Living in the anti-McMansion

As I mentioned before, we live in a Craftsman—three bedrooms (two in usable condition), 1.5 baths. It's cute and we enjoy that it is an old house.

Often I think of the stories the previous owner told us, of three boys growing up in the house alongside their parents, and marvel at how or when they must have outgrown the house. Even back then, he told us, only part of the home was in use by the family. When he was growing up, one area served as a screened in side/back porch and was later enclosed and is now our laundry room.

We're only discussing 1,200 square feet, on its best days. But the backyard is fabulous with fig trees, grape arbors and a once stately pear tree. We turn the kids out of the house any chance we get. (I remain weary of the mosquitoes these days.)

Yesterday, a friend e-mailed and wanted to know if we had painted the living room Christmas colors as Veronica had requested. I wish we had gotten that far. Unfortunately, we're not there yet, but we had an amazing family weekend. We spent time (while Petra napped) working together on those front two rooms. Veronica (7) and Philip (undisclosed) weaved in and out of each other—Veronica always darting up the ladder for some reason or the other; Philip trying to actually do the work he needed to on the ladder. Mac (4), our clean-up king supreme, making sure the work area was swept up and neat. It was pretty cool. (A cost-effective weekend event for the family!)

Having written about the Wilmington-area real estate for almost three years, I've seen a lot of the homes being built in the new developments. I've also read a lot about living spaces. Admittedly, one article has stuck with me: the relationship between space and family relations. I think it is probably true that family living in a small space can probably help "facilitate" parents, brothers and sisters getting along. (I also think having doors would help, too, but that's for another posting.)

My kids are adjusting (well, we think) to temporarily living in half of the house. And, while tempers flare and I find myself longing for the calm school days approaching (three weeks!), I think I'd rather have the tight living spaces than the five of us getting lost in the rooms of our McMansion, each child cocooned (with his/her own cable-wired television and bathroom).

Besides, I think the silver and gold walls, accented with mirrors would feel empty and impersonal in a McMansion. But I hope to vacation in a McMansion, one day…I don't mind the kids getting lost in cavernous rooms for a little bit of time.