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Old 10-25-2012, 10:30 AM
 
Location: Chicago area
18,750 posts, read 11,720,618 times
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Give me a Victorian mansion over anything built in the last 30 years. The quality just isn't the same.
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Old 10-25-2012, 10:57 AM
 
2,142 posts, read 1,893,111 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malloric View Post
Boring. Done.

You may like it. I don't even mind it (what's there to mind?), but it's boring. I have no idea how you can determine the construction of said boring home versus said ostentatious home from the facade. Facade is meaningless anyway. Way too much obsession on facades which isn't even real architecture. Most McMansions aren't spec, at best they're semi-spec, so what someone who is going to actually have custom built is slightly different. If you'd prefer a modest tract home of the same or lower quality as a McMansion because you can't jump all the way to a true Tuscan mansion (which has to be in Tuscany, which isn't that practical as anything but a vacation home), I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm more of a in the middle kind of guy myself.

If one wants a large house but can't afford a vacation home in Tuscany, maybe the built of better quality than your average tract home McMansion fits the bill. I'd probably spend money on a more modest MCM as that's more my aesthetical preference.... but the McMansion offers several benefits. Much better energy efficiency, probably less energy usage despite the size due to modern construction versus wall-o-glass single pane windows and better insulation, stucco has very high r-values. Tile roofing needs less attention than asphalt, although it's more expensive. Paying more for less is a trade off I would make since I like the wall-o-glass, open floor plans, blending of inside and outside space, minimalist design, and bolder uses of man-made materials.
Victorian mansions were all facade too, you'd have to go back pretty far for all the architectural elements to actually have a practical purpose. Your ideal home probably would have been built by the vikings or something.
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Old 10-25-2012, 11:06 AM
 
2,142 posts, read 1,893,111 times
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Originally Posted by Chango View Post
I'm convinced because I live in a little old house surrounded by former fields that sprouted $500k-1m mcmansions overnight and know most of the people who live in them.

And sure the "unwashed masses" can have columns, but when they can't tell the difference between a Corinthian and a Doric column or even when their "classical" column is upside down and *still* insist they are "fancy" I can't help but chuckle.

Seriously... living in a Mcmansion is like buying a Pontiac Grand Prix with Ferrari badges (at a premium price, BTW), telling everyone you drive a Ferrari... and actually believing your car is a Ferrari because that's what the badge says.

Mcmansion owners are:
Actually I don't believe that you know anyone like that, you probably have never said more than hello to these neighbors who 'insist they are fancy' and 'believe they are living in a Ferrari', I believe that you are fullofit and indulging your cliche stereotypes :P But that is your privilege.
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Old 10-25-2012, 11:18 AM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,720,707 times
Reputation: 14115
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFi View Post
Actually I don't believe that you know anyone like that, you probably have never said more than hello to these neighbors who 'insist they are fancy' and 'believe they are living in a Ferrari', I believe that you are fullofit and indulging your cliche stereotypes :P But that is your privilege.
So now it's personal... that's precious.

But because I care, don't take it from me... get some books and learn something about architecture instead. Aspiring to mcmansion ownership is a wasted effort and I'd rather you didn't grow up to be yet another sucker.
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Old 10-25-2012, 11:42 AM
 
2,142 posts, read 1,893,111 times
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Originally Posted by Chango View Post
So now it's personal... that's precious.

But because I care, don't take it from me... get some books and learn something about architecture instead. Aspiring to mcmansion ownership is a wasted effort and I'd rather you didn't grow up to be yet another sucker.
Personal? No more than your cheapshots at neighbors whom you've likely never met yet trivialize down to lampooned caricatures that you've no doubt based on the reality tv shows you watch. Not much different than what i'm doing to you here.

I likely know as much as you do about architecture Chango, i've been an enthusiast for years. The argument here is not between the worst most crappily built large yet affordable house you can think of and the finest example of a modest one. Its about the arrogance of assuming pretentiousness and judging the majority of upper middle class Americans based on the type of home they prefer and can afford.
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Old 10-25-2012, 03:15 PM
 
Location: M I N N E S O T A
14,799 posts, read 21,395,525 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFi View Post
Personal? No more than your cheapshots at neighbors whom you've likely never met yet trivialize down to lampooned caricatures that you've no doubt based on the reality tv shows you watch. Not much different than what i'm doing to you here.

I likely know as much as you do about architecture Chango, i've been an enthusiast for years. The argument here is not between the worst most crappily built large yet affordable house you can think of and the finest example of a modest one. Its about the arrogance of assuming pretentiousness and judging the majority of upper middle class Americans based on the type of home they prefer and can afford.
Your really gonna reply to someone after they post this http://www.city-data.com/forum/26652761-post36.html ?
lol
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Old 10-25-2012, 03:27 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,207,663 times
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Wait. Is someone really saying they like McMansions because they're not boring? Clearly we must be talking about entirely different kinds of McMansions!
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Old 10-25-2012, 03:54 PM
 
2,142 posts, read 1,893,111 times
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Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
Wait. Is someone really saying they like McMansions because they're not boring? Clearly we must be talking about entirely different kinds of McMansions!
What is boring about 12-18 foot ceilings, dedicated library, dedicated game room, water feature, 4 season porch, bathroom for every bedroom, walk-in closet for every bedroom, home movie theatre, 3 car garage, 'U' driveway, soaring windows, should I continue? These are all standard features of the suburban mcmansion.
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Old 10-25-2012, 03:56 PM
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Location: Western Massachusetts
46,009 posts, read 53,194,339 times
Reputation: 15174
Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFi View Post
What is boring about 12-18 foot ceilings, dedicated library, dedicated game room, water feature, 4 season porch, bathroom for every bedroom, walk-in closet for every bedroom, home movie theatre, 3 car garage, 'U' driveway, soaring windows, should I continue? These are all standard features of the suburban mcmansion.
I don't get the appeal of high ceilings, seem less cozy to me. A U-driveway? Those are kinda ugly.
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Old 10-25-2012, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,207,663 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFi View Post
What is boring about 12-18 foot ceilings, dedicated library, dedicated game room, water feature, 4 season porch, bathroom for every bedroom, walk-in closet for every bedroom, home movie theatre, 3 car garage, 'U' driveway, soaring windows, should I continue? These are all standard features of the suburban mcmansion.
Because you can see essentially the same house umpty-dozen times in the same subdivision, and in numerous subdivisions all across town (and in other towns in the same state and sometimes in other states)? Maybe you don't go in as many houses as I do (probably not, as I can tour from 6 to in some cases 10 or 12 a day), but that's what I think of when I think of McMansion.

You're talking amenities. You can have those same amenities in a house that is not a McMansion but that has something truly unique and artistic about it, that isn't the same as every other house out there when you get right down to it.

Somehow I think that word "boring" doesn't mean what you think it means.
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