The house my BIL and wife bough does not have vaulted ceilings. It just has higher regular ceilings, which makes it look spacious. Their living room is adjacent to the kitchen/dining area, but not closed off. I really like the plan. And the master bedroom suite is on one side of the house. And two guest rooms and full bath are on the other side. Deep oversized garage too.
This house, now that I think of it, does have a full basement…with potential for more space if needed. I doubt they will do anything to it…except put up shelves along one wall for storage.
I love gardening. But I could do that in a community garden instead. Or even set up a community garden in a tiny house village. That would be fun. Or set up a community garden at a school nearby.
There are pockets of tiny house villages here and there. Requires paying rent each month for your spot. Similar to mobile home/RV park, but yet different.
I saw a video last night (when I was going down the Youtube rabbit hole) which showed pics of a guy’s tiny house that survived 140 mph winds in a hurricane in Louisiana. He bolted it with straps into the concrete and braced on 2 sides with these long wood planks that he attached to the tiny house with brackets. Almost everybody else’s homes around him (even the regular foundation-build houses of various sizes) were devastated, but his went through totally unscathed. Not even a window broken (he’d attached hurricane shutters). Even his metal roof stayed put!
I wouldn’t want to live out in the sticks, though, when downsizing. I know that I’m going to need access to good medical care when I’m an old fart, so living out on a bunch of land as a country bumpkin driving 30 min “into town” isn’t going to work.
Our mid-60s split level has a smallish L-shaped kitchen and an L-shaped living/dining room (about 600 sq ft total on this main level.
Lots of folks in the neighborhood with our house model are extending kitchen cabinets into the dining room, knocking out the wall between kitchen/living room and replacing with an island seating area. It’s a fairly open concept, which I don’t love, but a much better use of the space, esp since we already have a family room half a floor down. It still doesn’t solve the no bathroom on the main floor problem, though!
I have the exact same setup (split level from the late 50s). I am the only one on the block who has not torn down the wall between the kitchen and dining room or expanded back that floor. When we redid that kitchen we made a small peninsula in the kitchen (not an island because it attaches to the wall on one end) and that is our breakfast seating area (2 stools). We use the dining room every day to eat dinner, so it all works for us.
We typically have guests us the bath 1/2 level down off the large family room. When we had large parties we used the family room level and it worked great.
Our first house was a split level, and we loved it. Ours had a half wall between the kitchen and dining room…so really, we used those as one room. If we had stayed in that house, we would have removed the half wall and replaced it with a counter/eating place with cabinets facing the kitchen side. But we moved…
That split was also not old age friendly unless you constantly liked going up and down 6 stairs!
My Dad and his wife have a spacious 1960s split level. Great yard, lovely deck, fabulous caring neighbors. Alas, lack of bathroom on the main level (kitchen, dining, living, deck) is a real challenge now that Dad is 96 and his old knees make the stairs an ordeal.
This is what I keep saying about our 1970 built split level. It was a great house to raise the kids but it’s not for old people. We just turned 60 so that’s why I’m in full downsizing the stuff mode. We’ll have to move eventually and I fully expect to need a knee replacement in the next few years. We have a counter with stovetop and cabinets between the small kitchen and so called family room, which is also the main passageway through the downstairs. Our “kitchen” table is in the family room and that’s where we eat all our meals and basically hang out. I turned what was the dining room, open to the living room, into my sitting / reading area and office space.
I get that crime rate is important but do you realize what that 5% really looks like. That is Gary, IN. No one on this board is moving to a place like Gary, IN.
Oh my goodness yes. Everything on the main floors of my house (except my DH’s closets) is pared down. I’m going to work on the basement this coming winter.
@BunsenBurner We’re not finding that to be the case. Most houses we see on Redfin in the Seattle area count unfinished basement space (even VERY unfinished space) in the total SF. VERY misleading! And discouraging when hunting.
The listing are written by realtors… they can put all sorts of stuff with a disclaimer - buyer to verify. An appraisal will not include those sft for sure if the space does not have heat, ceiling height, etc. - confirmed with a certified appraiser. Forgot to mention another factor: having a window of a size that can be used for escape for a basement room to count as a bedroom. Oh, and it has to have a closet. A storage room off a “bedroom” counts as a closet if it has at least one hook for hanging clothes. Also learned that from said appraiser.
The sad story is that I got a text from my realtor this morning. Today was the first day the house went live and people could schedule showings. Of which we had one scheduled.
Last night apparently someone bid an over asking price cash offer, no appraisal, no inspection , SIGHT UNSEEN. I guess you can do that prior to it hitting the market before anyone has the chance for to step in the house.
So all appts were cancelled and tough luck for us! I made peace with it - I can’t live my life that way! Pictures may be nice but who know what pics they AREN’T showing!
I guess you can do that prior to it hitting the market before anyone has the chance for to step in the house.