Has anyone gotten a bigger place mainly to accommodate their growing collection?

Yeah I know the Reno-Sparks area there's not too many places with basements unless you are willing go to the old areas but those homes have a lot of problems and are over-priced. Only people that can afford houses in Nevada are those who sell their Shacks in California and move out here.


We are planning to buy a new house next year. My wife wants a better location with no commute, and a big kitchen. She also wants to be able to park in the garage. So, for me, size for an indoor gameroom or an outbuilding is the main factor. I have 440 sq ft in the garage now, and I want a minimum of 1000 sq ft for the new gameroom. Prices are crazy here for the wages, which the op alluded to, so this is going to be tough to find.

I am hoping for a basement with outdoor access, but the homes with those are all pretty old, and my wife wants newer. I would be happy with a large building in the back yard, but I haven't seen many of those.

I would rather stay outside of town and maximize the size of the house for the money, but my wife is refusing to commute anymore (20 minutes on a good day, maybe an hour on a bad one).
 
Yeah I know the Reno-Sparks area there's not too many places with basements unless you are willing go to the old areas but those homes have a lot of problems and are over-priced. Only people that can afford houses in Nevada are those who sell their Shacks in California and move out here.


My Silicon Valley shack has me dreaming of space....
 
Yeah I guess us and Reno don't have it as bad as people in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. However, prices here I've been skyrocketing in the past year, and wages have not kept up they remain stagnant.



QUOTE=skater;3469327]My Silicon Valley shack has me dreaming of space....[/QUOTE]
 
Yeah I guess us and Reno don't have it as bad as people in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. However, prices here I've been skyrocketing in the past year, and wages have not kept up they remain stagnant.

This was a major factor of why I left California last year and moved to Arizona.
I got my property tax bill for my house in Arizona and it was half of what I was paying in California for a house that was 1/4 the size assessed at roughly the same value.
 
You guys could always keep going east to Texas. You'll have plenty of space to build what ever you want as big as you want.
 
I could not even think of moving. The thought of moving everything out of the basement makes me want to live here forever.
 
This was a major factor of why I left California last year and moved to Arizona.
I got my property tax bill for my house in Arizona and it was half of what I was paying in California for a house that was 1/4 the size assessed at roughly the same value.
Yes I'm hoping to move 2 Arizona that is one of the places I have lived that in the past and I would love to retire to in Tinker with my games. I do have an offer for work slash School in San Diego and I live there too at one time but man is it stupid expensive and now it's crowded and it was 20 25 years ago
 
The fiance and I are house shopping now and bar / game room space is at the top of the list. Will need to accommodate 15 stand up vids, 5 cockpits, 5 pins,shuffle board, shuffle alley foosball, air hockey, pool table and up to 5 cocktails
 
i am on an acreage, last week i signed on the line for a shop build this spring. base footprint will be 2400sqft with 18ft ceilings and 16ft road height doors and above that an 1800sqft mezzanine where my finished projects will be. it will have stairs but am also building a pully/cable/winch lift for moving heavy items up and down (kinda like an elevator from an old car hoist i got)
 
The wife and I have been looking at properties in an acre or so so we can do the same - build a shop to house the arcade - but we're a long way off yet . Someday ....
 
My house is bigger when I moved out of Illinois, but I did not gain that much additional arcade space.

I did gain:

1) Double door walkout basement
2) Full size kitchen/bar
3) Bathroom
4) 3 Car garage instead of 2
5) Pool (Not arcade related)
6) Extra land for possible repair shop building
 
I'm concerned that Freemike and I have a hoarding problem, but in a good way, I think. :)

We've continually had to seek out additional space for our many "treasures" we attempt to rescue! We are currently negotiating on moving our workshop to a bigger space, 100 x 30, but that doesn't include the many areas of storage. By my calculations, we're up over 10 storage units, 3 storage Connex containers, misc. garages, etc. I already know that as soon as we move (possibly this month) we will fill it too. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but overall I think it is a great problem to have! :)
 
Don't worry, you'll get one.... ;-)

Maybe some pictures to start. This was last week before we moved in. So nothing but a pingpong table, my dog, and some golf clubs. :)

Overall main area is about 30 feet wide at the widest. The foot of the stairs is 23 feet to the back wall by the rear door. The pano kinda compresses it, so you cant really see how massive the space is under and around the stairs.

It's an organized mess down there right now. I need to address the power situation before i put anything in its place and build new benches, etc. Hopefully by year end it will all be ready to go, but i'm doing it in sections.

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First picture, from left to right wall by wall...
-Lounge we be along the left wall, a couch or two.
-Studio space, (where the clubs and ping pong table are). Gonna add some lights and that table will get a roll of seamless and act as a shooting table. Overhead lighting and behind that a large projector screen for consoles. 200" SMB3, yes please :D
-Left of the stairs, table with a microwave and a mini fridge,
-Behind under the stairs, a new 8 foot bench. peg board for tools, large tool storage, CRT test rig. large 48" florescent light fixtures.
-Under Right of the stairs, Shelves for CRT, PCB, and spare parts storage.
-Stairs. My dog, looking confused, she'll adapt.
- Post in front of stairs, Cocktail row. I have 4 now, with a 5th on the way soon. These will get power from the post. Could convert to a second row of uprights (14ish possible)
-Small wall, Maybe a popcorn machine?? No idea. Will have the switch panel for the lighting of the arcade.
-Main arcade wall, My main collection will live here. 5 sections of 4 gang boxes, each individually switchable. 5-6 fixtures of dual 48" blacklights above the games,


30827615272_cd4b1487f7_b.jpg


Second image, Here you can see the back basement access, Just to the right of the door is a nook for the inevitable pinball collection. Just the one for the space right now, but i'll have a couple switched outlets there, and another dual 48" black light fixture above.
 
I closed on my new place 2 weeks ago. Games are still in storage but i added about 1000 square feet not including my basement, attached 2 car garage and a 9x17 attached shed. Plenty of room for games and space to work.
 
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