Homes and kitchens in different countries

[caseydog]

Yeah, that looks like the skirt of a wedding dress.

...in 1775.

CD

 

[TastyReuben]

TastyReuben is that all your bakyard? If it's not, how do you know which part is yours if it's not fenced?

Pretty much mostly mine. If you look beyond that tree (which is mine), you'll see a little pile of wood scraps - that's my neighbor's and that's where the property line is.

Most of my property, the lines are distinct, as there's a brush line that defines two sides, and the road front is the third line, but that one side...we don't quibble too much as to where the line is, because there's no reason to, really.

Now, if I were to want to plant shrubs or if he wanted to put up a fence, we'd get a surveyor in to mark it before doing that.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

My ideal kitchen, a country-style one. Not necessary a big one (I don’t like big kitchen or too much big houses) I personally feel more comfortable in a small place.
My Tuscan aunt owned a country house and her kitchen is very similar to this one in the photos..
And probably the woman in the first photo is my aunt

 

[Yorky]

I also, unwittingly, bought a plot which was not ideal. It was 100 metres long and reducing from 20 metres wide at the roadside to 12 metres wide at the back (1 rai in total). I wanted the house as far from the road side as possible yet still have vehicular access to the rear of the property. This was the result.

 

[caseydog]

Yeah, that looks like the skirt of a wedding dress.

...in 1775.

CD

I also, unwittingly, bought a plot which was not ideal. It was 100 metres long and reducing from 20 metres wide at the roadside to 12 metres wide at the back (1 rai in total). I wanted the house as far from the road side as possible yet still have vehicular access to the rear of the property. This was the result.

View attachment 71921

My first purchased home was on the 90-degree bend of a street, so the front of my lot was about 20 meters, and the back was about 200 meters wide. I had a lot of grass to mow. But, my backyard fence backed up to an alley, so I built a gate, and parked my boat in the backyard.

CD

 

[vernplum]

Here's my current (backyard) view:

That's really beautiful. I don't have much of a hill here, but here's part of my view (about half the back yard):
View attachment 71829

I love this and I find it amazing to see from here in land-scarce Singapore. I'll post pics of my surroundings later, but first I wanted to show what I learned about the 'acre' today from Wikipedia:

"Traditionally, in the Middle Ages, an acre was conceived of as the area of land that could be ploughed by one man behind one ox in one day.[3]"

 

[Mountain Cat]

Another thing that really strikes me is how everyone LOVES an open plan and they want to tear down walls everywhere so they have a continuum of kitchen-living room-dining room. I'm a walls type of person, because I like to place the furniture against walls and no furniture in the middle of the room getting in the way. If the entire floor is an open plan, you need furniture in the middle of the space otherwise it looks too empty and not cosy at all. And the open plan kitchen - yeah I hate that, my kitchen is usually somewhat messy and if you have the kitchen open to the living room, when the kitchen is messy, the living room will be messy too! This is really just a personal preference as opposed to something cultural, most people my age love open kitchens and counter islands (I HATE counter islands!).

Also funny that so many people have laundry rooms and someone in the show was horified to find a house that had the washing machine and the dryer in the kitchen - every Portuguese house has these machines in the kitchen! Same as I'm horrified when I find houses that have the washing machine in the bathroom, which is pretty common in some countries as I've been told

Just discovered this thread, as MG made it its own discussion.

I also far prefer non-open-space housing. Semi-open is fine but totally open? Yukkers. I like walls for furniture and for more cabinets in the kitchen. It's the messy aspect as well.

My laundry is in the second bathroom. Intended as a guest bathroom, but if I had kids they' be using that, too. No one I know of here in the US or Canada has the laundry in the kitchen. Some will have in the bathroom, or if there's a basement, in the basement. I do have a basement, but after having broken my ankle there was no way I ever wanted to NEED to figure out how to go up and down the stairs ever again while incapacitated.

House yards will depend on where you live. I live very rural - 40 minutes to drive to the nearest supermarket, if I follow the speed limits. Therefore I got this land for cheap, very cheap. I also got to build this house cheaper than standard by using a log home kit. (Yes, my house is wood, lots of wood). But I do have property for raising chickens, and if I get around to it, perhaps a few goats, sheep or alpaca.

 

[TastyReuben]

No one I know of here in the US or Canada has the laundry in the kitchen. Some will have in the bathroom, or if there's a basement, in the basement.

My parents, in true hillbilly fashion (saying that in the best sense of the word), have their washer and dryer out on the covered back porch.

 

[vernplum]

This is the building I live in. It’s one of 6 similar buildings in this development which covers about 20 acres. In total there are about 1700 apartments.

Condos like this are numerous in Singapore and are decidedly middle-class. The basement carpark is all Mercs and BMWs. My apartment is a mid-sized 4 bedder. There’s no yard/garden obviously but I have a decent-sized balcony. Sadly BBQing is not permitted on it, but there are bbq pits you can book within the communal areas.

From our vantage point we look out onto some large expanses of landed freehold properties behind the row of white houses (bit of an overcast day today):

Now why I was so amazed by TastyReuben 's 2 acre back yard is because very, very few families can afford to have a garden here. The area of Singapore is a grand total of 281 sq miles. In that space nearly 6 million people live (mostly up in the sky like me). And of those, a small number are freeholds - i.e. the owner actually owns the land as opposed to a leasehold where you are essentially renting it. For example, my unit is a 99 year leasehold.

So what do those cost? Well, looking out in another direction see these two houses side by side with the red roofs in the center (not the big one at the top) the one at the right has a sort of L-shaped roof:

That house was for sale 2 years ago. It sits on just 1/5th of an acre of land and cost $30 Million Singapore dollars - approx $22M USD. Yes it's a big house, but that price is mostly for that pittance of land. You can see some of the lots in the second picture are a lot bigger than that. This is why when a developer gets 20 acres, they have to build 1700 apartments on it.

 

[caseydog]

No one I know of here in the US or Canada has the laundry in the kitchen.

You do now. My laundry room is a double-wide closet in my kitchen. With the doors closed, you don't see the washer and dryer, just two doors. My walk-in pantry is right next to the laundry closet. There is plenty of storage on shelves above the washer and dryer, so it doesn't waste much space.

CD

 

[rascal]

I grew up in a two bedroom (govt owned for poor people) as my father left home when I was 3. We had 3 boys in one room, I grew up always saying,I’m not living like this.
I bought my first home around 88 for 19 k and bought where I am now about 3 years later for 99k
It was a three bedroom brick stand alone but with two young kids growing up we needed space for us, so I built a large addition upstairs, very large bedroom with en suite, and large lounge with large tv etc. I’ve just spent 16? K on paint and carpet. It’s valued around 900 k atm. I’m prolly worth just over a mill
Ion with assets, we have art, my wife liked it, I paid for it. It has turned out to be a very good investment. I’m not arty, she is, I’m just a poor sap that’s been lucky.

Russ

 

[rascal]

And over the years I’ve modelled my kitchen and other areas to suit myself. With a few minor work,a few walls, my house could be 5 bedroom, it’s four atm.
And just two of us, downstairs is largely empty,one room the boys have and miss 12…has her own as well. She’s here next week.
She told her parents last Sunday she’s moving in with us when she’s 16, because we’re funny. Her parents don’t do weird stuff.

Russ

 

[rascal]

This is the building I live in. It’s one of 6 similar buildings in this development which covers about 20 acres. In total there are about 1700 apartments.

View attachment 72018

Condos like this are numerous in Singapore and are decidedly middle-class. The basement carpark is all Mercs and BMWs. My apartment is a mid-sized 4 bedder. There’s no yard/garden obviously but I have a decent-sized balcony. Sadly BBQing is not permitted on it, but there are bbq pits you can book within the communal areas.

From our vantage point we look out onto some large expanses of landed freehold properties behind the row of white houses (bit of an overcast day today):

View attachment 72021

Now why I was so amazed by TastyReuben 's 2 acre back yard is because very, very few families can afford to have a garden here. The area of Singapore is a grand total of 281 sq miles. In that space nearly 6 million people live (mostly up in the sky like me). And of those, a small number are freeholds - i.e. the owner actually owns the land as opposed to a leasehold where you are essentially renting it. For example, my unit is a 99 year leasehold.

So what do those cost? Well, looking out in another direction see these two houses side by side with the red roofs in the center (not the big one at the top) the one at the right has a sort of L-shaped roof:

View attachment 72019


That house was for sale 2 years ago. It sits on just 1/5th of an acre of land and cost $30 Million Singapore dollars - approx $22M USD. Yes it's a big house, but that price is mostly for that pittance of land. You can see some of the lots in the second picture are a lot bigger than that. This is why when a developer gets 20 acres, they have to build 1700 apartments on it.

I’ve been to Singapore a few times, I couldn’t bring up kids in an apartment like that, I know you get used to it,I wouldn’t.

Russ

 

[Morning Glory]

No one I know of here in the US or Canada has the laundry in the kitchen.

Almost everyone here has a washing machine in the kitchen. That is, unless they are lucky enough to have what is known as a 'utility' room. Those are found in larger more expensive houses.

My small kitchen seen from each end - washing machine is black, as is the little under the counter fridge

 

[Mountain Cat]

You do now. My laundry room is a double-wide closet in my kitchen. With the doors closed, you don't see the washer and dryer, just two doors. My walk-in pantry is right next to the laundry closet. There is plenty of storage on shelves above the washer and dryer, so it doesn't waste much space.

CD

I was actually going to make the pantry (a closet off the kitchen) a laundry room. But I would have had to put the upright freezer out into the unheated garage. I was told that was a BAD idea - when the garage would drop below freezing in winter, it would for some reason I can't recall now, really mess with that piece of equipment. So... the laundry ended up in the bathroom.

Almost everyone here has a washing machine in the kitchen. That is, unless they are lucky enough to have what is known as a 'utility' room. Those are found in larger more expensive houses.

My small kitchen seen from each end - washing machine is black, as is the little under the counter fridge

View attachment 72057

View attachment 72058

Looks like this works very well... but curious if or where you stack finished laundry while you sort it? (If the weather is nice, I hang stuff out to dry, and would rather sort this over the washer or dryer than in some other room).