1700s New England Colonial = McMansion? (suburbs, architect, solutions, issues)

[cisco kid]

Originally Posted by munchitup

To be fair this is a pretty extreme example...

You can easily live in a McMansion and use a commuter rail to get to work.

What do you mean by extreme example? Are you saying full size trucks and SUvs are rare in McMansion neighborhoods? They are just as popular there as they are in any suburb and probably more so. Which is to say, extremely popular. Judging from what I see on the road on a daily basis every other passenger vehicle seems to be a large truck, van or SUV.

Large SUV Sales Surge Faster Than Small Cars - KickingTires

Originally Posted by munchitup

You can easily live in a McMansion and use a commuter rail to get to work.

What do you think is the number of suburban McMansion owners who use any form of public transportation at all? I'd be surprised if it was more than 1 in 10. Or maybe 2 in 10 at most.

[arctichomesteader]

Mcmansions are generally built quite poorly, FWIW, and will not likely last the mortgage without serious repairs.

Those old colonials, federals, etc., lost a lot of their interior space to the central chimney. Until woodstoves gained popularity, fireplaces were needed, a wood fired oven in the kitchen, etc. Take a look if you ever get a chance at one of those central chimney masses and then decide how big those houses actually were. And even the largest of the "great house" structures from the 18th century are generally smaller than the current so-called "colonial" style structures. Capes dominated in my locale in that era, FWIW.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by munchitup

To be fair this is a pretty extreme example...

You can easily live in a McMansion and use a commuter rail to get to work.

You can easily live in a McMansion and still have a soul.

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by nei

Or even a real mansion. Agree it's hyperbole.

Or as I've seen, you could drive your 4 ton yacht sized vehicle a few miles to the local commuter rail station to get to work.

Ya and parking that things a B*tch

[cisco kid]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Mcmansions are generally built quite poorly, FWIW, and will not likely last the mortgage without serious repairs.

And why McMansions are way overpriced. The builders often take shortcuts so they can squeeze as much profit out of you as they can. A poor investment that often fails to retain its value. In that way McMansions are a lot like cars and SUVs. They cost you an arm and a leg upfront but over time their value drops like a rock. Both are bad investments that keep you in debt up to your eyeballs for decades to come. Too many people drowning in debts and living beyond their means. Too many overpriced homes resulting in a housing bubble that finally burst in 2008. Now all these mortgages are underwater. Talk about drowning in debt!

[Interrobang2rd]

Originally Posted by cisco kid

And why McMansions are way overpriced. The builders often take shortcuts so they can squeeze as much profit out of you as they can. A poor investment that often fails to retain its value. In that way McMansions are a lot like cars and SUVs. They cost you an arm and a leg upfront but over time their value drops like a rock. Both are bad investments that keep you in debt up to your eyeballs for decades to come. Too many people drowning in debts and living beyond their means. Too many overpriced homes resulting in a housing bubble that finally burst in 2008. All these mortgages are now underwater!

And it wasn't just McMansions, either. Some of the supposed values of just typical cookie-cutter houses during that period were quite shocking when given the quality of not only the house itself, but the surrounding area and services.

Wow, such a random original post has sparked quite the discussion.

[cisco kid]

Originally Posted by Interrobang2rd

And it wasn't just McMansions, either. Some of the supposed values of just typical cookie-cutter houses during that period were quite shocking when given the quality of not only the house itself, but the surrounding area and services.

Wow, such a random original post has sparked quite the discussion.

I knew a guy in his mid-20s who worked as a part-time teacher and a waiter. His wife worked in a local beauty supply store. They lived in a big two-story 2500 square foot house in a good area. Good people, but I used to wonder how they could afford this impressive looking home on their modest income? Then I found out he had taken out a subprime mortgage on it in the early 2000s. The banks were pushing and handing out these shady home loans like candy to anyone with a pulse, by the thousands. To many who didn't even have jobs. The banks didn't care because they simply turned around and sold off these bad loans after 'repackaging' and promoting them as AAA-grade secure investments to unsuspecting investors, who of course had no idea they were putting their life savings into a bunch of worthless crap.

Probably the greatest financial swindle in US history. But no one went to jail.

[jetgraphics]

Originally Posted by Morris Wanchuk

But going back before that, the houses were just as big, if not larger than today. Every New England down town is filled with 2,000+ square feet homes from the 1700-1800s.

And such homes more than likely had to house a number of maids, servants, butlers, etc., because life was more labor intensive.

Today's McMansion has no such need for a large staff.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by cisco kid

What do you mean by extreme example? Are you saying full size trucks and SUvs are rare in McMansion neighborhoods? They are just as popular there as they are in any suburb and probably more so. Which is to say, extremely popular. Judging from what I see on the road on a daily basis every other passenger vehicle seems to be a large truck, van or SUV.

Large SUV Sales Surge Faster Than Small Cars - KickingTires

What do you think is the number of suburban McMansion owners who use any form of public transportation at all? I'd be surprised if it was more than 1 in 10. Or maybe 2 in 10 at most.

Sometimes I feel like it's "Groundhog Day" on this forum. We, uh, discuss the same issues over and over again, post the same links, etc. You could actuall do some research on this and post it for all of our edification.

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There is no particular defintion of "McMansion". Like a lot of things, it's whatever someone wants to call it. I disagree that "McMansions" are built crappily. Generally, the higher end houses are better built with better materials than lower end ones.

[wburg]

A lot of those big older homes were also multi-generational too--necessitating more space--and families used to have a lot more kids. The average size of the American home has practically quadrupled since 1950s--while family size dropped. Heating and cooling these big, inefficient spaces costs a lot more--considered not a worry in the mid-20th century when energy was cheap, but not so much now.

Plus it's important to realize that most people did not live in those big mansions--homes were much smaller, multi-unit housing much smaller, and apartments for single people were generally not much more than a single room.