A friend and coworker had a party at his new place last weekend, a 50's house in an area east of downtown Orlando that I think is referred to as Colonial Town. It's a pretty good sized house on an enormous lot with a beautiful tropical back yard. I'm a new house kind of guy, admittedly, but I love the place.
Here's the thing about older houses and me: I associate older with 100-years-old and in cold climates. That was Diana's house, and my house growing up, and those places are energy inefficient and drafty. It's not that I don't see the charm, it's that I can't see around the discomfort. I love Nicole Curtis' show on HGTV and the stuff that she does, but restoring a house in Minneapolis doesn't seem like one I'd want to live in.
I didn't feel that kind of disregard for an older Florida house, and 50's isn't really "old." I could see everything they did about why it was awesome (which was made easier in part because they got rid of the wallpaper and have good taste in paint color).
I like new houses I suppose because I prioritize the idea that no one else lived there before. I welcome the "McMansion" jokes because there is some truth to them, and our culture has certainly adopted them in part as a symbol of status. It doesn't help that so many people have made themselves house poor by buying more house than they can afford.
The funny thing is, the urban ranch is in a neighborhood where property is way more expensive. Like almost 50% more on a per-square foot basis compared to where we live. The location is fantastic. It's also without the minor pretentiousness that you get in the 'burbs. It's a totally different vibe.
I guess my point is that I'm a lot more open minded than I used to be about housing. At the end of the day, our place made sense for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was a bunch of new schools and pretty solid potential for rising property value. The trade off is a total lack of character, but the fireworks happening as I type this certainly don't hurt. I don't know what the ideal place is, but I can tell you it varies based on your stage of life and whether or not you have kids.
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