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.

But then the dishes still pile up on the worktop.

As I say, it isn't quite as useful as I thought it would be.

I actually have four (because each has two drawers) <runs and hides>

God I'd love a massive beautiful house. And an army of staff to maintain it, of course.

I would hate to live in a big house, but I can see why people would enjoy it. I think most people would hate to live in my home, but it’s perfect for us. I like cosy small spaces.

I admit that I’d like a pool , preferably indoors.
As it will never happen ( and probably a lot of work / money / stress to upkeep ) I’ll carry on wishing!
I would also like a laundry room , a utility room and a big hallway.
I am lucky to have a house , but it doesn’t hurt to dream big even if you know it’ll never come to anything ! Lol

I have a 3 bed semi but it's over 500sq m. Ridiculous house but we are renting in the middle east and developers assume everyone does lots of entertaining and has live in helpers.

My elderly parents still live in the very large house I grew up in. 5 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, a big kitchen diner, a study, utility room, home gym, multiple outbuildings, masses of land etc. It was great to have loads of space growing up but I moved away from home 20 years ago and they are still there, complaining about the bills and upkeep despite choosing to stay in a property that is way too big for the two of them.

They're very attached to it though and I'm sure you get used to the space. The irony is I don't even want to stay there when I go to visit because the guest bedrooms are always musty and freezing cold because they barely get used!

I think there are a variety of reasons

For some people life is about status symbols and ‘lifestyle’ and so they buy the best of everything they can afford.

For others they see houses as a good investment even though it costs a lot in interest and to run.

Some people probably really like living in a big house and it’s the thing that’s hugely important to them.

Some just probably cba to downsize.

My in laws puzzle me, they live in a big house and then won’t pay to heat it. I couldn’t live like that.

Personal space, dressed up nicely, is the ultimate status symbol. (After massive yachts.)

Two kitchens is also a thing. One for show and one for the actual cooking.

This is generally for kosher reasons. Unless its a prep kitchen which is usually hidden behind the main kitchen.

I was saying exactly this about The Beast In Me. She needs to downsize. One person in that house is ridiculous. Plus all the memories AND she can’t afford to maintain it. What on earth is keeping her there? Except maybe privacy.

I really don’t understand it. I live in a five bedroom house and it’s actually slightly too big for us as a family of four. I can’t fathom having anything bigger. What would we do with any more bedrooms?!

DM lives alone in a 5 bed house with more than 3 acres of land. She’s in her 80s. It’s fairly ridiculous but she’s happy and knows the neighbours etc. So it’s hard to persuade her to downsize.

As someone with hoarding tendencies, any house I have would be full of stuff.
I am ok in my 3 bed terrace.

My best friend has just moved into an apartment which is fucking huge. 3 bed, and each bedroom is almost as big as my ground floor.
We play games in virtual reality together, and I am a bit jealous of her space.

Clearly I'm going to have to watch this show just to see the house. I've been watching All Her Fault and I want that house, with the ocean view. Except I don't really, because I don't want to clean it, but anyone who can afford that house can afford a cleaner I guess.

Some people just like big houses I suppose.

What does hutchy and soace mean?

Its also a wealth thing. You have a fancy kitchen that doesn't get used for show and then a fully functioning catering kitchen tucked away for when you have parties. Staffed of course!

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.

Why the assumption people in big houses today all have big mortgages? Or huge council tax bills? Your last comment is ironic surely since I was replying to a post that was judging young people….

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.

Why the assumption people in big houses today all have big mortgages? Or huge council tax bills? Your last comment is ironic surely since I was replying to a post that was judging young people….

Loads of reasons, for us. We wanted to be on our own with land around us (because, dogs) and those houses tend to be quite big. Now the dogs can bark if they want to and no one cares.
Because it’s on its own, there isn’t (like a pp said) a hotel at the end of the road, so we need bedrooms for people to stay when they come, because we love to host and do it a lot. It’s lovely to have big parties and loads of friends and family round.
We also spend most of our time at home, by choice, we don’t go “out out” very often, so we choose to spend a lot of our money on our home. It’s our favourite place to be.
And yes, we do have a sizeable mortgage and yes we do pay vast amounts of council tax.

We are already at planning our downsize when the teens move out!
And we are in a semi.
Perhaps we’ve gone too far the other way.

FWIW, I went on a bit of a Google dive and apparently Claire Danes' house on the show is 4,700 sf. 60,000 sf would be like that Queen of Versailles documentary. (Which Wikipedia says is 90,000 sf. If they ever finished it!)

I have seen both! The prep kitchen bit is because of those fancy open plan entertaining kitchens... well you don't want the guests to see all the mess, so it all went from butler's pantry to a full on second kitchen. People worked out the problem I had spotted from the beginning.

I have three kids and during pandemic WFH I absolutely wanted more space. Older houses here (USA) tend to have more bedrooms, new ones don't necessarily have more bedrooms even as square footage goes up. If you buy in an older neighbourhood you may have to look at houses that have more bedrooms than strictly necessary to get a good size living area. I have a friend who has a 6 bedroom house with only 2 children, but the square footage is almost the same as my 4 bedroom post-war house. I have a separate family room and she doesn't. (Two of her bedrooms are in the loft.)

I was told that the economics here encourage builders to maximise square footage as the land is the biggest cost. Adding more space to a house is not terribly expensive and the value added is significantly more than the cost of doing it.

Yes I think people are getting mixed up. My house is 5,600 square foot. Its big but it isn't a mansion