Back to square one.....again~~

15 years ago

Oh my, oh my, we are starting over on our house plans. After taking into consideration our ages (66 & 77) and the economy, we are back to the drawing board and have decided to really down-size from the 4,000 SF house we currently live in, to the 3,000 SF plan that we have ready to build, and now to one that is about 1,900 SF and will be giving up some of our "wants", but not our "needs"....so we have really cut down on just how much room we "actually" need....to keep up, to heat/cool, to clean and before too long, one of us will be living there alone. Some of you posted about this before when I was trying to decide and gave me some very good thoughts....and I have taken them to heart....so thanks......and now back to drawing........good thing my DH is an architect...but he just finished all of the final touches on the other one~~~~~oh well...that is life~~

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Comments (6)

kateskouros
15 years ago
wow... you are obviously a woman blessed with an abundance of patience! good luck, and i hope the draw goes well and quickly. you're very lucky dh is an architect! we wouldn't even think of shelling out the kind of money we paid our architect again! please let us know how it's going.
marthaelena
15 years ago
I think what you are doing is the right thing to do.
You will be happy you did. It will be a lot easier for you. I do know that the 1900 SF might grow to 2,000 but that is ok. It will be half of what you have. You will have more time and money to enjoy life.
Good luck
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meldy_nva
15 years ago
That took courage. And a lot of soul-searching. But, I too think you will be much happier in a smaller place. For sure it's easier to keep 2000 sf clean than something twice the size.

DH & I are in the same range of ages. Like you, I am in the process of doing a major downsizing of the next house. I've spent a lot of time on crutches and so have an awareness of the difficulties posed; my mother had to use a wheelchair for twenty years, so again I have real-life knowledge of the problems faced. (Such as hallway width, which is supposedly handicap accessible at 34" -- imo, that HAD to have been determined by someone who never lived with it!) Anyway, I'm down to 1200 sf, with an additional 800 sf for a walk-in basement.

Keep working on the plans, and try to incorporate double-use areas wherever possible. I'm sure your architectural spouse can plan rooms so that they FEEL spacious, whether or not they actually are.

Wishing you the best of luck, and hoping you will stay in touch! :-)
chisue
15 years ago
Thank you for getting back to us on this. I'm relieved!

When we built we didn't downsize, we 'upsized' slightly, if that's a word. That's because our 'starter home' of 1971 nearly became our 'retirement home'. It was a nice 2000 sq ft 1950's brick ranch on a quarter acre in a desireable suburb 15 miles north of Chicago.

However the area had become more and more congested with road (and air) traffic. To our west, Glenview Naval Air Station had been decommissioned and was turning into (IMO) a nightmare of dense development. To our south, Evanston was ripping out single family homes and throwing up skyscrapers. Roads were gridlocked.

Like you, we wanted to 'escape'! We moved 15 miles farther north and closer to the lake; bought another 1950's ranch on a beautiful street near town; tore it down and built a 2900 sq ft single-story-living home. We came close to remodeling but I am SO glad we did the teardown. Now we are *where* we want to be and in a tight, new house we can enjoy for some time to come. After visiting friends in our old town I breathe a sigh of relief as soon as we exit the expressway and head east to peace and quiet.

I know you will enjoy the new surroundings, perhaps as much as the new house! Do check back and let us know progress. Are you considering moving before building? It sounds as though just exiting the problem town would be a relief.
phoggie
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for all of your encouragement.

Martha~~This "feels" right for us to do considering our ages and the economy....our money sure doesn't go as far as it would have two years ago when we first started thinking about moving and building again...and who knows where this is going to end? I really hate to be those young people socking so much money into a house...they haven't lived through the "hard years" that some of us have done.

Meldy~~ This house will be totally handicapped excessible. I have had one hip replaced and good old "Arthur" is in all my joints, so this was a "must" for me...no steps, walk-in shower, lever handles, wide doors and hallways, etc.

Kate~~Just curious, how much was the architect fees for drawing your house plans?

Chisue~~Yes, everything depends if (or when) we are able to sell this house....the market is terrible now in this "military town"....too many houses and no one buying~~ so be hopeful for us....thanks for your best wishes.
jenk2008
15 years ago
Phoggie, I'm so sorry to hear you are having to go back to the drawing board, I'm sure it is frustrating to have to scrap your plans and start over. I wish you all the best on the re-design, and I've been thinking about you with this economy, I heard that our whole surrounding area is getting back-logged with houses for sale. I sure hope things turn around and you can get your current house sold quickly and easily!