This post will look at the ideal house size and layout to raise a family and live your best life. I have bought and sold seven homes since 2003 and currently own six homes. Each house has a different layout. In addition, the ideal house size and layout is also different for different household sizes and needs.
The value of a house has gone way up given more people are spending more time at home post pandemic. Larger houses with views, yards, hot tubs, and pools are in demand. Home offices are also a must have for millions more people who work-from-home nowadays.
When you have a family, you simply want what's best for your kids. Further, when you have kids, you will also desire to have a lot more space so you can think. Young children are particularly noisy and can bother you when working if you don't have a great house layout and enough space.
Both my wife and I work from home with two young children. I'm a writer on Financial Samurai and publish books, while my wife edits my work and does all the backend stuff for this site. As a result, a good house layout that accommodates our work and family life is important.
Increased Our Home Size And Improved The Layout
The only time I want a mega-mansion is when my in-laws or parents come to visit. I fantasize how it'd be nice to put my guests in a separate wing with their own kitchen, bathroom, and living area. This way, we can all keep our independence while also sharing family time every day.
We used to live in a modest 1,920 square foot home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was plenty of space for my wife and me and our baby boy. Once we had our daughter and the pandemic hit, we decided to buy a ~3,000 square foot forever home in mid-2020.
The extra 1,000 square feet of space was welcome. So were the extra floors, ironically. You'd think an ideal layout would be all rooms on one floor. However, with the constant crying and whining of children, it's been fantastic to have multiple levels for less disturbance. The more sections in the house with more separation, the better.
Could Have Purchased An Even Larger Home
We could have purchased an even larger, more expensive home. However, it was already risky enough buying a more expensive home in mid-2020 once the lockdowns began. But I know the gut remodel we had started six months earlier was going to take much longer than expected.
Further, we also wanted to generate more passive income to avoid having to go back to work. Therefore, we are more than happy living below our means.
Every single room we have is fully utilized now that we have two children and both work from home. There's a nice view of the ocean and enough space for a hot tub and kids to run around outside. The three decks facing the ocean are great.
The neighborhood is also extremely quiet, which is a big change from our previous residence that recurrently experienced drunken frat bros screaming nonsense at 2am.
We've found the ideal home size and layout for the next 10 years. If you're looking to find the same, please read on.
The Ideal Size And Layout For A Middle-Class Family House
In determining the ideal house size and layout to raise children, I'd like to operate under the confines of a middle class household.
To do otherwise would cause too much controversy and take away from the purpose of helping expecting families or existing families buy (or rent) the most family-friendly house.
To start, the median home price in America is roughly $420,000 or 5.6X the national median household income of roughly $75,000 as of 2024. Therefore, wherever you are, owning a home equal to roughly 4X – 6X your household income puts you in the middle class.
Conversely, dividing your area's median home price by 4 – 6 gives you an approximate middle class household income e.g. $300,000 household income living in a $1.5M SF home.
In the past, it was always a good idea to limit your house purchase to no more than 3X your household income. But due to a decline in interest rates since the 1980s, families have been able to stretch.
Check the latest mortgage rates with Credible for free. Credible is my favorite lending marketplace where lenders compete for your business so you can get the best rate.
I do not recommend spending more than 5X your household income on a home. 3X is what I suggest most readers pay with a 20% downpayment. Regardless, banks won't lend you more than a 42% debt-to-income ratio (DTI) anyway.
Now that we've established some parameters, let's get into the details.
The Ideal House Size For A Family Of Four
Owning a house equal to +/- 25% 2,422 square feet, the median size house as of 2023 gives you a typical middle class house size.
Since we don't want to go outside the confines of the middle class, the ideal house size is therefore between 1,816 – 3,027 square feet for a family of four. You can certainly go smaller, but there are some considerations that may crimp your lifestyle.
The ideal house size is one in which you feel comfortable while also having a high utilization of space. If you buy a house too big, you'll have excess maintenance headaches, higher maintenance bills, more cleaning to do, higher heating bills, and likely higher property taxes.
Owning a house too big is like driving a diesel bus when there's only four of you – a big waste of money. You won't feel good about owning a non-ideal house size with a bad layout.
The Optimal Square Feet Per Person For The Ideal House Size
A smart way to figure out the ideal house size is to think in square feet per person. Will you feel comfortable having 400 square feet, 500 square feet, 800 square feet, or 1,000 square feet of space to yourself?
I believe the ideal square feet per person is between 700 – 1,000. This means for a family of three, the ideal house size is 2,100 – 3,000 square feet. For a family of four, the ideal house size is between 2,800 – 4,000 square feet and so forth. We're talking ideal here. You can certainly live happily raising a family with less space or more space.
It's up to you to decide how much space you're most comfortable with. If you live in a big city, due to high housing costs, you may be forced to adapt to smaller apartment living. So long as your home's location is great with lots of parks nearby, that's wonderful for families.
Related: To Make Money In Real Estate Focus On Expansion
The Ideal Number Of Bedrooms
Ideally, your house should have enough rooms per person to sleep individually + one room for guests or an office. In other words, if there are two adults and one baby, the ideal number of bedrooms would be four . For two adults and two kids, the ideal number of bedrooms would be five and so forth.
After working together as a team feeding and changing diapers every 1 – 3 hours for the first three months, one or both spouses will need to go back to work.
Having the option to sleep alone in your own bedroom is important given babies often wake up multiple times during the night the first year, and sometimes up to the first three years. It's nice for at least one partner to get a full night's rest and be more productive at work the next day.
So far we have had my wife's sister, wife's parents, my parents, and my sister visit. Any more than two people staying with us at one time is too crowded. Even two for more than a week feels tight.
With our current three bedrooms + nursery, having one guest is the ideal guest count where we still have enough space to feel free.
The Ideal Number Of Bathrooms
In a perfect world, each bedroom will have its own attached bathroom. This is called an en suite bathroom. With only one bathroom upstairs at our house to service the occupants of two bedrooms and day guests, we have to keep the bathroom cleaner than we normally would.
Further, when overnight guests are over, there is sometimes a wait period since it seems we all tend to wake up and need to go to the bathroom at the same time. Having en suite bathrooms was the key to hosting three adults comfortably at our new house in 2024.
On the the living and dining room floor, there should ideally be at least a half bathroom for non-overnight guests. It's efficient and easier to keep clean. It feels a little weird having guests use our toilet, especially when they need to take a growler.
Having a his and her sink is a great feature for the master bathroom. Further, having a separate shower and tub plus a private toilet stall really opens up the space.
The Ideal Number Of House Floors
Having one floor with no stairs is ideal for babies, toddlers, and elderly folks. Stairs are a safety hazard. Every time I carry my baby up or down the stairs I hang onto him and the railing for dear life. I've missed a step or slipped before by myself, and I don't plan to do so again with such precious cargo.
If land is too expensive to have a one story house, then two floors is the second best thing. Make sure the stairs are carpeted or at least comfortably wide and not too steep. The edges of stairs can cause a big gash.
Four story houses or greater may be difficult navigate for young children and for older adults. However, as I said in the beginning, having multiple floors for separation and quiet is ideal for work-from-home parents.
Personally, I like houses with two or three stories. One floor is an inefficient use of land. Two floors provides more privacy and zones for families to work and children to play.
The Ideal Number Of House Floors For Older People
After the age of 60, the ideal number of stores is one or two.
The ideal house layout would have a main floor that you enter right off the street. The main floor has a kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and multiple ensuite bathrooms so you never have to go up or down a floor if you are older.
Falling and breaking hips and other bones is a common injury for older people. By having everything on one floor off the street, you minimize injuries, decrease stress, save money, and maximize happiness.
The Ideal House Layout For Bedrooms
If you have a baby, it's important to keep him or her close by. The nursery should share a wall with your master bedroom. Or the baby can sleep with you in your room for the first year of life. If you have small children, the ideal house layout is all on one floor. But that's hard to come up in expensive cities.
As for the other bedrooms, ideally no other bedrooms will share walls for added privacy and sound proofing. It's nice to have a closet or a bathroom as a buffer between bedrooms.
With a one story house, each bedroom would ideally be on each side of the house. If two bedrooms are on the same floor, it should be buffered by a closet or a bathroom.
For two or more story houses, you don't want to have your bedrooms on top of each other. Instead, have one or two bedrooms in the front of the house. Then have one or two bedrooms in the back of the house.
Main Bedroom Should Be On The Quiet Side Of The House
The master bedrooms should be in the rear of the house away from the street.
It is unbelievable how much our sleep improved (before the baby) after we moved into our new house which situated our master bedroom in the rear. Every time I nap, I also fall asleep quicker and sleep more soundly in our rear facing bedroom.
If you work from home, having a great house floor plan is vital. Ideally, you don't have bedrooms over common areas. Further, it's good to have offices on different ends of the house or on different floors for more privacy.
Related: The Best Time To Own The Nicest House You Can Afford
The Ideal House Grounds / Lot Size
Ideally, your perfect home will be surrounded by flat land with views. But that combination is super rare, which is why I call it the perfect home. If you find a single-family home on a large, usable lot, with views, buy it ASAP. The larger the buffer between your house's front entrance and the sidewalk and road, the better for noise and safety. Ideally, you'll have an enclosed fence for privacy. An enclosed yard is great for kids and dogs to run around safely.
Flat land is much more valuable than hilly land. When searching for a house, always ask how much of the lot is flat. If your house is on a hill, ideally it has a number of large decks to enjoy. We built large decks on two of our other rental properties with ocean views and they are amazing.
If you are on a hill, like we are, much of our land in the rear was unusable. As a result, we created about 1,200 square feet of flat tiers. We now use one of the tiers for the hot tub, one tier as a playground, and another tier just for plants.
Living near public parks, playgrounds, and libraries in a walkable distance is definitely a plus. The ideal house surroundings should have a lot of outdoor activities.
The older and wealthier you get, the more you will appreciate your home's outdoor space. The more landscaped outdoor space that's private, the better.
Related: Why The Housing Market Won't Crash Any Time Soon
The Ideal Direction A House Faces For Better Feng Shui
You know how some houses feel really warm and cozy, while others have an uncomfortable vibe? Location and layout have a lot to do with how a house feels, but so does its direction. This is called good feng shui. You can just feel the good feng shui when you enter a house.
The quieter the street your house is located on, the better. Think veins instead of arteries. My old house was on a busy artery next to the biggest artery in all of San Francisco. My current house is on a vein in a neighborhood called Golden Gate Heights where there are no apartment buildings. The difference is night and day.
You want your main rooms to either face east or west. Some people like to wake up to the morning sun (east). While others like to wind down to a lovely sunset (west). Decide what type of person you are and then see if the main rooms face your preferred direction. How light fills your house is an extremely important part of the feel of your house.
A house facing north tends to be the least desirable since the least amount of sun enters the house. That said, if you have windows on all sides of the house, it doesn't really matter. A house facing south gets the most sun throughout the day, which is generally positive. However, too much sun can often be overwhelming and too hot, even if you live in more moderate climates.
Related: Income And Net Worth Requirements To Buy A House At Different Price Points
Buy A Slightly Larger House Than You Think Is Ideal
Below is the living room of our old house we bought in 2014. It was a fixer with two bedrooms and a full bathroom upstairs, and a main bedroom and main bathroom upstairs.
We actually spent big bucks creating a large, 175 square foot, master bathroom. But the house was too small for two kids, so we bought another house in 2019.
A baby really does shrink the size of your house by ~30%. Above is a picture of our old 1,920 square foot house. Right smack dab in the middle of our living room was a big play pen.
We also turned another bedroom into a playroom and our office/walk-in closet turned into nursery. At the time, we wish we had an extra half bathroom and family room.
The Next Dream House
If and when we upgrade homes we'll probably look for a 3,000 – 4,000 square foot house on a flat lot with all the above attributes in mind. We're looking into the future when both my wife and I get old. Further, we'll have to take care of one or both sets of parents.
If money isn't any issue, we probably still won't buy a house bigger than 4,000 square feet. Instead, we will focus on buying a newly constructed property with more flat land, better insulation, and fewer problems. With land, you never need to call the plumber!
The ideal house size and layout is one where you can truly enjoy your home. You want to have enough space for everyone. You also don't want to feel a tremendous financial crunch every time you have to pay the bills. Once you have kids, you'll find that the value you your house goes way up.
As the work-from-home movement grows, the ideal house size and layout will likely continue to grow. The ideal home will expand to make room for a home office and a children's play area.
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The Ideal House Size And Layout To Raise A Family is a Financial Samurai original post. Over 100 million visitors have visited Financial Samurai since its founding in 2009. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter here. And also subscribe to the FS podcast here on Apple.
This is insane! We are in an older house that is large but we are struggling to afford it. Our family is larger but there are few houses that are on the market that even remotely fit your high standards. Most families that are middle class are not going to be able to afford houses that are as large as you are talking about. In Tucson, where we are looking to move due to family and career, the houses that we are looking at for around the $400k price (which is still far more than I really want to be locked into) are generally about 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a great room, and about 1800 sqft. That would be too small for most families according to your ideals. I think you need a wake up check and need to understand how privileged you are to have an extra room for visitors, and to give up a 1900 sqft house as being “too small” for a family of 4. This article just makes me angry.
Are you sure you’re not angry because you own a large house that you’re struggling to afford?
Remember, ideal is ideal, and everybody has a different opinion.
I’m not the only reader that thinks you are out of touch. I am upset that you are setting such unrealistic ideals and telling middle class families that they should be able to afford to live in such large houses. I think your idea of idealistic and realistic do not match with the majority of people who are truly in the middle class.
What is your definition of middle class? And what do you think middle class People deserve to have for a middle-class home in terms of size and amenities? Specifics are important if you are the decider of what is appropriate.
I would try not to get upset at people’s opinions, but to consider and learn from them. That’s the fun thing given there is no set rules or definitions for many of these things.
Also, it’s important to look in the mirror and take ownership of the decisions you have made. Your large home might be stressful now to on, but perhaps it will feel much more before the ball in two or three years, if you keep on saving and earning.
Being angry at me for my opinions for what is ideal is not going to help you. Just because someone’s reality is different from yours, doesn’t mean your reality is superior theirs. That would be quite presumptuous.
You may enjoy this post: Spoiled Or Clueless? Time To Work
So 70 sqm per person is a minimum requirement? Only in America… There’s 3 of us sharing 90 sqm/4 bedrooms. And that’s not considered particularly small.
5 bedroom house for a family of 4! You certainly are well off and out of touch.
Anybody who lives in a nicer home than me is living large and it’s not fair!
Windows should be south facing to maximize light and heat in the winter and minimize heat in the summer. A house without south facing windows will be very dark all winter.
Facing west and east is my favorite. Morning and afternoon sunrises and sunsets.
Too many windows facing south can get very hot. So there needs to be moderation.
Hi, we are currently in the process of building our custom home. it should be completed in 6 months. the home is about 3400 sqft , one story with all rooms downstairs and bonus upstairs, 3 car garage located on .8 acre, private with only one neighbor to the right and in a gated community. is it crazy that we are moving from our 1800 sqft home to this large home for 2 adults (husband and I) and our 7 month old baby ? $ 1.1mil
we are also looking at homes that are slightly smaller 2900-3000 sqft in the city. price is similar $850k convenient but less land .
Congrats! All rooms on one floor is a fantastic.
You’ll probably get used to the 3,400 sqft in no time, so it’s not crazy.
And if you followed my 30/30/3 home buying rule or net worth buying rule, you’ll feel good about your home. The intrinsic value of a home has increased a lot since the pandemic began!
I have a question. Is your calculation including finished basement square footage or only above grade?
You might need to put a discount on the square footage for an underground basement. Here in San Francisco, where I live, there are really no underground basements. It’s usually just first floor.
Currently living in a 2000 square feet house, the top floor is for me and my family while I rent the bottom floor. It’s a great way of having both passive income and having a backyard and room for my kids.
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I like your analysis of rooms per person.. however we are a family of 7…we have learned that most homes are not built for a family our size. We are currently in 4500 sq ft in the Midwest, but some of the siblings are sharing as we have 4 bedrooms. I have found myself wanting to downsize but I think for my sanity I can’t.
My family of 7 is currently living in a 3/2 1,000 sq ft home quite comfortably. We have a big yard with a playground to entertain the 5 children(twin toddlers to a 10 year old), and 4 labs. The 1 car garage is not for bikes and other outdoor toys, although a few friends have used it to hold things during a move. Sometimes I’d like a bigger house, but the thought of how much time would be spent cleaning it usually stops those thought!! Other times I’d like to go tiny and travel(not with the dogs though ) I do agree that babies take up a lot of room, but you really over estimate how much space you really need. (Although I have only ever used a pack and play as a bed…)
*more for bike
We have 4400sq foot, family of 8. they drive me crazy when we are home, but we can also sleep in a 29FT RV Class C and though I’m constantly falling over folks, I get to spend time with them instead of cleaning!
Flat land -you have to be careful of flooding and rain, you want to have the house on a slight hill at least.
Also southern facing windows give you heat and light in winter, west facing will cook you out in the summertime.
My sister just found out that she is expecting a baby boy in August and is so excited! She and her husband are wanting to find a single-family home for sale that would be best to raise their little family in. I appreciated your wisdom that you should have enough rooms per individual in the family to sleep in, plus one for either a guestroom or office space and that one-floor homes are good for babies.
My wife and I have a two-year-old boy and we are considering buying a new home before having another child. It is interesting that you recommend 700 square feet of space per person. We may also talk to a real estate agent to help us decide how big we want our house.
lol at the privilege here. in Eastern Europe, it’s common for a family of four to have less than 800 square feet.
Yes, Jeff, and in Jamaica the folks living in huts made of scrap metal would consider the Eastern Europeans privileged. There’s always a bigger victim.
Have you ever been to Jamaica?
Contrary to what you are selling Jamaica has fine homes. What is it with you?
I agree! Home sizes are ridiculous here! We are privileged and looking to buy a good house in a good neighborhood… but they are all grossly large, at least 2000 sq ft.
My niece and her husband and their 3 children live in apartment 333 foot or 31 m2
Are they comfortable and happy in that space?
Wait. You DON’T want most of the windows to face east or west. You will either get glaring light in the morning or evening when the sun rises or sets directly in your windows.
You want most of the window to face south, with a smaller amount facing north.
Light from the south is high up in the sky during summer months, so you don’t get the glare you think you will get. You get a very nice light, but not a glaring light because the sun doesn’t rise in the south.
No. Facing south is way too hot all day. East/West is the best feng shui. Look it up in ancient Chinese history.
facing south maximizes light while minimizing heat seasonally. in the winter, the sun is farther south (lower on the horizon) and heats the house. In the summer, the sun is farther north (higher on the horizon) and will hit more of the roof. Maybe its a function of where you live – i grew up in the desert SW and if your home faced directly west, your home was a hotbox until late evening.
I know wikipedia isn’t the best source but it seems to suggest “ancient chinese history” suggested north-south axis as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui
As a Canadian with large south facing windows… I fully endorse this!
Absolutely, Joe. Our main windows all face south. They provide both heat and light in the winter, and good light in the summer. On the one large east facing window, we have European-style roll-shutters to keep out the morning light. The other east facing windows and patio doors have window films and solid vertical blinds to do a similar job. The south facing garage windows provide some heat in winter and decent light the rest of the year. It is important when contemplating a house to find property that allows this orientation. We plan to put a solar array on the south facing roof slope for additional benefits. We live in SE BC.
PS. We are a “family” of two in a 1280 sq ft home.
I think needs change over time. Layout is perhaps more important than square footage. We live in a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath 2000 sq foot townhome with a full basement.
We are a family of 4. While I don’t think our home is small by any means, we definitely feel the need for an office space and a 4 th bedroom. The basement can technically serve as both, but not ideal. Now that both kids are teenagers, they love the basement space to hang out with their friends, sleepovers, move nights etc.
Especially in the cold winters when they cannot hang outside, the teen space is very useful.
I think if we had a 4th bedroom and a guest bathroom it would be ideal considering that as our parents age they stay with us for longer periods of time.
However the property taxes in NJ are a killer.
Even a 1350 sqft three storied town house is enough. Convert or finish basement into full suite with Bathroom. You will gain more space 4 kids. Two big rooms in private floor are enough.
The main floor with Kitchen, drawing dining should be enough. What will you do with a 2500 sq ft house is beyond logic. Yes prestige and accomplishment definitely but utility, I don’t know. An American house with 1350 sq ft on ground and 1st floor each is enough to live peacefully
Yes NJ taxes are crazy. I feel like his middle class income is off. I think most middle class have a house of 1400 to 2100sf at least in NJ especially with car payments and other expenses.
Holy moly! We have 5 kids and live in an 1050 SF home with 1 bathroom and no half bath. It honestly doesn’t feel crowded. We have a boys room and a girls room and then one for my husband and I. Guests sleep on the couch or the girls both sleep together on the top bunk and the guest is on the lower bunk. I think I would have a mental breakdown if I had a home over 2000 SF! Too much to clean and I’d be more tempted to yell to get someone’s attention. I think the tiny home minamalist trend is kinda weird and almost like a religion to some people but I think a family of 7 can live quite comfortably in less than 2000sf. Then again, everyone’s comfort level is different. Maybe I have a touch of agoraphobia (I also ABHOR the open concept idea)
Compared to my family, yours is truly comfortable. I live in a house less than 500 sq feet, and my family consists of 5 members. 2 boys in one room, parents with daughter. It sucks!
We live in a 900 sqft 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms and have 1 toddler. My husband is comfortable and I’m not. I find baby take up a lot of room and I want to designate a safe play area for him. I prefer a 1600 sqft home or more. I don’t know how you can get by. You’re very talented.
another job would definitely do you good.
That’s rude.
I homeschool my 4 out of my 5, soon to be 6 children and thoroughly enjoy being able to spend the whole day with my kids. I was simply saying I am uncomfortable with large spaces because of the amount of cleaning involved and that I was happy with our 1,050 sf home. My girls share a room and my boys share a room and it works. Now, with the pandemic, my husband will be working indefinitely from home too and he just works from the couch or our bed. Everyone’s comfort level is different but I grew up living a very simple life and abundance just makes me uncomfortable because it isn’t my norm. Another job would be something that would not work for our family dynamic and would be unnecessary as I have no desire to own a larger home or more stuff.
Honestly that’s good that you don’t need a lot to be happy and if it works for your family then keep doing it. I am the 5th child out of soon to be 14 kids and we live in a 3500 square foot house (3500 sound really big and it is, but with 15 people it is perfect.) It has 4 bedrooms and we have a girls room a boys room a kids room and my parents room. We are perfectly comfortable and happy. We live on a 15 acre lot with a pool and a lot of things to keep us busy. I think love grows best in little houses, so just keep doing what makes you happy!
After birth of our second child, we jumped from 2900sf to 5600sf (6800 including covered outdoor rooms) in 2009. Within 2 years we knew this was a mistake, but were at the bottom of the housing market so had to wait it out another 4 years. I can barely call the next move ‘downsizing’ because we bought a 4000sf house, but we banked $300k with the move and shed a LOT of absurd annual costs. We went from 4 air conditioners to 2 and cut our electric and water bills in half. Even more important than downsizing our internal sf was downsizing our external sf (yard) from a full acre to just 7200sf (lot not house!). That’s where most of the wasted time and money went… manicuring a HUGE yard, a 25,000 gallon pool (bigger than some HOAs), fountains, 16 zone sprinkler system, dozens of trees (oak and pine, the kind that dump literally TONS of leaves and needles annually) and keeping 4500sf of driveway clear and clean. Before it took a team of landscapers on riding mowers and hour to cut the grass – now my son does it with an electric mower in 15 min. After six months of hearing “we liked the bigger one” (our kids could literally ride their tricycles around the first floor and have roller derby races in the driveway), everyone in the family soon agreed the old house was just “too big” and didn’t feel ‘cozy’ since everyone had nearly 1700 sf to themselves. We feel fortunate to have made that realization soon enough to correct it.
Sam –
love your blog. great stuff.
Would you share more detail on the leveling you did of your property? We have a similar opportunity on our property and I’d love to hear more about how you thought about making it happen.
Cheers,
Zach
Wow. Given th picture of a tiny home with this article I was expecting something quite thrifty and great encouragement for young families to really reassess what is actually a ‘need’ towards going for something that would really help them towards financial security. Instead I read a list of desires which was far beyond anything I’ve ever experienced let alone would ever consider my my home and family. For example needs to have separate rooms to sleeping for all the kids and he option for a spouse to sleep in another room and ideally that there would be multiple bathrooms. My family and I are very much middle class here in Australia. We have been home owners and totally debt free since we were 30. We did this in part by actually assessing what we needed. Our kids can share a room with bunk beds, we do just fine with one bathroom and if someone for whatever reason needs to sleep somewhere else they can do so on a spare mattress on the floor or on the couch. We are happy. We don’t need more space. And I like the fact that this way of living had a far lower impact on the environment and let’s us focus on developing our 20 acres of land with permaculture. People need to wake up and realise the lifestyle they were brought up with by their baby boomer parents is neither environmentally or financially sustainable.
I do think the Baby Boomers opted for more “stuff” because their parents went through the depression and had nothing. My grandpa’s basement looked like it could support a nuclear disaster and sustain his family for a month. My parents have a TON of stuff and can’t seem to get rid of it! My husband and I only buy what is necessary (for the most part). Our home currently has two adults, three cats, and a plan to have one-two kids. It is 1606 sq/ft with a single garage, unfinished basement, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. I do wish it were 1800sq/ft with a 4th bedroom and an extra bonus room with more storage. But we make due. I fear it will be too small with littles running around. I guess we will figure something out! But I do think my parents are spenders/hoarders lol.
A very poignant point you make regarding Boomers.
Someone with a healthy attitude, also towards environmental issues. Well done!
Whew where to start. First of all, not everyone wants kids whatsoever, so it’s not a “once you have…” thing. Your interrupted sleep sounds terrible and is one of a million reasons we’d never want kids. No thanks. Second, it’s baffling how 99.99% of people seem accepting of poor quality noise control and don’t seem to know you can use Google for anything now days. They’re called Soundproof Windows. Add them to the interior frame of any existing window and you all but eliminate outside noise, even if your house is on a busy road like ours. It’s completely silent in here. No house even on a quiet street should be without, if you ask me, because all it takes is occasional unwanted noise and you suffer the consequences of these paper thin double pane windows. Soundproof Windows are so thick that if you knock them, there’s no “ping” sound, just a thud.
Also one story sucks, two isn’t much better. We have a 2,800 square foot house on 3 levels and it’s ideal because the top floor is 4 bedrooms, the bottom is workout equipment, arcade, pinball, air hockey, and two TVs for gaming and movies. If someone wants to sleep earlier or nap, they won’t be disturbed at all. In a one story home that’s simply impossible unless it was 1) Extremely large (8,000+ square feet), or 2) Built entirely of concrete and steel including interior walls and sound padding throughout. Not realistic for most people. Unless you can sleep through anything, which I sure can’t, there needs to be a large amount of separation between sleeping and fun spaces. I laughed that 2,300 square feet was too big for you…? Do you have exactly the same sleep schedule with no hobbies at all? No friends that stay over late? Sounds really boring to me. For us this is as small as we would ever live, we are looking at more like 3,500 to 4,500 for the next house and that’s only because it’s not financially feasible for more. Even with that, my entire collection will remain in storage as there’s no room in a house that small for it. To each their own but yikes, no, 2,300 is small by any standard for even two people. By myself, I’ve lived in 200, 500, 600, 820, and 920 square foot places but it’s not realistic to both be happy and productive living in a small space with someone else.
Hey holier-than-thou,
The name of the article is The Ideal House Size And Layout To Raise A Family. That typically includes “kids”.
As for the rest – tldr.
Size and layout are nowhere near as important as is location (and price).
Location trumps everything, because what good is a large home if you spend endless hours on your commute (in traffic!) and then some just because you ran out of milk? Ideally it’s close to work, a supermarket and other modes of transport, say a train station and a useful airport.
What good is a gigantic home if the parents are never home because they are commuting/running errands etc? Ideally it’s in a bicycle friendly neighborhood and near some useful public transit too. Or do you want to chauffeur your offspring around all the time? “Here’s your bicycle and there’s your public transit pass, I’m not driving you…“. If your car is in the shop you have an alternative too…
Ha! This one really hit “home” for me and my wife. For reference, we are age 53. 12 years ago we built a 4000 SF house (plus 2000 finished basement) – yes, 6000 SF of house for a family of three. The house was custom and had everything we thought we wanted (Wolf appliances, quartz, hardwood, etc.). We lived in an apartment for a year while it was being built. It turned out to be the biggest lifestyle mistake we ever made. It was not a money issue for us at all, but we just had so much square footage that it was not enjoyable to live in the house. It was over 125 feet to walk from the garage to our bedroom. We once had a birthday party with 75 people in my kitchen! It took hours to cut the grass and mulching was a disaster! We had nearly 3000 SF or concrete driveway – it took me over an hour to clear snow with a commercial sized snowblower. Even the garage was an over-sized 3-car that we kept heated. We could not even carry on a normal conversation because the family room was so stupid big we sat so far away from each other. We had rooms I never went in and we had toilets that had all the water evaporate because they were never used. We used to joke that we needed to pack a snack and needed a map when going from one side of the house to the other! We reached a breaking point when 1) I severed by Achilles and could not walk for 5 months and 2) my wife got deathly ill (she has Lupus) and was unable to do steps and could barely walk. We decided that we could no longer tolerate the size and the stairs (oh, we had two staircases!). Funny thing is, our builder tried to get us to go smaller and at least do a master bedroom on the main level. We should have listened to that advice. Luckily we made out really well financially when we sold that house – that is the only positive thing that came of it.
So, we downsized, by moving into 9-year old 2000 SF resale ranch house (2 BR, 3 baths, office, 2-car garage, etc.), just a few miles away in the same town. Very similar to the floor plans shown in this blog. We totally renovated it to new condition, but wow, the small footprint is just awesome. It pretty much feels like our first house except that it is now smaller. We can walk 15 feet from the kitchen to the bedroom and we now have cozy family time in a normal-sized family room. The house heats and cools to any desired temperature almost instantly, rather than hours. With the basement finished, we still have 4000 SF of finished space, but we do most of our living on one level. I no longer need scaffolding to change light bulbs in a 2.5 story great room and I no longer have to pay someone to clean out my gutters 40 feet up every year. The landscaping takes 10 yards of mulch instead of 25! Our driveway is now just 600 SF and it takes me 10 minutes to clear 8 inches of snow with a very easy to handle normal sized snow blower. This is our retirement house for sure! Even our 14-year old daughter loves it – just easy living, easy to clean, no hassles, low utilities, etc. Short of needing assisted living, this house is fairly retirement proof. If there is one bit of housing advice I could give to anyone, especially young families, is go as small as you can in a ranch-style house, based on the number of people you have. If you get ill or injured (and you will) it just might save your life.Small is the way to carefree living, low stress, and to accelerate wealth accumulation. It cost us $50K in expenses to flip and move that last big house – had we just built a more modest single-level house to begin with we’d still be there now. It all turned out great for us, but wow, that big house sucked the life out of us for the 9 years we lived in it. We still have all our luxurious hardwood, quartz, etc. but it is all normal size now, at least what we now consider normal. RESIST THE URGE TO UPSIZE YOUR HOUSE!
Thanks for sharing! We’re planning to go from a 1900 square-foot house to maybe a 2500 square-foot house. It will be for three people, and I think that would be the perfect size with hopefully a 10,000 square-foot lot.
Thanks for sharing! We are planning to go from a 1900 square-foot house to maybe a 2500 square-foot house. It will be for three people, and I think that would be the perfect size with hopefully a 10,000 square-foot lot.
Owning a house in a place like Hawaii and all on one level sounds like a good idea.
Wow, we are three in a 970 square-foot flat… I just can’t wrap my head around needing so much space.
Where do you live?
Germany
I am 45 with a wife two teens a dog and a cat. Our house in Mass is 7545sq feet we love life! Me and my wife started with 1500 sq feet and moved to 2800 when my first son was born after the first one was 13 and the other one was 10 we moved to a larger home. It was around 700000 for the land and to build the colonial was 1.7. We have gained all of our building costs back because we have solar and geothermal HVAC and geometric pool heat.
3 floors was wonderful for us when my dad lived with us on the lowest floor, he had his own apartment, which later we used for our business. My family had 2 floors, each 1000 sq ft. I wish I’d known its normal and perfectly ok to sleep alone while children are young. We had interrupted sleep for ten years.
Now we’re 3 people in a 2 story 2550 sq foot house (plus one son in college). Our e-tailing business is in a bedroom and huge bonus room. This saves us 1500/mo in rent plus commute. Living on acreage and loving it. Homeschooling too.
The dual living with my dad and our business allowed us to wind up owning a gorgeous house which we now rent out. We never would have bought that house just for our own family. There’s much to be said from having one’s Home generate an income stream. Now our second home likewise has income streams from our business and our farm.
I have a family of four, and think that four bedrooms is ideal rather than five. One for the parents, one for each kid, and a guest room/office. More than likely the guest room/office will be free most of the time to accommodate either parent if they need the sleep. Yeah, having one for each parent may be nice in the beginning, especially if you have guests over, but once the kids are grown then there’s the extra room.
As for size of the house, that’ll also depend on the layout, our 1920sqft house has a similar layout to the first layout you posted. We have the master bedroom and bath on one side with the garage, then an open floorplan with the living room, kitchen, and dining room in a straight line, then the last three rooms and a bathroom on the other side. Had we bought a larger house that was partitioned, then it would have felt a lot smaller than what we currently have.
At this time, really the only thing that may have us move is if the school district continues on their downturn. Unfortunately, from word of mouth, none of the school districts in my location are doing all that great. The one I’m in is flush with money, but is starting to have discipline problems, and the one that’s doing well is having money issues. I have a few more years until I need to really worry, but if the trend continues it’s looking like either private schooling or home schooling will be the way to go.
Thank you for this article Sam. My wife and I have recently been debating all the above factors when trying to choose a home. I think our ideal layout is a 3/2 with large kitchen, open floor plan without any structural walls that lead to a family room. These are somewhat important to us, because I think related to our upbringing and size of our families, it seems that everyone loves to congregate around the kitchen and family rooms. The struggle is real as we are trying to buy in SF or the surrounding Peninsula area – we will keep at it.
What are your thoughts on the pricing/valuation of the real estate market in the Bay Area?
Thank you again for all you do with this blog and community. You have inspired me to start blogging about my experiences with finance and the lessons learned along the way. Keep it up!
I’m very cautious on SF Bay Area real estate now. I sold my SF rental house last year for 30X annual revenue because prices seem incredibly expensive. I reinvested the proceeds into real estate crowdfunding with net rental yields that are 5X higher.
In other words, the $500,000 I reinvested into real estate crowdfunding has the potential to earn just as much as the home I sold for $2,742,000! I’m slowing taking down risk. Now is the time to haggle, not be the winner in a manic bidding war.