I've got a simple question about calculating the "living area" inside a big mansion.
Are the staff quarters included in this? Also, is the attic area and basement included?
For instance, while looking at the Wikipedia page of The Breakers (a major mansion in America) it says "the 70-room mansion has a gross area of 125,339 square feet (11,644.4 m2) and 62,482 square feet (5,804.8 m2) of living area on five floors."
If you see a picture of The Breakers it has three main storeys, and an additional roof and basement.
Does this mean that the 62,482 square feet of living area includes the space in the roof and basement areas?
Furthermore, in a large, British country mansion like Blenheim palace (which I think is 160,000 square feet of space or something), does the "living area" include the "servants' wings" surrounding the main house? After all, they are still accessible to the main house as they are attached.
In these houses sometimes these "servant wings" sometimes even exceed the main house in size but they are usually attached.
It would be great to hear your input on this.
Regards,
Lounieus
Volunteer
Jul 10, 17 8:08 am
I think the rule of thumb would be if it is an inhabitable space. Unheated garage and basement and attic space would not count. If you finished off the attic, for example, you could list it as xx square foot house including a yy square foot finished attic.
Non Sequitur
Jul 10, 17 8:26 am
Have no fear, Sir Richard Balkins will be here shortly to explain.
Lounieus
Jul 10, 17 9:52 am
If the attics and basements aren't included, then why did the Wikipedia say:
"62,482 square feet (5,804.8 m2) of living area on five floors."
As we know, the five floors consists of the three main storeys plus basement and attic.
And also I thought that attic space could be included as long as it was like at least 7 feet high and could be reached by stairs?
shellarchitect
Jul 10, 17 11:40 am
Who is asking and for what purpose? Would the attic space be considered if it is unconditioned?
JLC-1
Jul 10, 17 4:27 pm
are we done with the fireplace flues?
on the sq.ft. question, gross may include stables, garages, shops and storage, and mechanical rooms.
Volunteer
Jul 10, 17 4:28 pm
Well the first floor has 15,884 sq ft not counting the 1,023 s.f. loggia and not counting stairs. Doing the math for the other two stories which have rooms in the loggia space and adding a ballpark 6,000 s.f. for stairs for all three floors you come up with 55,700 s.f.. Which is close enough to the 62,482 s.f. quoted to doubt seriously if any attic or basement areas are included.
eeayeeayo
Jul 10, 17 4:37 pm
Are you the same person who was asking about this house's fireplaces recently? I get the idea we're being asked to do someone's homework here...
Wikipedia is not a good source, but it's often a decent starting point for research, in that it connects one to various better primary sources. In this case if you'd bothered to follow the citation for the information you quoted, you'd have found exactly how the gross square footage was calculated. It's from the tax roll, and the property card even contains a table of all finished and unfinished areas.
Lounieus
Jul 11, 17 12:30 pm
I did ask about the fireplace.
Lounieus
Jul 11, 17 12:38 pm
This is not "homework" I'm doing, it's just my hobby of designing house plans. Also, I'm aware of the Wikipedia "inaccuracy" stuff, I rely on it because it's convenient and I haven't enough time.
In any case, thank you for this citation. I'll see to this.
Juras1956
Jul 10, 17 5:24 pm
Yes include staff living areas and any finished basement and attic areas too. If its your own home dont. Save on the property taxes :)
Hello to all,
I've got a simple question about calculating the "living area" inside a big mansion.
Are the staff quarters included in this? Also, is the attic area and basement included?
For instance, while looking at the Wikipedia page of The Breakers (a major mansion in America) it says "the 70-room mansion has a gross area of 125,339 square feet (11,644.4 m2) and 62,482 square feet (5,804.8 m2) of living area on five floors."
If you see a picture of The Breakers it has three main storeys, and an additional roof and basement.
Does this mean that the 62,482 square feet of living area includes the space in the roof and basement areas?
Furthermore, in a large, British country mansion like Blenheim palace (which I think is 160,000 square feet of space or something), does the "living area" include the "servants' wings" surrounding the main house? After all, they are still accessible to the main house as they are attached.
In these houses sometimes these "servant wings" sometimes even exceed the main house in size but they are usually attached.
It would be great to hear your input on this.
Regards,
Lounieus
I think the rule of thumb would be if it is an inhabitable space. Unheated garage and basement and attic space would not count. If you finished off the attic, for example, you could list it as xx square foot house including a yy square foot finished attic.
Have no fear, Sir Richard Balkins will be here shortly to explain.
If the attics and basements aren't included, then why did the Wikipedia say:
"62,482 square feet (5,804.8 m2) of living area on five floors."
As we know, the five floors consists of the three main storeys plus basement and attic.
And also I thought that attic space could be included as long as it was like at least 7 feet high and could be reached by stairs?
Who is asking and for what purpose? Would the attic space be considered if it is unconditioned?
are we done with the fireplace flues?
on the sq.ft. question, gross may include stables, garages, shops and storage, and mechanical rooms.
Well the first floor has 15,884 sq ft not counting the 1,023 s.f. loggia and not counting stairs. Doing the math for the other two stories which have rooms in the loggia space and adding a ballpark 6,000 s.f. for stairs for all three floors you come up with 55,700 s.f.. Which is close enough to the 62,482 s.f. quoted to doubt seriously if any attic or basement areas are included.
Are you the same person who was asking about this house's fireplaces recently? I get the idea we're being asked to do someone's homework here...
Wikipedia is not a good source, but it's often a decent starting point for research, in that it connects one to various better primary sources. In this case if you'd bothered to follow the citation for the information you quoted, you'd have found exactly how the gross square footage was calculated. It's from the tax roll, and the property card even contains a table of all finished and unfinished areas.
I did ask about the fireplace.
This is not "homework" I'm doing, it's just my hobby of designing house plans. Also, I'm aware of the Wikipedia "inaccuracy" stuff, I rely on it because it's convenient and I haven't enough time.
In any case, thank you for this citation. I'll see to this.
Yes include staff living areas and any finished basement and attic areas too. If its your own home dont. Save on the property taxes :)