Our house was built in 1968, so it's 50 years old this year. It's 4500 sqft on 2.2 acres with a pool, a pond, and two detached buildings. It's constant work. But it's also a labor of love. The prior owners purchased it in 1992 and did some extensive updating and remodeling at the time (HVAC, windows, flooring, kitchen, baths, paint, roof, added a bedroom, built one of the detached buildings, etc). We bought it in 2004 and did some updating as well, mostly flooring, paint, the kitchen, landscaping, drainage, and the biggie: wrecking out the old leaking pool (original to 1968) and building a new one.
It's now 14 years later and we're retired, so DW and I are sort-of "reinventing" everything one space at a time. We're devout DIYers. So I'm happy as a pig in slop. This is *why* I retired... well, one of the reasons. The kid's bedrooms upstairs have been transformed into a home theater room, music room/recording studio, and guest suite. We are currently remodeling the downstairs master bath, which just got a few cosmetic changes in the 1992 remodel. Next year we will do the kitchen (again) and living room.
In the kitchen, we'll leave the granite we bought in 2004, but update the backsplash, replace a few appliances that haven't aged well, new lighting fixtures, paint, and change out the cabinet fronts and hardware that are from the 1992 remodel.
The outdoors and detached buildings are a whole 'nother chapter in this long story. Fences, retaining walls, sidewalks, decks, trees, drainage, planting beds.
I read the article linked in the OP. Very little resonated with me. We're certainly not doing this to impress others. We do it because it's fun, educational, and makes us feel good about our home and have a sense of accomplishment. We like to periodically reinvent spaces and our large old house is needy and provides ample opportunities.
OTOH, we do plan to downsize at some point... maybe. So I sometimes wonder about the financial aspect. We're doing stuff that we like, not really concerned about resale. But our retirement plan has plenty of wiggle room. This home improvement activity is one of our goals for retirement, just like traveling more. So as long as it brings us happiness and a sense of accomplishment, we're highly unlikely to change our ways.
Sorry, I get wordy talking about my house.