Impressions After Viewing an American Single-Family House for The First Time

Think House Hunters International backward

On the show, people are often shocked by the sizes of European homes, whether it is apartments, townhomes, or single-family homes. No king bed? Oh my. No walk-in-closet? Where will I put my clothes?

My goodness, did you say no garage?! Well, then I’m out!

I thought about this show the other day, House Hunters International. I used to binge-watch it when I lived in Norway. It was always fascinating, sometimes hilarious, to see all these people from overseas complaining about perfectly normal and quaint — from time to time on the smaller side — apartments and homes. Needless to say, things ate often exaggerated in shows. It was still entertaining, though.

Thinking about the show brought back memories from when I viewed an American single-family house for the first time, one I would possibly be able to move into if the price was right. It was a memorable culture shock.

Old teenager

As we entered through the main door, I couldn’t help but think:

“The house is only 17 years old but it looks extremely outdated.”

A mix of orange, brown run-down floors, and round, fake-golden doorknobs. Carvings and odd details over the windows. Rusty kitchen sink. A teenaged house, already old. Baby blue and baby pink colors on the walls. I saw possibilities, though. I knew most of the things I didn’t like were all cosmetic and changeable. So I walked on.

There was a door leading out to the deck on the first floor. The size of this is what got to me. The realtor told me the deck, an upper deck and a lower one, connected by three steps, was about 800 square feet.

I think she could tell I was beyond shocked, and I told her that the giant deck was larger than the apartment my husband and I used to own in Norway. And the price of this entire house, deck included, was not that different from what we paid for our old apartment, which was brand new at the time. But then again, materials used to make newer homes in the United States are not made to last forever and materials are generally cheaper here than in Scandinavia.

Spa bubbles

After the surprise deck I didn’t expect to see, I headed upstairs to the master bedroom.

And here I thought the deck was big!

The master bedroom had room for much more than one king-size bed. There was also a walk-in closet and a bathroom. The bathroom had a large vanity, with two sinks, there was a huge bathtub, you know, those that come with bubbles. “This is basically a spa!” Is what I was thinking.

And that wasn’t the only bathroom. There was another full bathroom upstairs, and a half bath downstairs. This one was a smaller type with only a toilet and a sink. Would still qualify as one bathroom in Norway, but here, it’s only a half. Plenty of choices when it comes to doing your bathroom business in this house.

And did I mention the basement, two-car garage, large yard, and all the other bedrooms?

Room for all — and more

My immediate thoughts after touring this place are hard to put into words.

The master bedroom was larger than the living room we had when we first moved to the United States. The deck was just ridiculous. Why do they build the homes so large, and who needs this much space? Or even want this much space? Just thinking about all the maintenance and cleaning left me stressed out.

The average family in this country had 1.93 children under 18 years old in 2020, according to Statista. Two-parent households are declining, and the number of families with no children is increasing.

Still, suburban homes are often big enough to house The Brady Bunch.

Smaller, no?

When we were looking for a house after deciding we wanted to leave our city rental apartment, we toured five homes over the course of a weekend. During the process of purchasing a property, which we did before the pandemic, thank goodness, I asked the realtor if there were any smaller homes in the area where we were looking.

The space in many of the homes seemed too excessive for me. Over-the-top.

But smaller homes in suburbia can be hard to come by. Add school districts into the mix, and it gets really hard. We eventually settled on one of the homes we toured, and we’ve grown to love it. It’s a little bit bigger than what I had imagined, but we’ve made it ours and I’m thankful we can call it our home. Not because of the size, but the neighborhood and the fact that our kids are surrounded by friends on all sides.

Our kids have always shared rooms. In the start, because they had to due to lack of enough bedrooms for all of us. Now, they do it because they prefer it.

It feels safe for them. Although we live in a larger space, we’re just as close.

And when it gets loud and the boys start throwing a football in the living room, I get to send them out in the yard, which has become a valued space for us all. Last week, we planted the first vegetable seeds so if you don’t hear from me, that’s where you’ll find me.