This Gratuitous House

Tonight I was at my parents house, watching tv with them for a while. They have always liked to watched "This Old House"- the progam where they renovate an old home for a family, restoring it to it's original splendor.

The latest home they have done doesn't have owners yet. The show purchased it for $600K or something and plan to sell it after the renovation. Tonight the episode we watched was one where they toured the finsihed parts of the house that had been designed by a team of 17 designers.

Room after room after room I watched as they revealed the library, the entry room, the loft, the butlers pantry, etc. Then they finally got to the normal rooms (which were in no way normal) like the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen.

One thing that struck me was one of the showers- it was covered in shiny subway tile, accented with some expensive stuff, and it was HUGE.

I said to my parents, "Don't you think this is a little much?"

I have thought alot about what it would be like to have a huge house with custom cabinets and walk in closets. Or even just a house with a dishwasher. Or a bath tub.

Would I be happy then? Would I keep it cleaner because I had more space? Or would more space mean more stuff which leads to needing more space?

And how nice does a living space have to be? If it's comfortable and safe and everyone has a place to lay there heads, how much is really needed?

The same question comes to me, what do we NEED to live? Not wanting or wishing- needing.