McMansions (windows, paint, installed, living room)

[achtungpv]

My wife's aunt has a $650K Toll Brothers McMansion in PA. Came complete with a plastic chandelier in the dining room.

[Gurl]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

My wife's aunt has a $650K Toll Brothers McMansion in PA. Came complete with a plastic chandelier in the dining room.

And there you have it.

I guess the plastic chandelier is akin to the 'toy' in the Happy Meal.

[house shopping]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

My wife's aunt has a $650K Toll Brothers McMansion in PA. Came complete with a plastic chandelier in the dining room.

Thats it but really it has nothing to do with the location and style and everything to do with the size.

what does a client say who wants a mcmansion built? I'd like that supersized.

[RDSLOTS]

So what would the homes in The Hills of Rosemont, or Hasentree, or Regency be? Are they McMansions, or just new 'mansions?'

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Originally Posted by RDSLOTS

So what would the homes in The Hills of Rosemont, or Hasentree, or Regency be? Are they McMansions, or just new 'mansions?'

I've only seen the interior of one home in the Hills of Rosemont, and it was a mansion, for sure, but once you get inside, it all went downhill.

McMansion to the Nth degree. Talk about corners cut!! Ugh. It was so bad that I was actually angry by the time I walked out.

I think the dumb thing was over $3 million

[Briolat21]

McMansion applies to most of the new construction, unless you are in a "sustainable living development", or a custom-built home, or rich enough to build an actual mansion. You'll know the difference.

That said - I'm building a McMansion. As I'm the one paying the mortgage note, and the one who will be mowing my 1 acre lot (about 3/4 of an acre after you leave the house footprint out) - what the heck is it to you?

I've never understood the depth of anger people get over things other people have?? I personally like big rooms, I personally like a bigger house, and my husband and I can afford it - because like the article said, when they build lots of them - the price per square foot comes down. We would have happily bought an old victorian in the city, but everyone with those was unrealistic about the prices - "I think my Victorian requiring $100K of updates really is worth $300K"...

So, we got more square footage, new features, and an acre - for less money.

Works for me.

I don't drive through neighborhoods of bungalows thinking "those poor little people, if only they had the good sense to trade up to a McMansion" So why is it people seem to be so focused on the neighborhoods we're building in??

Weird.

I'll be too busy gardening and landscaping and enjoying my new house to spend time worrying about others...

And yes, some of them are built weirdly close together for our personal tastes -- that's why we went to a neighborhood with 1 acre lots. But some people really like the house, and have no time for lawn care and want to be very close to their neighbors... Why should we criticize them? Just because its not to your taste doesn't mean its wrong -- it means you take your dollars somewhere else..

[house shopping]

Originally Posted by Briolat21

McMansion applies to most of the new construction, unless you are in a "sustainable living development", or a custom-built home, or rich enough to build an actual mansion. You'll know the difference.

That said - I'm building a McMansion. As I'm the one paying the mortgage note, and the one who will be mowing my 1 acre lot (about 3/4 of an acre after you leave the house footprint out) - what the heck is it to you?

I've never understood the depth of anger people get over things other people have?? I personally like big rooms, I personally like a bigger house, and my husband and I can afford it - because like the article said, when they build lots of them - the price per square foot comes down. We would have happily bought an old victorian in the city, but everyone with those was unrealistic about the prices - "I think my Victorian requiring $100K of updates really is worth $300K"...

So, we got more square footage, new features, and an acre - for less money.

Works for me.

I don't drive through neighborhoods of bungalows thinking "those poor little people, if only they had the good sense to trade up to a McMansion" So why is it people seem to be so focused on the neighborhoods we're building in??

Weird.

I'll be too busy gardening and landscaping and enjoying my new house to spend time worrying about others...

And yes, some of them are built weirdly close together for our personal tastes -- that's why we went to a neighborhood with 1 acre lots. But some people really like the house, and have no time for lawn care and want to be very close to their neighbors... Why should we criticize them? Just because its not to your taste doesn't mean its wrong -- it means you take your dollars somewhere else..

No one is critisizing you... they are critisizing your home. If you have the money, which is great. whey than instead of just building big for the sake of buildng big, would you not build just a little smaller but with far more pleasing architectural detail? but you have to want it and demand it of your architect. Large spaces MUST be designed well not just designed for the sake of enclosing the most amount of space possible. BIG stark open space with nothing in it is UGLY and offends us all just like those poor neigborhoods of folks who don't have the money to do anything with thier homes but in a slightly different way.

mcmantions are ugly. period. and again as I said befor. a mcmansion is really an ordinary home that has been supersized like the french fries at mcdonalds. its still the same greasy french fries, your just getting more of them.

based on your example... if your home covers 1/4 acre of land that amounts to a square footprint of 104 ft x 104 ft. what the heck does anyone need a home that big for? is it to be the biggest and baddest onthe block? is it to prove how much your worth? Just wondering?

[Gurl]

Originally Posted by Briolat21

That said - I'm building a McMansion. As I'm the one paying the mortgage note, and the one who will be mowing my 1 acre lot (about 3/4 of an acre after you leave the house footprint out) - what the heck is it to you?

Nothing.

If you want build a big house that is of poor quality - have at it.

(That's what we're talking about, you know? McMansions aren't simply big houses that are close together. They are big houses that have been hastily built, and have a lot of quality issues.)

Originally Posted by Briolat21

McMansion applies to most of the new construction, unless you are in a "sustainable living development", or a custom-built home, or rich enough to build an actual mansion. You'll know the difference.

Honestly, I don't think most people buying McMansions know the difference. they have the 'bigger is better' mentality, and don't have the experience to know that more square footage and high quality don't necessarily go hand in hand. That doesn't anger me (or probably most people). To me, that's sad. People work hard for their money, and it really bugs me that builders are putting up these types of houses (not BIG...but poor quality.)

Here in Durham, there's a McMansion neighborhood that's almost done..the houses are scarily close...almost like a stepford neighborhood. But that's not the worst part. The model had over $300k worth of upgrades (I asked).

When you get inside the actual homes, it's almost tragic. They look like low end (but brand new) apartments. Very basic looking. Clean, new, but verrrrry basic - if not 'low end' (imo). Certainly not what I would expect in a brand new $600k house.

One neighborhood I was impressed with was Stonebridge. Those homes - while verrrrrrry big - had a pre-McMansion sensibilty about the constuction and details.

[Tesaje]

Aside from all the personal taste issues, the effect on all of us is that of waste and chewing up all the open space. The environmental issues affect everyone.

Personally, I'd much rather have a well built and well designed house than a big one.

[notjustamom]

To me, a McMansion is when someone buys a perfectly nice, existing home, tears it down, and builds a monstrosity in it's place. The replacement house is generally much larger than the surrounding homes in it's neighborhood, it is poorly built, and looks just plain tacky. We see a lot of McMansions in lower Fairfield County in Connecticut.