what is the sq footage of your current home?...

[diamondfan]

Our current house is a shade under 11,000 square feet on one acre.

We are in the process of building a new home. My oldest will likely only get a year in the house before college. My middle will be there three years. Our plans now are for a house with a pool and tennis court and give or take 20,000 square feet on about 6 acres, about five minutes from where we live now.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/21/2008 9:47:55 PM
Author: bebe
5600 sq. ft., depending if you count my junk room!
10 yrs. old, custom built
and oh yeah, no maid!!

can i move into your mansion?

 

[diamondfan]

PANDORA:

Here is some real estate dust for you! ***************

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:20:51 PM
Author: diamondfan
Our current house is a shade under 11,000 square feet on one acre.

We are in the process of building a new home. My oldest will likely only get a year in the house before college. My middle will be there three years. Our plans now are for a house with a pool and tennis court and give or take 20,000 square feet on about 6 acres, about five minutes from where we live now.

20,000 square feet on about 6 acres

 

[pennquaker09]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:24:56 PM
Author: diamondfan
PANDORA:


Here is some real estate dust for you! ***************

Coincidentally, I asked you a question about building in your thread in Who''s Who, I figured you overlooked it.

 

[diamondfan]

It sounds like a lot, but I feel tight in my current home with three kids and a housekeeper and guests. I am making closets and bathrooms larger and hallways too. I love wide gallery type halls with french doors looking outside, I want a lot of light, higher ceilings. Every room in the house is bigger than what we have now, because my current home, while large, has a couple of bedrooms that are smaller than is really workable with big kids.

We fell in love with the grounds of this property, and ground is becoming quite scarce in the suburbs of Philly. They are subdividing lovely estate grounds and putting lots of homes on the land. I have a gorgeous meadow and tree view from the house into the back of the property.

 

[diamondfan]

Penn, did not check it recently. I will pop over there now!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Ours is 2,225 sq. ft. - 3 bedroom/2.5 bath/3 car garage with a fabulous office and an additional media room/loft.

I think I posted a thread with pics ages ago. I should start another PS Cribs thread.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:31:13 PM
Author: diamondfan
It sounds like a lot, but I feel tight in my current home with three kids and a housekeeper and guests. I am making closets and bathrooms larger and hallways too. I love wide gallery type halls with french doors looking outside, I want a lot of light, higher ceilings. Every room in the house is bigger than what we have now, because my current home, while large, has a couple of bedrooms that are smaller than is really workable with big kids.

We fell in love with the grounds of this property, and ground is becoming quite scarce in the suburbs of Philly. They are subdividing lovely estate grounds and putting lots of homes on the land. I have a gorgeous meadow and tree view from the house into the back of the property.

LOL DF...whether you feel tight in it or not, it IS A LOT of square footage!!!

I''m in an apartment that is a bit less than 1000 sq ft. It''s very tight with the three of us, especially because I work from home. We will hopefully upsize to about 1200 sq feet. How ridiculous is that? Is that upsizing? If we''re lucky, I hope to have 1500, but so far the housing market in LA has not tanked enough for us to get that.

 

[diamondfan]

TG, I know it is but you always seem to fill your space. My two younger kids share a bath and have smaller bedrooms and closets. I have no issues with sharing a bath but now that my middle son is 13 he wants privacy and sharing with a 6 year old is making that impossible. The closets are tight, I have to rotate clothes each season and though I did built in dressers in their closets it still is tight in terms of space. Winter clothes are bulky. I have overflowed into three closets in this house with my clothes, and the clutter is amazing. I also want to give my kids all queen sized beds and room to have a work station in their rooms, and I cannot do that now. It does not matter how often I purge, clean, organize...the stuff is overwhelming. I am right now going through my middle son''s closet. He has outgrown an entire wardrobe, he is no longer a 12/14 and so much of his stuff is too small. I have some 16''s I saved from my oldest which might fit, but I have to sort through all of it. I have boxes of stuff I am getting rid of from all three kids, and still the closets are stuffed. I give away to Goodwill and shelters reams of stuff each season. I also just went through all my middle son''s books and kept some for my youngest and gave a bunch to a book drive. I removed over three boxes from his room. Also did the same for my youngest and sent a ton of books to my nephew. It is a constant battle with stuff. Each bedroom in the new house will have large walk in closets with built in storage and also each bedroom/bathroom will have a linen closet that is for that bath/bedroom only. Any bedding and bath stuff that goes to that bedroom and bath will be in there. Right now, I have a small linen closet outside in the hall that serves 4 bedrooms. With winter and summer bedding, towels, beach towels, etc I am not able to organize. My washing machine runs all day, full loads. The laundry piles up no matter what...anyway, it is not just a matter of paring down. I have tried that I really have. The rooms we use less like the formal living room, dining room and library, are fairly neat as they go unused most of the time. Our main living space is overwhelmed! I cannot wait to move and have a huge purge maybe for the last time!

 

[sumbride]

Our Rowhouse is about 2100 sq. ft, 1400 above ground, and a finished basement. It's also only 14 feet wide, so it's very LONG! It's funny... sometimes we feel it's too small, but our neighbors remind us that 50 years ago there would commonly be 3 generations living in a house this size, before they had finished basements... so we should quit complaining!

We aren't planning on children, but we do have 2 bedrooms upstairs and a den in the basement that we can't call a bedroom because it's below ground, plus 2 bathrooms, so it's plenty big enough for our life as we see it for the next 10 or 20 years. I imagine by the time I'm 50 I'd probably rather have fewer stairs to do laundry.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/21/2008 11:45:30 PM
Author: diamondfan
TG, I know it is but you always seem to fill your space. My two younger kids share a bath and have smaller bedrooms and closets. I have no issues with sharing a bath but now that my middle son is 13 he wants privacy and sharing with a 6 year old is making that impossible. The closets are tight, I have to rotate clothes each season and though I did built in dressers in their closets it still is tight in terms of space. Winter clothes are bulky. I have overflowed into three closets in this house with my clothes, and the clutter is amazing. I also want to give my kids all queen sized beds and room to have a work station in their rooms, and I cannot do that now. It does not matter how often I purge, clean, organize...the stuff is overwhelming. I am right now going through my middle son''s closet. He has outgrown an entire wardrobe, he is no longer a 12/14 and so much of his stuff is too small. I have some 16''s I saved from my oldest which might fit, but I have to sort through all of it. I have boxes of stuff I am getting rid of from all three kids, and still the closets are stuffed. I give away to Goodwill and shelters reams of stuff each season. I also just went through all my middle son''s books and kept some for my youngest and gave a bunch to a book drive. I removed over three boxes from his room. Also did the same for my youngest and sent a ton of books to my nephew. It is a constant battle with stuff. Each bedroom in the new house will have large walk in closets with built in storage and also each bedroom/bathroom will have a linen closet that is for that bath/bedroom only. Any bedding and bath stuff that goes to that bedroom and bath will be in there. Right now, I have a small linen closet outside in the hall that serves 4 bedrooms. With winter and summer bedding, towels, beach towels, etc I am not able to organize. My washing machine runs all day, full loads. The laundry piles up no matter what...anyway, it is not just a matter of paring down. I have tried that I really have. The rooms we use less like the formal living room, dining room and library, are fairly neat as they go unused most of the time. Our main living space is overwhelmed! I cannot wait to move and have a huge purge maybe for the last time!

Yes, it''s true that it''s amazing no matter how much space one can have, one can always find a way to fill it. However DF, and I say this with the greatest affection, I think the average American can only wish for your space issues. LOL. I didn''t have a queen size bed until I was 30. And privacy in a bathroom when I was a kid? Ha! Fuggeddaboudit.

 

[diamondfan]

TG, I know! I grew up in a 2500 square foot one story, 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house (it was in Beverly Hills on a large lot on a great street but still) and shared a bath with my sister. It was torture cause she was a bitch. I cannot take the fighting between my two kids about the bathroom, it drives me wonky. Anyway, I had twin beds in my room til a friend of my mom's was moving and I got her KING sized bed. I loved it. I was maybe 14, but it was dumb luck because my room was large and my sister had gotten this gorgeous antique four poster bed in a queen size and I was miffed.

My oldest is simply toooo big for a twin. He is 5 foot 8 and 145 pounds and still growing. He barely fits in his bed now. I want to give them rooms that are mature enough to grow with them, so hopefully they will want to come home from college and bring their friends too! I hope by making this home really great, they might even go to Penn and live at home!!! (lol, that is NEVER happening!)

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/21/2008 11:57:20 PM
Author: diamondfan
TG, I know! I grew up in a 2500 square foot one story, 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house (it was in Beverly Hills on a large lot on a great street but still) and shared a bath with my sister. It was torture cause she was a bitch. Anyway, I had twin beds in my room til a friend of my mom''s was moving and I got her KING sized bed. I loved it. I was maybe 14, but it was dumb luck because my room was large and my sister had gotten this gorgeous antique four poster bed in a queen size and I was miffed.

My oldest is simply toooo big for a twin. He is 5 foot 8 and 145 pounds and still growing. He barely fits in his bed now. I want to give them rooms that are mature enough to grow with them, so hopefully they will want to come home from college and bring their friends too!

Oh girl, you serious? You''d better upgrade to a 50,000 sq foot home because once college kids are in the house, you''re gonna want some peace and quiet FAAAR away from them!

 

[Linda W]

Ours is 1900 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, living room, dining room, family room, big kitchen and a huge yard with a built in swimming pool and waterfall. The house was too big for us. My daughter''s husband walked out on her and our two grandchildren, so she moved back home with them. When the time comes, we would like to downsize. The house was too big for us. I also have a cleaning lady.

Linda

 

[pennquaker09]

Date: 6/21/2008 11:57:20 PM
Author: diamondfan
TG, I know! I grew up in a 2500 square foot one story, 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house (it was in Beverly Hills on a large lot on a great street but still) and shared a bath with my sister. It was torture cause she was a bitch. I cannot take the fighting between my two kids about the bathroom, it drives me wonky. Anyway, I had twin beds in my room til a friend of my mom''s was moving and I got her KING sized bed. I loved it. I was maybe 14, but it was dumb luck because my room was large and my sister had gotten this gorgeous antique four poster bed in a queen size and I was miffed.


My oldest is simply toooo big for a twin. He is 5 foot 8 and 145 pounds and still growing. He barely fits in his bed now. I want to give them rooms that are mature enough to grow with them, so hopefully they will want to come home from college and bring their friends too! I hope by making this home really great, they might even go to Penn and live at home!!! (lol, that is NEVER happening!)

I don''t know how to highlight, so I bold everything, lol.

I wish I could show you pictures of my parents home. What you''re doing for your kids is what my parents did for me. Basically, the entire third story was mine. Ohh how I miss that closet!! I had like a custom closet, just thinking about it makes me sad.


And I''m totally behind you on the Penn thing. Or maybe Nova? Columbia and Princeton are pretty close though. I know for the first year of so that we lived in Philly, I drove to Princeton for my job.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Ours is around 2000 square feet. It is a ranch, 3 bedroom, 2 full bath. It is fine for now with three kids, but it will get awfully crowded as they get bigger.

 

[Elmorton]

Right now we (just 2 of us and 2 cats) rent a 1600 sq ft duplex from the 1930''s - if it had another bedroom, another bathroom, and a kitchen that wasn''t completely covered in hard wood and wood laminate, I''d want to stay here for the rest of my life - I really love our house.

When we buy, we''ll most likely look for the same sq footage, same era, and maybe even same neighborhood, but better layout (3 bed, 2 bath this time). We figure that will fit our family for a pretty decent amount of time as it grows.

 

[diamondfan]

T Gal, I think we will be fine as there is a finished lower level and then two main floors and a whole top floor which will house my nanny and have an apartment (2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, kitchen) in case my mother needs to come live with us and have a caregiver. There is an elevator and all hallways are wheel chair wide. Hopefully I would be able to manage a few college kids, though with all boys I could end up with a team of rowdies for sure.

I can always build a guest house way in the back too in case it gets to be too much!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 6/22/2008 1:04:42 AM
Author: diamondfan
T Gal, I think we will be fine as there is a finished lower level and then two main floors and a whole top floor which will house my nanny and have an apartment (2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, kitchen) in case my mother needs to come live with us and have a caregiver. There is an elevator and all hallways are wheel chair wide. Hopefully I would be able to manage a few college kids, though with all boys I could end up with a team of rowdies for sure.

I can always build a guest house way in the back too in case it gets to be too much!

Can we come live with you? I''m willing to bet that TGuy, TTot and I could make do in one of your closets.

 

[ericad]

Date: 6/21/2008 8:27:16 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 6/21/2008 4:40:59 PM

Author: ericad

Well, we keep going bigger. 1st was an apartment @ 1050 sq ft. Next was a townhouse @ 2000 sq ft. Then our current rambler @ 2300 sq ft on 1.5 acres. We have a new home under construction that is 4650 sq ft on 5 acres. That will be it until we retire one day, lol. One DD (one more planned later down the line), 2 dogs, 3 cats, so we can really fill up a house! New house will be ready in August...can''t wait - I like big spaces!


ETA - we don''t have a cleaning person, never have had. But I''m thinking of getting a weekly service in place for the new house. Start with a ''clean'' slate and keep it clean!

i don''t know,maybe just me.....i wouldn''t feel comfortable with a cleaning lady coming in.

Me either, so I''ve really avoided it all these years. But I''m just about the only person I know who doesn''t have a service and they all say they''d never go back. Ask me after 6 months of vacuuming a 4650 sq ft house

 

[Gypsy]

God I hope it''s bigger. The cats are cramped and cranky. Unfortunately, if we move closer to my new job and want to stay in a good neighboorhood its gonna be pricey to get a larger place. So... I''m not hopeful.

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 6/21/2008 5:12:10 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I forgot to add that the ''rent''s house is 3,500 sq ft (3 bedrooms, w/ 4 toilets, 1 bath, 1 shower and 1 bath/shower aka 1 1/2 bath, 1 full bath, and two 3/4 bath-it''s confusing) with a oversized 3 car garage that brings the square footage to 5,000. On 1.7 acres.


Yes, that means that my parent''s garage is about 1.5 times the size of our condo.

And my dad won''t move because he can''t find another house with a garage thats big enough.

And IndyGal! Don''t hate me either-we''ve got the 937, but the second bedroom is really just a storage room, and isn''t usable for living (unless you''re a turtle and have to live in there with all of the stuff).

Er, what''s a 3/4 bath?

 

[Deelight]

Date: 6/21/2008 9:43:26 PM
Author: fleur-de-lis

Date: 6/21/2008 6:04:42 PM

Author: Pandora II

Can we have lots of dust that:



a) No one else puts an offer in


b) the sodding bank gets a move on!

The place sounds fabulous, PandoraII-- dust on both accounts coming your way!

Sending tuckloads of dust your way


I have no idea how many sq ft my house is, upstairs we have 3bdrms, kitchen bathroom, toilet, lounge, dining room and veranda. Downstairs 2 bdrms, toilet, study and a large open space on a 650sq block of land that looks much larger then that.

It is not a small house but it is not massive either. Next house will be bigger and most likely in a better area .

 

[phoenixgirl]

Our house is 1600 square feet, 2300 if you count the basement. The basement is not technically finished because it has concrete floors (which come in very handy when sewage backs up into your basement because the city made the pipes out of clay 90+ years ago and then planted a tree right above them), but the walls and ceiling are painted and we use it as a den, workout room, laundry room, storage room, and bike room. It has a second refrigerator and a second full bath (shower only).

Our condo was 681 square feet, two bedrooms (with no dining room) and one bath. By year two, it was tight. We had a tiny juliet balcony and an area about 4 by 4 on the fire escape. DH loves gardening so these areas were full of plants, and to be outside we had to sit by our trashcans and listen to everyone''s window air conditioning units. A year and a half ago I declared that I couldn''t take the tight quarters anymore, so we moved two blocks away to our detached row house. Our lot is 25 by 115, just big enough for porches on either end of the house, a tiny koi pond and a couple of trees out back, and a small one car garage plus another parking space for me. DH has filled the yard and porches with plants. Our yard is not long enough for horseshoes (to my husband''s dismay) but it is long enough for ladder golf.

Our house is perfect right now, and we could accommodate one child fairly easily, but after that it will become too small mainly because it is only two and a half bedrooms. The listings for these houses all say three bedrooms, but there are always two normal sized bedrooms and a third "trunk room" which is "perfect for a nursery or office." Our third bedroom is 7 by 10 and has no closet. I guess the realtors get away with calling it a bedroom because the hall closet is just outside of it? I''ve seen them as small as 6 by 8; at least you can actually fit a single bed in ours.

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 6/22/2008 1:04:42 AM
Author: diamondfan
T Gal, I think we will be fine as there is a finished lower level and then two main floors and a whole top floor which will house my nanny and have an apartment (2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, kitchen) in case my mother needs to come live with us and have a caregiver. There is an elevator and all hallways are wheel chair wide. Hopefully I would be able to manage a few college kids, though with all boys I could end up with a team of rowdies for sure.

I can always build a guest house way in the back too in case it gets to be too much!

My parents'' house was always kind of an "open house" for all of my friends and my brothers'' friends. It was SO much fun... still is! We are 28, 26, and 22, and all go home often... and it is not unusual to walk into the house and find some of our friends just hanging out in the kitchen with my mom, or watching a game with my dad, or using the hot tub, or sprawled out in the movie theatre in the basement. And my parents have genuinely enjoyed the company all these years... they just make a lot of trips to Costco for food and drinks!

So I''m sure your home will be the same way for your boys and their friends... and I''m sure they''ll be forever grateful. It is one of the absolute best things about growing up in my family, I think.

 

[isaku5]

Date: 6/21/2008 10:23:24 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 6/21/2008 9:47:55 PM
Author: bebe
5600 sq. ft., depending if you count my junk room!
10 yrs. old, custom built
and oh yeah, no maid!!

can i move into your mansion?

Get in line, DF!!!

I asked to move in there a few months ago

. I think I offered my job skills as a spare MIL

Everyone need a couple of those, right??

 

[diamondfan]

Ephemery, thanks! That is what I hope but you never know.

We still have to get a philly gtg going!

Isaku, how bout you come here? I do not need a spare MIL I need a good one to begin with. The position is vacant!

 

[Skippy123]

2350sq ft on 1/3 acre which is great because we have a couple of huge trees and grass in the backyard, perfect for entertaining.

We have 3 large bedrooms (we could make it 4 bedrooms but dont need to) and 2 bathrooms and 2 car oversized garage for a little work area for hubby. I always tell people it is 2k sq ft since it is easier for me to round down and I feel silly say 2350. hehe

We bought it when I was 26 and hubby was in his early 30's.
We are the smallest house on the street; we love it though because it is perfect for us since it is just the 2 of us.

ops, I forgot to answer your other ?'s DF, we thought about moving a few times but we love the neighborhood; the neighbors are like family. If we do have children we might move to a bigger house.

eta: DiamondFan, can I come over too? I am pretty happy go lucky

 

[princesss]

Well, right now, I'm in an apartment that's 752 sq.ft. including a small balcony. 1 bedroom, 1 bath, with a lovely walk-in closet. It's the perfect size for just me and the cat. Eventually I'd like something bigger, but I really love my apartment, so I think it'll take a lot to get me out of here.

ETA: DUST FOR PANDORA