The size of a house

We start the search for a new house and hence these thoughts.

Smaller houses are easier to maintain, more energy efficient, easier to furnish and don't eat up all our money in mortgage. Should I really buy a bigger house just so that I can store all the "stuff" I have? Wouldn't it be better to just get rid of half the stuff, and get better organized with the rest of it. Who uses a formal living room anymore? Do I really need a separate guest bedroom when I have family visiting, maybe, twice a year. Couldn't I just install a Murphy Bed in the home office? I do work from home but what is my home office, but a desk with a computer. That could be easily fitted into an armoire in a corner of the family room. We live in a free country, where there is an amazing freedom of expression and choices, and people are not judged by the size of their house, usually. Of course small is a relative term - what I am calling small would be considered huge in Manhattan, but let's not digress.

It all makes practical sense. But what of the show-off value to my fellow countrymen from the old country? Tchk, thck...so shallow, you say. We are human after all, and so are all our friends and family who will judge us, and our success by the size of our houses & the price of our cars. And we will return the favor.

There are a a lot of people and not that much land in India, where I grew up. Growing up, my family of 5 lived in a two bedroom apartments. So did most of the people we knew. The fixtures and furnishings varied with the income level, of course. So having more space, in the old country, instantly shows that you have moved up in life. Consequently, most Indians who live in the US, buy the biggest house that they can afford, or maybe not afford.

Why - we don't do it for us, or even to show off to our friends here. We do it for the people back in India - the ones we love and who would like nothing more than to see that we are happy, and nothing more than to tell their friends how well their son or daughter is doing in America. "She has 5 bathrooms in her house". Wow. The little piece of information missing here is that she also has to clean all the 5 bathrooms herself! This show-off value, however, is not to be take lightly. All parents want their children to be successful in life and to have everyone else know that their children are indeed successful. They live so far away, the square footage of our house is an excellent gauge and something to brag about. So are swimming pools and German cars, but let us keep this discussion to houses for now.

There is no dearth of land here. In suburbia, sub-division after sub-division of huge houses are erected in no time at all. A large house isn't a big deal at all! And yet we try to buy the biggest house we can even to the point of inconveniencing ourselves. Those formal living rooms and dining rooms sit vacant, amassing toys, years after year. In our heart we know that we are running on the treadmill, and yet we can't get off. Such a tragedy.

And now back to the home listings.