You're not mad at Lorelai Gilmore, you want her house
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- Опубликовано: 3 май 2023
- Lorelai isn't rich rich, she bought a house in the 90s.
Video essay on the Gilmore Girl's house in Stars Hollow. Featuring: the difference between Max and Luke moving in, why Lorelai's house isn't worth 2.8 million dollars, pre-recession economics, what this Victorian Farmhouse might have looked like when it was built, why there is no dining room, and lots more. 
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The diner video is officially here: ruclips.net/video/jwCEvwenfg8/видео.html
What confuses me about the house situation is why people don't think Lorelai could have afforded a house after working full time for a decade at a time when the economy was doing really well. I don't know why people are expecting this narrative that a single teen mom couldn't have moved up and beyond her teenage circumstances to afford her home, while still experiencing the occasional financial struggle (such as trying to figure out how to pay for termite removal), relying on the kindness of her neighbors when smaller issues happened (like how Luke would offer his skills as a handyman so that wouldn't have to pay a professional to come over), and taking advantage of certain services as an extension of working at the inn (e.g. bringing home leftovers, taking Fran's old furniture, etc.). A huge part of the show if that Lorelai is a teen mother who proved her parents wrong and made a good life for herself after making bad choices when she was a kid, so why don't people like seeing that?
thissss , my family and i live in a fairly “big” house but still struggle to make ends meet a LOT of the time .
She also had a kid to raise on her own, don't know if it is that realistic still, they ate out everyday and she had a shopping addiction. So it does push the boundaries of reality. Maybe I can't wrap my head around this at all because I'm not American and that house looks unreal to me. Where I live (Ireland) mostly everything is homogeneous estates, rows and rows of the exact same thing and no aesthetically pleasing things like a wrap around porch.
Yeah, it really wasn't that unrealistic....especially since she lived (seemingly) rent free in the potting shed for a while. It would have been easy to save money! My sister had her first child at 16 (in 2013) and bought a modest but nice house at 19. It really isn't that far-fetched for a small town, in any economy.
@@Thecuriousincident1 I bet geographical differences do play a big part. As an American, that house is a little "meh" to me. Even in the early 2000's it was a dated two bedroom with a lot of problems.
@@Thecuriousincident1 well, I think it’s clear throughout the show that she was able to rely A LOT on the townspeople for childcare since both Lorelei and Rory are darlings of the town. And the house is a 2 bed, I think 1 bath. Pretty small layout for a typical family home and willing to bet that Rory’s room was converted from another purpose since typically bedrooms are on the second floor of a two story so maybe it was originally sold as a 1 bedroom. In the 90s this house could’ve been going for $80-100k which, after living in the inns shed for years and saving money in childcare, eating at the inns restaurant, and not paying market price rent I can see her saving that down payment.
Love this. I grew up in on the east coast and my mom was a dental receptionist who waited tables on weekends. In the early 90's she bought our 2br house for 86,000. Buying takeout a few times a week and subsisting on leftovers may have been comparable to the cost of grocery shopping, given the prices at Doose's. Plus, you just know that Sookie kept those girls fed.
Not only Sookie but Luke and most of the food businesses in Stars Hollow seem to sell cheap food. That's why Luke's had been a success and the others were... meh.
$86000 dollars is still rich in my eyes. Especially in a postcard town.
@@mary-janereallynotsarah684 The point of the video is that it's feasible for a single mother at that time period to buy a modest house, not whether every single person who views the vid can afford to.
@@mary-janereallynotsarah684 I only pay $500 a month for a house that price. It's pretty doable. That includes my property.
Where??? 😭
What I love about Lorelai's house on the inside is that it looks lived in. I love how Amy & Dan took time to show us Rory & Lorelai actually living in that house doing ordinary things like watching tv, reading books or studying, having people over, eating, letting people crash, lending their living room space to collect and organize stuff for a rummage sale, celebrating birthdays with people over and so on. They laughed, cried, made mistakes, grew in that house. That's why it feels like home. Lorelai not only was able to provide for Rory, like by owning a house, but she was also able to turn it into a real home.
i tried to work in the rummage sale episode, because i think it's the perfect example of a homey messy home. just lots of clutter that is going to take a while to sort out
Yes exactly!!! I don’t like to be negative about “tv shows nowadays” because I have a lot of shows that I love that came out in the past decade. But I really miss seeing real middle class houses or even low middle class. Shows now only display perfect looking beautiful modern houses that don’t look lived in ex:modern family. The kitchen never really looks used or the couch is perfectly together. The houses look like show rooms. Even a show like Big Bang theory started out with lives in spaces then in the newer seasons showed magazine cover type places like Howard and Bernadette’s house. Everything is either upper class, upper middle or low/poor.
i always found it funny how lorelai's house was meant to be humble, but when the same exterior was used as spencer's house in pretty little liars, it was meant to show how affluent the family are.
oh how times change
This is hilarious but also says a lot about the differences between the 90s versus the 2010s and how our idea of luxury has changed due to rising housing costs and the economy being a disaster in general. People's standards were higher back then.
Crazy what unfettered third world immigration does to you.
I think it's because it's in the context of being compared to the house she grew up in which was much bigger and grander. Also need I mention that at first Lorelai and Rory were living in the shed of the Independence Inn...
I could never figure out why it seemed there was only 1 room upstairs
I watched GG during the original run. I was 13 when it came out. Her house didn't ever seem to big or expensive for her. It seemed like a normal home. Lorelai worked hard and wasn't poor just not as well off as her parents.
Yeah, agreed. I watched all the seasons when they came out and even thought I was a child, their house did not seem like anything extravagant.
@@allymarkwell891 I agree with both of you. I watched the show when it came out as a middle schooler and it seemed pretty average back then. And I came from an impoverished area of the country. Economics then vs now are just different.
I agree with you. It seemed like an average home to me too. I watched it live from the 3rd season and wish I had started from the beginning. I was Rory's age in the first season when the show began, and now I'm Lorelai's age in the final season. Before too long I'll be Lorelai's age in the revival. I think I'll keep watching this show forever.
It’s unrealistic
Not just not as well off but not even close to her parents hahaha, and that's OK
Richard and Emily had generational family wealth, like old money, long lineage, that's why staying connected to and keeping birth family intact and healthy is important
Nothing like the security of a long cultured lineage and the prestige it brings, even when we are self made
Damn I had never thought about Lorelai’s small kitchen and refusal to extend the kitchen in the reno’s and have a designated dining area and that seems so obvious now, like the writers definitely intended everyone to notice this obvious connection that she would NEVER have a formal dining table in her own home.
A couple of things: Lorelei didn’t go to college and started working full time at age 17 - in 1985. Whatever she was making as a maid went further in the late eighties than a salary for a similar job now, and as you said she had subsidized housing because of the potting shed. She also had no student loan debt at all.
Also there used to be $0 down payment adjustable rate mortgages in the 90s although in addition to government support for first time buyers. These ARMs don’t exist now because they (cough oversimplify cough) caused the economic crash of 2008, but they did open a path to homeownership for people who might have had trouble with that first mortgage. In the 90s encouraging home ownership was seen as good for communities as well as for the borrowers because homeowners brought stability to a community. I imagine Taylor being involved even in local incentives that would make that house accessible to Lorelei and would have justified such help as community investment (Sookie might have gotten a similar deal.)
Luke of course inherited his home/diner and has therefore no rent or mortgage and minimal expenses, but even when he bought the building next door that easy credit was still available to him.
It’s hard to remember how different the economic conditions were in 1995 and I’m glad you pointed out that we are living in the future and when it comes to first time homebuyers it’s not a good future. Instead of being mad at Lorelei be mad at the people who wrecked the economy in the late 00s.
She probably got all of most of her and Rory's meals comped from Mia at the inn for up to ten or eleven years or more. People really liked her and helped take care of her. Even the house could have come with a great offer, someone telling her it's a good deal, help or a payment plan...
This leads to another thing people seem to think is unrealistic: why are the people of Stars Hollow so adoring of both Lorelei and Rory until some commentators think they contributed to Rory’s sense of entitlement as much as the grandparents. The older townies (Taylor, Babette, Miss Patty, Mia) low key adopted this teenager and her baby and rallied around them to get them on their feet. They clearly still see Lorelei as a child they should throw parties for in the square. Without knowing her background the adults who met her in 1985 would have seen her as a kid in trouble. Mia said this in almost those words. I’m sure Lorelei worked hard but the town would have given her a hand up, from hand me down baby clothes and a hot meal to favorable terms for a home loan. When you see how happy they are for her when she opens the Dragonfly it’s like everyone’s girl made good. And Taylor seems genuinely hurt when Rory doesn’t want to be ice cream queen, which is a nonsensical expectation but in his head Rory is abandoning the town that really helped raise her. She’s right to say no but he is still hurt about it.
@@Balletified you mention scarcity and laws. Guess what? They do impact the economy. So it’s not wrong to say in today’s economy that it would be difficult for a single working mother to buy a house. Because of housing inventory AND laws, but also other things such as stagnant wages, our buying power is much lower than it used to be.
There was very little student loan debt in the late 80's to the mid 90's. My brother earned a BofA with almost no loans but my SIL who graduated after 2000 had so much more.
@@angeliprimlani9389but how unbearable Lorelei is, it’s hard to imagine people just stepping up and giving her free labour, money, rent, gifts etc
I always heard people say how huge this house was!
It actually isn’t at all. The outside appearance made it seem larger than it was.
Think about it, it was a one bedroom home! Upstairs was lorelai’s room and a bathroom.
Downstairs was one big great room (family room) a bathroom, front closet, and kitchen. They didn’t have a laundry room their washer & dryer were outside!
Rory’s room was clearly never meant to be a bedroom. That’s why its so oddly shaped and why it doesn’t even have a closet! That’s why they have the wardrobe in her room!
Because it's not really a house, it's a set. So the set is smaller than what the house should be. That house could easily fit more than 2 bedrooms from the outside. The inside really doesn't size up with the outside because like I said, it's a tv set.
@@saltycat662 hahahahaa yea obviously its a set 🤣 🤣
I've never heard of a 1 bed room house. 1 bd Apts? Yes. But even townhouses have 2 bd. It's a really dumb house layout so she probably got it super cheap.
@@zahrakhan47 i have seen one bedroom houses in the middle of iowa (visiting family) in layouts similar to this one. Where like the video explained farmhouses were long and narrow. So from the front the house seems huge but it really isn’t.
It is bizarre I’m not going to argue otherwise. The point I was making is that it is a small house and the layout makes sense (mostly. There are things that make zero sense. Like 1. The fact that the downstairs bathroom is only there sometimes, sometimes that hallway leading to it is gone. And 2. The house doesn’t taper in upstairs which is weird when there is only one bedroom one bath up there it is the same width as the bottom which has more…)
They also state during a conversation between Suki and Lorelai in the season where Lukes ex, Rachel comes back. That Rory was 11 years old when Lorelai bought that house. Meaning shed spent at least 10 years with very low expenses. Cheap rent if any, most of their meals probably came from the inn for cheap or free, it was a 1 room shed so electricity and water would’ve been cheap too. All that time she was working full time so she basically saved the majority of what she made for about 10 years. It always seemed logical to me that she could’ve bought that house.
I just wanted you to pose the thought. If Rory’s bedroom was the dining room; then Lorelei would have bought a 1 bedroom 1 bath house. Not 2 bedrooms. Which in my book makes it more believable
Possibly two bathrooms but we never see the supposed second bathroom downstairs.
We have seen the second bathroom when rory was throwing up after getting drunk on founder’s day punch, rory was crying about logan while on the bathroom floor with her mom in season 5.
@@lunar547 I thought that was Lorelai's bathroom but just remodelled?
I suspect there may have been a smaller bedroom upstairs that was used as a wardrobe.
@@jessicaanand8615had to keep all those clothes somewhere!
I can neither confirm or deny that I have attempted to build their house in the Sims over 1,000 times.
Great video! I don't know why I never connected the Independence Inn to Lorelai's own independence, but there it is. I also like your analysis of her relationship with Max. Their breakup seemed forced to me, mostly because of her relationship with Luke. Like all her boyfriends and Luke's girlfriends were just place holders until they finally got together. But looking at it from this angle makes sense. And please finish that diner video. I love diners and miss them as they fade away. I always want a burger and fries when I watch them eat at Luke's.
Her relationships definitely felt like placeholders, especially in later seasons (Dad's lawyer partner and Christopher). But Max felt so realistic in some ways that I do think there is an alternate reality where it could have worked out. I don't think Max was ready for Lorelai, and honestly, who is
Ah yes, me too! Every time there's a Luke's diner scene I wanna order too.
@@monkeytoto tbh lorelai had severe commitment issues. Max was a great guy but marrying him would have meant changing her lifestyle, adding an extra person in her relationship with Rory, and she never seemed to accept that. With Luke, he just gave way to everything she wanted, his dream house, his bed set, everything except April. And ofcourse he worshipped Rory so he would never dream if interfering between the two. And with Jason, she seemed to have a good time just sneaking around so they never really fit into each other's lives. Christopher is the one who makes the most sense, if he could have ever overcome his own selfishness. From what I have seen on the show, Lorelai is as bad with change as Sheldon Cooper is. So set in her ways and she never really wants to change. How does a guy fit into that? I feel like even if Max had waited, it wouldn't really have done much. She liked him a lot, clearly. She couldn't stay away from him when she met him again. But she never seems to want to change her life despite what she says about wanting to get married.
Another thing with the Max breakup is that she has spent the last 16 years raising her kid and that's been her priority. And even with Max while we see she didn't handle how it affects Rory in the best ways she does seem to have maintained the intent to be looking out for her.
That he would say what he said about the keys is egregious given that the whole reason why he doesn't have them, the reason why he hadn't spent the night until he did, the reason why Lorelai was keeping this space was entirely because she wasn't being selfish. Keeping strange men you're dating out of your kid's home is a responsible thing to do and honestly a fucking burden! What he said showed that he hadn't considered or didn't understand this at all and frankly shows that he shouldn't have been with her.
Being a mother is such a significant part of who Lorelai is, it would be ridiculous for her to marry someone who couldn't even see the basics of how that affected her life.
ETA: and I think that's super realistic! Like that Max would have that blindspot isn't that weird, it's something you come across shockingly often as a single parent. And it's understandable/something you can move past in most instances but with the person you're meant to be marrying? No way.
The only reason that dilapidated house didn't fall apart is because LUKE was there fixing it ALL THE TIME..... another PERK to that house 😍🔥🔥
And when nothing needed repair, he broke things to have something to repair!
Plus for her birthday presents he would ask her to give him a list of basically "honey do" things around the house to fix every year! Plus she kept her car for almost the entire run of the show except when Luke found her a replacement engine for her car so she didn't have to get a new one
@@letrailhall-nance9189 I was thinking the same thing with the house is what's going on with the car.
❤🎉 Subscribed! Now, I understand what I felt about Lorelai as a single millennial :)
Also as the saying goes "it takes a village" and you can bet on anything that whenever lorelei might have needed help (wether it is money/food/clothes/furniture/etc) it would not take long for someone in this magical little adorable town and community to come help
Hmmm but at the same time, there is a phase in the show where lorelai is weeping on Christopher's shoulder because she is knee deep in debt, something not right with inn, and she requires 30 K or something from him as a loan of course
Another scene significantly prior to this one shows Luke helping her out with a payment plan to pay for damage and maintenance repairs to this idyllic little town cottage, that she says she can't pay for outright
i love your conclusion about the economic lense people see this show from now, i never thought her lifestyle seemed extravagant, she just lives in a big house that sadly isn't affordable these days. plus, she had a full time job running an inn in a tourist town (now i'm just repeating what you said lol ) but seriously, i would've cooked a bit more at home if i was her but that's it. still love this show forever.
ps- yea, Rory's room by the kitchen was weird.
"Big house" with only 2 bedrooms?
I never thought it was that weird, but then again, I lived in a house that was built in the 50's. The kitchen was right outside the bedroom. I've found older homes especially tend to be a bit quirkier like that.
I love that you're bringing context to the time period of this show. I watched this show when it first came out. I moved out of my parent's house in the 1990s. It was a VERY different economy. Eating out at a diner wasn't that expensive. I used to eat out multiple times a week. You could buy a house for under $150,000. Even apartments were fairly affordable. Yes, our paychecks were lower, too. However, we also had more disposable income. And the shabby chic look was super popular. Heck, I'm STILL living with homey, mismatched quirky furniture. The first time I saw a McMasion...I'd never seen anything like it! Now, that's all that's being built. Before that, your basic starter homes were under somewhere around 1200 sq ft (more or less). Now, the houses themselves are often three times this size. It's no wonder we look at this show with fond nostalgia.
I think it's also about where people live. I live in an inland Australian city of about 200k people. Rory and Lorelai's lifestyle is not unrealistic to me. I always say my city is about 20 years behind the rest of the world. We still have a blockbuster. Rent is cheap, houses are cheap, food is cheap. If I was move to a city like Sydeny, it would be completely unachievable.
When you got to the eating out all the time!!!! I was a single mom in the early 2000s and so many places had kids eat free nights. So we would go out, and for $6 we could eat and have left overs for either lunch or dinner the next day. We could go out to eat 3 nights a week, get 1 chinese take out meal, and get the $5 pizza on Mondays. That was an entire week of dinners and some lunches for less than $30 a week. I also remember when the salad bar was free with your dinner, and you could take 1 "refill" to go. So, we would go to places with a salad bar, get the chicken fingers kids meal and chicken fingers adult meal. My child's meal would be free, salad bar was free, and a lot of the time there would be free bread. We'd always get water too. Groceries were so much cheaper back then as well. We could live on less than $50 a week on food in total (with going out to eat).
Oh, the 90s. Can we form a kind of Amish group that just goes back to the 90s?
*Invents time machine so i can just afford a damn house* 😭
I’m in
I would actually be down for that 😅 make a compound with cell phone jammers so all the kids have to watch Nickelodeon or go outside.
I don't want to go back to the 90s. Eff that
I prefer the 50s - 70s frankly...much nicer people
Thank you. I keep seeing people saying their lifestyle was impossible but being only 2 years older than Rory and from a small town it really wasn't. I grew up on 3.5 acres in a 1600 Sq ft house with 2bd/3bt that cost $55k in 1990. Granted it was in the midwest so housing prices were cheaper than the coasts but it was still possible for a single mom to have Lorelai's lifestyle.
The Midwest is still cheaper, except maybe Chicago and Minneapolis. I have a 4 bed, 2 bath, 1700 square foot house. It's only possible for me to have this house here. It did cost double what your house did, but that's still 1/2 or less what it would be elsewhere.
My parents bought a 3bd/2bath home, biggest lot in the neighborhood in the 90s in portland oregon for 60k. That home is worth 650k now sight unseen. It's not even a nice neighborhood anymore, and it needs updating. My parents rent it out, but they consistently get those "I'll buy your house for cash" postcards often, and they usually offer between 600-650k. Its so insane.
It's very common for people to misunderstand the past through their knowledge of the present; So happy to watch someone point this out with humor.🙂
You mean, people don't know any history.
Def want the diner video. Also round of applause for this video. It was great.
Thank you for watching!! Pondering the diner video now
In 2002, my husband and I bought a small home that was built in 1950 for less than $70,000. It was in a small college town and at the time homes there were very affordable. Sadly, that's not the case anymore!
Your final thoughts that sum up the situation of their life not being irresponsible made me really sad because I remember thinking about what a luxury their lifestyle is when I watch the show. The fact that I see such a basic little life as so unattainable makes me really sad. You really changed my perspective.
I watched the episode Emily in Wonderland, with Emily's first time seeing the tiny shed in which girls lived when Lorelei was a teenager and twenty something maid, Rory was a baby and young girl, and the shed looked good to me. Lorelei got her freedom and her daughter and had a nice, clean place to stay. No one bossed her around, tried to change her or her child, manipulate her, and she had independence and raised her sweet child as she pleased. That shack was a luxury.
I just watched it again for probably the 4th or 5th time. I've always loved the safety and stability of their house but at 30 I started seeing how harmful Lorelai's attachment to her routines were to her relationships. I can't imagine being in a relationship with someone who was so trapped in their safety net that it prevented them from making any material changes to their way of life.
She was just scared
But the beauty of GG characters' is that they balance both change AND CONTINUITY, they are adequately modern adequately traditional
Like lorelai may have been a teenage mom but she came from a wonderful background and never was divorced or previously married etc Even Rory's father had wealthy family status, talent and smarts etc
Like Luke and Lorelai could each have their own homes, lives, jobs, and yet often fulfill a very conventional kind of man - woman role towards each other
This is what makes GG very wholesome,
(at least till Rory starts sleeping with married ex boyfriends etc) imo
I agree. She kept talking about wanting to get married, but she never was ready to be married to someone. I didn't find it cute.
😩 I feel attacked at this correct analysis sheesh. I grew up relating to Rory and now I’m beginning to see things from Lorelai position
After 30 I'm fully set in my ways
Man I LOVE the vibe of Lorelai's house. The cozy colours, the maximalism, the comfortable couch... Absolutely obsessed.
Great video essay! I for one would love to see your video on affordability of food.
I'm a big fan from Italy of the show "Gilmore Girls" and I agree with you: what makes the show enjoyable is everything that revolves around the two women.
Lorelai's house makes you feel protected, safe, it's a small world where everything is more magical.
I don't know if houses in the USA between the 90s and 2000s were like this, but I would much rather have a similar house than a super penthouse in New York.
I love the way the rooms are organized and especially the furniture. I would like to furnish my house like that, but I can't find the furniture.
The type of furniture does not have a precise style, even if it has a touch of shabby chic.
Also, I would really like to live in a small town like Stars Hollow: everyone knows everyone, life is healthier and more genuine, the community collaborates to organize events, etc.
I know that in the USA there are small towns that look like Stars Hollow, but I don't know if the life and mentality of the citizens is like that of 25/30 years ago.
Technology has given so much, but at the same time it has taken away a lot of things, especially the traditions.
Long live the 90/2000s, what I would give to be able to go back and live just one day like at the time.
An Italian greeting.
Yes, a lot of working class homes in the 90's & 2000's were furnished like Lorelai's house :-) It was a mix of old furnuture that had been given to us by family and friends, mixed with newer furniture that we picked ourselves. Lots of homes (like mine) have lots books and lamps on every table. A lot of us still have homes like that. Most of the time movies and tv shows either show working class Americans homes to be better than they really are, or worse than they really are. I think Lorelai's house is a pretty accurate representation :-) The towns aren't quite that ideal, though. There are always the rough areas and rough people.
I love your idea that Lorelai may have converted a dining room into a bedroom, metaphorically closing the door on her old life. Her parents' world. It's a great insight, because it works thematically as well. She put Rory in that room. And, Rory is the reason the door to that world was open yet again. Brilliant!
the show began around 2000, when the US’s economy was at a peak. this is evidenced by the fact that characters such as Luke, Miss Patty, have stable jobs where they seem to have been forever. also the closeness of the town creates its own unique economy where everything stays constant just like the peoples wants do. we can’t imagine that from our pov when people are in and out of work and competition changes things constantly and prices keep going up.
I (a person who refuses to expend mentally energy on my real job so that I have more energy to expend on analyzing the architecture and decor of tv show homes) have a lot of opinions on the kitchens for each of the liars in Pretty Little Liars
This is brilliant! There is so much about what their individual house decor says about them. Hannah and Emily leaning more 2000s modern clean, and Spencer and Aria playing more traditional, old-money styles.
Need aria room discussed first
😂 this made me laugh
I live in a similar tourist town - complete with gazebo! - and bought my house as a single woman in the early 2000s. When shopping around, there were many affordable Victorian houses around the Main Street area which topped out at no more than $200,000 (all worth much more now!). Lorelai's house would have very likely been a "fixer-upper" at the time, just like the homes here. The more work you had to put into a house, the lower you could convince the lender to go on price. Don't forget we're also seeing her house after they had lived there a few years. With all of the friends she had, Lorelai would have had that dealt with in no time, with probably very little money. And even with thrifting, you don't buy everything at once, you accumulate things over time. I not only agree with your assessment that she could have afforded the house, I think you might even be overestimating it! Low fixed-rate mortgages at the time weren't difficult to get, and zero $ down payments were common, even without the name Gilmore attached to the loan!
You mean under-estimating it
I’d love to know the name of your town! I want to visit a place like Stars Hollow 🥰
I think Lorelei's house being a farmhouse makes sense, it looks big on the outside but the inside is much smaller, I've seen this trick used in custom homes in semi-rural areas in CA as well. Someone I knew had a custom home that looked like a 6000sqft home on the outside and was probably only 2200sqft on the inside, possibly less. I've gone through different websites and looked at home prices, wages, and inflation for the time period Lorelei would have purchased her home and I totally think it was doable back then. She probably lived paycheck to paycheck but she still would have been able to afford a small house and cheap takeout. Buying a couple of pizzas every weekend in the late 90s and early 00s used to be affordable, not a "luxury". Being an "Elderly Millennial" that was in her 20s in the 00s and ate out more than I bought groceries I can confirm that it roughly cost the same (unless you went somewhere fancy).
I grew up in a small town and had friends who’s parents were in similar situations as Lorelei in bigger homes, and most of those homes had basements. This debate always confused me, I don’t think the house size is that outrageous for their circumstances!
You are very right about them being WAY off on the value of her house. It's a 2 bedroom (they bring this up at one point that there's only 2), either 1.5 or 2 bathroom on not a lot of land. It's not in Greenwich or even Westport or Fairfield. There is no way it's valued at over $2 million, not even after the renovations.
I've always said that I think the show believes that Connecticut is a county in northern California. Their concept of distance is completely off, and then of course in the infamous "musical" from the revival they claim there were Redwood trees naturally growing here. There aren't and weren't. I don't know why they can't read maps, but there's no highway that goes straight from Hartford to Stamford, and no, there is no place in the state that is exactly 30 minutes from everywhere else in the state. Downtown Hartford is commercial, not wealthy residential, and nobody in their right mind would pick living there over living in New York- there's none of the stuff the guy Emily and Richard were trying to fix up Loreli with said is there. Likewise, they made Litchfield look very cosmopolitan and a place where someone goes for business trips. It's not. It's a beautiful small town on top of mountains with some large estates but that's not the majority of it, and their downtown is a couple of strips of small businesses. It's actually more like Stars Hollow, and it's one of the places I'd like to eventually move to.
My point (after that vent) is that if the show is so confused about this state, why would we expect anyone else to have a clear, proper vision of it? Of course they're going to make a grandiose claim like "this tiny 2 bedroom house with no land is worth $2.8 million" when the show's version of the state has native Redwoods!
The revival drove me nuts with the Californication. It made no sense to me that Lorelai would do the Pacific Crest versus the Appalachian Trail even if she read Wild!
I’ve lived in CA and grew up in CT. The show has always felt jarringly unlike CT- trees are different, skies and natural light is different, even the curved arches inside L and R’s home are only something I’ve seen in LA architecture, never in a CT house
I still remember my grandmother being pissed when gas went up to $1.00. Or the first time I went to the mall with my friends for our weekly movie and the cost had gone up to $3.25, but I only had $3.00. This was in 1993. I watched GG when it was on tv and never thought it was weird a single mom had a house, as this was my experience with my friends.
omg I can't imagine the movies being that cheap, it's 13 dollars for a single ticket now :\
Yeah. Buying a house in a small town is completely different than buying a house in a busy area. My own house was $145,000 but a relative of mine bought a house only 1 bathroom bigger in a larger area for $460,000
This is the type of cold case investigation we didn't realize how much we have been needing
“This house is a trap. Anything that changes her relationship with this house becomes a threat to her independence.” That’s not a house problem. That’s a Lorelei problem. We don’t need an architect or a realtor. We need a therapist. 😂
I completely agree.
No one ever brings up that maybe Lorelai is a little selfish when it comes to the house sometimes. I get it, the house is a character and represents her independence- but girl for REAL needs a therapist.
I have watched Gilmore Girls probably a thousand times, on my TV, then on DVDs, now on Netflix, and I never thought to go deeper about Max’s printer as you did. Thank you for that, a new perspective. I just thought that she was hesitating because of the unpleasant thing Max said to her about the key, making her realize that she didn’t want to get married. But you are right, of course it is deeper than that.
In the house, I love the floral lamps like if she had done a collage on them. And I love the monkey lamp. Who wouldn’t want this house?
Glad your channel randomly popped up! Never knew I needed a video essay on this but loved it.
Can’t believe I was so lucky that I came across this channel! Such a beautiful video
I love these little picky bits about my favorite shows 😭💕
Absolutely want to watch the diner video! Honestly, I'll watch anything you upload!
This was so fun to watch. I found you through one of your stamp videos and I'm glad I did. It so cool to find people with the same interests 😊
wow i am blow away by the research and the way you present info about my all-time favourite show
New fan here!! This is a really unique approach to a show I’ve watched a million times and you brought up points I hadnt thought of before!
Been watching your content lately and I hope you will continue to make new videos - they're great!
I love your take on this! Why is it so fun to keep talking about Gilmore Girls. I'll never get tired of it 😁
Lorelei's lifestyle was as realistic as the Friends lifestyle.
This was a really great video. I enjoyed the structure of your argument/discussion a lot! And honestly, I got a little emotional at the part where you mentioned how Luke just stepped up and chose her house because he knows how much it means to her.
I love you! Genius analysis -- and yes, we want the diner video!!
Such a gorgeous video essay. I adore how articulate you are, and your takes. Love the social commentary, character analysis and architectural insights. Brilliant research on class. I like the visual pictures and clips for reference it makes it easy to visualise what you’re saying. Keen for your video on cheap diner foods! Very happy I’m subscribed. Top form content. On my way to watch the edward video
Excellent, Excellent video! I've started watching your stuff the past few weeks and I'm obsessed. I get so nostalgic for the 90s housing market. For the amount me and my husband had to save for our down payment, we could have bought the same house in the 90s out of pocket. Crazy. Going to watch the twilight video now!
What a delightful watch! Instant subscribe!
12:30 oh I definitely want to see the diner video!! Also this video essay was so good!!
Great video, lived the topic and your whispering voice
You brought up some very interesting points about Lorelei's attachment to the house. Great video!
I really like your channel and appreciate that you cover different-but-kinda-related topics. I couldn't get into Gilmore Girls myself, but your analysis of it is very enjoyable and is helping me understand how to design my living space to be comfy.
Wow amazing video! Great analysis and interesting ideas! This gave me a lot to think about. Gilmore Girls is my favorite show. I watch it constantly (in the background right now) and I've seen it countless times. Yet I'm still picking up on new things, catching references, and learning from other fans. There is so much in this show! Anyway, you made interesting points about the cost of their house, food, and lifestyle back in the 90s and early 2000s. I love the scene from Office Space, too. Thank you for this!
Love this video so much!!
Just found your videos and I am thrilled! These topics are so cool and so insightful!
the absolute subtle bits of sarcasm... everywhere, sprinkled within every little knook and cranny of this video... is absolute GOLD!!
Love this analysis! I'm still envisioning living in Stars Hollow to this day!
I really enjoyed this super thought provoking video.
I just found your channel and i am delighted. I love it here.
Excellent presentation style! And great info on the cosiest of shows. I didn't watch GG until the last few years and the financial differences were definitely jarring! ✨🌙✨
I loved this video. Honestly its been a while since I've enjoyed something. I was watching this while cleaning some stuff that's been hanging in my room and making me feel quite bad. Subscribed :)
LOVE this video!! It never struck me that Lorelai couldn't afford this house because I thought it wasn't in amazing condition when she bought it and she sort of plucked away at it over time. I also thought her job was half-decent. Also, is there really THAT much land? Seems like a small plot (haven't watched this show in awhile so I don't remember everything!)
Also PLEASE do the diner video!! Diners have a special place for me and I've thought about doing some kind of video on them myself so PLEASE DO THE DINER VIDEO. YES I AM USING ALL CAPS.
This video was so interesting. I was hooked till the end!
Love your channel so much
Also: there's Babette and Maury's house next door, it's extremely "farm" style. Especially the inside doors between the kitchen and the living room = as we see from different angles in the Season 1, 14th episode, "That Damn Donna Reed."
Possibly as Kendra said, Lorelai's home is a Farm House and Babette's might be the farm extension of that house. I honestly love both their homes.
Oh I have a theory on this that I couldn't work into the video. Babette's house looks very close to Lorelai's. I think it could be a carriage house or barn outbuilding to the original farmhouse. Some of the carriage houses back then were elaborate and funky and it could explain weird walls and doors being added later.
Omg I was cackling through this entire thing. You’re brilliant. Thank you. One part of the video reminded me of how my bff and I are always making fun of Buffy's mom's house on the show Buffy because it is massive on the outside and tiny inside.
Yay!! That was soo great!! Good job!
Just found you and subscribed today. You KNOW we want to see that video! 😊
I love your sense of humor, I had to subscribe. Keep the great content up 👍
I just found you through this video and I think I love you
Holy Cow, I have never seen Gilmore Girls and now I know what my plans are for tonight. You bring up so many poignantly happier times, if that makes sense? AND make great points. I'm here for it. Will be watching more.
Dooo the diner video!! Sounds super interesting!
I love your deep dive analysis.
yesss lets talk about all those things.
1st video I’ve seen of you, I love your sense of humor 😊
It's so refreshing to see an actual analysis with facts from someone who actually has seen and loves the show! Most people just like to rant on their opinions and probably haven't seen the entire show or ever rewatched an episode. Here's my subscription! Did they ever tell you you sound exactly like Ask a Mortician Catherine Doughty? Thanks all the way from Argentina, definitely binging on some of your other videos at 5am on an insomniac Monday! Who knew something good would come out of it?
this was SO good omg
I just found your channel now it's a staple💘
Girl I am dying for this diner food analysis video hurry up!!! I believe in you pls finish it I love the niche
i definitely need to see that diner video you’re working on
I love, love, love this! I watched this show growing up , in real time, and was super duper addicted to everything Lorelai did/said/wore and MOST ESPECIALLY her house and her jeep. I'm 32 now, the same age her character was when the show started and I 100% get it. Having a home AND being free to do what you want is everything. Also I read somewhere that apparently Lorelai is a Taurus lol and Tauruses love home
Something that people don't consider is that, maybe, the house was run down and in need of work when Lorelai bought it. She's proven that she's capable of getting things done, including fixing up a house and making it her own.
The economy was a lot different when she would've bought the house than when people started questioning how she could've afforded it. I watched the show right from when it first came out, and it was never a thing, wondering how she could've afforded it or her daily coffees at Luke's. Her job pays well enough that she could've done that.
You do have a great point about the layout of the house not fitting the outside of it. Mind you, that's a common thing in a lot of TV and movie houses. Things inside rarely, if ever, match the exteriors.
I would love to live in a house like Lorelai's, whether it's one that matches the outside or the inside. It's such a cozy dream of a house that people can truly relax in and feel right at home in.
Like Lorelai and Rory, I relate to buying plenty of take out so that I have plenty for leftovers. I'm a single woman who does like to cook, but sometimes it's just nice to have someone else cook for me. The closest I come to that is ordering takeout. haha
It's most likely that Luke didn't have to buy the diner building since his dad owned it before him and probably paid it off a long time ago.
When it comes to Lorelai's love of her home and feeling apprehensive at the mere thought of changing it or moving from it, I totally relate to it. I'm not, for the first time since I moved out of my parents' home in the '90s, am in a house all my home and where I feel completely at home, that I love. The thought of leaving this place fills me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, as I fully imagine Lorelai feels each time the very idea of that comes up.
Im a interior designer and a Floorplan enthusiast. This house should have at LEAST 2 bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs. And two full working bathrioms for that size even if its not very wide .
Thanks for the research❤
My husband and I went house hunting in Toluca Lake (in Lis Angeles) in the late 90's. We saw a very large house with a big lawn that was $600,000. Now it goes for $3 million.
When analyzing Lorelei being able to get the house, everyone forgets about the fact she comes from money and may have received a trust fund from Trix. It’s reasonable to expect that if Trix was going to provide one for Rory at 25, she did the same for Lorelei. And if you consider that Lorelei was 32-33 when the show started and had been in the house 5 years, that means she was 26-27 when she bought it. She may not have gotten as much as Rory was supposed to, but I’m sure she still got something. 🤷🏻♀️
Lorelai never loved Max. She never once said I love you to him but he told her many times he loved her. I remember noticing that she never said the words when I first watched it and I knew she wouldn't marry him
The thing I'm wondering was the upstairs just one master bedroom in a bathroom and that's it? Did they even have a backyard?
Yeah, the upstairs makes no sense, because it would be expensive to put in a staircase just for one bedroom. It would make more sense if it was like a loft bedroom in the attic. Backyard seemed small if anything
This lovely and well researched video made me want to rewatch GG (for the xth time) ❤
I love your channel !! ❤
Thank you, that's what I've always thought about the financial discussions.
I just found you and my heart practically stopped when you mentioned the Twilight house. 🙏