What college has 3000 square foot dorm rooms? Can we say "sour grapes"?

Well, GoTravel that 14 car garage is "under the house" along the beach, but the main house is something like 40,000 square feet and there is a 6,000 square foot "guest house". We won't go into the outdoor pool, gazebo dining room, bar, outdoor kitchen, spa area. The garage was a great place for us to build our Naples Players float for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Good thing you can't see this house from the street, or they'd be plagued with people driving up and trying to check in, mistaking it for a resort hotel.

Having seen a photo of Mikemos house, I must admit that if I had the chance to build a dream house in Mexico, I would ask him for ideas..It is so beautiful.

Patrick, sour grapes or just a healthy imagination LOL Treasure Island isn't even big enough to hold a house that big :D

I'm with Seamus, a flat in London or a Paris would suit me just fine, to hell with all those square feet!
((F)) Scarlett

Patrick,
The overwhelming majority of homes in the Centro have no garages and a 2 car is almost unheard of. A car is mostly a liability here, but having one allows us to travel widely in central Mexico.
M

Scarlett,

Thanks for the kind words. Now that we are "nearly" finished, I get some photos when the lighting cooperates and foward those.
M

Given all the homes and apartments I've lived in, I'd like to retire to something that wasn't a burden to care for. Depending on the climate, a nice, cozy cottage of about 800 sq ft would probably be good for one person IF I could spend most of my time puttering in the garden or working at my hobbies on a screened porch. If I was dealing with mucho heat or cold (or snow), I think I'd like something about half-again as big. You can only be in one room at a time, but if you're snowed in it sure is nice to be able to change rooms! A spare bedroom for a guest would be nice, as well.

By the way, RnRForever. When are we going to get that promised report of your spectacular voyage on the Queen Mary, along with the trip to Wales? We've been waiting patiently. Rather than posting comments like "boring" as a total post on other peoples' threads, your trip reports on your own exciting trips would be welcome relief from your other posts.

Mikemo, I was aware of that. I wasn't trying to put down the idea of a 2 car garage, but rather point out that what is sometimes a "necessity" in some regions is a "luxury" in others.

Ten years ago when we "downsized" from a house in Naples to a condo to make travel and retirement easier, one of our major requirements was a 2 car garage -- nearly unheard of in condos or villas here. Now they are becoming more usual, but we were indeed lucky to meet our requirement in "downtown" Naples with virtually the only condo/townhouse having a two car garage -- and a big one at that. Today one would not expect to buy even a two or three bedroom condo that fits a "luxury" moniker without a two car garage, yet alone a house.

I find the changes in housing priorities over the past century to be a fascinating subject. Clearly, with shrinking family size the increase in size of homes is pure self-indulgence. My favorite are the harried folks I know with two or three separate kitchens (family kitchen, caterer's kitchen, and summer kithen) who eat out virtually all the time. The same applies to bathrooms that rival those of ancient Rome when most simply take a quick shower.

Maintenance, taxes, and just furnishing these larger homes does not wealth in the long term create. With high ceilings and lofty foyers, the cubic footage to heat and cool rivals an indoor stadium. The psychological effects of hard, cold, echoing, canyonlike spaces indoors bears mention--most are not the cozy sanctuaries that other animal species prefer.

What will happen to all these large homes? Some are poorly constructed and will no doubt be bulldozed earlier than planned. But perhaps, with increased longevity and persons who unwittingly have been swindled a la Enron or have not saved enough for un-or under-employed senior life, we will see a trend toward communal living with multiple generations filling the McMansion's wings. The nursing home Medicaid spend-down alternative, to which many formerly middle class or even affluent succumb (ask my grandparents) only to be supported by taxpayers is not the answer

We live in 978 sq feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Even then, it seems like lot to clean, maintain and renovate. As a plumber visiting our home once said.."Hell, you can only ever be in one room at a time anyway".

RnR's little house is on a 36x60 lot so that square footage would have to go spiraling straight up, higher and higher, like his wonderful imagination. :D

West Coast Florida is lovely, a small house is nothing to be ashamed of.

I also recommend checking out the "Not So Big House" series of books. There are a lot of good design ideas in the books.

It's funny how you get used to the space you have, isn't it? A family of 6 shared a cabin with a loft for several months on PBS's Frontier House and then immediately moved into their new 7,000 square foot mansion after Frontier House ended. When the family was interviewed a month after the series ended they all talked about how incredibly lonely they were for eachother in their new home.

I've lived in the same 1400 square foot house for 30 years. It's almost paid for and would have been paid for if I hadn't refied some years ago. Paid 42,000 for it and it would sell for just over 300,000 at this point should I want to, but I don't. I think sometime in the not to far distant future we are going to see a "shake out" in the housing market. With the low interest and the "creative" financing being done..interest only loans and many differnt kinds of adjustable rate mortages, some people are in over their heads should the market stall. That happened some time ago in California and people were simply walking away from their houses and mortgages. The houses were worth less than what they owed on them. There are some times I wish I has some bigger spaces but in the end I'm fine where I am. I certainly have all I need at this point in my life. So I guess I'm one of those "poh folk" that RnR is talking about. Oh poor little me.

"some people are in over their heads should the market stall. That happened some time ago in California and people were simply walking away from their houses and mortgages."

Yes, but don't forget that those "stalls" have always been temporary. Basically speaking anyone who wasn't in totally over their heads and didn't have to sell in those bad periods, now have a home that started to increase again after the "stall". It's a given fact that real estate my temporarily slide, but it never fails to regain once again.

"Clearly, with shrinking family size the increase in size of homes is pure self-indulgence..."

I don't think you can accurately make a sweeping generalization like that, binthair. Take us, for example...Yes, we are a family of four (plus two dogs). Yes, we have more space than we need in our house for our daily activities. But, DH and I are very close with our families, many of whom can't afford to drive the several hundred miles out here AND house their families in a hotel. Because of our large house, we were able to feed 25 people here all of Thanksgiving week, 16 of them sleeping comfortably here at our house. If we'd had a smaller home, most of these cherished family members wouldn't have come because they couldn't have afforded the hotel costs, or wouldn't have felt comfortable "imposing." This summer alone, we've had six groups of family and friends come to visit, staying in our home. Again, I doubt all of them would have come if we hadn't the space to house them comfortably. Is making it easier for us to spend quality time with our loved ones self-indulgent?

Claro, but property taxes, utilities and full time help (housekeeper, cook and gardener)are a tiny fraction of what they were in Dallas, and there is essentially no insurance except the mandatory auto liability. I'm saving almost $20K a year on household expenses and I have not had any mortgage since 1991.
Also, since USAA provides no ins here, I get my 35+ yr SSA returned tax free -that's a nice $11K Christmas gift.
M

our house is a 3yr-old 3bd/2ba 1500sqft plantation-style home, with a 1bd/1ba 700sqft guest house for friends and family. this will be our retirement home.

however, i certainly wouldn't mind mike's situation either. happy retirement m

Binthair, if you want anyone to take your point of view seriously, stop overgeneralizing.

I was so happy to buy a house with acreage, horse barn, two paddocks, streams on each side with no visable neighbors until we had to maintain it all. That was in unincorporated Redmond, Wa. Dusting ans maintaing a 4100 sqft moneypit got old very quickly! happily I'm in a Condo in Jupiter, Fla. Slam the door and I'm off!
I agree with mclaurie about the house size but I think I'd add a bedroom. If you have to "move on" it will be more saleable.

Jersey:
"I'd like a three bedroom open floorplan on water in a temperate climate with low taxes, please. No more then 2500 sf and near a town with great food, museums, an airport, and privacy."
The first thing that popped into my head is Minneapolis/St. Paul and some of its tonier suburbs--but you'd have to drop the "temperate climate" requirement, LOL! But some of the lakefront property there is stunning, and the Twin Cities fit all your other requirements...