Do you know any Basement Dwellers?

[bleedingheart]

I wanna know if this is just some crazy Pittsburgh thing or if there are people other places that do this...

There are people I know who have really nice houses, but they basically live in their finished basements. They never use their upstairs living space.

They have complete kitchens, bathrooms and a living room in the basement. They only sleep upstairs.

I can't tell you how many of my older relatives do this and even my mother's neighbor basically lives in her basement....

I recall as a kid going to visit a friend of my dad's and I had to use the bathroom and since their basement bathroom wasn't clean...the lady took me upstairs...and her house looked like a museum...nothing was worn or used...it was immaculate...

[youthere]

1. That seems to be a new trend starting here...

(Iowa). We know a number of people that have built new houses with a "complete" basement. I think it's kind weird that someone would spend all that money to build a living space you don't live in.

[bleedingheart]

2. that is what I think....it seems so odd.

[tigereye]

4. I couldn't live in my basement if my life depended on it

It's a pit. ;)

[bleedingheart]

7. my office and laundry are in the basement....

I sometimes work from home downstairs...but that is it...

[underpants]

3. Actually we sort of are

The lowest level of our tri-level house is a TV/Rec room (not enough room for a pool table or anything like that). It has a full bath and a washroom. We still cook on the middle level and sleep on the top level (my wife showers up there-I use the bottom level). We spend most of our time in the lower level watching TV. We even have a full set up to change the baby down there.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. Oh, hell yeah!

I was born and raised in NJ. Everybody lives in their basements. My inlaws have a finished basement. It has ceilings about 8 feet high and these retro lamps on the walls and cheap paneling. Dark as a dungeon. They stay down there all the time, especially in the summer, when it is cooler down there. They have a very nice house upstairs with plastic on the furniture. I don't think they have ever opened the front door. They use the side door.

It's not just Pittsburgh. But I think it might be a bit ethnic.

[bleedingheart]

6. What is even funnier is that some people will continue to clean the

upstairs but they never use it...the only way the furniture wears out is if they clean it too much...

My mother's neighbor has the same livingroom set from the 1950's and it looks immaculate...but of course...no one uses it.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

8. I'll bet she has a lot of money in the bank, too.

My MIL could feed a family of 4 on ten bucks a week and have money left over. Amazing woman. No life to speak of, but amazing.

[bleedingheart]

9. that is my mother...

I love her to bits...but if I didn't take her places she would be content to sit at home...and save the money.

[GalleryGod]

10. Sounds like a job for Karl Kolchak!

Wow!
What a weird little cultural tic that is!?:crazy:

[StuckinBFE]

11. My grand parents house in Portland, OR was like this

I remember going their to visit and we would never spend time upstairs unless we were eating or sleeping. They had a really nice living room upstairs with the nice furniture. But I was also a kid and a handful so we probably stayed in the basement so I wouldn't cause any damage.