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Thread: The space you really need?

  1. #1
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    The space you really need?

    DW and I wanted to take a little road trip before we both buckle down to fall activities and regular time commitments. DW found this marvelous bed-and-breakfast in northwestern Minnesota. There's a mansion, a cottage, and four converted/renovated train cars. This one was ours:

    imperial_ls_past_br_6587_w.jpg

    It's an 80-foot railroad car with an observation deck on the back and (in the part you can't see here) a two-person whirlpool, a WC, a utility nook (water heater, cleaning supplies), and the "kitchenette" (small fridge, microwave oven, coffeemaker, and space for some dishes and flatware).

    OK, not really practical for daily life (for us, anyway): there was a shower handheld in the whirlpool which we used gingerly because of all the wood surrounding the tub and it would be nice to cook beyond heating food in a microwave oven. But there was a surprising amount of storage space, a dining area, a seating area/living room, and a couple of comfy chairs in front of the fireplace. And the deck out back. Not big enough for lots of friends to visit, but there are outside areas available for a few months of the year and if it were truly ours, a three-season porch would not be out of the question if it were sited right.

    The cottage, though, was the revelation.

    Alaska_cabin_sitting_room_4878_w.jpg Alaska_cabin_bedroom_2_9788_w.jpg alaska_cabin_kitchen_7578_w.jpg alaska_cabin_bath_2382_w.jpg

    I would guess maybe 600 square feet total and wide enough to allow wheelchair/walker access. Not designed for tons of privacy but DW and I agreed there was enough space to get out of each other's hair if that were necessary. No space for guests, so that solves that issue. The kitchen is not my ideal (and the stove would not meet code in our location, sitting next to the wall like that). But talk about living cabin life at home! Add a basement for storage/storm shelter (and a garage) and DW and I believed we could be quite happy with so much less.

    Seeing both of these spaces started a discussion between us about how much space we needed and how even our current 1700-square-foot house was becoming too much, even with the grandkids over more and more often. We also discussed moving closer to our daughter/SiL and the grandkids. But a place like this won't be easy to find in their sprawling suburb (or adjacent to it) and the cost of building such a small place (railroad motif aside) would rival the cost of a bigger place. However, it did start the conversation. That's a good thing.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  2. #2
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    The cottage is cute, but the train car is to die for.

    I always figured I wanted no more than 1200 sq ft with basement in another house. DCC90A5D-9CCA-4EE0-A2B3-5C10F69FF279.jpgB9275A65-480C-423C-BF7A-52A4C18D05A1.jpg ur Hermann house has around 1400 sw ft. We will be building on. I may be an idiot for this,I dont know.

    I will attach my crude drawing of current
    Hermann floor plan for anyone interested. Perhaps a kind person will turn it right side up.
    Last edited by iris lilies; 8-27-18 at 9:02am.

  3. #3
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    As you may know, our VT cabin/cottage is just over 700 square feet and I can't be happier with how comfortable DH and I are in it. And I'm surprised about that--but I have to say that we have managed to add 24 square feet via my DH's outbuilding workshed/man cave where he smokes, reads the news on his iPhone and listens to the 1960 transistor radio that came with the property.

    We had some visitors this weekend and they commented on how, while our home is small, we have everything we need, and I completely agree. It's such an efficient way to live!

    However, we have yet to test the comfort of our closeness in the winter. I'll keep you posted on that. In MN you'll probably spend 6 months at least in close quarters.

    I love that railroad car! It's so "vintage luxe"!
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

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    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    That rail car is really neat to see. Glad you shared the pics.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  5. #5
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Both the train car and cottage were very cool. We have lived in 870 sq ft and 1100 condos that were not big enough. No garage so we rented a storage space. Now we live in 1400 sq ft with 1 car garage and shed. We each need our own office.

  6. #6
    Williamsmith
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    In the right location, something like the cottage could be perfectly fine with me. As Catherine said though, Winter could also be a revelation of sorts. Cabin fever is a real possibility and sneaks up on you. I tend to talk to myself more often in February. Guests during the winter are especially welcome. There’s enough space in 600 square feet if properly laid out.

  7. #7
    Senior Member HappyHiker's Avatar
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    Cute places, both rail car and cottage. What I noticed immediately about the cottage was the lack of cabinet space in the kitchen. That wouldn't work for me. I like to cook and storage is important to me for both cookware and pantry.

    I once told my husband that all we really need is a good-sized kitchen, a nice bathroom, a 4-season sun room and a screened porch. I could happily settle for Murphy beds...love nooks and crannies and built in seating such as window seats...

    To me, modern houses have so much wasted space.

    Our current house has a living room we rarely use as we have a cozy family room. We also have a formal dining room which we ignore as we have a nook in the family room that seats four and overlooks the backyard and trees...

    We spend a lot of time on the screened porch...
    peaceful, easy feeling

  8. #8
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    Our mountain cabin is 1250 SF and an oversized 1 car garage. It's great! That said, the longest we've been there is 10 days...no issues.

    Our city home is 1850 with a 2 car garage and hubby has a woodshop the size of a single car bay. This home is way plenty big. We have a bistro table in the family room by the big windows overlooking our patio and garden/trees...we eat our meals here. The dining room is used only when we have guests. The rest of our space is used regularly-nothing is tight. Even after 27 years we have empty closet/cupboard space mostly because I don't do clutter and don't hang on to never-used stuff (except those clothes I know I'll lose weight to wear.....right?)

    I'm a quilter and that takes space and since I could design my own with a remodel we did in 2003, I did. My sewing table is 4x8f, my pressing station is a 24*60" surface we made for me. My quilting machine footprint is 11*5f and I have an upright grand piano. These 2 big items are in the living room-otherwise we wouldn't use that space either. And then we moved our office desk from our family room to the living room as it could fit. Our kitchen is very small by today's standards but it's packed with cupboards and a floor/ceiling pantry with bifold doors on it so it's a good size.

    How much space is about lifestyle and what you do and how you do it. We're on a small city lot but I can grow a ton of food...people are amazed at what I produce.

    My neighbor who is planning a 2nd child says they'll outgrow their 2600sf with that birth. Um....OK. I was raised in 1400sf with 5 siblings/2 parents. It worked.

    To each their own.

  9. #9
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Downsizing will be a continuing conversation for DW and me.

    There would have to be real conversations about, say, guests: While we have a somewhat steady stream of people visiting throughout the year, it's seldom more than half-a-dozen for an afternoon/evening and it's never more than two or three overnight. That railroad car and the cottage could accommodate the afternoon/evening visitors. But overnight guests would require a level of "closeness" with which I think neither us nor our guests would be comfortable. So, hotel nearby? In our near-the-kids scenario, have guests stay overnight in the kids' McMansion? Enough space for one guest room? And what of the extra chairs and the "fancy" set of dishes and serving pieces we have for when guests come over?

    Just as it does not make sense to buy a pickup truck if you have to carry big items only once a month or so, does it make sense to buy/maintain a much larger home which remains empty most of the time? A topic of discussion. But it was nice for this experience to jog us into thinking about it more seriously.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  10. #10
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    Agree it's good to experience living in different size spaces. My little rental is about 700 sq. feet so I was glad to see the cottage photos because I'm always thinking of ways to reconfigure that rental space when it's time to remodel.

    We seem to be doing the opposite of downsizing. SO just built a workshop/shed about 120 sq. feet for storage and woodworking projects. I wish more suburban houses would have these types of outbuildings. Our total material cost was <$3,000 including a concrete slab. I know he'll get a lot of use out of it and of course it increases the overall property value.

    So my vote is to be realistic about the amount of entertaining and overnight visitors, and concentrate on how you live your daily life. Also if you are living with others it's great to have some amount of private getaway space.

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