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On another thread, Bees listed features that were must haves in their forever home. I was surprised at some of the must haves because I've never seen houses that had them.
For example, a Canadian Bee listed plug-ins for the garage. That's not something I have ever seen in the Midwest. Another Bee wanted a tonado shelter...I've never seen one of those either.
Are there home features that are unique to your area? I know that I consider central air conditioning to be standard, but I have friends in the UP of Michigan who tell me it's unusual. WhenI lived in Florida, most houses had a lanai...but they are unheard of where I am now.
Definitely a basement in the South! Haven't ever been in one! We designed a few custom ones for clients but that was about it, basements are very few and far between as far I know.
@Porkchop: haha I grew up in CT and moved to Texas and was surprised that they didn't have basements here!! I miss having a basement, you basically double your squarefootage by having one!
Something you don't find here that's quite common elsewhere is air conditioning!
Wow...I can't imagine a house without a basement AND air conditioning. If you have no basement, where do you put your STUFF???
We don't have air conditioning here in Santa Monica, CA and our hot water heaters have straps so they don't fall over in an earthquake!
@Neva: I live in the midwest and we have plug-ins, I make sure to plug my truck in if it is going to be below zero. And friends that have diesel trucks, they have to plug theirs in when they come here or the fuel gels.
Around here it is also common to find atomic shelters in older houses built in the 50's. I have had friends that bought older homes and went to redo backyards only to find out they had to take out a forgotten atomic shelters. There are not a whole bunch, but they are there. Probably because of living with STRATCOM so close.
@o0olibelulao0o: Wait, no basements in Texas? Where do you go for tornados?
I could never imagine NOT having a basement or Central AC. Half our basement is finished but the other half is where we store so much crap haha.
@Porkchop: Ahhh a basement! forgot about those...been in the south a long time now haha! we have 'bonus rooms' instead. basically just a big room, usually on the second floor - too big for a bedroom (doesnt have closets anyway) we used it as a 'play room' when we were younger.
I'm from the Midwest but live in Washington (state) now. The things that surprised me about homes here while we were house hunting were:
What is a plug in??
I was looking at home in TX, I'm shocked by how master bedrooms seem to always be on the first floor there. All the bedrooms are normally on the second level that I've seen in the northeast.
We call them Florida rooms but I think most area's call them a "solarium"??? Certain areas probably have houses with "gingerbread" but I imagine a lot dont
I do not know a single household with a basement. Most people store their stuff in their garage here and park their cars in the driveway.
Became an issue for us when we moved into our current house...NO GARAGE ARGH!!! haha;. Although it meant we went majorly into dehoarding mode. WHICH WAS AWESOME. My FI was keeping all these old computer components as a just in case. But how many old hardrives, ram chips, mother boards, key boards, monitors (list goes on and on) does one grown man need???
They all went bye byes :D
By plug in I just meant an outlet so you can 'plug in' your car. Anyone who has a vehicle here without a block heater and wants to drive it year-round IMO is stupid.
I don't really know what would be odd elsewhere. AC isn't very common here. Oh, I've heard that chest freezers are a very Canadian thing (although I'm not sure if people usually move them with them, or if they come with the house). I know that appliances being moved/coming with the house varies by region. Depending on the move, sometimes you get screwed over a little that way or might end up having to sell some appliances.
Wheels?
Seriosuly, alot of people have double wides & single wides that are mobil. But I am not sure alot of other areas do?
@Neva: haha that is exactly what I said, the have attics... which are a pain in the butt. Also a lot of people use their garages for storage and/or have outbuildings to put things in... It seems like a waste, just dig a big whole before you build the house!! lol
@tksjewelry: I live in the hill country so there aren't any (I should say many because stranger things have happened) but your supposed to go into the bathroom.
One thing that I noticed around my area is most houses are one story, ranch style houses. There are the occational two story houses, but they are few and far between... I think I can count all the 2 story houses I pass on my way to work on one hand.
@tksjewelry: I would LOVE to find a random atomic shelter! I'd have to make it something awesome :)
stucco? I know it's common in the southwest, not so sure about everywhere else.
I've grown up/lived in the part of the MW that gets about every type of weather. So I'd say basement for sure! (Or at least a cellar- I lived in a home with one that has an outdoor entrance and one where the porch was built around the entrance, so at least you didn't have to get outside to get inside.) And an AC and heater, plug ins/outlets for block heaters, and an attic (helps keep the heat out of the living areas in the summer). A (heated) attached garage with vents/drains would be my dream!
@Neva: The attic. Some people finish their attics and make them into another bedroom.
@tksjewelry: Tornados are not that common in Texas.
I am from Texas and we had more hurricanes than anything. In the past, people would go into the attic to protect themselves from the high waters. I've never lived in a house with a basement. I now live in Oklahoma and even though we have tornados, we do not have a basement. Most people close to me have a storm shelter.
I can't believe that people don't have Central Air. It gets too hot down here to not have one.
I live in Texas and I watch a lot of HGTV. I have noticed that a lot of other states dont have big walk in closets, in suite bathrooms, etc. I dont know if this is a common occurance elsewhere or just the shows I have watched but if I dont have a big master bedroom with its own attached bathroom and large walk in closet, I am not buying!
Also, we keep our junk in the attic, throw it out or put it in storage. I wish we could have a basement becuase I think it would be fun for a media room, however, we are below sea leavel. Dang it!
Well we don't have an elevator, and I'd say that most places would have an elevator in an apartment building. But hey it's NYC, some people would sell their first born to live here. What's four flights of stairs?
@AB Bride: born and raised in Canada and the only people I've ever heard of using block heaters/plug-ins live really far north. I don't think this is a Canadawide thing - probably more regional. I personally have never even seen one!
@hergreenapples: I'm surprised, even when I lived 3 hours south of here, most people would plug in their cars. I won't do it if it's around 0, but after sitting for a day at -20C or colder most cars don't start too easily!
In CT so many homes are capes, which means the walls upstairs are knee walls (slanted). It's been tough finding a house, since my 6'5" husband doesn't really fit in them.
@AB Bride: We use them in Iowa and they're almost standard in ND/MN. I loved when my friend from the south saw the cord on my grill and asked if my 1994 Ford Taurus was an electric car. LOL. Poor girl had yet to experience a Northern winter.
The school I attend has an assigned post for each renter to plug into.
I don't know what we have in our area that other people don't. But the one that always makes me wonder is people without basements. such an odd thing to me.
@AB Bride: It is very rare for it to go as low as -20 where I am in Southern Ontario. Like @hergreenapples: , I don't know anybody who uses a block heater. Currently I keep my car in the garage overnight, but even when I didn't have a garage, it was never an issue. Now, I think people are nuts to not have snow tires if they live around here!
@AB Bride: hmmm, yep, definitely never seen one even when I lived in Montreal where it was often consistently -20C or below for weeks on end. Of course it's also almost all street parking which would make it nearly impossible, but maybe people in the suburbs did it?!
Yep, I am another Texan who can vouche for no basements, its a bummer!
Oh and wrap around porches, rarely will you see a house with a wrap around porch & I LOVE the look of them!
@ejay15: This exactly!! I was going to point out all of those things! I grew up in Indiana, and moved to Washington only 2.5 years ago. I thought it was so odd about the AC until I realized that it doesn't get too hot here (save for maybe one or two weeks a year when the stores stock up on those portable AC units!). Actually...it stays so moderate here year round, so it isn't the drastic difference between winter and summer that I'm used to! Also, the cluster mailboxes along the roadways instead of your own mailbox at your house was a bit different. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to having earthquake drills at work instead of tornado drills though!!
@hergreenapples: I've seen people who park their cars outdoors use block heaters, but I've never heard of someone having to plug in their car if they're parking it in their garage. Plus, usually it's for very old cars - most newer cars aren't equipped with block heaters, because they're not needed.
AB Bride mentioned that AC is not really common - it is in my part of Canada! We have a very humid heat in the summertime, and our house is one of the only houses without AC that I know of - it will be a requirement in our next place though!
I really can't think of anything unique or special about the houses in Atlanta (where we are moving and house hunting). They have garages, basements, central AC and heat, some have 3 season rooms, bonus rooms, etc.
@Porkchop: Hum ... DH and I are getting ready to move to GA and a TON of the houses have basements. So it certainly isn't all of the South!
I'm from NY. Most houses are colonial style with basements, siding and shutters.
Here in Vegas, there are no basements, all the houses are stucco (blech) and almost every house has an in ground pool.
@Shosha1: I agree that if a car is in the garage it doesn't need to be plugged in, but I know many people who have more vehicles than space in the garage, so they have to plug it in (on the driveway or the street). At my apartment there is covered parking but it's still outdoor, luckily there are outlets! Even new cars here usually have a block heater.
@hergreenapples: I'm surprised it's not very common in Montreal! Southern Ontario I can understand, but Montreal gets cold!
Closets. I live in a historic district and due to taxation laws at the turn of the century, many houses were built without them. My house is a converted school-house, so we are especially lacking in the storage department. At least we have a few nice armoirs...
Ha, I'm feeling very Canadian here with my basement, outlets in the garage, and deep freezer!
There are a lot of weird-looking giant wooden shingles on houses (only on one street) near where I grew up, which I always thought were really unique, but our home (and my home now) just has the standard asphalt ones....
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