Perfect size of retirement house

[lifesavacation]

We’re getting ready to pick plans and build our retirement/aging in place home. What do you think is the perfect size?

 

[dish rag]

2000 sq ft.

 

[Floridaman999]

2001 sq ft.

 

[dclpluto]

Really no one can answer that question for you without knowing a lot of info from you about what your income will be on retirement.
Good thing your building new you shouldn’t have hardly any maintenance problems. Besides hot water heater and a few other small things.
Of course the bigger house you get the more it costs in keeping it cool, keeping it warm, taxes on your house.
Enjoy your retirement.
Also go with a one story house. You might be in great shape now but you will have the house for the remainder of your golden years.

 

[mnrose]

3 BR, 2.5 BA. The square footage depends on how wisely you use that space. I'd have a great room. No separate dining room or living room. Waste of space. The 3 BR would be one for us. One for a dedicated guest room, bath adjoining. The other BR would also adjoin the bath and would be an office, with a pull down murphy bed to be used in the event we had multiple overnight guests. (The bath would be jack and jill...the other 1/2 bath would be for guests to use who are not overnight guests). All one level home. Extra wide doorways in the event we need walker and/or wheelchair at some point.

Master would have a large walk in shower, with bench built in. No tub.

 

[Wendy31]

I would agree w/ something around 2,000 square foot - maybe something in the 1,800 - 2,000 range.

However, I think the layout is more important than the square footage.

If you're going to be doing a lot of entertaining (for example, if the extended family will still be coming for holidays), then, while you may need less bedrooms in your retirement home, you're still going to need a decent-sized gathering space (great room, living room, etc.) & a well-laid out kitchen.

Additionally, for me, I look for thoughtful, well-placed, & adequate storage. The rooms can be huge, but if there's not enough closet & storage space, then the house is not going to work well.

 

[monsterkitty]

3 BR, 2.5 BA. The square footage depends on how wisely you use that space. I'd have a great room. No separate dining room or living room. Waste of space. The 3 BR would be one for us. One for a dedicated guest room, bath adjoining. The other BR would also adjoin the bath and would be an office, with a pull down murphy bed to be used in the event we had multiple overnight guests. (The bath would be jack and jill...the other 1/2 bath would be for guests to use who are not overnight guests). All one level home. Extra wide doorways in the event we need walker and/or wheelchair at some point.

Master would have a large walk in shower, with bench built in. No tub.

This is similar to the house we just bought for our retirement. We don't have the jack and jill, but both the guest room and the office with the murphy bed are right next to the guest bath. Best thing about our new house is the huge deck right off the kitchen. I can hardly wait for warm weather so I can sit out there!

Our house is 1,750 square with a full basement. I'm working one more year so we can finish the basement. It will have an additional bedroom, a "man cave", and a workout room for my bike and treadmill.

 

[morgan98]

We have thought about this quite a bit. I am not so sure it is a question of a certain number of square feet as how that space is used. We live in a MUCH. MUCH bigger house than a childless married couple would ever need, but it is hard to find a house that fits our requirements that doesn't come with several extra bedroom and bathrooms. We know we will need to do this for our "retirement home"

We love to cook and spend lots of time in the kitchen. We would like a large, functional eat in kitchen. No need for a formal dining room. 99% of the time, it is two of us eating. I also want a comfortable sized great room, not need for a formal living room, but I would like to have some type of smaller sitting room or room with a fireplace to sort of serve as a reading room.

I nice sized master with separate sinks and a walk in shower. The room doesn't have to be too huge, as we really only sleep there (no tv, etc). I guess a nice guest room with private bath would be great.

I am want a screened in porch and so room for a home gym.

Not sure how all of this will play out.

We are also seriously considering retiring to Italy, in which case the house will probably look very different than it would here in the states.

 

[barkley]

Really no one can answer that question for you without knowing a lot of info from you about what your income will be on retirement.
Good thing your building new you shouldn’t have hardly any maintenance problems. Besides hot water heater and a few other small things.
Of course the bigger house you get the more it costs in keeping it cool, keeping it warm, taxes on your house.
Enjoy your retirement.
Also go with a one story house. You might be in great shape now but you will have the house for the remainder of your golden years.

i agree with this, i also think you need to visualize what your wants are in retirement. if you desire a home that family can visit and stay at then consider how large visiting family is/may be. you can count on shorter visits if there's just one guest room and adult kids/grands all have to share it (or kids sleep in living room).

we are in our 'forever home' and bought it for our needs finishing off w/then tweens-for the long haul. when we were looking i knew we needed (down the line) at least one room to dedicate for 'guests' and one for an office/library. single story (bad back and knees-no way dealing with it with aging issues), WIDE halls and turns into doorways (easier to maneuver if future wheelchair or walker is needed). WIDE bathrooms (if bathroom/bathing assistance is needed-more space for 2 people to maneuver). LOTS of lower cabinets w/pullouts in kitchen. if in a icy/snowy area-extra exterior outlet by entry/exist porches for heated mats (i've got over 3' of snow adjacent to my entry but the steps and walkway are ice-free due to these, saves a slip and fall for sure).

 

[ramee]

1500 sq ft

 

[jerseygal]

One floor in case your ability to climb stairs changes as you age. One floor is good for resale for older adults also. 3 BR, 2 Bath between 1800 and 2200 sq feet would be good. As others have said, we have a formal dining room, formal living room, feel like "been there, done that". Definitely know do not need a formal living room, prefer a nicer bigger great room instead and a formal dining room would be nice for when the future grands come, but not absolutely essential.

 

[disneychrista]

If 2,000 is your downsizing house what is your kids at home house. My house is 1,100 and I’ll have 2 rooms that never get used when my daughter move out. Couldn’t imagine needing 2,000.

 

[MomofKatie]

Our "empty nest" house is a great size- 1750sqft, 3bed/2.5bath. The only thing I'd do differently is have everything on one level to minimize mobility issues as we age. Right now, we have laundry in the basement and bedrooms on the second floor.

The layout is nice for us- big eat in kitchen that flows right in to the family room. There is a separate front room that we use as DH's office/den. Upstairs is a big master bedroom with small attached bath, and 2 other bedrooms and hall bath. Not too much to clean, but enough room for guests and for DH and I to not be on top of each other.

 

[starry_solo]

Single story home! 1500-2000 sq. I would say 2 bedrooms minimum (in case one of you starts snoring in retirement)...probably 3 would be preferable if you want to entertain.

I agree with one of the prior posters about layout. No need for a formal dining room (I have one of those that is rarely used).

 

[Meriweather]

Well, we like a larger house.
We are retired (for about 5 years) and have 3500 square feet. We each have an office and we have 2 guest bedrooms which are used mostly for the grand kids when they come, which is often. 3 full bathrooms. 2- 2 car garages, one is DH's shop.
It works for us

 

[Lilacs4Me]

small enough that none of DH's relatives can ask to stay with us "because we have an empty room or a basement they can crash in". So if that means we rent a 1-bedroom apartment, I'm all for it.

If DH can ever learn to tell them all no, i think 1500 sq feet, 3 bed, 2 bath would be perfect. Ranch, with an open "great room" floor plan. Master with en suite, spare room, and an office. main floor laundry. A full finished basement not needed, but "a" basement, for storage, and an open area that we can possibly finish off enough for the grandkids to blow off some steam when they come over, would be nice. Attached garage. Enough room to fit 15-20 people for the holidays, but not so much room that we won't use half the house on a regular basis.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I think it really depends on what you want (space for grown kids to visit? A garden? Hobby room?).

We bought into a building of 21 units before it was built (so we could really design our interior layout) as (mostly) empty nesters---with the full intention of it being the last place we ever own or live in (unless we need assisted living in some distance future).

we opted for a condo so as to have minimal upkeep that we would be on the hook for monetraily or physically (we pay into a fund monthly for upcomming repairs). Living in one shared space also means heating costs stay lower. We opted for a small place so that there is less to clean, heat, cool, light, etc---which savs both labor and cost.

In the end we have a 2 bedroom unit with two baths and a large terrace. We've got about 800 sq feet inside and about 500 in terrace, plus a small store room in the basement of the building (40 sq ft) and two spaces in the parking gargage (one we use for bikes).

We'Ve been living here 2 years and love it. One "problem" is the lack of enough space for many guests (including the our oldest who no longer lives at home). But, we knew this going in and it is far less expensive (at least in our area) to rent a small house or apartment by the week for the few weeks a year that we need it, than to pay for the extra space all along.

Others who have hobbies which need a lot of space to do, or love to garden, or really could not be happy if all their grown kids do not sleep at their place on the holidays, etc might want somethign totally different.

 

[kuhltiffany]

1000-1500 sq feet for us. We used to live in a large 6 bed, 4 bath house, downsized 2 years ago to 2000 sq. feet and can't wait to go smaller when the kids are gone and we retire. So much wasted time on cleaning and upkeep, money wasted on heat and maintenance.

We also want to live small and travel lots though...

 

[_19disnA]

OP's question is too vague to provide a meaningful answer. This isn't a "one size fits all" type of issue. What is your budget? Do you have any exercise equipment that will need its own room or is there a clubhouse in your new community that has an exercise room? Do you have any hobbies that need a room for those items? Do either of you plan to work part-time from home that requires a dedicated office space? Do you want/need a basement or does the area your moving to even build houses with basements? How often do you entertain and for how many people? Will out of town friends/relatives often stay overnight? How many vehicles do you have and/or how big of a garage do you need? Do you want to do your own yardwork or prefer a condo where exterior maintenance is done for you? How often will you travel and what features will require frequent monitoring while gone? Those are the questions I would focus on before locking into an arbitrary square footage.

 

[Searc]

DH and I have been discussing this a lot in recent weeks. The house we've lived in for the last almost 18 years is 3 bed/2 bath and around a 1300 square feet ranch. Our next home will probably be a two story 3 bed/2.5 bath and around 1500-1800 square feet.