I don't have a MH or a vent but I would like to say I enjoyed reading your story. You have a nice writing style. Congrats on obtaining your PHD and your new home!

That was so rude! No big deal here but the only thing I can remember is one of my nieces said that 2 of my bedrooms were too small. If I remember right they're both 11x12 with walk-in closets. How much room does a kid need, anyway? I just said good thing you don't have to live here.

On the flip side, I went with my ex-boyfriend to his sister's house for Christmas dinner once. It was an A-frame house I had always thought was nice on the outside. When I said her house was cozy she said yeah, I know it's little. I meant it as a compliment. It was small, warm, decorated nicely and looked welcoming to me. Later, I told her I had the same light fixture over my table she said, "I hate it." I quit trying after that.

Thanks acadiafun1! What a nice thing to say. :-). Haha, Abbisgram! I think 11x12 is a good sized room! The room I'm staying in until I move into my house in .June is 12x12 and I think it's huge! Kids these days. And my goodness! Some people just can't take a compliment. They have to turn everything around and be negative. Some people are just unhappy by nature and it spills over in everything they say or do. I'm guessing she was unhappy with her house to begin with, and when you gave an honest compliment, she couldn't see it. "Cozy" can mean small in real estate, but it's also a nice compliment to someone's style in making their home warm and inviting. As a teenager, one summer we got to vacation for a week at my parents' friend's cabin, which was a lovely A frame. I had never seen one before, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! And what a mean and rude thing to say about the light! Even if she did hate it, she didn't need to say that. There's no pleasing some people.

Hi Mike! What a great story. It completely illustrates my point. People are ignorant and even when they see the "evidence" right in front of them--i.e. 2 acre lots compared to half acre lots--they don't process that information; rather, they just see what they want to see. Congratulations on your early retirement! Sounds like you worked hard, made smart financial decisions, and saved. It obviously paid off! Way to go! :-)

I confess I once made a rude comment to a co-worker who I knew lived in a "mobile home" (this was before the term manufactured home was used). We live in Minnesota and it was during a particularly cold part of winter. I asked her if she and her husband were able to keep warm in their mobile home.

I mean back then I'm picturing a TRAILER, you know?

Of course she bristled and loudly said they were just as warm as any home. I could see she was upset but had no clue why. It was years later when we had friends retire into a double-wide manufactured home and saw with our own eyes how nice it was.

Kessala

Hi Kessala! It sounds to me like your heart was in the right place. To say winters in MN are cold is an understatement and you were genuinely concerned about your co-worker. I think when many people, like you, actually get to see a manufactured home, especially the interior, they understand how nice they can be.

I can also understand where the stigma of owning/living in a manufactured home came from. Back in the day, MH's first evolved from travel trailers. And there were (and still are) some "trailer parks" that were run-down, and were located in very low income and high crime parts of town.

Before the HUD code took effect in 1976, there were also some very cheaply made MH's that were built to fall apart and probably wouldn't withstand a MN winter. And thus, manufactured homes got a very bad rap and a stigma that we're still trying to overcome.

Thanks for sharing! :-)

What I usually get is the surprised "Oh, this is NICE." Because, you know, they were not expecting a MH to be nice. My place is nicer than many new stick-built houses; all the trim is actual wood, not resin. Crown molding, colonial baseboards, laminate floors, open floor plan, double paned windows, lots of insulation, and tons of storage.

I am now the proud and excited owner of a "new" 1959 Pacemaker two-story, 10 x 50 mobile home, which just arrived in KS from NE after occupying a lot for 40+ years in a park. I recently emailed my brother an exterior shot of "Sweet Sixteen" and his response: "Oh my! It looks like it was pulled out of a lake!" LOL

But then, he hasn't yet seen the inside of her, which is all original with original woodwork, flooring, fixtures and appliances (only the stove is not original and will be replaced with a period-correct gas one). She has three bedrooms and 1-1/2 baths with tons of storage that just about puts every new stick-built tiny house to shame. Now undergoing restoration to repair water damaged paneling and damage to the exterior skin, she will shine again in due time. I am so looking forward to living in this golden oldie soon!

This is my Pacemaker's floor plan, as seen in an advertisement from 1958. Note the cool built-in TV under the stairs!

We retired into a beautiful mobile home park in Fl. Since I am mobility impaired,it is the ideal thing. One of my retired friends lives in an old ugly house in now which has become a bad neighborhood. She has mentioned several times that she would never live in a trailer in Fl with Fl. having hurricanes. Well, I would never live in her big house with small rooms and small closets. I don't have to be afraid to go out after dark either. I have never made a nasty remark about her house and I have told her repeatedly that I live in a mobile home which is quite nice. She just doesn't get it. Other than the home issue she is a good friend and has been for 50+ years. That is just the way it is with some people.

I live in a fairly new single wide manufactured home. I decided to sell a couple of my garden planters on Craigslist. The man came to purchase them, and as he was coming up the stairs on to my large deck, he said "Oh, you live in one of those 'dwarf houses' - lol