We’re left with these, but then these go away too.
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Commercial Structures
- Central Pre-Owned Supercenter, 8900 Lakes at 610 Dr. 77054 (Lakes @ 610; photo)
Residences
- 2122 Del Monte Dr. 77019 (River Oaks)
- 6705 Paris St. 77021 (Grand Park)
- 514 Fall River Rd. 77024
- 3001 Grassmere St. 77051 (Reedwoods)
- 4401 Larkspur St. 77051 (Flower City)
- 5458 Holly Springs Dr. 77056 (Tanglewood)
Photo of 2122 Del Monte Dr.: HAR
These are odd times when the Del Monte house looks like a little bungalow in comparison to the new build monsters on the street. The funny thing is that back in the 1930s, people actually needed more space than they do today. The average size of a household in the 30s was just over 4 people. It has shrunk to @2.5 today (although some rich folk do breed like rabbits for some reason). In the olden days, people would have large libraries of books. Now, all that can be kept on an ipad or kindle. People used to have large record collections and “hifi” stereos that were their own pieces of furniture. Now, you can store all your music on your phone and plug it into a massive sound system that is completely built into the wall of each room. Same goes for a TV set. I remember my mom chewing me out for leaving my soda cans on top of the old RCA because it left a ring on the wood. Now, the TV hangs on the wall and is just a few inches thick. Rich folk today do like to have a closet full of clothes that look like a small version of a high end retail clothing store. But today, most people, even rich folks, dress casual all the time. Back in the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc., people would dress up to ride on a plane, men would wear suits all the time, and women would have a collection of hats in large hat boxes to fill up the closet. But houses just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger as people have fewer reasons for living in such huge houses.
Old School: You’re 100% right, and those are good points. But there are a few reasons these places keep getting bigger:
I think now, since so much of what we buy is cheap/disposable, we keep around much more junk than we did in the past. I think a big reason for bigger homes is simply more space to hold junk.
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Also, the “expected” size of bedrooms is much larger. And people want guest rooms, offices, home theater rooms, etc. And god forbid you don’t have 1 bathroom per bedroom + a few extra. That’s adding a lot of space..
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That said, my house now is 1800SF for my family of 4 (+ bird and two cats). My last home was 1800SF. My last townhome was 1800SF. That’s worked for me and I’ve been willing to pay for that much house to live where I want vs. paying the same amount for 10,000SF in BFE
That Del Monte house is so beautiful and then you check out the monster “custom” spec homes on either side of it. So damn tacky. Money does not equal taste.
@Old School…so true about the days suits. An entire stadium of fans dressed in suits watching baseball, well into the 1960s.
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I believe it was ‘The Niche’ who made a great point in the Rent v Buy thread a few weeks back about (paraphrasing) the hidden cost of home ownership is $$$ spent on stuff that the home’s owners would probably never buy if they lived in a smaller home.
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30 Years ago George Carlin had a great bit on ‘stuff’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
The Del Monte house was 2442 square feet on a quarter acre. 3 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath. Anyone who thinks it was going to survive is naive at best. Anyone with a million plus dollars to spend will want more room, with a larger kitchen, an office, more garage, more entertaining space, etc.