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Polygamy Houses

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cap
  • Start date Start date
Verifyveritas76 said:
An older nursing home would fit this idea as well
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With the boomers coming up, that's a growth industry. I don't often see empty nursing homes. I do often see old hospitals and institutions sitting empty; but those are often spiritually dangerous places and can't recommend.

Cap said:
An old small church.
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There are several parts of the country where you can find a lot of these. Often quite beautiful architecture as well.
 
Small churches usually make quite small homes, they're frequently converted and look nice but would need a lot of additions to house a large family. But they would be a great starting point for @steve's town idea.

Greenhouses are certinly a cooler climate idea. And humidity would be an issue, good ventilation control would be essential. But many people have successfully incorporated them as part of a house, these problems are surmountable.
 
I once visited the home of a fundamentalist Mormon family that had bought a church building and converted it to create more space.

They'd done this by adding a floor through the middle of the high-ceilinged chapel, thus dividing it into lower and upper floors. The existing second story became the third.

The new second story was not full-height; adults had to stoop to move about but it was a good fit for the many children whose bedrooms were there. Very little wasted headroom.
 
It depends on the church. Some are quite big. It may take a lot of work to convert the sanctuary; but you save the cost of the roof. And they may already have a kitchen.

Greenhouses, even in northern climes, work best as an addition, not the house itself. The problem is the glazing. In the south, too much heat load. In the north, too little insulation. When you make it an addition, think sun room / conservatory / enclosed porch; it allows you to use it as a heat source for the house or an extended area. A place to send the kids to play in winter, etc.
 
rockfox said:
The problem is the glazing. In the south, too much heat load. In the north, too little insulation.
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That's why I see it as an enclosure and rain shelter for a house, in a cold climate. It has too little insulation to be the house itself. But if the house is inside it, the house is in a moderate climate and not subject to the extremes of temperature outside. This makes the 'house' really easy to build, extend, and modify at will, and it may not even end up looking like a 'house' but more like a collection of huts functioning as bedroms etc. Some "rooms" may be fully insulated (e.g. bedrooms), others may just be partition walls or even pergolas, there's infinite variety depending on the activities happening in each room. The rooms are easy to build as they need little insulation and don't have to deal with outside weather. Bedrooms will still need some insulation, while some other rooms may be simply partitions and able to be erected or modified in a matter of hours.
Basically you can have the simplicity of a tropical village, but in a cold climate.
 
I’ve been looking into “poor building homes”! Basically turning a big shop into a house on the inside.... Plenty of pluses there I think... But an old school or church has always been in mind too! A couple years ago there was a little old church nearby we considered briefly. Problem is that it was on a tiny little lot in the city... and this guy ain’t doin city! :D
 
rustywest4 said:
“poor building homes”! Basically turning a big shop into a house on the inside.... Plenty of pluses there I think.
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That is a good idea. It is not uncommon to find an old farm for sale with a large steel shop or old barn and the house is wrecked. If you're buying land for a farm anyway, it is common that the buildings are depreciated and the place sells at land value only. Sometimes a grain grower will buy the land and split off the farmstead separate. If there is no house, the old homestead may well sit unsold.

Barn to house conversions are a common thing. Lots of space in an old hip roofed dairy barn with haymow.
 
rockfox said:
That is a good idea. It is not uncommon to find an old farm for sale with a large steel shop or old barn and the house is wrecked. If you're buying land for a farm anyway, it is common that the buildings are depreciated and the place sells at land value only. Sometimes a grain grower will buy the land and split off the farmstead separate. If there is no house, the old homestead may well sit unsold.

Barn to house conversions are a common thing. Lots of space in an old hip roofed dairy barn with haymow.
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I have a friend who put up a pole building and did a build-out underneath it.
 
JustUs said:
So having separate homes like sister wives is not ideal?
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Most wouldn't be able to maintain the costs of having a separate home for each wife. It's unrealistic. A larger house with more bedrooms is more realistic. Ultimately it's what would work for you in your situation.
 
JustUs said:
So having separate homes like sister wives is not ideal? I am the only person I know who believes in polygny so I have no one to ask even simple questions to.
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I think private space is the key. Do each of the ladies have access to a private space when they want/need it? Thus can be accomplished with bedrooms or separate houses... the challenge with separate houses is truly operating as a family unit.
 
JustUs said:
So having separate homes like sister wives is not ideal? I am the only person I know who believes in polygny so I have no one to ask even simple questions to.
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It very much depends on the family. For some, that is the ideal, and it works well. For others, they prefer to be under the same roof. There really are no blanket rules, or ideals, in matters such as these.
For us, we would want to all be under the same roof. That would be our ideal. Having Samuel at someone else's house every second night while I get 7 kids fed and into bed on my own doesn't sound like much fun to me. Also doesn't sound like much of a team. But others are older, and not in the stage of life that we are and it works for them.
 
FollowingHim2 said:
2 bedrooms. One would be hers, one mine, Samuel would switch between the 2.
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I agree this would be the most common and easiest to work out.

If you have the opportunity though I believe it would be quite nice to take a master suite (available in a lot of houses) create a central living and have 2 bedrooms off it. Kind of a home within the home but it would be an area that the husband and wives could spend time together without children around. TV, couch etc whatever.. Could be a place for private meetings without worry of children popping in like the main livingroom would and would leave each woman's bedroom her private domain. If wanted could have a 3rd bedroom that is for the husband and wives could go to his room on their night. This is all conjecturing though lol No idea how well it would work.

I've seen Sister Wives.. The husband lives out of a backpack. I find that ridiculous personally.
 
JustUs said:
Do you keep it a secret of tell everyone. For instance, do I tell my church or down play it. And so forth
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That's different for everyone. It's very much looked down upon by basically everyone, so it doesn't go well when it's mentioned to people. We were kicked out of the church just because we don't think PM is a sin.
If you mean when Samuel gets another wife, it will be up to him what we do. I don't like secrets, and I think that another woman should have the value of being called a wife to everyone, regardless of the consequences. But I say that in the place I am in now, and it may be that the situation is very different when she comes along, and her feelings in the matter will be of great importance.
 
I think separate houses is incredibly stupid. It's no longer one household under a man, but a bunch of different households sharing a man. You're duplicating infrastructure and effort for laundry, childcare, and cooking. If you live together you can team up, cook 1 bigger meal, help each other with laundry/childcare. With different houses it's like you've got a bunch of single moms.

Besides, I don't want to see my kids just every other or every third day. Sounds more like a divorced dad sharing custody than a family.
 
Ancient Paths said:
I think private space is the key. Do each of the ladies have access to a private space when they want/need it? Thus can be accomplished with bedrooms or separate houses... the challenge with separate houses is truly operating as a family unit.
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And I would say the additional cost incurred by financially funding separate houses would be astronomical over the long haul. Think of what you could do with even just a fraction of that money saved by not having to fund a second/third etc. dwelling and really develop a single dwelling that would have everyone under one roof with personal space. I see that at a win-win from the husband's standpoint not only financially, but also in shepherding relationships among his wives and all the children.
 
Foxlily said:
I agree this would be the most common and easiest to work out.

If you have the opportunity though I believe it would be quite nice to take a master suite (available in a lot of houses) create a central living and have 2 bedrooms off it. Kind of a home within the home but it would be an area that the husband and wives could spend time together without children around. TV, couch etc whatever.. Could be a place for private meetings without worry of children popping in like the main livingroom would and would leave each woman's bedroom her private domain. If wanted could have a 3rd bedroom that is for the husband and wives could go to his room on their night. This is all conjecturing though lol No idea how well it would work.

I've seen Sister Wives.. The husband lives out of a backpack. I find that ridiculous personally.
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Yes, that does sound ridiculous! HE'S the man w/o a house/home :(! I super like the idea of a master suite and/or his bedroom with each wife having her own bedroom. Cool idea!
 
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