[quote=sdrealtor]Funny thing about living rooms. Focus groups have been telling builders to get rid of them for years. They have been shrinking them but rarely get rid of them altogether. I just sold a new house this weekend to a buyer about the same size and on a big lot like yours also. It actually had no living room. Thats a first for me.[/quote]
One-story houses built before 1970 typically did not have family rooms, so the living room WAS the family room. They were not built with a separate front entry, either. The front door went right into the living room (with perhaps a small “room divider” installed there). Families didn’t know about or care back then about having a living room AND family room. Many of these houses now have a “family room” added onto the rear of the house.
In all cases where I have owned a home with a living room AND family room, the living room did not get utilized (except when having a house party of 20+ people). IMO, they are a waste of space and one more area to clean, even if unused 95% of the time.
In older areas of the country where basements are prevalent, the “family room” is in the basement. This room typically houses the pool table, ping pong table, piano, perhaps a kitchenette, etc. Basements are not prevalent in SD County, except for partial basements (less than 1000 sf) in 92106 and 92107 hillside properties. Many of these SD “basements” are “rentals” (legal or illegal) because they have a separate entrance on the street level. In the “olden days,” many of these SD “basements” were used for ham radio operations or as woodworking shops :=)
