Trsnrtr

The house that I bought for my old age has a zoning variance for 7' side lots. I mow my lawn in 20'.

P.S. It is not a McMansion but has way more room than I need.

Trsnrtr

Round one of snow is over so I blew out the drive, looked to be 4" deep. Now, it's Kickr time before round two comes later this afternoon.

Velo Vol 

One could do this on a real bike, practice jousting.

Velo Vol 

wut

BillyD

I'm with you with the 80, but I do like lots of snow.

phrantic09

I really don't get the desire to have 3000 square foot monstrosities for most families. Who wants to clean a house that big??? We could have dropped a big hunk of cash on a brand new 3000+ home, but quite honestly, our 1700 SF is perfect for us and we get to do things like buy bike stuff...

datlas 

Yeah I don't get it at all. Our house is 2400SF and is plenty big for us. Our next-door neighbors moved from our neighborhood to a McMansion neighborhood around the corner with a 5000SF house despite their 2 kids being out of the house. I was never that tight with them, but I do recall asking them why they want to get such a big home, and they said they like to host family gatherings.

Last I heard they hate their new home and wish they had not moved.

IMO, the only rationale I can see for such a huge home is if you have 5+ kids and/or an extended family living with you.

Velo Vol 

70f-90f

genejockey

I gotta say, the modern houses that try to embrace older design elements really just don't do it for me. I'm not talking McMansions only, but all of them. Some of them, it seems like there was an Everything Must Go!! sale at the Gable Store.

Mrs. GeneJockey and I find ourselves gravitating to the houses our parents or grandparents lived in - solidly built brick houses from the 20s-40s, with hot water heat. I don't remember ever feeling cold in Mom and Dad's house, and the heat was even, and damn near silent.

A/C is an issue, of course. We both grew up without A/C and we both hate heat and stupidity humidity.

genejockey

Meanwhile, back on the subject of wheels for the old Cannondale - I found a front wheel to match the 105/Mavic 192 rear wheel, on Ebay. But I have to wait till everything else I bought for the bike has flown under the spousal radar, and hope it's still there.

BillyD

I would love to have more room than I need. I crave a separate room for my stereo, given it now sits cramped, virtually useless in my tiny living room. I'm considering the bold move of redesigning my office, which is now essentially the 3rd bedroom. Get rid of the bed and make room for my stereo setup. I LIKE IT. Half my vinyl albums are already here anyway. I could blast the music while putzing around on the computer with you guys. That's starting to sound awesome.

Velo Vol 

Did you have an outhouse?

phrantic09

When the girls go to college this will be more house than we need. But at that point, we're selling and getting out of dodge to warmer climes.

rjones28 

So judgey

WhyFi

Living in NYC taught us about living efficiently in a smaller space. I quite like it, but I think that most people are too lazy, so they throw an abundance of square footage at the problem. Along those lines, when looking at homes, one of the things that bothers me the most is horrible floorplans that waste a ton of space. I'll take 1500 sq feet, laid out well, over 2500, that was seemingly planned by a 3 year old, any day of the week.

rjones28 

Oh?

WhyFi

Do it. If there's spousal objection, make it a Murphy bed.

genejockey

No, but when I was a child I did once refuse to poop for a number of days because the only available facility was an outhouse.

rjones28 

It got so bad last summer that I shaved my head in protest.

genejockey

One problem I have is that I grew up with a big back yard, and I really like the feeling of the outdoor space. Mom and Dad had 1 3/4 acres, which Dad worked on lovingly for 50 years, basically working a good 8-12 hours most Saturdays from March till November, and often starting plants like tomatoes in the basement with grow lights so they'd be ready to plant after the last frost.

We bought our house because of the big (for here) yard, which turned out to be even bigger than we realized. It's about a 1/3 of an acre, where most yards are 1/4 or less. But it turns out I'm not my Dad, and when Saturday rolls around I don't want to get up and go do yard work. And yet, when I'm on Zillow or Realtor, I'm drawn to the houses with big yards. Go figure.

Velo Vol 

Say 38 minutes = 38/60 = 0.633 = 1/x = 1.58 x 2.9 miles = 4.58 mph

Velo Vol 

How did that end up?

big john

I just watched my first freeride movie.
Watch new MTB freeride film North of Nightfall here (redbull.com)

datlas 

That's what I have been saying since we bought this house 20 years ago. We are supposed to be empty nesters now but youngest one is still at home doing school remotely, so hoping to be empty nesters in August. However, our family and work are all here, so the idea of moving south is seeming less likely. Maybe a month each winter in Andalucia instead of moving will be good enough.

phrantic09

Same here. We're even further limited by not having a basement - that's really the only thing I would change - but this neighborhood just doesn't have them, and I'd rather live in this neighborhood than have a basement.