Wouldn't they want their own homes?

Because they love Southfork and Miss Ellie wanted them there. LOL I don't know really, it's the only reasons I can think of.


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On DYNASTY, and now EMPIRE, it's not so weird because the mansion on the family compound is so large (and even then they sometimes move out).

But on DALLAS, they live in a barely-glorified ranch house (which is twice as small in real life than it appears on screen) so it seems pretty cramped. But that's the fun of the show: a bourgeois workingclass mindset deeply instilled in this superrich family -- they actually think Southfork is "nice."

LOL

--
LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA

Miss Ellie would cry.

Oh God. Fortune vomits on my eiderdown once more.

They could have built there own family house near the main house. They could still have had family breakfasts and dinners a couple of times a week for family drama purposes.
🏠🏡🏡🏡

In-Universe answers:

- Family togetherness. It's just more cozy to live with your supportive family that you also get to be a useful part of by supporting them as well. It's a win-win situation for everyone, especially elderly, aging parents that might need more help in the future.

- Practicality. When you've lived with your family all your life, moving away needs a big motivation, is quite a hassle and workload, lots of stress and arranging chings. And for what? It's just more practical to live together, giving each other support, advice and insights into life.

- Support network. If something happens - and a lot happens in the show and would in real life, too - it's easier to deal with, if the group lives supporting together as a family, instead of separate individuals. A problem becomes everyone's problem, and thus makes it smaller for the individual.

- Social life and connections. This kind of arrangement allows for a maximum amount of social life and connections - although possibly 'cramping one's style', you get to know a lot more people through family connections, and there's a 'neutral place' to invite everyone over.

There are many cultures in the world (for example, in Asia) where multiple generations of families live in the same house or premises, and this is seen as normal. A son marries someone, and they move in the same family house they always lived in, instead of moving on their own. There are lots and lots of benefits from such an arrangement.

This is seen as completely normal in many parts of this planet, but in the west, it's frowned upon for some reason. Why can't a family or generations live together?

Of course there are benefits for solitary or individual lives as well, and I think, as everyone is different, everyone should be able to live any which way they want. Some people are lones, some are family people, some want to live with their 'own' family, and only visit their 'extended' family from time to time.

That was absolutely ridiculous. All the couples living in their own homes would've avoided a lot of problems. It's weird, in the miniseries they point out the house that would've belonged to Gary and his family, but this is never addressed again, I think?

In Southern melodrama, you need everyone under the same roof so they'll get on each other's nerves, and can then conveniently argue all the time.