Free Grandma

[valsa]

What is that big bite out of the corner of the boys' room? There's a rectangle that's not accounted for.

I believe they have a slide that leads directly to the play room.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I don't think Grandma seriously considered how much work there was to do in her son's house. I think she DOES try to lessen the load for the girls and I'm sure there are days she wants to strangle both her youngest grandsons and their parents. She doesn't seem to truly like Michelle.

[Third]

I would think part of her died with her husband. I have been married for 8 years I cannot imagine being married for over 40 years and then learning to live life alone again.

Didn't they also use water for heating under the floors and the wet vac?

I think Grandma stays because it's nice to stay busy. If she were to leave there would only be so much she could do in her own home. This way she has things to keep her busy all day long instead of sitting around being lonely.

[lilwriter85]

I think overall Mary is ok living with Boob and the family. She probably likes being around her grandchildren and based on some of the pics Amy puts on instragram, she does seem happy around Amy and Boob's kids. Maybe she does get taken advantage of by Mullet and Boob at times.

[Fundilicious]

This might be a bit crass of me to point out, but JB and Michelle's room is awfully close to the girls' room. I have to wonder if those poor girls ever get defrauded by their parents at night.....or do you think they are saying prayers of thanks to Jesus every time they think a blessing is being made? Ok...I'm done being tacky ;)

As for Grandma Mary, I have to wonder if she is more Fundie (now) then we think. She's been to the ATI conferences with the family before. Chances are she could be a bit more indoctrinated into it now....or maybe she just loves living with a bunch of people. I have Grandparents (both on my side and my husband's) who have lost a spouse. Some wouldn't trade giving up living alone and some are very lonely and probably would accept any offer to live with a relative or their children. I guess we will never know unless Grandma writes a tell all book.

[silverspoons]

I love floorplans as well and I can't understand why the Duggars choose that floorplan. Even if you give them a pass on the 2 big kids rooms (because that is what the parents wanted), why that stupid catwalk and all that watsed open space to the second floor?

I looked at over 300 homes before I bought one and also had over 15 floorplans rejected on new lots (southern utah has the weirdest restrictions on no brick outiside or no masters upstairs, only block walls!). Everytime I walked into these homes with double story massive family/living rooms I would say I guess the utility company is happy! I considered buying 2 different foreclosures but both had the upstairs catwalk. I had an artictect go to both houses because if I bought I would have taken out the catwalk and made a huge family room adding 400-500 sq ft of living space. I hated the catwalks because I could see kids throwing things over and the lack of privacy. I think the Duggars like the lack of privacy the house provides. When I looked at houses like theirs I thought if we have friends over were is a spot we can talk, watch a movie, play a game late at night without the kids hearing noise? It is hard with these wide open floor plans.

As for Grandma, I do feel bad for her but I think there is a reason she is there. If anyone were to write a tell all book I think Grandma would be the one I would want to write it. Doesn't grandma own Amy's family house? I'm sure either way Grandma would be welcome at Amy's or Grandma could live in one of the rental homes she own on her own. Either she likes being around the Duugar family activity or she feel she NEEDS to be there. Maybe she feels the work she does takes some burden off the older girls? Maybe she feel bad that they have so much responsbility and she wants to try and give them a little break? I have also wonder if Michelle is a little depressed or having a rough season of life(or whatever they are calling this) over her child bearing years coming to an end, maybe Grandma is stepping to help for this reason.

[slickcat79]

I love floorplans as well and I can't understand why the Duggars choose that floorplan. Even if you give them a pass on the 2 big kids rooms (because that is what the parents wanted), why that stupid catwalk and all that watsed open space to the second floor?

I went back and re-watched some of the early specials recently, and I remember JB&M talking about ordering the steel frame kits that they used to build the house. Apparently the first kit they ordered came with all of the holes drilled backwards so that they couldn't be attached together the way that they were supposed to be. After talking it over with the supplier, he agreed to send them new kits, but they didn't have to send back the ones that were wrong. They ended up redrilling some holes and incorporated the extra kit into the design of the house, so it's possible the end design does not look exactly like what they had originally planned. Of course, the easy way to avoid that would be to not build a steel frame house yourself from scratch when you don't know what you're doing.

As far as the 2-level family room...IDK. I think a lot of people like that in homes because of the "grandness" of it, whether or not it makes sense in terms of utility bills. I think the Duggars could have planned a bit better though. Considering the fact that they had no intention of stopping childbirthin', they could have organized the rooms better to make space for more beds, etc.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I love floorplans as well and I can't understand why the Duggars choose that floorplan. Even if you give them a pass on the 2 big kids rooms (because that is what the parents wanted), why that stupid catwalk and all that watsed open space to the second floor?

Correction--that's what GOTHARD wants. Not all ATI families do this, but thanks to the book "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends" (I believe that's the title) and Gothard's mania for family always TOGETHER that's what they get. Since the Duggars are on the really rich end of Quiverfull they can at least have 2 HUGE rooms. Many familes have to cram in more sets of bunkbeds than a USMC squad would have in one small area!

[LilBit0318]

Just curious - which rooms were they on Friends?

*LOL* I'm wondering the same thing! I don't remember Monica & Rachel's or Chandler & Joey's apartments changing at all. Each had the door coming into the kitchen/dining area, the bathroom off to the side of the kitchen, & the two bedroom doors on the opposite walls. But I digress. Carry on! :D

[MamaJunebug]

Another floor plan aficionado, here! My favorite ever to figure out was that in "The Bird Cage." Initially it seemed like a plain-vanilla apartmnet but as I parsed it out, there were some fabulous ideas.

To Grandma. I don't think I've ever seen her, but the thought occurs that just as girls and young women are expected to stay sweet, perhaps old women are to be invisible. It's pretty common in secular culture, I'm told, and it certianly would make sense in the Duggars' case. Any way, invisible people are also quiet and unobtrusive. Just my 0.2 drachmas.

[fakepigtails73]

I have a tiny feeling that grandma Duggar is more fundie than grandpa Duggar ever was. Remember his reply when a TLC cameraman asked him if JB and M had too many kids? He said, yup, enough already! (paraphrase).

And yeah, I can't imagine the pain of losing your companion of 40 years...

Maybe she'd feel lonely without some company? Maybe she sleeps at one of her houses nearby a few nights a week and spends the rest of the week at the main house? If I were her I wouldn't spend my olden days doing heaps of laundry with Jinger, but hey, whatever...

I was flabbergasted when she filled up 3 or 4 large Evian water bottles with all that Dead Sea mud in Israel...What a move reminescent of the "Beverly Hillbillies"!

[Lady]

I think Mary is Christian and perhaps even fundy light. But I don't think she is as fundamentalist as the rest of the Duggars. I actually think the best place for her would be to move in with Josh and Anna. There wouldn't be as much work there, Anna could use the support, she could help Josh with the car lot as she seems to have good business sense since she is landlord and managing Amy's career, and get to know her great grandchildren. Of course Josh and Anna would need a bigger home, but they will soon anyway with one kid of each gender.

[lilwriter85]

I also think Mary is fundie lite. I remember a rumor that she became a bit fundie during Boob and Deanna's teen years. If she was upset with Michelle's last pregnancy, she may be at the point where she thinks enough is enough for Boob and Mullet. Some fundie lite don't like very large families or they get to the point when they realize enough is enough.

[emmiedahl]

I wonder if she is uncomfortable with the constant filming. I mean, it kind of goes against a lot of classic Christian values to put your life on display, and she might just be a really private person. She does look happier in photos than on the show.

[snarkykitty]

I'm betting the mechanical room is for closed-circuit cameras.

it's really odd to have a guest room ONLY accessible via another room. In my state, you may not have a "bedroom" that is accessible via another room. When we were kids and my parents looking for a new house, I remember there being an issue with the number of bedrooms in certain houses. Also, who would want their room off the likely steamy and sweaty laundry room with 4 washers and dryers?

Have we ever seen the actual sewing room? We've seen the studio a few times and the SOS computers in the open loft area, but the girls' room is an enigma to me.

I always thought that they had a secret panic room in the house, but perhaps not.

I, too, love looking at floor plans! THis one doesn't seem exactly accurate, though.

[Third]

I saw a clip where Jessa or maybe Jinger was in the Girls room on the computer and one of the older little girls was supposed to be napping on the floor in the sewing room. She kept having to put her back and told her you can stop napping either when they are 6 or 7. It was basically a room with a slanted roof and tables no window. I assume it's the sewing room since they have the family closet.

[darareaksmey]

She probably sleeps on the ironing board in the laundry room! :lol:

I'm not surprised if she sleeps in the guest room off the laundry room. I have not watched all that many episodes of the show, but every time I do, there is Grandma schlepping laundry. Wasn't it common in estates for scullery maids to sleep off the kitchen, and laundresses to sleep off the laundry, and chauffeurs to sleep in the garage, etc? At least she is close to her beat.

[tropaka]

Reminds me of Alice on the Brady Bunch.

In South America (or at least Chile and Argentina) almost all houses and apartments have maid's quarters, often not much larger than closets...

[bananacat]

I was just taking another look at the floorplan and I noticed something odd. It seems that in the girls bedroom, one of the bathrooms does not have a sink. Does that mean they have to wash their hands in the tub or wait until the other bathroom is available? And what about brushing teeth? It's not like they are short on space, and they managed to get sinks in all the other bathrooms. They should have opened the door for storage into the sewing room and extended the bathroom a little. Or they could have put a shower and a sink in that bathroom instead of a full tub, since there is still one in the other bathroom. I doubt that most of the daughters are still taking baths so a shower should have been fine.

I also think it's weird to have so much storage along the outside where windows are. It would make more sense to have the room wrap around to maximize light and have the storage more in the middle of the room. I guess having that many corners and nooks might give them too much privacy though :roll: Maybe they put the storage there because of a sloping ceiling, but I still think a bed under slope with a window is better.

[Maude]

I was just taking another look at the floorplan and I noticed something odd. It seems that in the girls bedroom, one of the bathrooms does not have a sink. Does that mean they have to wash their hands in the tub or wait until the other bathroom is available? And what about brushing teeth? It's not like they are short on space, and they managed to get sinks in all the other bathrooms. They should have opened the door for storage into the sewing room and extended the bathroom a little. Or they could have put a shower and a sink in that bathroom instead of a full tub, since there is still one in the other bathroom. I doubt that most of the daughters are still taking baths so a shower should have been fine.

If I recall correctly, the sinks for the girls are in their actual room, just outside the bathrooms. Why? My best guess is it's probably so that the girls can do their hair and make-up, leaving the tubs and/or toilets free.

[Lady]

I was just taking another look at the floorplan and I noticed something odd. It seems that in the girls bedroom, one of the bathrooms does not have a sink. Does that mean they have to wash their hands in the tub or wait until the other bathroom is available? And what about brushing teeth? It's not like they are short on space, and they managed to get sinks in all the other bathrooms. They should have opened the door for storage into the sewing room and extended the bathroom a little. Or they could have put a shower and a sink in that bathroom instead of a full tub, since there is still one in the other bathroom. I doubt that most of the daughters are still taking baths so a shower should have been fine.

I also think it's weird to have so much storage along the outside where windows are. It would make more sense to have the room wrap around to maximize light and have the storage more in the middle of the room. I guess having that many corners and nooks might give them too much privacy though :roll: Maybe they put the storage there because of a sloping ceiling, but I still think a bed under slope with a window is better.

Ewwww. I hope one of the kids wipes down the doorknob with a Clorox wipe.

[chiccy]

I bet that the closet in JB's office is the prayer closet.

No, we saw the Prayer Closet in a televised tour (some TLC online special or something) and it was off one of the main upstairs hallways.

[Lady]

I'm not surprised if she sleeps in the guest room off the laundry room. I have not watched all that many episodes of the show, but every time I do, there is Grandma schlepping laundry. Wasn't it common in estates for scullery maids to sleep off the kitchen, and laundresses to sleep off the laundry, and chauffeurs to sleep in the garage, etc? At least she is close to her beat.

I always thought the attics.