The Big Small House

I was looking at a floorplan to.day from a house built in the early 1970's. It was not at the time meant to be particularly energy efficient or anything other than a regular middle class tract home.
Many of us grew up in those homes and can remember how cozy they were. They usually had larger lots than homes have now (this one was an a half acre). They often had large trees for shade and treehouses. This home was typical of those built at the time; stucco with brick facade, three bedroom and 2 baths. The bathrooms were arranged back to back so they shared a plumbing wall; the utility room was directly across the hall making for a short plumbing run and a practical location since the master bedroom was at one end of the hall and the other two bedrooms at the other end. This effectively separated the Master from the other berooms but kept the laundry convenient to all bedrooms and bathrooms. Ine entered the house through a covered porch which had a door into the garage and an opening to the atrium that occupied the area between the garage and the two front bedrooms. The entrance led to the great room, one end of which served as the dining room since the kitchen was at that end. The opposite end of the great room opened onto a second covered porch which was also accesible from the masterbedroom. Total square footage? 1,236.
Maybe the people currently designing motorhomes and travel trailers should sit down withthe architects and home designers who are still designing McMansions and explain to them how this kind of quality use of space allows for elegant solutions , smaller scale and happier clients, let alone a better planet for us all.

The Way Too Big House

I just saw a house the other day that was mind boggling. Why does anyone need a 9300 square foot home? This was literally built to look like a castle. It was not even a copy of an existing castle somewhere--at least that would have been some kind of excuse. It might also have created a floor plan that made some sense...9300 sq ft and 4 bedrooms??? There is no excuse for this kind of excess. If you aregoing to have and B&B, great; have more bedrooms and bathrooms and lots of cozy spaces for hanging out and reading or talking, a library, a music room...a gym even. This was jsut a collection of expansive rooms, most, granted, with gorgeious views, but enough already!! Build a nice patio or deck and njoy the views outside....