Jodi, I hate to be a naysayer (??) but that is exactly where I would want a halfbath. It's right by the office, close to the front door and living room, perfect for guests or someone working in the office. And obviously that's exactly the kind and location of halfbaths that are popular and expected in modern houses.

I have no problems with half-baths. That's where your dinner guests go. Much better than having them tromp through your bedrooms to find the toilet.

I like the idea of a bathroom that is guest-accessible without being the private master bathroom. It seems more common when the house is multistory, and your guests don't have to go up and down stairs to use the toilet.

In Jodi's case, though, I agree that it's a bit of wasted space since there's already another bathroom (that isn't the master) nearby. I guess people are concerned about others snooping through their medicine cabinet and stuff? Otherwise, a toilet is a toilet.

Actually, now that I've thought about it, I'm now wondering if people go through our cabinets....

Our Missoula house is 900 sq ft and has one tiny bathroom, adjacent to the kitchen. When the house was built in the 1930s there was no indoor plumbing, just an outhouse in the back yard. I was very comfortable in that house until we moved to Helena and started each having our own personal bathroom, and a total of 2,000 sq feet. I could live in a smaller house again, but I want my own bathroom from here on out. The other thing we have now that we didn't have there is a good staging area for organizing camping, packing, and river trips. In Missoula we had to do that in the back yard, so it was a pain if it was raining, and you couldn't pack up over days but had to do it all at once.

I'm so spoiled now by our nicer Helena house, I am thinking of doing a 1031 exchange on the rental so we'll have a nicer house to retire to. Not a fan of living through a major remodel, which is the other option.