Is there a such thing as *too* big a house? (how much, windows)
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I say no! The bigger, the better! If I was rich enough for a humongous mansion, id have a couple maids cleaning around. A mansion 10k to 15k living square feet wouldnt be too big. Bigger than that might be a little overkill for one person, id probably begin to go into quality over quantity once I got to the 15k footage mark. Of course this is wishful thinking. Realistically the biggest house id be able to afford is around 4000 square feet in a location like Oil city or some other equally cheap location. Even that size is enough for a single person
Oh boy, NAH, we once had a 5,000+ sq ft home in Texas, w/ 6 bathrooms. It darn near killed me keeping that place clean. Happy now with my little 2800sq ft colonial in MA. Yes, there is such thing as too big, at least for me!
Too big is definetly possible, you'll spend all your time fixing up one part or another, never just chilling in it. Especially one person. No way does one person need 15k square feet. That's just overkill by far.
I wouldn't need an estate with fifteen bedrooms and twelve bathrooms. I'd be happy with a relatively small house (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom) that has a decent amount of land around it so that I'd be far away from any annoying neighbors (dogs barking, people arguing late at night, someone practicing the drums, etc.). I think it all depends on what is most important to you. It's funny, too, that I don't think in terms of square footage; I wouldn't even know how to measure that. I think in terms of how many rooms.
Let me add as well that I'd hate to have a big house and turn into my father... Whenever we'd have the heat on and someone would open the front door and leave it open five seconds too long, we'd hear: "DOOR!!!" I used to get mad - until I had a roommate who would smoke and leave the front door open, with the heater on full blast. I could just see the dollar bills floating out the door...
There is such a thing as too big a house. When you don't know if squatters may have invaded when you hear those creepy noises late at night....well....and it's a five minute walk to get to that wing...it's too big a house!
Seriously, they look like they'd be grand, but for me the only way I'd want it larger than 3000 sq. ft. is if the rooms were few, but very large, or, there was a big huge cavernous family room or some multi-purpose room that made the overall square footage add up. I have 2301 sq. ft. right now. I'm single, there are three toilets, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 large bedrooms, and I'm always busy cleaning. The animals shed wherever they are, and the cats barf where you least expect it, so there's always maintenance and "Hot Spot" spray activity somewhere, plus unending vacuuming, dusting, washing, etc. It's not as easy as my Cleaning Tornado mom who's a cleaning fanatic made it look. I HATE having to use a pumice bar to get stains out of the toilet. I am not fond of having company use two of the bathrooms (the master toilet is off limits except for emergencies! I don't want someone else's buns on my toilet seat!!) and I lift the lids and there is splatter... No matter how you clean, dust and cat hair collect in little tufts on the tile, in the corners, and you've got to clean frequently. OK...shall we talk about the windows now?
No, a house can be too big!!!! I like large enough, but I'd dread too big, even if I had help!!! The only way I'd like a colossal mansion is if I had my family here, all of them, plus my in-laws, living in parts. That would be fun. But then...I'd do it the way the Gallo family does it outside Modesto, Ca. (I'm talking of the famous wine family whose wine is fairly cheap and you see it everywhere). They have three or four large matching residential buildings, tastefully designed and built in a compound type of design, but clearly one "house" for individual Gallo brothers and their individual families. The houses are probably around 4000 sq. ft. each, but all four are identical and there's a large circle drive with a garage building, etc. It's actually quite elegant and each individual Gallo family within the larger Gallo family has their own private home in the compound. I can dig that
Oh yeah, a house can be "too big" for many reasons. My personal arguments against the too-big house:
Snobby, artsy-me reason: Many people just don't have the skill (or the furniture!) to properly *do* a huge house. Better add a decorator and a 6-figure furniture budget to your dream house! Nothing sadder than a huge grand house that feels empty and cold.
Snobby eco-chic-me reason: a huge house is a huge waste of resources (energy, material etc). Just not very "green".
Practical, sporty-me reason: Toooo much time cleaning and straightening. Yep even with the full-time staff. I'm the type who cleans before the maid comes (anyone else??? lol). I'd rather be hiking/reading/riding my bike.
Aesthetic-me reason: I prefer quality to quantity. I'd rather have a super-custom, smallish arts and crafts kind of abode than a gianormous "builder's special". I like one-of-a-kind and "handmade". I'm also a fan of the "Not So Big House" series. Good design trumps square footage.
While I don't dream of tons of acreage, I too want the feeling of privacy. Perhaps funnel some of my "dream budget" into hiring a very very competent gardener.
Heck yes there can be a thing as too much house! Anything over 10,000 sq ft seems very excessive to me, why do you need such a large home? People love to have the bragging rights of having the grandest home on the block but the cost of upkeep and everything would scare me off. I would much rather have a 2600-3000 sq ft home in a great location (beachfront, ocean-view, golf-course frontage, etc). My home is 2700 sq ft and it's the perfect size for me, it also has a great view of the golf course and mountains which is my favorite part.
We can all dream of having those huge mansions that you drive by and wonder "who lives there", but I doubt most of us would want something that large in reality. I can see 5000 sq ft, maybe even 7000 (although that is pushing it), but anything over that seems to be very excessive and screams "look at me, I'm rich".
Need_affordable_home: You mentioned no home would be too big but then went on to talk about maids, servants etc. How much home you have versus the amount of time and/or help you have to clean it is key.
I wouldn't mind having paid maids, cooks or a butler if I could afford them. That might seem excessive or snobbish to some, but it'd be better for the economy to spend your money keeping legal residents employed than to spend it on even more luxury "stuff"; most of those items are probably made in other countries.
At the moment I have no desire for a massive home; once I have plenty of space to easily organise all my possessions, anything else speaking in sq. footage could be excessive or unneccessary. "Cathedral" ceilings could be a nice touch in a warm climate though.
I do dream of acreage; having a sweet yard with several informal gardens (where I'd probably do most of the maintenance) wooded areas and areas to entertain guests. If I 'splurged', it'd be on a private lake, pond, stream, inlet etc.
Too big is too much. Nice and cozy is the way to go.
This topic reminds me of Mike Tyson's house in Connecticut. It has 24 full and 14 1/2 baths. The house is a little over, get this, 36,000 sq ft.
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