A friend's grandfather left everything to his son's ex-wife. The grandfather lived until way up in his 90's, and she moved in and took care of him for his last 15 years or so. After he died, she got a letter saying he was part of a class-action lawsuit, because his employer had stiffed the employees on their pensions. Because he lived up into his 90's, his share of the settlement was larger than typical. She eventually got a check for over $120k.

We're eventually upsizing, from 1500 square feet (3 bedrooms/2 baths) to 4000 square feet (3 bedrooms/3.5 baths). That sounds crazy, but the new house will have bedrooms large enough to hold... oh, I duh know... bedroom furniture. Each bedroom will have a walk in closet; the master will have two. The new house will also have a 10' x 12' computer room (office with built-in desktops), and storage, storage, storage, and more storage.

Our previous attempt to build a new house (delayed by the Floriduh real estate bubble and meltdown, and then killed by Frau Putzer's retirement) was a 3/3.5 + computer room house of 2900 square feet. That house and two-car garage took a lot of tweaking to fit on the 0.147 acre lot. The house was up against every set-back by less than 6", and the set-backs were really small. Two of of the bedrooms had double doors of 18" width each, because there was no place for a 32" door to be when open. The master bedroom doors opened outward into the hall. The HVAC plant was in the attic, on a platform hanging from the roof by cables to eliminate noise in the bedrooms below.

The new house plans grew by 1100 square feet to a large degree because of basement steps, a basement foyer, larger rooms, fireplaces (living room and basement), storage-storage-storage, and a 4' x 36' path from the kitchen to the garage (past the "Sam's Club" room, 1/2 bath, cat bathroom, automotive tool room, and garden tool room). Houses are like a gases, they grow to occupy all of the available space.

The new lot is hilly, allowing for a walk-out basement which could be finished off into a 4th bedroom/bath, a rumpus room, and a second kitchen. The finished basement could also be closed off to make a sperate residence (for a renter, nurse, property caretaker, concubine, friend, or any combination thereof). The HOA architecture rules allow for "servants' quarters." on the lot.

There'll be a three-car attached garage with a lift and a one-car detached garage for a renter, nurse, property caretaker, concubine, friend, or any combination thereof. The 2900 square foot house would have had a two-car garage with a lift.