Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 29, 2012 9:07 pm Just wanted to know what everyones opinion is on building a relatively large property. My fiance and I have saved up a very good deposit which would allow us to buy, demolish and build a house in middle eastern suburbs of Melbourne. We were initially thinking of building something in the mid 30sq, but have just seen the Porter Davis Sandringham 45 and is absolutely in love with it. We is obviously too large for us at the moment (there are only 2 of us for now), but we plan on having 2-3 kids in the next few years. Although we can very reasonably afford it and absolutely love the house, I am uneasy about building such a big house as I feel it may seem over extravagant and unnecessary. That said, we will probably live in this house for the next 15-20 years. We are in our mid to late twenties. What are everyone else's experiences with building a larger house in terms of issues like cleaning, utility bills, pros, cons etc? Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 2Feb 29, 2012 10:46 pm Do not under capitalise on the black. I am in a similar situation and because of the suburb that I am in and the surrounding houses I need to go big. We are looking at 56sq and there is my wife and 2 kids. we just went for bigger everything and making it our long term family home. my response probably doesnt help but i think that if you build too small it wont retain value as the land value will outstrip. Cheers Mark Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 3Feb 29, 2012 11:22 pm We built a pretty big house, and it's only the two of us, two dogs and a cat. It's no harder to clean than a smaller house, as most of the time we don't use the spare bedrooms or main bathroom. We also built pretty big for resale, as we're on an acre and the surrounding houses are mostly bigger than ours (which is over 400sqm). Proportionally, the bigger the house is, the cheaper it is. . . Theoretically. . . Unless you start adding an ensuite to every bedroom and an extra kitchen. Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 4Mar 01, 2012 6:51 am If you plan to stay there a long time and will have need of a large house in the future, then what's the problem? We spent far too long in a tiny 12 square house with three kids and my only regret with building a big house is that we didn't do it years earlier... Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 5Mar 01, 2012 8:40 am If you're p[planning on having 2-3 kids and can afford to build it now (and have factored in paying fot it when the kids arrive) then building it now would be ideal. It will let you get used to the area, scope out schools and other facilities and get to know you neighbors before the kids arrive. We lived in a 100sqm house for 7 years (Me, Wife and Dog) and only had our daughter in the last year before knocking down and rebuilding. We went with 31.5Sq (24 living) and now have enough room for the next child if we want or an abundance of space and room for our business. Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 6Mar 01, 2012 9:48 am If you can afford it, build it. We built our house when it was just us 2 and at the time thought it was too big and over the top but 3 kids later we are thinking of how we can do a relatively cheap extension. Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 7Mar 01, 2012 10:46 am happystarz, we were in the same position as you (except at the other end of our lives .. nearing retirement) and when we were looking at display homes we just fell in love with what we've got now .. it's miles too big for the two of us but hey we love it and it feels so special (and a little bit naughty) to have such a big house. I say as long as you can afford it and not put yourselves under too much fianncial pressure then go for it .... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 8Mar 01, 2012 10:51 am I'm building 5 bed inner Melb . 32 sq. there are only 2 of us. no plans to have kids. We are hoarders. no remorse. flamebait. 13-08 Moved in 13-05 Build restart 13-04 VMIA compensation 12-08 Builder liquidation 12-03 Fixing 11-12 Lockup 11-11 Frame 11-09 Slab 11-09 Start 11-07 Contract 10-11 2K deposit 10-06 Titled land Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 9Mar 01, 2012 1:30 pm I'm not sure exactly what defines a mcmansion??? but if it means a big house then I am guilty as charged There are plenty of arguments why you shouldn't build more than you need and plenty of arguments to say you should plan for the future but either way I would say that it is important to make some environmental considerations when going ahead with your build. Look at ways to minimise heating and cooling, consider water storage and use and general energy use in the home. It costs you nothing to orientate your house the right way, get window size and placement correct. Taking these things into consideration will help with the running costs of a 45sq home, not to mention the environmental impact!! I think most people take this into consideration these days but the big builders don't always make it easy and conflicting info can make it all very confusing!!! In regards to cleaning - with just the 2 of you living in it - it won't really get that messy will it? or just employ a cleaner If you love the home - go for it!!! Good luck. Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 10Mar 01, 2012 1:36 pm Boy this thread is pretty tame so far. The last thread about McMansions created all sorts of arguments LOL. If you can afford it and you aren't over capitalizing in the area then only you can say yes or no. And when I say can you afford it - consider changes in lifestyle such as children coming along / changes in income etc. We built a 55sq home with ensuites on every bedroom. Yep some people bagged us but we built it to suit our needs both now and in the future. We are fortunate to be in a position that resale is not something we have to consider so we built a home that houses us and our three children with plenty of space for them to run around. And should something happen later on the ensuites will assist if one or both sets of parents need to move in with us. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 11Mar 01, 2012 2:41 pm A Family member just build a 92 square house for him and his wife. She is sick of cleaning it. Somehow as big as it is it doesnt seem excessive at all. http://lindeman28.blogspot.com - Our building blog Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 12Mar 01, 2012 2:42 pm I'm not in to massive houses myself, but if you truly love it and can afford it, then don't worry what other people think. This house is for you to live in after all! I do think rocketship made a lot of sense - but then I think all houses should take these factors into consideration for the better of our environment lol. Good luck Re: Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 13Mar 01, 2012 3:22 pm Trewman A Family member just build a 92 square house for him and his wife. She is sick of cleaning it. Somehow as big as it is it doesnt seem excessive at all. they never heard of roomba and scooba! 13-08 Moved in 13-05 Build restart 13-04 VMIA compensation 12-08 Builder liquidation 12-03 Fixing 11-12 Lockup 11-11 Frame 11-09 Slab 11-09 Start 11-07 Contract 10-11 2K deposit 10-06 Titled land Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 14Mar 01, 2012 4:02 pm We are in the builder finalisation stage and the home we are building is bigger than we need now but will be fine when we expand our family by another child or 2. More than that and the alfresco will be getting turned into a bedroom Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 15Mar 02, 2012 7:54 am sorry and please excuse my ignorance, but what's the difference between square metres and squares? Thanks Peta 2010, June : Land bought (1700sqm, battleaxe block). That's it so far! We're in the design phase .... Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 16Mar 02, 2012 8:07 am [quote="Pete_n_Pet"]sorry and please excuse my ignorance, but what's the difference between square metres and squares? A square is a space equivalent to 10 feet by 10 feet = 100 sq feet - kids' bedroom in the old days. Then we went metric so it got messy I think the equivalent is 9.27 sq metres so 22 squares should be 22 x 9.27 (or whatever the figure is). I wish there were a standard for house measurements - some builders include the garage, porch, alfresco others don't or they have to specify it as living when you look at a house like Plaza 29 (I hope there's no house called Plaza) then does it mean 29 squares plus the garage etc or including the garage etc. Re: Re: Are you building a 17Mar 02, 2012 10:37 am zeitgeber Trewman A Family member just build a 92 square house for him and his wife. She is sick of cleaning it. Somehow as big as it is it doesnt seem excessive at all. they never heard of roomba and scooba! 92 sq is enormous! Twice the size of ours. . . Do the have an east and a west wing? Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 18Mar 02, 2012 10:53 am The problem for me is sustainability in building relatively large houses. If you're environmentally concious and you want your kids kids great grand kids to be enjoying the planet then you need to be sensible about things. Building with Jandson Homes - Eclipse 18. http://adgnetworks.blogspot.com/ Re: Are you building a "Mcmansion"? 19Mar 02, 2012 10:54 am Pete_n_Pet sorry and please excuse my ignorance, but what's the difference between square metres and squares? http://bit.ly/z5JkIR Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8367 No. It's not original. 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