To want the smaller house

[Jacketandbeans]

I'm really interested in opinions on space VS location as DH and I can't agree. We are looking at houses and I'm tempted by a house that is a stone's throw from a station and 20 minute walk to the beach, and walking distance to nice parks, cafes, pubs etc.
The house has no garage, no loft (converted to 4th bedroom) and is 1300sq feet including a conservatory off the back. It does have off road parking for 2 cars. Only one bathroom, no downstairs loo, no ensuite.
The other option is a 5 bed detached house with ample storage, much bigger kitchen and living space, 2 bathrooms and a separate toilet. You'd need to drive to go anywhere in reality and it feels very quiet, but still a lovely area.
We have 3 boys.

What would you choose? I'd love to hear from people with experience. As kids get older what becomes the priority? At the moment they are newborn, 2 and 6 and I'd love more space for all their crap, but the appeal of walking or cycling to the sea, and walking distance to cafes, restaurants etc really appeals.

Smaller house but with well designed storage and function would be my preference.
Heating, running and maintaining a smaller house is cheaper.

Re extending downstairs to add a bathroom/loo, piping water to it is usually relatively easy but waste removal is a whole other matter. Personally I would choose the larger house. I have 2 sons, so had a lot of hand me down clothes to store for a couple of years. By the time they are about 13 they are adult sized so imagine 5 adults in the smaller house.

Conservatories are mainly unusable, sometimes they work as an extra room but often they do not.

Think about everything you currently store in your loft, where will you put it? Paid for storage is not cheap. A shed is not the same as a loft. We chose a house that could grow with us. My children are teenagers, they have their own room each as well as a bedroom each. They have a bathroom between them and Dh and I have an en-suite plus we have a downstairs loo. Everyone showers for work/school in the morning. Lovely to only share with one other person.

The idea of choosing a house far away from most amenities so there'd be room to store hand me down clothes is literally making me laugh 😆
Who thinks like this?!

Nobody I know! Mind you, that’s coming from someone who thinks putting a new loo in is impossible.

It’s always location hence the programme location x3

a park beach shops all close when young is fab

when teenagers they can go by selves

bigger house but needing to drive everywhere and be mums cabs not so good

how big is garden in smaller house

do you have floor plan

Location!

Although we are moving to a central small location with our teens we have had much larger more rural properties when they were smaller.
That is nice for small kids I don't regret that but we are having to move now because running teens around is a pain for all of us.

What's the "basement" floor? Is it just a lower floor leading into the back garden or is it all below ground? The "basement storage area" would suggest the latter 😬

You don't say anything about the location of the bigger house so it's impossible to judge.

Assuming it's not on a sink estate and can still reach facilities reasonably quickly I'd go with bigger every time. The smaller one may be OK now but as the boys get bigger that extra space will be a godsend.

I would pick the first house and add a toilet (or two)

There's that obsession with toilets again... Lovely house but needs two more toilets 🤣

We had a similar decision to make recently and went with the smaller house in the better location (though not as small as yours, admittedly.) As the kids get older (I have three) location will become even more important. I felt so incredibly isolated in the suburban neighborhood and would hate to live somewhere I had to drive everywhere.

(though not as small as yours, admittedly.). Hardly necessary?

Location. If you're ever unable to drive due to illness etc, or can't afford a car one day, you're stuffed.

Defn #2, beach and parks are only attractive to kids when they are very young - as soon as they get phones/tablets they are more interested in those.

Location for me all the way, we've just done similar.

The 'big' house doesn't actually look that much bigger when you knock off the basement storage area. Less liveable space on the ground floor and I would not be keen on sleeping on a different floor (two floors away especially) to any of my kids at those ages so you'd only have 3 bedrooms on the same floor with is another PITA. Can't see the appeal of option 2 at all seeing those floor plans.

Location for me. I grew up in a village with limited public transport to the main town where my friends all lived and as a teenager I disliked it. I often had to stay home when my friends were all meeting as I couldn't get to and from.
We're a family of 5/7 at the weekends and only have 1 bathroom and very limited space. We manage just fine, you just have to be more savvy with storage solutions and a bit more ruthless with not hanging on to things you don't really need. We're walking distance to the station/town centre and beach and wouldn't give that up.

Location for me too.

Necessary in the sense that the size of the house matters. I went for the smaller house, but it was still larger than 1,300 square feet. If I'd had to make a choice with 5 people in 1,300 square feet I may have chosen differently.

Location first, especially if you have to drive everywhere from the bigger house as that becomes a major PITA when kids are older. A house you can walk from is bliss and such an advantage financially and socially.