Why do people want monstrously big houses?

[pumpkinscake]

Well, some people. I'm watching the beast in me on Netflix, and wondering why anyone would want such large houses? I don't see the point. No matter how much money I had. Now, I don't want a studio apartment either, but surely, one spare room for guests, a utility room, a home office. After that what's the point? I see large houses on the market, most people have small families, just seems such a pointless waste of space.

Yes, we do sit and think about how other people live. And some of us, on an evening stroll, peer into other people's houses and admire their decor. That's just the way we are.

Oh December is coming up the best time for this, rate who’s Christmas tree is the best 😉

Oh, I’d love a huge house. I don’t even have any kids but I’d still love to have a massive kitchen, a really big lounge with space for different areas within it, a utility room for a washing machine, dryer, airer, big freezer, drinks fridge etc. I’d also like two home offices/studies (one for each of us), at least two spare double bedrooms, a craft/hobby room, a home gym and a library. And tonnes of storage space. Two bathrooms upstairs and a downstairs loo. No neighbours.

What I actually have is a three-bed semi with one tiny bathroom, one bedroom full of junk and office stuff and a DP who has to work at the kitchen table.

We live in a large 5 bed house (3 of us), but only because my husband wanted a triple garage for his car building nonsense and I wanted a big garden. With that came a large house.

I love it. It's too much space but hosting parties is great, and I have a cleaner who keeps on top of the dusting.

Having a lot of space can really make a difference. I feel so much calmer for it.

I know someone who lives in a house far too big for them.

They can neither afford the upkeep, nor engage in the effort to tidy it up. It's a pit.

But it is a pit they take great pride in. They were born there and have lived there all their lives. It's in a really posh area. Of course the house is going to ruin while everyone elses around it is immaculate. But that kind of flies over their head and doesn't register.

They are the last of their line so no one to pass it on to. I think they might be hoping that when they die the whole thing will collapse in on top of them to form some sort of mausoleum.

It's very sad really. But at the end of the day I think they are happy.

The quote from fight club springs to mind "the things you own end up owning you".

We have a big house and love it, I don't regret it at all. We have a huge bedroom and one for each of our children with several bedrooms left over. Every bedroom has its own bathroom.

We have a study each as we both WFH and they're far enough away from each other that we can't hear each other during the day. We have several garages, a gym, a large garden and most importantly, privacy. We can't see other houses from our house and we can't be seen by any other houses.

We also have a guesthouse which is separate from the main house so we can have friends and family to stay whenever we want. We often host parties and family events. It really is fabulous.

I worked with someone who had a huge house - it was just here since her grown up children had left home. Honestly she was one of the most boring people I have ever worked with - every conversation was about cleaning, maintaining, affording and furnishing her massive house - indispersed with mock horror about how I could possibly manage with two of us in two bed flat.

I think in general people are judged for amassing far far more than they need. A 10 bedroom house is like having a collection of 30 cars, or fields that lie empty as part of a huge ‘estate’, or 3 holiday homes that they only visit once a year. It’s seen as greedy and a bit wasteful, and while I’m absolutely not talking about ‘spacious’ (I absolutely think a home office and spare bedroom etc is practical), a couple rattling around an 8 bedroom house is IMO a little bit embarrassing.

@sunkissedandwarm 5000 sq feet is a big house in the UK for one person…

The reason most people with young families live in small homes is because that’s all they can afford. They’re jealous of the big house, but they wouldn’t be jealous of the big mortgage, the Band G council tax, the massive cost in time and money of the cleaning and maintenance (our house had 17 enormous rooms. I worked 60+ hours a week, had 5 DCs and we did all the cleaning/decorating/minor DIY jobs ourselves).

Perhaps they are jealous of the much smaller cost of house vs salary back in the day!

We have a fairly big house. Main house has six bedrooms, dressing room, four en suites, main bathroom, hallway, cloakroom, downstairs loo, study, laundry room, boot room, pantry, kitchen, dining room, living room, snug, games room and gym.

Annexe has kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom

It's been a lovely house to raise a family in. Now that the DC are at uni we mainly live in the kitchen.

I don't have a monstrously big house, but it does have 5 bedrooms for just us two..... However. DH and I have one each, I also get an en-suite to myself. Double bliss.

DD's have their own bedrooms to come back to, still got lots of their stuff in. Final bedroom is a double study.

We have two sitting rooms, one a conservatory, both with TV's, so we can watch different things of an evening. A dining room, a kitchen diner.

I like the space to spread out and everyone has their own place in which to chill.

I don’t know anyone who lives in a hugely oversized house, and I know a fair few wealthy people. I don’t think it’s a common “problem” to be vexed about. Maybe the Beckhams, most billionaires, Will & Kate etc and a couple of PPs if they are to be believed.

I know a lot of people living in over large houses ! At least by my standards - they ( all bar one ) don’t think they are over large at all of course

we could manage with the size down ( the smaller 3 bed semi on this estate would be fine ) but then I see we have the smallest house of our friendship group and feel less guilty

people have so much stuff.

And even the need for a guest room - what happened to bunking on the floor ? I don’t feel that my life has been measurable improved by guest bedrooms ( although a downstairs loo is fabulous)

it’s also very large rooms which are more to furnish and carpet and decorate and dust

Why the assumption that the house was bought “back in the day”? It’s just another example of people judging why someone is ‘undeserving’ without knowing the facts.

Because I am considerably richer than yaw
(Thank you Brummy Bloke / H Enfield)

I don’t know about monstrously large but my ideal would be:
3 large bedrooms each for us, and 2 adult DC (who don’t currently reside at home f/t), plus spare room w some gym equiiment and bed.
One home office room each
One room for WM/TD/clothes horse - would prefer this upstairs so washing wouldn’t have to be brought up and down continually. if not, then downstairs utility.
Big kitchen diner with island
Cosy lounge w a corner sofa thing (sectional?)
En suite in master bedroom plus family bathroom
Downstairs toilet
Lovely garden with a gardener
Cleaner as standard!!
I def know people w this sort of set up. We have 3 toilets, 2 office room, and an en suite but rooms are too small.
This is all fantasy as we’re more likely to downsize in the future.

What's that then?

What do you regard as 'comfortable day to day's for a family of three or a family of four or a family of five?

It's fairly relevant to the question and your vagueness doesn't actually answer the question.

What if you work from home? Do you need an office and a home gym? What if you play the drums?

For me, in the UK, over 3000 sqft is very large. We've looked at a few 2000+ which is double our current home and covers more than everything we need (though but everything we could dream of filling space with!). I'd definitely want a cleaner for anything larger!

Where would I put my cinema, bowling alley and pool in a tiny house? I would need a massive kitchen for my massive American fridge!

Edited to add that I also need a massive private garden to wander around in and plenty of accommodation for my housekeeper, gardner and cook!

Wasn’t it Hyacinth Bouquet who told her husband “ no solids in the en-suite dear”

The dream is two ovens, two dishwashers, an American style fridge and an island isn't it?

Who needs the billard room if you have that?

Two ovens is very handy. Two dishwashers seems handy but inevitably one ends up not being unloaded because the other is free and then you have to unload both at the same time. It isn't as useful as I thought it would be.

The whole idea of two dishwashers is you never unload one....

To be honest I posted my question fairly idly while watching tv with some huge houses in it and didn't define my terms too precisely! I'm entertained by all the responses though.