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Old 10-30-2015, 08:02 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Terps10 View Post
I live in North Arlington as well, and while there are a ton of unique 1950s-1970s homes, tudors, craftsman, ramblers etc, I am seeing a bigger rise in the tear down/build a huge craftsman style McMansion in the area.

Don't get me wrong, I love craftsmans, they are by far my favorite and are what I consider the quintessential "American Dream, white picket fence" home. But when I say that I think of one built in the 40s or 50s where quality homes were built, not mass produced, each taking several months to build, not weeks. But the monsters they are building on a lot that only had a 1500sf home on it before, just looks out of place at best. When did the amount of "living space" inside the home become more important than having a nice backyard, tree canopy, patio and outdoor useable space? I think that is where I have an issue with the "McMansion". More emphasis is put on creating your castle and so you never have to leave and interact with your neighbors. Let alone the quality of craftsmanship. Just my $.02.

Btw, has anyone seen the end of N Wakefield Street off N Carling Springs? That small cul-de-sac is packed with TEN McMansion style Craftsman. I walked to take a look. It just looks wrong. Also noticed yesterday two more being built on Washington Street near Lyon Village, where there are already several built. Also a whole row on N Stafford was built a little over a year ago across from W&L High School. But they're craftsman so its okay right? Just makes me think in 15 to 20 years N Arlington is just going to look like every other neighborhood in this area with 4000sf homes on top of one another, no trees and everyone hold up in their castles.
This wouldn't happen as frequently if the older housing stock in Arlington were more desirable. If you look at other older areas like Chevy Chase, you find some teardowns, but the older homes are nicer, so people are more interested in updating and living in them.

For the most part, the older homes in Arlington were the mass-produced homes of their day and far from unique. Where that is not the case, as in areas like Arlington Ridge and Country Club Hills, you find more of the older homes preserved.

Last edited by JD984; 10-30-2015 at 09:00 AM..
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Old 10-30-2015, 10:40 AM
 
Location: West Hollywood, CA from Arlington, VA
2,768 posts, read 3,503,481 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JD984 View Post
For the most part, the older homes in Arlington were the mass-produced homes of their day and far from unique. Where that is not the case, as in areas like Arlington Ridge and Country Club Hills, you find more of the older homes preserved.
I disagree. North Arlington has some of the most unique homes in NOVA. There are some areas like between Pershing Dr and Wilson Blvd that are full of mass produced crap, but along Pershing and South of it in Ashton Heights there are a lot of beautiful older unique homes. And you have to keep this in perspective -- we're talking about NOVA -- 90% of this area is mass produced crap unlike a lot of other places around the country.

Want to see lots of older mass produced homes that are characterless? Go to Rose Hill and Hollindale in Alexandria. Or Braddock Road for that matter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terps10 View Post
I live in North Arlington as well, and while there are a ton of unique 1950s-1970s homes, tudors, craftsman, ramblers etc, I am seeing a bigger rise in the tear down/build a huge craftsman style McMansion in the area.

Don't get me wrong, I love craftsmans, they are by far my favorite and are what I consider the quintessential "American Dream, white picket fence" home. But when I say that I think of one built in the 40s or 50s where quality homes were built, not mass produced, each taking several months to build, not weeks. But the monsters they are building on a lot that only had a 1500sf home on it before, just looks out of place at best. When did the amount of "living space" inside the home become more important than having a nice backyard, tree canopy, patio and outdoor useable space? I think that is where I have an issue with the "McMansion". More emphasis is put on creating your castle and so you never have to leave and interact with your neighbors. Let alone the quality of craftsmanship. Just my $.02.

Btw, has anyone seen the end of N Wakefield Street off N Carling Springs? That small cul-de-sac is packed with TEN McMansion style Craftsman. I walked to take a look. It just looks wrong. Also noticed yesterday two more being built on Washington Street near Lyon Village, where there are already several built. Also a whole row on N Stafford was built a little over a year ago across from W&L High School. But they're craftsman so its okay right? Just makes me think in 15 to 20 years N Arlington is just going to look like every other neighborhood in this area with 4000sf homes on top of one another, no trees and everyone hold up in their castles.
I hear ya, but I still think we're very far off from looking like Great Falls/McLean. I just looked on Zillow, and of about 100 SFH within a couple blocks of me, about 2-3 are what I would consider McMansions.
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Old 10-30-2015, 10:53 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gomason View Post
I disagree. North Arlington has some of the most unique homes in NOVA. There are some areas like between Pershing Dr and Wilson Blvd that are full of mass produced crap, but along Pershing and South of it in Ashton Heights there are a lot of beautiful older unique homes. And you have to keep this in perspective -- we're talking about NOVA -- 90% of this area is mass produced crap unlike a lot of other places around the country.
I said Arlington had some areas with older homes that probably will not get torn down, but if you look at sales data it's very clear that a higher volume of upper-bracket sales in Arlington are of newer homes compared to places like Upper NW, Chevy Chase, and some parts of Bethesda. Lots of homes in places like Lyon Park are getting torn down now, and Ashton Heights probably would have seen more teardown activity had people not historically been as skittish about the area near Buckingham Gardens.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gomason View Post

I hear ya, but I still think we're very far off from looking like Great Falls/McLean. I just looked on Zillow, and of about 100 SFH within a couple blocks of me, about 2-3 are what I would consider McMansions.
In my opinion, the newer homes in Great Falls and McLean are generally nicer than in Arlington, because the lots are bigger and you don't find as many of what another poster described as "beach houses" (homes taking up almost all the lot with front-facing garages on the ground floor). When we looked at new homes a few years ago, we ruled out Arlington, both because we didn't like the newer houses as much and because the antipathy between people living in older houses and those living in the newer homes was so obvious. When the lots are larger, people generally relax a bit about their neighbors' homes.

Last edited by JD984; 10-30-2015 at 12:02 PM..
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Old 10-30-2015, 02:36 PM
 
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I think you're overlooking the biggest factor: the value of land in certain neighborhoods in Arl vs Great Falls and much of McLean. Most lots are much smaller in Arl and more expensive per square foot than for land in those communities. That limits what housing can go on the lot, and means you will have less money to spend on a house after paying for the land, in those parts of Arl vs the others, given the same total budget.
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Old 10-30-2015, 03:22 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ACWhite View Post
I think you're overlooking the biggest factor: the value of land in certain neighborhoods in Arl vs Great Falls and much of McLean. Most lots are much smaller in Arl and more expensive per square foot than for land in those communities. That limits what housing can go on the lot, and means you will have less money to spend on a house after paying for the land, in those parts of Arl vs the others, given the same total budget.
I don't know if you can necessarily assume people looking in those areas will have the same total budget, but assuming this is the case and that land costs more in Arlington, what you've posited would tend to suggest the newer housing in Arlington is more likely to offend the McMansion critics (fixed budget - expensive land = cheaper house), given that builders in Arlington still tend to build new homes with over 4000 SF. It's not like they are saying "we can't possibly build a big house on a 1/8 acre lot in Arlington" and only building smaller homes under 2500 SF in neighborhoods like Cherrydale, Lyon Village, etc.

Last edited by JD984; 10-30-2015 at 03:52 PM..
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Old 10-30-2015, 04:02 PM
 
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I wasn't assuming what you say in your first sentence. I'm describing one buyer with a certain budget and describing what would be available to him or her at the same budget level in certain parts of Arl vs GF or McLean.
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Old 10-30-2015, 04:13 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ACWhite View Post
I wasn't assuming what you say in your first sentence. I'm describing one buyer with a certain budget and describing what would be available to him or her at the same budget level in certain parts of Arl vs GF or McLean.
In that case, the new house at the same budget in Arlington is more likely to have the characteristics associated with a McMansion (according to the experts - prior posters on this thread) than what you'd get in Great Falls or McLean, i.e., more likely:

- to take up more of the lot
- to dwarf the older house next door
- to have siding (can't always pay for brick, stone or hardiplank if you're spending your money on that expensive land)
- to have a front-facing, ground-floor garage that dominates the view of the house from the street; and
- to leave few trees behind
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Old 10-30-2015, 04:17 PM
 
Location: East Coast of the United States
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So, do people consider Ryan homes to be the textbook definition of McMansion nowadays?

https://www.google.com/search?q=ryan...=1920&bih=1067
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Old 10-30-2015, 04:25 PM
 
2,736 posts, read 5,429,140 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JD984 View Post
In that case, the new house at the same budget in Arlington is more likely to have the characteristics associated with a McMansion (according to the experts - prior posters on this thread) than what you'd get in Great Falls or McLean, i.e., more likely:

- to take up more of the lot
- to dwarf the older house next door
- to have siding (can't always pay for brick, stone or hardiplank if you're spending your money on that expensive land)
- to have a front-facing, ground-floor garage that dominates the view of the house from the street; and
- to leave few trees behind
Where did I argue otherwise? My point is to respond to your seeming puzzlement as to why you can't find affordable houses you like in Arlington. The primary answer is that you have to pay more for a smaller bit of land, so by definition the house is typically going to have less desirable characteristics. If this still isn't clear, try comparing what you would get for the same budget in Warrenton or Leesburg.
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Old 10-30-2015, 06:03 PM
 
5,125 posts, read 10,041,519 times
Reputation: 2871
Quote:
Originally Posted by ACWhite View Post
Where did I argue otherwise? My point is to respond to your seeming puzzlement as to why you can't find affordable houses you like in Arlington. The primary answer is that you have to pay more for a smaller bit of land, so by definition the house is typically going to have less desirable characteristics. If this still isn't clear, try comparing what you would get for the same budget in Warrenton or Leesburg.
I never expressed any puzzlement as to why we could not find homes we liked in Arlington, nor did I overlook facts about land values, so your premise is flawed. Our brief search in Arlington back when we were looking confirmed our understanding about the area.

I am happy to shout along with you that land in Arlington is tres cher, but that would not in and of itself foreclose builders from building new homes there that some of us might find more appealing (and those homes might or might not be more expensive than what has been on the market there in recent years).

And, of course, like every other thread on McMansions, 99% of this has to do with personal tastes.

Last edited by JD984; 10-30-2015 at 06:44 PM..
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