Tuesday, February 14, 2006

What exactly does one do with a 4000+ square foot house?

Rant du jour: I can't relate to the McMansion generation. My home post-addition is about 2000 square feet, and we use the whole house every room, every day. And my house feels HUGE to me. I grew up in a 1200 square foot single floor apartment. So my 3-story single Victorian is the height of spacious luxury as far as I'm concerned. We have a half bath. TWO toilets, my friends. We have big windows and lots of light. Now that's living it up.

The Globe just published an article about the lengths people go through to make their McMansions seem cozy. This prompts me to say what the F&^%$! You bought a house with a living room that could double as the atrium lobby of an office building, and now you want to make it into a cozy Victorian parlor? They have to buy specially made furniture that scales to these huge spaces. What's wrong with you people? You have a room for your dog?

If I suddenly had the millions you'd need to buy or even heat one of these houses, I'm pretty sure I'd stay where I am. I'd pay off the mortgage, buy a new minivan and continue life mostly as it is.

Why do people want so much room? 100 years ago large houses hosted servants and a lot of the work to sustain the house was done within it. It sort of made sense. When people came to visit they stayed for months at a time. But these days a week is a long visit. What could you possibly do with three or four people with that much space?