“Is this all for one person?”
That was the question I asked when I visited a newly finished house. The length and breadth of the sitting room were so massive that when I talked, my voice traveled before returning as an echo. There were two kitchens, one general and one private kitchen. Six bedrooms, a visitors' toilet that looks bigger than the size of some bedrooms that I have seen, and a dining table that is not yet available to anyone yet.
As an architect, I have met with so many clients and their briefs, and I totally understood why some of them always want a big house. A home that can be comfortable for them with a lot of spacious spaces. It also looks beautiful, and there is nothing wrong in wanting one. And if I have a lot of money to afford and buy anything I want in life, a huge house isn't going to be my choice.
In this profession, I have come across a lot of things that changed how I see big houses. In some of the homes I have been to, I can walk through three rooms before hearing a voice or seeing anybody. And the owner of the big house will just be somewhere spending his evening in one of the chairs, watching a weekend football match, while the other rooms simply wait. More than money, I'm always bothered by that part.
There was a time I had to visit a family member who had had a special room that had been kept permanently closed because, to them, they always say it's for important visitors. Everything in the room hasn't been touched before. The curtains were still wrapped in their original plastic. And they hardly enter the room. And I thought to myself, we still have a lot of people like this who will build a big space for a stranger that might never come around.
And seeing some things like this, maybe that is what I have considered to be overrated about huge houses. It is not the size of the house. It is the notion and mentally that a lot has that having a big space automatically means better lifestyle or more comfortability.
I have designed several houses, and if I could afford to build one of my own, it would definitely be something modest and well designed where every space has a reason to function and exist. The extra money will go into having a better experience, eating good food, travels, investment, books, and helping family members and those I can when it's necessary. And I'll know that I don't have to panic because I'll be living in freedom from unexpected bills.
Perhaps having a lot of experience in the architectural field has called my attention to all these. A lot of houses look good from the outside, and they are strangely void and empty when nobody has a reason to fill those spaces up. And anytime I pass through a house that is so massive or I get invited, I'm less bothered about the total cost that completed the house. I just wonder who actually stays in the house and who will stay there in years to come because around here, I've seen a lot of big abandoned houses that even the children of the owners always say they are scared to live alone there and they prefer a small house.
Thank you for reading.
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