Since the beginning of time, human beings have built and lived in homes that represented their wealth and power (or created a perception thereof). Kings do not live in shacks (although some dictators have been known to inhabit foxholes while evading the United States military), and while most of us will never rule a country, we desire our own “castle” – a home to be proud of. (Note: Millions of people in our very wealthy country have no home at all, and that fact is not lost on me. Homelessness may indeed also be tied to our American obsession with living quarters, but it is a topic for a different blog entry. I will address it in the future, because I do believe it is a very important part of the puzzle.) Along the topic of the real estate implications of “a man’s home is his castle”, I wanted to discuss a recent conversation with my neighbor, a lovely woman of whom I am very fond. The other day, while chatting with me on her front lawn, she revealed that the first time she saw her house (a Raised Ranch, of course), she cried. She qualified her comment by saying, “Now, this is just me, but I always pictured a two story.” In other words, she did NOT picture herself in a Raised Ranch. At that point, her teenage son chimed in. “I never want to live in a house like this again,” as he gestured toward his home. “It’s too…” “Boring?”, I offered. “Yeah,” he agreed.
What do these comments, and the general disdain for this type of house, reveal about people? I think there are several answers. Most importantly, our self-esteem is tied very closely to the way in which we live our lives. There are dozens of factors that affect a person’s happiness with their home environment, but given that monarchs and rulers have ALWAYS built castles for themselves, it stands to reason that a beautiful home can make a person feel important, no matter whom they may be. Certainly where I live, in the Northeast, as soon as people get a little money, the first thing they do is either add onto or improve their home, or move into a larger dwelling, be it an apartment, condominium, or house. There does come a point, however, when other desired features come into play, and an individual or family may need to move to a different community. Some of these amenities can include award-winning schools, access to transportation, convenience to cities, better parks and recreation, or just plain old social status. In general, if you are moving to a community that has better amenities, you will get a smaller overall real estate “package” (land and its improvements) for your money. This is what happened to my neighbor, who moved from a close-by yet more remote, land-locked village to our town which has, among other things, beach access, a city-owned golf and pool club, great schools, access to two train stations to New York City, and a quaint downtown shopping area. What our town also has is more expensive real estate, and so a Raised Ranch on a good piece of property is going to be more affordable than a Colonial or Tudor. This is where a buyer needs to strike a balance – between the desire for a “castle” and a need for quality of life. If you have made the decision to move to a town with lots to offer, and you are on a budget (like we were), you will have to weigh the plusses and minuses of each home you consider. The good news is that real estate is about “location, location, location”, so if you buy a house you hate, you can always change the structure (but you can’t change the locale!).
Aside from the self-esteem factor, people have a general desire to create beauty in the world. Not that we all expect to be artists or poets, but we feel an innate joy when confronted by beautiful things. Physical beauty is, of course, subjective, and while the collective consciousness appears to despise cookie cutter homes in a visceral manner, there is no avoiding the fact that repetition exists in our society and to a large degree has a place in a capitalist economy. In “Eat, Pray, Love”, the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, postulates that Italy has never gained superpower status despite its incredible location and large population, because the Italians have been too busy creating beautiful things like music, art and food. When you think about it, it kind of makes sense. The United States might never have gained worldwide economic and military might without the Industrial Revolution. Our ability to repeatedly turn out thousands and thousands of identical items, be they cars or weapons, textiles or food products, made us who we are today. So should we be surprised that, when the need for quickly, cheaply built housing arose, we resorted to what we knew best? Of course not - but it looks as if the buck stops with real estate. There we were, going along nicely wearing ready-made clothes, eating ready-made food, using ready-made products of all kinds, when all of a sudden somebody said, “Here’s a ready-made house!” and we screeched to a halt.
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