I think it totally depends on how many family members live at home, you have the bachelor/single homes /apts, then average family home, large family home if you have a lot of kids, and then the extended family home, even if the extended family is not so common in one place it is actually very common in others places around the world. In this case you will find several smaller houses within the compound of a larger one, or even units within a large home designed for each.

Also, you can go through these different stage throughout your life, as your family grows then go back to it ( smaller home) as family members spread their own wings.

Cory, I just love that plan. I could totally put this on a foundation in cold Canada where I live.

My husband and I sold our comfortable 1250 sq ft condo for an 1100 sq ft fixer upper. While we are gutting the house we are living in the 440 sq ft garage apartment. I thought this was going to be miserable, but it has actually been very cozy - even with our 90 pound dog. I suspect out 1100 sq ft home will feel palatial once we get into it!

Curt-if you are familiar with Connecticut at all, you will know the perceived justification in the mil rates between Stratford and Shelton. We can start with schools, services, quality and prices of homes due to desirability and location. Stratford is on the sea shore where Shelton is included in what is known as "the valley" which is considered a less desirable area than Stratford. The "valley" towns including Ansonia and Derby, where once very industrial and blue collar where Stratford was/is much more upscale as part of the southern Fairfield County towns like Fairfield, Greenwich, Stamford to name a few. Whether it is or not, is up to the individual.

Although there are beautiful communities in both towns and not so beautiful areas in both towns, Stratford offers more services and amenities to residents and has been known to have a better school system. If those things are not as important to you as say owning more land with your property, than Shelton would be a better fit for you. In general, lot sizes are larger in Shelton and home prices are less. But, sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes, it doesn't matter. Keep in mind that currently, Stratford homes sell faster and, in general, for more more money.

Thanks Lake for the info. I grew up in Shelton and it was a very good neighborhood. We now live in naugatuck which has mil rate of 44. Last time i checked shelton's was 32. And although our neighborhood is quiet and laid back there are more desirable areas in shelton than naugatuck. And heard that sheltons school system is better. Naugatuck is like 30 to 40 miles from the shore line.

Wow, small world cause I lived in Bridgeport, have family in Waterbury, Shelton, Fairfield and my brother lived in Naugatuck

This is a general observation from many open houses I've gone to. The attached garage really impacts the layout of the home because rooms adjacent to it can't have any windows on that side. If the garage is on the south side of the home, there is not much southern facing windows, and the home tends to be darker - all the sun is wasted on the garage. I find that houses with attached garages have a better floorplan if the front of the house is very wide - at least double the width of the garage.

Curt-if you grew up in Shelton, then why am I informing you on the difference between Shelton and Stratford? lol Obviously, you know a lot more about Shelton then I do! Now you tell me you live in Naugatuck. Talk about kissing cousins, I live in Middlebury. We had dinner at my daughter-in-laws parents house tonight. In Naugatuck! What a hoot neighbor.

Amygirl-both my husband and I work in Waterbury. Truly is a small world.

Lake-: ))) Hi cuz.

We live in a very large home, now I want a small, possibly tiny, home. It's just a matter of parting with everything. Yet the older I get the less stuff I want, because someone needs to maintain "stuff", clean it, etc. but when I was younger in my little house I dreamed of living in a house like the one I now have. Now I dream of a little house. Go figure.

Now that i have read through more comments, I realize even more that it is not the size but the convenience, privacy, tolerance (psychological needs) PLUS the number of occupants,activities, hobbies, medical, etc (physical needs) that come into interplay in the choice of home size. A lot of times, it may not even be our choice at all!

We grew up (parents, 8 kids, 3 or 4 maids, one dog, parrots, love birds, turtles) in a sprawling 9687 sq ft house...I kid you not. We were young and carefree and all still obedient (lol), so it was bliss. Or so I thought.

Then, the wheel of fortune turned and we had to down size to 1722 sq ft minus one parent, 2 maids and all the pets. We were preteens then. Still okay.

Then, the gods smiled upon us and we upsized to a still sprawling 6458 sq ft home ( both parents back, still the 8 kids, 3 maids and 1 dog). We were practically all in our teens--all opinionated, feisty and with raging hormones. This is where my mom threw her hands up in the air one day and declared to me..."i need a vacation from all these personalities.

As a now-retired military family, we moved 19 times in 20 years while on active duty, so I have had quite a variety of "homes" over the years. Some small, some quite large. My favorite was a lovely 2-story + full daylight basement home that was about 3200 square feet. I think I loved that house because of the style more than the actual size although we had 2 teenagers with about a zillion teen friends hanging around, so the space was wonderful.

From there, we moved into our current basic 70's ranch home, about 1400 square feet. I really like this house and it's just right for our current needs. Our family is near-by, so we like having enough room to holiday together...but we don't need sleep-over space as they're close enough to go home at night. Therefore, hubby and have turned our 2 spare bedrooms into a craft room for me and an office for him...and we're both happy for the space.

I personally think "tiny homes" are a fad which will quickly die out after people have tried living in them long-term and grow tired of stepping over each other constantly...but that's just MY opinion.

Small homes can feel like big homes too. Check out our projects to see ways we have incorporated large living into our tiny spaces! :)

I lived in an RV, (240 sq. ft.) for a year and believe me when I say never again. For those of you who can, bless you.

Hoffman Architecture--Your pics, while nice, seem to all be RV's fancied up, not "tiny homes" the way the term tiny home is used in the current market. They are quite lovely all shiny and new and staged for sale. RV's are very different, however, because they're not meant for fulltime living but instead as a get-away space.

Where are the personal momentos of one's life one would have in their full time home? I see tiny homes as a real boon to rent-by-the-month storage facilities so tiny home owners don't have to discard ALL of their physical memories!

I DO notice most actual tiny homes incorporate a lot of outdoor living...for those of us who live in areas where outdoor living has a fairly short season, that means we'd be "stuck" tripping over each other most of the year feeling depressed the sun STILL isn't shining! I live in Washington state where our weather has spawned the term "the mountain is out today" because it's so rare for our HUGE mountains not to be hidden behind rain clouds! I can't imagine shivering and holding an umbrella over my head while "enjoying" my morning coffee on the deck of my tiny home.

I adore my husband of 46 years, but we still enjoy a little private space in our home. Bless people who can live in a tiny home, but I just can't imagine the fad spreading big time. However, I've been wrong before and will surely be wrong about something in the future as well! LOL! Best of luck in your business!

organizedsarah, I think all the points you make are very valid, except RVs in your country and mine are often used as full time living. The concept of getaway space/second home is a little elitist in this day and age. And as for tiny homes being a fad, I think their popularity is due increasingly to necessity.
At the risk of going on (and on LOL) about the earthquakes we experienced here, we have learned a lot about our physical memories, and what is actually important. And lovely as our things might have been, they are not as important as we thought.

Each to his own...as I said...I've been wrong in the past and likely will be in the future.

What would bug me most about a tiny tiny home would be showering and feeling like I might flood the whole house. If I had a large lot, I'd prefer to shower outside. No grout cleaning.

LOL @beckysimpson1....I never even considered that. How funny!!!

Darla,

This is called "wisdom". lol

"If I had a large lot, I'd prefer to shower outside." This made me laugh...I'm imagining myself on this cold, rainy Washington winter day with icicles forming off my nose as I shower outside. While I like the idea of an outside shower in warm climes...I'm imagining all those snowstorms I'm hearing about back east this winter and thinking "wouldn't those north easterners STINK by the time it got warm enough to shower outside?" Are you a California gal, Beckysimpson1? This is an interesting topic which has brought up quite a variety of comments!

I'm a Bama gal and I wouldn't be showering outside in the winter...or any other time of the year for that matter...lol... Now maybe in the "cement pond" with a swimsuit on during a hot summer day. But then I think my 1500 sq ft apartment is tiny enough and I live alone.

organize-I am one of those north easterners-no showers outside this year for us or the northern 3/4 of the country! Perhaps in southern Florida! Some mornings have been so cold, it is all I can do to take an indoor shower. Still shiver getting out and hurrying to get dressed.

organizedsarah, LOL, I did not think about the outside shower in cold climates.

In my adult life I have lived in many size settings - from a 450 sq ft studio apartment to my current 4200 sq ft custom built "dream" home. One thing I've learned is that I can be happy in any size structure because for me it all boils down to interior function, color and natural light. I can cook just as well in a tiny kitchen as I can in a larger one as long as all the appliances are safe and function properly. It's fun to look back at my color choices over the years and to see how much more adventuresome I've become! Now, I love creating rooms with color, texture and pattern that years ago I would have felt "clashed". I was really constrained in my design comfort zone. It feels good to allow myself to go in different creative directions. It's difficult, if not impossible, to create the look and feel of natural light within a living space, if it's just not there, so we made sure in our current home to design our living spaces so that they are flooded with natural light from dawn to dusk. If you are building a new home, It's really worth considering if your lot and house footprint will work with your natural light expectations. We raised our son in a 1900 sq ft 1930's bungalow and it was perfect for the 3 of us - lots of architectural charm and 3 renovation updates. We would still be there, but we were very tired of 8 foot ceilings and we had always wanted to do a custom build project. We've been in our current home 2 years and I'm still in love with our 10 foot ceilings with beautiful moldings and ceiling finishes. But tomorrow, if I had to, I could return to the studio size place and still be happy!

janiehburton – I enjoyed
reading your comment. I can relate to it. I too have lived in a multitude of
residences in all shapes and sizes. The
most unusual was living for over a year under a tarpaulin stretched on a
branch frame on the side of a hill in the Tropical Rainforest (as part of a
project); I did not have an outdoor shower as mentioned above – but I bathed in
a creek at the bottom of the hill - apart from the questionable privacy it was
fine.

The smallest was a 2mx3m (6.5’x10’) wood
cabin not unlike the one in the picture at the top of this poll but a lot less luxe – and perched
on blocks to keep belly-crawlers of all sizes out. Before that and since then I
have undulated in living space from the exceedingly large to the medium to the
tiny and back as I passed through various apartments and houses in various
countries and situations. And, for the most part I adapted well and was quite
content with whatever life threw at me. I have not found or created my ‘dream
home’ yet – that is something I am still looking forward to. One thing is sure
it will be an amalgamation of all the ‘wisdoms’ I have gleaned from all of
these living experiences. It made me happy to hear you speak of yours and I
wish you much joy and happiness in your dream home.

i want a big house! I've been retired for ten years to give you an idea of my age and I don't want to get rid of my stuff. I want storage, a big room for my hobbies, a separate kitchen and dining room so when i cook for company the dirty pans aren't in sight while we eat. I want bright, light, wide open space filled with windows and real flowers. A small dark house can cause depression in some including me. Light and space make me happy. Then I want the house to lead to a big big yard with a wrap around deck, a garden, a walking trail, lights in the trees, and dogs and kittens.

A house walking trail. Everyone different, but here's one i REALLY like

[https://www.houzz.com/photos/projects-traditional-landscape-kansas-city-phvw-vp~66050[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/projects-traditional-landscape-kansas-city-phvw-vp~66050)

dollhouselady: I have all of that in a small house. I agree with you about light and space, but small does not equal dark. Lots of big windows and plenty of land. I always feel like I am in the outdoors, even when I'm inside.

I agree, a small house doesn't have to be dark. Mine is about 700 sq ft and has seven huge windows in four rooms. I'm also retired, and the more retired I get (eight years now) the less space and "stuff" I want to deal with. There are certain things I wouldn't part with (old photos, favorite books, etc.), but to me it's very liberating not to have a lot of possessions. Guess we're all different!

My home is 1800 sq ft on 2 floors, and I would only want a bigger office because it is in the smaller (but with the better daylight) of the 3 rooms on the second floor. For the rest, I have enough space and cleaning is already a challenge !

My dream when we got our new house was to be able to look out a window when we are eating, and we got that, and it's wonderful. Much better than our old view of a tiny piece of sky and the neighbor's eaves. My new dream is to be able to take a bath in a tub that is not next to a toilet, but I'll probably just make do.

I downsized to a 3K soft townhome after my husband died. It was large enough for grandkids and visiting company. Then I remarried and my new hubby had 'stuff.' Of course, I had 'treasures.' So we needed space. Our new home is a bit over 4K sq ft but we use every inch of it. We have large family gatherings and entertain a lot. (Eight children and 21 grandchildren total)

Room for all my treasures and he has the 2K sq ft basement for his stuff. ;)

yes, cheriealford, i'm with you. your home sounds wonderful and congratulations on your big family. i forgot to mention that. i'll never be ready to give up hosting family gatherings. i have twenty four immediate family members four of which are great grand kids. another reason i need room is i bcs have a four by six foot victorian dollhouse on my kitchen table, that i built, and i have a three by three foot ranch house on my coffee table that i built. i'm doing the research now to build a replica of HGTV's 2015 house. don't know where that's gonna go. the houses need a room. i like to make glass garden totems the crazy looking things made by gluing vases together. i do have outside storage for them. i'm a collector, not giving that up it's too much fun. and yes i keep it all clean. sometimes cluttered but clean. might as well mention that i grow my own food in a huge organic garden and take care of colonies of homeless cats. no i'm not a crazy cat lady. do any of you feed birds or squirrels? would that make someone a crazy squirrel lady? just say'en. anyway sorry for the remark about dark houses. maybe it just feels that way to me.

We went from renting a tiny "doll house" about 700 sq ft, then to renting a townhouse about 1500 sq ft to our current home which is over 4000 sq ft (which we bought last October.) We weren't looking for such a huge place but It was such a great buy that we couldn't refuse! We could never go back to a tiny house, and even the townhouse seems too small now. We both need our own "space" and this place provides it.

Thank you, DollhouseLady. Your hobby sounds enchanting. I'd love to see some photos. You sound like you live an interesting life. I hope to have an interesting life as soon as I retire!

Our family has blended quite well considering that they are all adults with their own children. (I had a blended family with my late husband and it was not a walk in the park. Part of our family now is my stepson and his wife and two children. It took years, but I finally feeling successful in that endeavor.)

I think it helped that the grandchildren were around the same age and became fast friends. The adults had no choice but to accept each other for their children's sake. I also have to give my husband kudos because he never met a child he didn't like and my grandchildren fell for him immediately. If he sits down, he has a lapful of little ones. ;)

Good friendly community, modest house (<1200 sq ft for sure!), pleasant & productive garden/yard, fun-packed life & environmentally responsible lifestyle. The smaller the property & simpler the structure the more possibilities to adapt/personalise - yet time to live.

Moved from Europe to North America & have certainly noticed differences in social/personal values.

I think if I had to choose between a really tiny apartment with no yard, and communal living in a big house with a big communal veggie garden, I would choose the commune. We'd all be making Kombucha, doing tie-dye, and building our own tiny houses so we could roll away on our own some day.

I lived in a 1969 trailer (moble home) for over 20 years - it was SMALL - old, felt dirty and cluttered. finally build my 2100 sq ft home this past year and I love having room to move. It feels cleaner, def not cluttered as I threw ALMOST everything away and it is nice to be able to be alone once in awhile.

We recently moved across the country and downsized due to housing prices. We had a 3bdrm, 2 1/2 bath town home with a full finished basement and 2 car garage. Not huge at 1875 sq ft. We moved to similar but instead we have a loft. Our new space is 1565 sq ft. We are a family of 5 and one furry child, so we have always used every square inch of our space. Coming from an area that values indoor space because of seasonal changes to Southern California, we are very comfortable living smaller. It's not for everyone but by ridding ourselves of bigger and extra things we are now free to do more together even though both parents work. Our three kids are included in our hobbies. We aren't married to couches and tv but biking, woodworking, painting, hiking, exploring, music and other things as a family. We entertain at the beach, or outside in our smaller backyard. We've had up to five houseguest at a time and each person felt comfortable in the space we have. We still have houses in the Midwest which we'll keep as income properties but my hubby and I no longer feel the need to have the biggest house as our main home. I guess it's really all relative to ones needs and desires. I would still love an outdoor studio and workshop for painting and woodworking but not so much just living.

Space is always a great thing. To much space can just be a headache when it comes to cleaning. I'm a person that likes to spread out, and also needs my alone time to just think. I'd prefer a 3-4 bedroom with an inside porch. Nothing to big, nothing to small.

I always thought it would be cool to have an attic space you could actually walk around in. The kind where you can go up there and look through you grandma's old trunk and find out she was in Vaudeville. But ours is full of roof trusses. There is not even any way you could make a small catwalk because of the large W and V braces on the joists. Getting around up there feels like being caught in a spider's web.

Wow, people really are taking the comments personally. To each their own...we share this planet and we all have to take that into consideration based on where we are in our life journey and thinking process. I try not to judge...I live in a smaLL home-I'm working on improving the quality of the house not the size. Everyone is able to have their own space and yet be physically connected if they so choose. Living in a small home requires me to really be mindful of what I bring in...that's a built-in lesson for our 3 children

Been working on this for awhile; it's based on the scale of my apartment, which is 18' X 44', and the design of a small cottage [https://www.houzz.com/magazine/houzz-tour-a-family-of-4-unwinds-in-540-square-feet-stsetivw-vs~4276209[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/houzz-tour-a-family-of-4-unwinds-in-540-square-feet-stsetivw-vs~4276209). I upgraded it to passive solar specs, and used it for my final project in a 3D Presentation class I just finished. Since it's just me, it's all the space I really need. Hoping to start building soon!

We live in a 800 square ft cottage and love it. It took some time to get used to but we love it.

Hubby and I live in a 1350 square foot home. Prior to this, we had a 3500 square foot home, but that's when the kids were teens and the house was always full of their friends. I loved my bigger home, and found it much easier to keep clean because there was a place for everything. I'm very happy now with our smaller home. Makes getting rid of "stuff" easier since we don't have spare space to store "stuff".

organizedsarah, Do you find that you spend less on heating/cooling costs?

That would be like comparing oranges, beckysimpson1 because my BIG house was in Kansas which required air conditioning in the summer and constant heating during the winter. My now home (the smaller one) is in Washington state, and we heat primarily with our wood-burning fireplace during the coldest months and only occasionally turn on our small window air conditioner during the summer. We have, over the past few years, upgraded our windows, added more insulation and replaced all the doors in this house, so our heating/cooling costs are pretty minimal.

Beckysimpson1...I forgot to add that now it's just hubby and I living here, so we use a whole lot less electricity than we used with 2 teens and all their friends living in our bigger house. So, that makes it harder to compare heat/cooling costs, too. I did find a big difference in heating/cooling costs in this smaller home when we replaced the exterior doors, and then again when we went full LED lighting.

It all depends on your financial situation and personal preferences so it's a tough call. Large homes make cleaning more difficult but offer more flexibility depending on the size of your family. Small homes are easier to take care of. Normal-sized homes are sometimes the right compromise!