc.
“It’s the perfect starter home for a young couple buying their first home. Nice big master bedroom with plenty of room for a crib when the kids come along. And they’ll grow into their own bedrooms as they get older. An open floor plan lets you keep an eye on the kids while you’re in the kitchen too.”
This was the rationale we were given by the real estate agent when we were looking at houses some years ago. They tended to be new houses, and they were all as described by nashiitashii and Zsofia. We had no plans for kids, and didn’t need a house that was designed for newborn and growing children, but that was all that was in our price range so that was pretty much all we were shown.
Our home was built in 1956, and we deliberately chose it over the stucco monstrosities in the new communities when we (a young family) were shopping in 2007. We never bothered even looking at new homes because they were, to us, grotesque: 3000sf home on a 4500sf lot, cheap and hurried construction, bizarre locations, boring style.
That said, our 1956 home has:
- Asbestos in the air ducts. As long as it isn’t disturbed, we’ll be okay, but we need to replace it eventually.
- Uninsulated exterior walls. Apparently, insulation wasn’t seen as a necessary thing in the 50s; they just put it in the attic.
- And, well, 50 years’ worth of aging–so plumbing and electric need redone (both are already about half redone)
So, thank God they don’t make 'em like they used to in that respect.
BUT…we have:
- Hardwood floors throughout
- A master bathroom (tiny by modern standards, but we don’t need a freakin’ in-house spa) connecting to our master bedroom
- Two closets in the master bedroom (no walk-in, but hey, we have his n’ hers)
- A 10,000+sf lot–which means a nice big yard for our kidlets, and there’s more than spitting distance between our house and neighbors’
- TONS of storage space–hall closets and bathroom closets
We’re also on a cul-de-sac in a quiet, well-kept neighborhood with mountain views.
Now, we completely gutted the kitchen and remodeled it last summer to better reflect our needs (doubled cabinet and counter space), and are in process of modernizing the rest of the house, but still…I’d rather live here than in those offensive new homes ANY day.
Apparently, we’re not the only ones feeling that way. Homes in our neighborhood have lost about 20-25% of their value since the housing market collapsed; new homes in our area have lost around 35-40% of their value. In fact, one new debacle of a housing community (HUGE homes, fancy kitchens, massive floor plans, ZERO lot, bizarre right-next-to-freeway, view-of-off-ramp-RIGHT-in-front-of your-front-door location) originally was selling “from the high $600,000s”–and now, the oft-edited sign in front of the community reads “from the high $300,000s.” Ouch.
I second feminine hygiene products. YAY for tampons!
StG
Going back to cars, the modern automobile is really quite astonishingly reliable. Not only that, but 99% of the time it can tell you what’s wrong with it - though I still don’t understand why troubleshooting codes can’t just be explained on a built-in display.
I have all of the things you mentioned, plus a bigger lot and more closet space. I built it 2 years ago. It is a brick, traditional style home that could have been built any time in the 20th century. Complaining about stucco, lot size, hollow-core doors, etc. is like saying new cars are crap because the colors suck, they have vinyl upholstery, and the garage is too small.
In other words, your sample size is probably too small.
Probably, well, certainly–it’s limited to what is in my area. Southern California is the mini-lot, stuccoed center of the architectural universe. Yuck. I do miss what was I grew up with in Indiana–full acre lots, among other things.
Brick wouldn’t go over well here in SoCal, so that’s not comparable–but I am certain you have a better, newer home in most respects, and I say that sincerely. However, around here, I still do prefer the old to the new. SoCal is NOT my favorite when it comes to living space. Boo. And ick.
Hey, I love old houses. I think all the construction issues are worth dealing with if you can truly find an old gem to modernize. Truly.
My initial point is that old construction methods were inconsistent at best, and nightmarish at worst compared to current ones.
And hooray for silicone menstrual cups!
My mom told me about the bad old days of the pad where you wore a garter-type belt to hold the pad in place, because there wasn’t any adhesive, and about the annoyance/uncomfortableness if one of the clips came undone when you were, say, doing situps in phy ed.
I loved our little '64 Rambler American convertible, but in every area except charm (power, brakes, driveability, handling, safety) our plebian 2003 Suzukis are far far better cars.
Because the average person would be alarmed to discover that their entry-egress static configurable device has suddenly become a small-to-medium-sized glass container.
My door is a cup?
No, it’s a jar.
:smack:
I don’t think onboard diagnostics cover that one. Well, except the little red “door open” light on the dashboard, which puts it in less worrying terms.
For the win! 
high-fives Ludovic for setting that up
^5! In seriousness I think there’d be a lot of “PC LOAD LETTER???” frustration if we did open up the codes and put them on a display. Not that I don’t want that to happen, it would be sort of cool especially if I had a maintenance manual, even though I’m not a mechanics geek.
Frozen food. Mind, it’s still not as good as fresh made stuff; but unless I’m recalling the stuff that used to be available through negative rose tinted glasses, what is sold now is generally far better than it used to be. For example, frozen pizza now tastes and feels like actual pizza; not cardboard with tasteless red stuff and plastic pseudo-cheese on top. With the old stuff, I recall it was so bad that at one point I ate some of the cardboard it was cooked on top of because I didn’t notice the difference.
You’re not imagining things. The rise of cryogenic freezing in food processing has made a tremendous difference in the quality of frozen foods.