The Malcolm in the Middle house

[CrasterKippers]

The thread about Outnumbered has made me think of this. The family in Malcolm in the Middle are supposed to be poor, and their house is supposed to be small and a bit of an embarrassment. Yes it could do with some repairs and a deep clean, but as an Englishwoman I could only dream of a home like that! And I'm not even on a very low income. It's probably bigger than the million pound (terraced!) home in Outnumbered, which everyone has been describing as very large. It seems rather depressing when you compare our standards to those of the average American! Is it just me??

America is a bigger country, so land isn't at as much of a premium and houses are larger. The houses also tend to be of timer construction, so cheaper to build.

I know- I always thought that same.
Great prog though. I so wanted to be the mum. In my head I thought and did all those things but she actually just did them. She was fab.

*timber, not timer

Really?

It was definitely small by American standards.

I remember thinking that about Roseanne's house, back in the day.
And the Whites in Breaking Bad are supposed to be absolutely on their uppers - at the beginning anway - and they have a swimming pool!

That's a good point @KiriAndLou.

Totally agree @BigButtons, it was such a great programme. We've got the box set and I still dip into it if I need cheering up!

Yep @AuntyPasta, where I live you'd have to be pretty well off to get any kind of detached place, never mind one with two gigantic living rooms plus space for an 8ish seater table in the kitchen. Imagine the kind of house they'd live in if it was set in the UK!

You could only dream of a house that big? The 3 kids shared a room, they have kitchen diner instead of a formal dining room. I think there were 2 livings rooms if I remember correctly though so they could have moved things about a bit, but it's certainly wasnt a big house. For an Americsn suburb is was probably standard but going to the small side for a family with 4 kids, of which were 3 still at home.

They would probably live one semi detached house on an estate.
Property is cheaper in the US, especially mid-range in the suburbs rather than city because they have a lot more available land.

Really? It was a 2 bed house with a small kitchen and living room. Didn't look remotely impressive to me given how many kids they have!

‘Yep @AuntyPasta, where I live you'd have to be pretty well off to get any kind of detached place‘

I think the plot size might be enviable if you live somewhere where land is expensive but not the house itself. In the U.K. we tend to build 2 stories rather than one because of the cost of land. Houses have been built smaller and smaller as years go by.

The photo is someone’s Sims build of the MITM house. If you lifted the bedrooms and bathroom up to a second storey and imagine the room a staircase would take up I think it’s pretty comparable size wise to a 1970s built U.K. home.