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Your post implies a custom built home. I thought custom homes, by definition, are not Mc-anything, as one of the defining characteristics of a Mc-something is cookie-cutter - a maze of houses built using a small number of relatively similar floor plans and facades.
Do I misunderstand the definition of a Mc-something?
I always thought it applied to a certain style. In some parts of the country they were mostly in cookie cutter developments, but I first heard the term in southern California, where they were being individually built.
For years I mostly heard the term used when people tore down a small ranch house to build a much bigger house. This was happening a lot in the beach cities. There was a ten-year period in Manhattan and Redondo where those towns went from being all small ranch homes to having one McMansion after another built. People were paying over a million dollars to be near the beach, and they wanted a new, large house to go with that price tag.
To me, the term implied a house that was like a Big Mac; tall ceilings, just like a Big Mac was taller than the previous hamburgers. Houses that were bigger than we really needed (but even thought I didn't need it, boy how I loved both my big burgers and big houses). And most of all, loaded with all sorts of toppings. It's not everyone's taste but I always liked having lots of toppings. In my houses and also on my hamburgers. Some people might sneer that some of the toppings aren't the "proper style". Well, to each his own. I was never a hamburger purist or an architecture purist.
My house was loaded with the works: huge windows and bay windows and a few decorative windows, and a turret. Ornamental stone front combined with hardiplank and some brick work. Multiple roof lines, ornamentation around the large leaded glass front door (with a big palladium window on the second floor above the front door; I sure loved my windows!), trellises for climbing roses and and a big front porch that I used all the time (even though people say nobody uses the front porches on McMansions). Things borrowed from a few different architectural styles, but in my opinion the end result was beautiful. Of course, I also think fusion restaurants are great, and mixed breed dogs are great. I never understood what the big deal was about having a few different architectural styles. Just like I have a garden with different sorts of bushes and flowers.
Last edited by Piney Creek; 02-10-2019 at 09:57 AM..
Think about it from the builder's perspective: a ton of the cost of a subdivision project is from land, utility hookups, and city/township permits/surveys/other requirements. The cost of materials and labor to go from a 1500sq/ft house to a 3500sq/ft house is not that significant overall in the total cost. Thus, it's a much better business play for the builder to slap as many homes as they can on a small amount of land, and to ensure that the profit is as high as possible. If they have a flat 20% margin on houses they build, they'd much rather build 3500sq/ft monstrosities that sell for 700K than 1500sq/ft starter homes that sell for 250K.
Another factor is that the type of buyer looking for a 1500sq/ft starter home is probably not going to spend an extra 150K on 'upgrading' the finishes and options. While the higher-end buyer probably will. These 'upgrades' are very profitable for the builder, because they can charge far more than the materials cost, and the labor over the base package doesn't change very much.
Add on to all that the fact that building houses is generally more expensive than most people realize. Things like modern code requiring $50 AFCI breakers over the $5 standard breaker and better insulation and air sealing requirements all add up, especially given the cost of labor. One doesn't have to look very hard on C-D to see posters complaining about plumbers/electricians charging hundreds of dollars an hour in HCOL areas.
All true, of course.
There is one additional consideration that adds a ton of costs. It is quite common for local planning commissions and building departments to purposefully impose all manner of roadblocks that require some form of variance or permission from city bureaucrats and mandarins. "Mr. Developer, we can't approve your development because it violates XYZ. We could waive XYZ, but we need something in return - we need concessions from you. Why don't you put in, say, a nice walking trail, a park, fund a new library and elementary school, and set aside 20% of the units for below market rate housing? Do that and of course we would grant you the waiver to XYZ."
In some in-fill locations on single lots in a more urban setting, the only economic way to build a house is to make it multi-story (which, by the way, matches all surrounding structures) yet the city bureaucrats and mandarins purposefully have dictated a height restriction that is a few feet too low to actually design a multi-story house. The mandarins know full well the prospective home owner must come hat-in-hand, bow down on one knee, and beg for permission, which permission will be granted upon payment of concessions.
All of this adds costs into the equation. Our local governments have made so-called starter home development out of the question, and they know it.
I always thought it applied to a certain style. In some parts of the country they were mostly in cookie cutter developments, but I first heard the term in southern California, where they were being individually built.
For years I mostly heard the term used when people tore down a small ranch house to build a much bigger house. This was happening a lot in the beach cities. There was a ten-year period in Manhattan and Redondo where those towns went from being all small ranch homes to having one McMansion after another built. People were paying over a million dollars to be near the beach, and they wanted a new, large house to go with that price tag.
To me, the term implied a house that was like a Big Mac; tall ceilings, just like a Big Mac was taller than the previous hamburgers. Houses that were bigger than we really needed (but even thought I didn't need it, boy how I loved both my big burgers and big houses). And most of all, loaded with all sorts of toppings. It's not everyone's taste but I always liked having lots of toppings. In my houses and also on my hamburgers. Some people might sneer that some of the toppings aren't the "proper style". Well, to each his own. I was never a hamburger purist or an architecture purist.
My house was loaded with the works: huge windows and bay windows and a few decorative windows, and a turret. Ornamental stone front combined with hardiplank and some brick work. Multiple roof lines, ornamentation around the large leaded glass front door (with a big palladium window on the second floor above the front door; I sure loved my windows!), trellises for climbing roses and and a big front porch that I used all the time (even though people say nobody uses the front porches on McMansions). Things borrowed from a few different architectural styles, but in my opinion the end result was beautiful. Of course, I also think fusion restaurants are great, and mixed breed dogs are great. I never understood what the big deal was about having a few different architectural styles. Just like I have a garden with different sorts of bushes and flowers.
Yep, that's a McMansion.
The term encompasses both a sense of departure from "genuine features for good living" (a Big Mac is a long way from a basic good hamburger) as well as being rather "cookie cutter" as all Big Macs are identical in being a long way from a basic good hamburger.
And it's also possible to identify a McMansion by first identifying a "mansion." A mansion has pretentiousness that is completely self-consistent. The size of the estate, for instance, will be consistent with the features of the building. The features of the building will be consistent with a certain architectural style or an architect who is recognized as a trend-setter.
But when you see a house with those features on a quarter acre lot--you're looking at a McMansion.
I'm sure there are more when stereotyping a generation...
Mostly it comes down to desire combined with ability...
Many desire what they don't have the ability to acquire just as there are those with the ability and have no desire.
When I speak with my friends in the old neighborhood... most dream of a place with a little land... a place for back to basics but not too basic... spring water, solar, composting and raising produce...
In my current neighborhood of most 1950's construction I am the kid and that is just how it is...
Almost all my neighbors built their homes... no shortage of 90 to 103 year olds... still living in homes they have lived for years with some 65+ years...
I have to chuckle when I hear concerns with older construction... if I could only be so lucky to live 70 years and to age 103 as my neighbor two doors down...
When one reads all the hazards of older homes it begs the question of what is real when reality flies in the face of perception...
One of my friends said they will only buy New Construction and they did... but new construciton came with Chinese Drywall and what a nightmare that has been...
Just saying each generation has to find it's own way...
Real Estate is highly location dependent…
Many of the 30 something Nurses I know are Asian and they do buy McMansions... it is a place for several generations to live under one roof... as parents are almost always in the picture and new construction is sought... fewer chances bad things happened so I have been told...
I keep seeing these stories about Millennials and McMansions and they confuse me. I thought the Millennials were into Minimalism and retiring in their twenties and thirties to live in Tiny Houses.
I will say this for my McMansion. Had that house for 20 years and never had any problems with it. People used to tell me we'd start seeing things fall apart after 5 years, but that never happened. The only thing we replaced was the roof. It's true that the house had plenty of builder grade features that we always thought we'd upgrade someday, but somehow we never did. And somehow they held up just fine. We eventually repainted the interior Millennial Grey to sell it, but we didn't do many repairs. May our new house do as well.
FWIW, I always called my house a McMansion and never thought of that as a pejorative term. I thought it was funny, and a cute name. So when people tried to make me feel embarrassed by saying "Oh, I see you live in a McMansion" it backfired. I'd just smile and say "Yeah, it's been great!"
We had wonderful years in that house. In the beginning we thought it was way bigger than we would need, but at the time we only planned to live in Northern Virginia 5 years so we didn't worry about having excess space. Turned out we stayed 20 years. And, it turned out that all that extra spaces found useful purpose. There wasn't a room we didn't use.
Bought that house for $250,000 in 1999. Sold it for roughly 4 x what we bought it for, after listing it for just a few weeks. We did sink some money into updating it for the sale, and part of why it sold so quickly is due to northern VA having a seller's market right now, but it's interesting that Lowes Island, a 100% McMansion community out in the exurbs of Loudoun County, was still attractive to the new wave of young families, even though this community is now almost 30 years old.
That house did well by us. It was big, it had all these foo foo details, and you know what we never got tired of it. What can I say, it was one of those places like you might see on a "McMansions From Hell" website, but I thought it was beautiful and I liked all the foo foo. Loved my turret. I'll miss those huge windows and my media room. It was a very pleasant place to live.
We've retired and downsized to a house that is almost the same size as our starter home. And so we've come full circle. No foo foo with this house, but that's ok. "To everything there is a season."
Last edited by Piney Creek; 02-10-2019 at 04:29 PM..
As a "milennial" outgrowing the starter home and starting to think about the home we want to be in til retirement, I've found I'm starting to hate the style of homes I grew up in (built late 80s to early 2000s). Formal living & dining rooms, kitchens with neverending bar countertops (clutter catchers), ugh. Some of the more recent builds focus more on functionality, but I'm more drawn to homes from the early 80s and older at this point!
I keep seeing these stories about Millennials and McMansions and they confuse me. I thought the Millennials were into Minimalism and retiring in their twenties and thirties to live in Tiny Houses.
lol, the tiny house thing is just a scam. There is no real community of these "tiny houses"
As a "milennial" outgrowing the starter home and starting to think about the home we want to be in til retirement, I've found I'm starting to hate the style of homes I grew up in (built late 80s to early 2000s). Formal living & dining rooms, kitchens with neverending bar countertops (clutter catchers), ugh. Some of the more recent builds focus more on functionality, but I'm more drawn to homes from the early 80s and older at this point!
I agree, not much need for all these rooms. I prefer open concept and often times these houses need to have some walls opened up to make them more ideal.
I agree, not much need for all these rooms. I prefer open concept and often times these houses need to have some walls opened up to make them more ideal.
Noooooo!
Please do not buy any more old houses and rip out the walls. Some of us still want our houses to have walls and doors.
If you want to live in an open house, please buy a new house. They're all built that way.
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It's not everyone's taste but I always liked having lots of toppings. In my houses and also on my hamburgers. Some people might sneer that some of the toppings aren't the "proper style". Well, to each his own. I was never a hamburger purist or an architecture purist. 
