Sahamamama Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Hi, Audrey. I read your post about house size and have been thinking about your house, LOL. We've been looking at houses lately. Most of the houses around here (NJ) are either huge with huge rooms, or small (overall) with small rooms. I've often wondered what it would be like to have "rooms we don't use." We live in 748 sq. ft. for five people. I have dreams about finding a door I've never noticed, and the door leads to a hallway full of doors, that lead to other rooms and other hallways.... leading to rooms I don't use. LOL. Yeah, I know, weird dreams. Too much Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe in my childhood, huh? How old is your house, if you don't mind me asking? Does it have lots of small(er) rooms? If I could think up the perfect house, it wouldn't have LARGE rooms, it would just have MANY. Does that make sense? Just spaces, various spaces. I haven't seen anything like it, except one old farm house, so I've been wondering. The farm house was amazing. Winding staircase leading to another level, leading to another addition, small doors, little closets, window seats. It was cool. My husband is not interested in something built in 1730, you know? Modern houses have no sense of style or adventure. Box on a lot. Boring. Someone on this board told me she and her husband live in a renovated old church. Stained-glass windows and all! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmvaughan4 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I'm jumping in this thread, not knowing the background of your question. Have you ever looked at Ross Chapin architects? They're smaller homes, well laid out, with great character. I'd love to build one, if we were able. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 I'm jumping in this thread, not knowing the background of your question. Have you ever looked at Ross Chapin architects? They're smaller homes, well laid out, with great character. I'd love to build one, if we were able. Off to look! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I have dreams about finding a door I've never noticed, and the door leads to a hallway full of doors, that lead to other rooms and other hallways.... leading to rooms I don't use. LOL. Yeah, I know, weird dreams. Too much Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe in my childhood, huh? I have those dreams too! It's always just a disappointment to wake up and realize it isn't true. If I could think up the perfect house, it wouldn't have LARGE rooms, it would just have MANY. Does that make sense? Just spaces, various spaces. That's what I would like too. We have 1500 sf. Really it's plenty of room, especially for just three people, but I would love to have one more "space". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Hi, Audrey. I read your post about house size and have been thinking about your house, LOL. We've been looking at houses lately. Most of the houses around here (NJ) are either huge with huge rooms, or small (overall) with small rooms. I've often wondered what it would be like to have "rooms we don't use." We live in 748 sq. ft. for five people. I have dreams about finding a door I've never noticed, and the door leads to a hallway full of doors, that lead to other rooms and other hallways.... leading to rooms I don't use. LOL. Yeah, I know, weird dreams. Too much Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe in my childhood, huh? How old is your house, if you don't mind me asking? Does it have lots of small(er) rooms? If I could think up the perfect house, it wouldn't have LARGE rooms, it would just have MANY. Does that make sense? Just spaces, various spaces. I haven't seen anything like it, except one old farm house, so I've been wondering. The farm house was amazing. Winding staircase leading to another level, leading to another addition, small doors, little closets, window seats. It was cool. My husband is not interested in something built in 1730, you know? Modern houses have no sense of style or adventure. Box on a lot. Boring. Someone on this board told me she and her husband live in a renovated old church. Stained-glass windows and all! :) It is a 100 year old house farmhouse that was originally ordered out of the Eaton's catalogue. Yes, you used to be able to order a house out of a catalogue and the plans, shingles, lumber, doors, all the trim, the windows, even the paint, nails, and hardware all came on the train! I know that there is a trend in some rural Canadian areas to try to recreate those old Eaton's houses (and Sears -- you could also order a house from Sears). They are very Edwardian -- lots of small rooms, which is supposed to be easier to heat as you can shut off rooms to keep others warm. I am told you can still find original plans for the Eaton's and Sears houses to purchase. Then, you take that to an architect for a modern plan. The original plans wouldn't be up to code anymore, and many, if not most of them, didn't have a bathroom as we know it. There are a bunch of houses in Saskatoon that are recreations of Eaton's and Sears houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 This is crazy!! Just a couple of hours ago, after reading the "how big is your house" post, I typed in my address online and it told me the square footage of my house. It also said that we have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Yes, we have 3 bedrooms.....but only 2 bathrooms. For the tiniest split second, my heart raced and I thought, "Oh my goodness! I'm going to have to search for that 3rd bathroom! I'll start in the basement!" What a disappointment when reality rushed in and I realized it was some sort of typo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 We live in 748 sq. ft. for five people. I have dreams about finding a door I've never noticed, and the door leads to a hallway full of doors, that lead to other rooms and other hallways.... leading to rooms I don't use. LOL. Yeah, I know, weird dreams. Too much Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe in my childhood, huh? :lol: :lol: I have the same dream! Glad to know I'm not the only one. (we are also in around 750 square feet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Deleted my quote came out wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 This is crazy!! Just a couple of hours ago, after reading the "how big is your house" post, I typed in my address online and it told me the square footage of my house. It also said that we have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Yes, we have 3 bedrooms.....but only 2 bathrooms. For the tiniest split second, my heart raced and I thought, "Oh my goodness! I'm going to have to search for that 3rd bathroom! I'll start in the basement!" What a disappointment when reality rushed in and I realized it was some sort of typo. You might want to check with your local government and see if they have a mistake in the listing for your property. It could affect your property taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Hi, Audrey. I read your post about house size and have been thinking about your house, LOL. We've been looking at houses lately. Most of the houses around here (NJ) are either huge with huge rooms, or small (overall) with small rooms. I've often wondered what it would be like to have "rooms we don't use." We live in 748 sq. ft. for five people. I have dreams about finding a door I've never noticed, and the door leads to a hallway full of doors, that lead to other rooms and other hallways.... leading to rooms I don't use. LOL. Yeah, I know, weird dreams. Too much Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe in my childhood, huh? How old is your house, if you don't mind me asking? Does it have lots of small(er) rooms? If I could think up the perfect house, it wouldn't have LARGE rooms, it would just have MANY. Does that make sense? Just spaces, various spaces. I haven't seen anything like it, except one old farm house, so I've been wondering. The farm house was amazing. Winding staircase leading to another level, leading to another addition, small doors, little closets, window seats. It was cool. My husband is not interested in something built in 1730, you know? Modern houses have no sense of style or adventure. Box on a lot. Boring. Someone on this board told me she and her husband live in a renovated old church. Stained-glass windows and all! :) I used to have similar dreams! A previously unnoticed door leading to a previously unnoticed room! I loved the dreams--the delights of finding that room (usually full of interesting junk lol) and they were so realistic too. It was disappointing to wake up and not to have that room. Then we moved, and the dreams stopped. I had a short bout of them several months ago, but I think I've settled into the new house enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 It is a 100 year old house farmhouse that was originally ordered out of the Eaton's catalogue. Yes, you used to be able to order a house out of a catalogue and the plans, shingles, lumber, doors, all the trim, the windows, even the paint, nails, and hardware all came on the train! I know that there is a trend in some rural Canadian areas to try to recreate those old Eaton's houses (and Sears -- you could also order a house from Sears). They are very Edwardian -- lots of small rooms, which is supposed to be easier to heat as you can shut off rooms to keep others warm. I am told you can still find original plans for the Eaton's and Sears houses to purchase. Then, you take that to an architect for a modern plan. The original plans wouldn't be up to code anymore, and many, if not most of them, didn't have a bathroom as we know it. There are a bunch of houses in Saskatoon that are recreations of Eaton's and Sears houses. We live in a Sears catalog house! It's a 1930s bungalow, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, living room/dining room (same room), kitchen. That's the house. :) There's an attic, a basement, and a detached garage, but basically the house is 4 rooms and a bathroom. I think you must be right about the small rooms/heat thing. When we moved here, between the bedrooms and the living room, there was a pocket door. Between the living room and kitchen, there was another pocket door. You can tell from looking at the walls and ceiling that the living room and dining room used to be two separate (very small) rooms. I never thought of this before now, it must have been to conserve heat. We know that the original way this home was heated was with a cooking stove in the kitchen. After that went out, there was an old Glenwood (which ended up in the basement for canning), then a Chambers stove ("cooks with the heat off"). We sold that for nice piece of money, and put in a stove I could use while pregnant with twins, LOL. :) I guess the best way to get a house with plenty of spaces would be to design one that way, build it, and enjoy. Thanks for posting back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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