lmkzbcb Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 If you had to choose between a very large house with no yard or a very small house with a huge yard which would you choose? Oh and suppose you have a bunch of kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 From experience - small house/big yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Is there a park nearby the large home? Do you live in an area where it is warm most of the time? How small is "small" for the small house? How many kids are a "bunch"? Will there be only 2 to a bedroom, or more? Personally, I like a big yard. But I don't like being cramped in the house. Are going to continue looking or is it just a toss up between these two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 erm...it would depend on where I lived and how many kids I was trying to fit in how much space. LOL ETA: Other things to consider would be if there was a park or open running space nearby the big house/no yard deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Where do you live? (How many months out of the year can you use the yard?) How many sq. ft? How many kids? How many bedrooms? I need more info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Where do you live? (How many months out of the year can you use the yard?)How many sq. ft? How many kids? How many bedrooms? I need more info! :iagree: Sorry, too vague. I can't reply. All I can say is, if dd4 and dd12 had to share either a yard or a bedroom..... neither would work. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 I need more info! In general, I'd prefer the better neighborhood with the nicer schools and neighbors who place a higher priority on education. That usually means the smaller house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 One of the reasons we bought our current home was because of the large backyard. The house is about 1400 sq. ft. and is large enough for our family of 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 How small is small? I have .6 and a large house. I put in a very large garden, and I have flower beds all around. The kids play everywhere. I'm not a swingset type and there's a park 2 minutes away if we really need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Yeah, I would need more specifics. A 4,000 sq. ft house with 30 feet of yard vs. 2,000 sq. ft. with 2 acres????? I usually want more house and DH wants more yard. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Yes, I need more details. Generally, I'd choose the larger yard, BUT if it's large enough for sitting outside, maybe having a space for a container garden, and is private, I might choose the larger house. Is this your "forever home" (as far as you know)? Do you want to take care of a large yard or a large house in your retirement? Will your house needs be diminishing fairly soon as kids go off to college or do you want to keep a larger house for your kids to come home, grandkids, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmkzbcb Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Houses are in PA. Haven't lived there, so can't answer about how many good months outside. House is <1000sq ft. The yard is big enough for a barn and fenced pasture for goats and chickens, possibly 1 horse. Each room would have 2-3 in it, but they are actic rooms and there is only room for beds and maybe a dresser. No extra rooms. Just the bare minimums. Kitchen, living room, and eating all one big room. It does have 2 full baths. Not a forever house. The larger house has a basement, with a 1 car garage, absolutely no yard, but big bedrooms 4bed/2.5bath, formal dining room, big Eat In kitchen, den, living room, a little over 2000 sq. ft. hopefully that gives enough info. Edited May 8, 2011 by lmkzbcb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virg Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I would prefer more yard with my twins, however in a place like the PacNW where your children can't play outside w/o being soaked a bigger house would be my choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) i just made that choice. I even had to give up my dreams of a homeschool room. But to get the homeschool room, I would have been locked into a subdivision surrounded by houses. It did have a nice wooded area off the back. Instead, I chose the smaller house on 3.5acres in an older neighborhood with nothing but park land/forest behind us for miles. And the house is set far back from the road so I feel isolated but I'm only 5min from my grocery store! Just saw your update. HHmm. We left 1200sq.ft. (3 kids) b/c I needed space to get away from the kids. Our choice was between 2400sq.ft and almost 3000 sq.ft. We chose the 2400sq.ft w/ no HS room. We are finishing the basement to give us the extra bedroom that is needed for when we have house guests. I think you have to consider if being in 1000sq.ft. will drive you insane. My kids are loud. I'm very sensitive to noise. Once the basement is finished, they can play down there and I can go upstairs and have some quiet time to regroup. I'm MUCH less stressed here b/c I can find that space. After reading your post, I'd have to go w/ the larger house w/ no yard but I had already voted for the smaller house, not knowing how small it was. However, some folks are entirely happy in 1000 sq.ft! You have to decide if you are one of those. I'm very sensitive to noise and really wanted my own space that was quiet. Also, I had a terrible time sleeping in our other house due to traffic and road noise. That was a large part of my decision. It's so quiet here, I can hear the owls at night. What a sweet way to fall asleep. Edited May 8, 2011 by Capt_Uhura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpe Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 One of the reasons we bought our current home was because of the large backyard. The house is about 1400 sq. ft. and is large enough for our family of 3. When I was growing up our family of 7 lived in 1400 square feet with room to spare! Houses are in PA. Haven't lived there, so can't answer about how many good months outside. House is <1000sq ft. The yard is big enough for a barn and fenced pasture for goats and chickens, possibly 1 horse. Each room would have 2-3 in it, but they are actic rooms and there is only room for beds and maybe a dresser. No extra rooms. Just the bare minimums. Kitchen, living room, and eating all one big room. It does have 2 full baths. Not a forever house. The larger house has a basement, with a 1 car garage, absolutely no yard, but big bedrooms 4bed/2.5bath, formal dining room, big Eat In kitchen, den, living room, a little over 2000 sq. ft. hopefully that gives enough info. Big yard for sure then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 From experience - small house/big yard. :iagree:Me, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Hmmm...it would be a tough choice for me. I'm leaning towards the big yard though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Assuming that the weather is nice for a decent portion of the year- yard. You can send them out to play and blow off steam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 For my family yard, yard, yard. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 small house, big yard with a qualifier. If the house is small it better have a garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I would pick the larger house... :) Seems like it'll be a small enough season outside, that you can walk each day... outside... to get exercise... but for us, during the cold... it's hard to get my kids out to play... SO, that means we're cramped inside. The garage would be used for play type things... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) I would go with a big house/small yard. I currently have a big house/big yard and we hardly use the yard. When the kids were very little they loved running around in the yard, but now they just don't want to. Even with a wooden play set, pool, and fire pit. The fire pit gets used often in nice weather but that is it. The pool has a huge hole and we aren't bothering fixing it as the last two summers the kids used it maybe 6 times all summer each. So not worth the $$ to fix. The only one who uses the yard is our big dog :tongue_smilie:. Also no one wants to do the lawn care. And we are still cramped in the house (about 2000sq ft). But we currently have 9 people living here. When we move, only 6 of us are going. We are moving in June and I am hoping to rent a 4 bedroom with 2 baths.. the yard doesn't matter. Edited May 8, 2011 by AnitaMcC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I don't enjoy yard work. At all. Gardening? Not my thing. So *I* would choose the big house with the small yard. But I am out-voted by husband and daughter. :) My dream would be to move into a town home with a little patio, but within walking distance of a nice big park (a park which someone else mows, waters, and takes care of!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I would pick a big house with no yard. Then again, I live in the desert so my opinions are a bit tainted. Now, if that big yard came with a pool......then my answer would change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMCassandra Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 We had this choice. We chose neither. Instead, we moved further out of town where we could get BOTH a fabulous house and yard. It's a pain to be out of town, but I keep remembering our choices in town, which were the two extremes you describe, and I still think it was the right decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 In this situation, where small is <1000sq ft, I'd choose the larger home. However, I would keep looking since I think you could probably find a more balanced property for your needs. My answer would change if the small house has usable basement space not being counted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Big house. We spend much more time inside than out and I tend to go crazy if I feel cramped inside the house. I love having lots of space inside (although we also have a big yard). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Bigger house! Having lived in PA, it is too cold and wet to play outside all day for a large part of the year. A bigger house with access to a nice park would be fine for me. When we lived there, we had a very large yard but went to the park more than we just played in our own yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 We had a small house, big enough yard (for the little ones we had at the time) in a warm climate. We lived on a dead-end, no-traffic street and the kids lived outside most of the time. I still felt cramped and grumpy. There just wasn't enough space for the 7 of us. We moved to a big house with a small yard and I LOVE, LOVE the space. We are now in a cold climate. I know little ones like to go outside no matter what. But the older ones are getting to where they do not. They'd rather be inside, as would I. So we are inside a lot more because of the climate and we are all much happier. We just like having some space to ourself. And now there are 9 of us. I do wish we had more of a yard. Our street now is busy and so the front yard is out of the question because of the little ones. But I really enjoy the bigger house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schastain Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Not sure what you mean by "bunch" of kids but we have four right now. We have a small house and a small yard...my dream is to have a yard! The kids can be outside more. We have friends with seven kids and three bedrooms...their kids ate outside ALL day long except for school time. Big yard is definitely a must, if you have someone to mow it!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 From experience - small house/big yard. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I bowed to those with PA experience who said it's more common to be inside than outside. I have a very small yard and wish it was bigger. So, we just go to the park a LOT. Or walk/ride bikes around the neighborhood. Having 2-3 kids per room, no extra space, stuck inside in the winter......yowzers..... ETA: Ideally, I agree with the others who say to keep looking. Seems like you've found the two extremes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 It depends. How small is small? We were in a 750sq ft house with 4dc. I'd choose big house/small yard over that situation. We've also been in 1400sq ft with 4dc. That would be fine if that's your idea of small. It would also depend on what kind of climate we were in. A small house can be really claustrophobic in long lasting bad weather. But if it's nice a lot of the time, and the kids are always outside anyway, then the big yard would be more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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