Maronda Homes marks its rebound with new line of high-end residences (Penn Hills: appliances, new home)

[Hopes]

High end? That's one ugly house. I could go on and on about everything wrong with it.

[Geeo]

Yes, the street view is what concerns me. Some developments put the garage entrances on the side so that they're not that prominent. In Pittsburgh, because of the topography, I've seen them on the side and down one level or even in the back of the house.

WTAE had a piece on the design of Mt. Lebanon last night, and some neighborhood designs stipulated that garages were not to be seen from the street.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

There's a few million houses in Florida that look exactly like that one.

The worst part is how many people consider that nice or the 'dream home '. I know this may not be a prevailing opinion here, but I think if you cut off the part with the garage the home wouldn't look bad.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Yes, the street view is what concerns me. Some developments put the garage entrances on the side so that they're not that prominent. In Pittsburgh, because of the topography, I've seen them on the side and down one level or even in the back of the house. WTAE had a piece on the design of Mt. Lebanon last night, and some neighborhood designs stipulated that garages were not to be seen from the street.

I've always appreciated the garages mostly being on alleys in Regent Square, which also means you don't have a lot of driveways (although ironically, our house has a driveway because the garage has doors on both sides).

Of course that means the garages are mostly detached, although some people have built connections from the house to the garage (sacrificing yard space--but again, they don't lose yard to driveways).

[Garvdog]

So the big objection is that this home has a front facing garage? Half the homes in the U. S., have front facing garages, and it's certainly not a new thing. In fact, I saw a beautiful old brick house in Mt Lebanon of about 1930's vintage with a front facing garage. Some people don't care that the garage faces the front as long as it doesn't look like a big mess. Get over it.

I don't think that house is ugly at all compared to a lot of homes I see- I'd be more worried about consturction quality, with Maronda's reputation and the price that seems too good to be true on something that huge.

[FreightTrainRunning]

I'd be hypocritical if I was criticizing the size of the three car garage (since I have a nine car one) but having it face the street and dominate the façade like that ruins the streetscape and really emphasizes the car-centric nature of the far suburbs.

It's weird that suburban tract housing design seems to have stagnated about twenty years ago, I was working in very similar designs when I painted houses back in '91 or so. Aren't there any new designs?

[BrianTH]

I agree the aesthetics is a matter of taste.

But speaking just for myself, the garage looks like a massive goiter on the house.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

nothin better than squeaky vinyl rail banisters on porches

[Copanut]

I read somewhere that an area banned garages being in the front of a house. Might have been Seattle. Maronda is crap, pure and simple.

[Craziaskowboi]

The direction the garage door faces doesn't matter much to me, but that house would look better with just a two-car garage, and even better still with a detached garage.

When I lived in Penn Hills, I lived in a house with the garage door in the back, and it was actually kind of a pain in the ass. If you drove forward down the driveway, you had to either back into the garage or park opposite the garage door. Otherwise, if you wanted to pull forward into the garage, you had to back the car down the driveway to do so. And since the edge of the house was right next to the driveway, scraped paint was a distinct possibility as well. Front-facing garages are much more functional.