I have also been experiencing crashes after doing a lot of building, placing and saving lots; and then I hit the library button. That seems to trigger the crash. Probably that's what is causing the household files to be corrupted. I just find it odd that it's only affected the bigger households. Maybe a coincidence?
I wonder if I should try deleting my content, and not touch the save. I don't want to lose the progress I've made. The only reason I deleted the saves I had before was because I was no longer being awarded any achievements. Started all over and still no achievements, but that is a totally different issue.