Size House You Grew Up In

[Teacher Terry]

I read that people are most comfortable in the size house that they grew up in. I grew up in a 1200 sq ft cape cod. My sister and I had to share a room despite being 8 years apart in age. We got the bigger bedroom and my brother the tiny one. We did have 2 bathrooms. The basement was for laundry, sewing and storage.

 

[old medic]

Zillow says ours was 1400 2 story, 3 bed/1 bath down stairs. 8 of us....

 

[iloveyoga]

1300 square feet for eight of us. 1.5 bathrooms with a plastic shower stall in the basement. Not enough chairs to sit in the living room, so we laid on the floor. Kitchen table was tight, some of us had to crawl under. I had wonderful parents and a great childhood.

 

[Pellice]

We moved around a lot, mostly military homes very comfortable probably about 2000-2500 sqft. But…

…DW grew up with Mom, Dad, DW, 2 brother and 2 sisters in a 1 bathroom 960 sqft ranch home. No big deal to her. Incomprehensible to me!

Exactly the square footage of mine, with 5 people and 1 bathroom and my Dad yelling, "get out of the bathroom," lol. Occupying a Tiny House holds NO appeal for me now! Been there, done that after several grad student shared small apartments as well. But it gave me an excellent perspective on my ancestresses, on living, on what humans can do with little.

And I grew up without any hoarding or collecting impulses, or at least they are confined to bird sightings. Well, and books, although I have purged them several times.

 

[Out_the_Door]

2-bedroom apartment in a 5-floor walkup (NYC). Three boys sleeping in one bedroom, parents in the other. Escaped home at 17. My older brother escaped at 16.

 

[ls99]

I think I posted it before, the house I was born and grew up in. 3 rooms, one of which my mother rented out. Concrete floors. This is a fairly recent photo from google earth.
It now has an addition on the right side, and the outhouse has been removed, presumably for indoor. The area was known as dead man's hill, at the and of the road were gallows, for Fiday's public hangings.
Incidentally, the day before I left Hungary, discovered that the person living in the house on the left, was the neighborhood spy for the commies.

Considering myself truly lucky to have legally emigrate to USA and having made a nice life.

 

[ncbill]

The one house I can remember was pretty big, ~6,000 sqft, built just after World War...One.

Still miss it occasionally, but not what it cost in time & money to maintain.

Given its age which meant antiquated electrical, plumbing, and heating infrastructure.

 

[kcowan]

850 sq.ft 2 br I bath but formal dr. Purchased new in 1937, sold as a tear down in 2009. It had a finished rr in the basement around 10x20.

But my places peaked at 4400 sq.ft. Now we have 2680 south and 3350 north. Love both our homes.

 

[mistermike40]

It was a colonial but only 1200 sq ft (3 bedrooms, 1 bath) for four of us. It seemed plenty big at the time!

 

[MC Rider]

A 4+2 with I guess 1300 SF in 2 floors, plus a mostly finished basement.
2 adults and 4 kids. when Grandma moved in I got to make the basement my room, Yay!

 

[street]

I think I posted it before, the house I was born and grew up in. 3 rooms, one of which my mother rented out. Concrete floors. This is a fairly recent photo from google earth.
It now has an addition on the right side, and the outhouse has been removed, presumably for indoor. The area was known as dead man's hill, at the and of the road were gallows, for Fiday's public hangings.
Incidentally, the day before I left Hungary, discovered that the person living in the house on the left, was the neighborhood spy for the commies.
View attachment 54121
Considering myself truly lucky to have legally emigrate to USA and having made a nice life.

Very interesting youth, you did have. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[MRG]

I grew up in a 4630' barn. Odd home in the majority of the living area was up a flight, utilities on the first floor. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms up multiple floors. Huge exposed 18" square hand hewn beams throughout.

The place was converted in the middle 1950s and fuel oil must have been cheaper than insulation. I remember my father convincing my mother that adding siding with some insulation would save them money.

The place had a couple septic systems and a well connected to the neighbors, the original farmhouse. I recall my dad telling me they had driven by the place 25 years after leaving the area and seeing the new owners in the yard. A short pull into the driveway to say hi, turned into a few hour visit with notes on how everything was connected.

 

[FIREd]

I lived in a 800sqft 2-bedroom condo until age 12 (where I shared a room with my sister), then we moved into a 1150sqft 3-bedroom condo. My mother still lives in it.

 

[MarieIG]

I'm currently living in my childhood home. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms. Zillow has it listed as 1472 sq. feet, but I believe that it is larger. As I was an only child, there were no space issues.

Almost the same thing here, except the bathroom was on the ground floor. Total around 800 sq. ft.
We didn't get sewers until I was in high school (just a cesspool), and this was in NYC!

Oh yes. We got sewers just before I entered high school. That was on Long Island. It was a huge improvement.

I should have added that this was luxurious compared to my lovely wife's childhood home. She didn't get indoor plumbing until she was 12. A farm in Ohio -- her house was built by her great-grandfather about 1830.

Yep. DH grew up in a two room home - a bedroom and a kitchen. There was a outhouse, a water pump outdoors, and baths were in a wooden tub in the kitchen.

 

[Car-Guy]

800 to 900sq ft, 2b, 1b. I think my dad bought it new for about10k. When I was about 10, my parents had the garage converted into a den and added another 1/2 bath. I guess that made it about 1300 sq ft then. I can still see it on google maps. Sure looks different today from what I remember.

 

[MC Rider]

I can still see it on google maps. Sure looks different today from what I remember.

They seriously uglyfied Grandmas old house.

I'm glad I did not grow up in a series of crappy trailers, apartments, and tents down by the river.
Or worse.

 

[pb4uski]

We had seven; mom, dad, me and 4 sisters. When I was about 7 we moved into a new house about 200' down the street from the house we were living in since I was ~6 months old. My uncle was a builder and built both. 2631 sf with 4 bedrooms, a full bath and a 3/4 bath. Lots of good memories.

 

[skyking1]

recently widowed, mom bought the new 1500 SF ranch style 3 bed 1 bath in 1952. My dad came along and they built an addition with another bedroom and half bath.
3 brothers 3 sisters, one bathtub. Fun times

 

[street]

recently widowed, mom bought the new 1500 SF ranch style 3 bed 1 bath in 1952. My dad came along and they built an addition with another bedroom and half bath.
3 brothers 3 sisters, one bathtub. Fun times

LOL!!! The water must not have quit running. Only a tub at our house too. I was in heaven when I went to college with a shower.

 

[skyking1]

It had a shower head too. Yes that was a busy bathroom.

 

[folivier]

Ours was about 2000 sq ft. with 3 bedrooms/2 baths. Just looked at current pictures and outside it is basically same except they painted the bricks blue. Inside is totally different. It is on a bayou but the old dock is gone. Inground pool is gone. Lots of memories living there.

 

[pacergal]

We lived in several in my early years, finally at age 5, Mom and Dad built and moved into the 1700 sq ft single level ranch that I currently live in.
3 bed, 2.5 baths, formal living room, family room, dining and kitchen. 6 of us then.
After my folks moved for Dads job, my brother lived there for several years, until he and his wife decided to buy elsewhere.
DH and I had a 1100 sf home but had recently had second child and were looking for something bigger. Mom asked if we wanted to buy it, and here we still are!
After living there for about 10 years, we built a 8x10 shed in the back and finally got all the stuff out of the garage, so I could get my car in there.

 

[surprising]

1000 sq ft apartment for 5 of us in the poor part of town for most of my childhood. Many of my friends lived in palatial Victorian houses and I was pretty ashamed, wouldn't let friend's parents drop me off in front of my house ("just drop me off here in front of the convenience store"). In high school, moved into my mom's parent's house where she grew up, as my grandparents moved to Florida for retirement. That was a 966 sq ft single level with a finished basement, which was my bedroom. That was pretty cool.

 

[EarlyandLate]

We had a 1930s house, 2BR/1bath probably 900-1,000 sq ft. Two parents and two kids. When I was in elementary school, my parents added on a master suite and slightly expanded the kitchen. I would say they added about 350 sq ft. There was a full unfinished basement that was also the garage, laundry and workshop. When dad started the car in the morning to go to work, the exhaust came up through the floors.

 

[mountainsoft]

It's interesting how many here grew up in houses under 1000 sq/ft with bigger families, but now have 2000+ sq/ft homes with smaller families.