There Is No Place Like Home (Published 2006) (2024)

WHAT was lost in all the frothy discussion last year about soaring real estate prices was just how much the homes themselves have changed.

The average home has increased 39 percent in size since 1974, and it has grown taller as well, according to the current issue of House & Garden.

In the last 32 years the average single-family home grew to 2,349 square feet from 1,695, even as family size decreased to 2.6 from 3.1 people. In the 1970's, the average ceiling height was 7 feet 9 inches. Today a standard ceiling height is nine feet on the first floor and eight on the second.

Here are some other comparisons from House & Garden:

In 1974, one in four homes had at least four bedrooms. Today it is more than one in three.

In 1974, people living in the Northeast had the smallest homes (1,600 square feet); today they have the largest: 2,543 square feet, a 59 percent increase.

"On the West Coast today, one in three garages can hold at least three cars. In 1974, only half of all new homes had room for two."

It's not your imagination: kitchens really have become bigger. In the early 1970's, they took up about 150 square feet, 9.3 percent of the home. Today the average kitchen has almost doubled, to 280 square feet, and represents nearly 12 percent of the house.