On 12/26/2016 10:25 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> Never heard the term before, but I've seen thousands of houses in that
> category. They used to be very popular as starter homes for young
> couples as well as an easy to care for home for older couples. Seems
> like everything built today is in the 2500 to 3500 sq. ft. range.
>
> When we moved here 35 years ago it was a step up from our old house. My
> intention was to move again in 5 to 7 years to a larger house.
> Fortunately, we never did. This house is 2000 sq. ft. and is plenty to
> take care of. I could lop off a couple of rooms and not miss them at
> all. No, not going to move. We did some upgrading in the past few
> years and want to enjoy it. In the past 6 years we spent almost as much
> as we paid for the house in 1981. We did it to enjoy it, not for payback.
>
> We replaced 9 windows and an 8' slider door in the family room. There
> will be a payback from energy savings and I figure it is just about 220
> years. The benefit though, is washing the windows from inside and not
> outside painting.

Here's an artist's rendition of the Tudor style mansion my 93 year old
aunt lives in:

https://s24.postimg.org/wu7d8ujp1/brookside.jpg

Uncle George died in 2007. Her children are older than I am, grown and
gone. It's just her puttering around in this big ol' mansion. She
moved her bedroom downstairs about 6 years ago; she can't manage the
stairs anymore.

But for all that, she's a pretty spry old lady and sharp as a tack!
Until fairly recently she'd cook a big dinner for the kids and grandkids
every Sunday. Of course they all lead very busy lives and as the
grandkids got older she kept hearing sorry, can't make it. She stopped
cooking a big Sunday dinner.

I hope they realize she's not going to live forever. I lost my maternal
grandparents when I was 16 and my paternal grandmother when I was 20.
We never did live close enough to see them on a regular basis. Perhaps
because my cousins *do* live in close proximity they simply take for
granted she's right there.

Jill