Saturday, February 18, 2012

Bathroom-dating a Home

Did you know that the age of a home is often in reverse proportion to the number of washrooms it has? I grew up in a house built in 1915. The six of us (my parents and four kids) shared one washroom. Somehow we managed, although I remember moments of hopping from one foot to the other, banging on the door. I re-visited our house years later, after a subsequent owner has renovated. It now had a powder room carved out of the big kitchen where Mom’s washing machine used to be, an attic loft bedroom with a three-piece washroom, and a Jacuzzi tub right where my parents’ bed used to be! (Of course the original washroom had been updated as well.) How thing change! If a home hasn’t been renovated here’s what you’re likely to find: Pre-1960: One second floor washroom. 1960’s: Add a main floor powder room. 1970’s: The second floor washroom becomes a semi-ensuite for the master bedroom. 1980’s: A fully ensuite two-piece washroom is added to the master bedroom. 1990’s: The ensuite becomes a three or four piece washroom. 2000’s: The ensuite becomes an oversized spa. 2005’s (things are speeding up): Look for “Jack & Jill” washrooms, shared by two bedrooms, and more single bedrooms with ensuites. Of course there are the avante guard, who added these features early, and the budget-minded who still forego them, but you can usually guess the age of a house by this rule of thumb.