You may not be happy if you let other people make your decisions for you.
That said, I personally like smaller houses. Someone mentioned that house A will appreciate more when the market comes back. Maybe it will, but I'd prefer to be 5 minutes from the beach. And I'd think house B would be MUCH easier to sell simply due to location. If you don't have the need for all that space, I'd go with house B and save gas money, utility money, sanity, etc. by having a shorter drive to work and a shorter drive to the beach. But that's me. You might want the seclusion of house A. I hate to clean, so I know I'd spend a lot of money on a maid coming in to clean all the time.
