Living with not just family, but extended family, friends, visitors, religious pilgrims, and widows or parentless kids was totally the norm in the western world for many centuries! This article: [http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/09/millennial-housing-communal-living-middle-ages/501467/?utm_source=fbia] gives a great run down of how industrialization radically changed the way people live together
(Also, as an interesting side note, industrialization also changed our sleeping patterns. It used to be pretty common in the Middle Ages all over Europe to go to bed around dusk, sleep for about four hours, then naturally wake up for an hour or so and then sleep for another four-ish hours until daybreak. Some folks used this time to eat, to pray, to socialize, or simply to think about the world. So pls imagine for me some 13th century monks all doing the equivalent of a high school sleepover where they all sit up talking about existence and life and love with each other in the middle of the night like total dorks.)
But please, don’t listen to the bullshit 1950’s narrative that the Dream is a big empty house in the suburbs with two cars and a nice lawn. Go live with all your friends. Get a big house and fill it with family and chosen family and pets and plants and take care of each other, please. It’s the best thing for so many of us.