Where does the McMansion end and a true Mansion begin? (Dallas: HOA, house)

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by turf3

Mansion: if it has a ballroom.

"Estate": if it either has tenant farmers, or can support a herd of grazing livestock.

Are you talking about the four-legged kind or strap hanger grazers

[UnfairPark]

My lot is quarter acre and in my opinion, it shouldn't have a structure bigger than 2,500 sq ft.

[LeagleEagleDFW]

Does it have or could it support a moat? If so, mansion.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

Nothing that sells for 200-250 a square foot in the current market is a mansion. Sorry. If it can sell for that cheap, it has absolutely nothing remarkable about it in terms of finishes. Materials of high quality and skilled craftsman don't work for prices that make such a transaction feasible. Maybe such a house has a decent kitchen and a nice master bath, and the rest of the house is junky builder grade crap, but then it isn't really a mansion in my opinion.

Disagree. This looks "mansion" worthy to me, and it's only $211/sqft.

2601 Twelve Oaks Ln, Celina, TX 75078 - realtor.com®

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by octo

Fun thread! Given the CoCo leanings on this forum, aren't y'all living in McMansions?!

Yep! LOL

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Disagree. This looks "mansion" worthy to me, and it's only $211/sqft.

2601 Twelve Oaks Ln, Celina, TX 75078 - realtor.com®

Price per square foot is hugely dependent on location irrespective of materials. So i too disagree with the blanket $$$/sq ft requirement.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

Price per square foot is hugely dependent on location irrespective of materials. So i too disagree with the blanket $$$/sq ft requirement.

Exactly. That link I posted is a custom home, with high end finishes throughout. Even has hand textured walls in a lot of rooms, and I know that's expensive and custom, as my parent's old home had that in their great room. Sq footage, lot size, price, finishes... Definitely a mansion to me.

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria

I think that it's about POSTURE. It's about a certain formality, and a certain layout of the spaces. A mansion, like a palace (or a true limousine) is configured to the needs and aspirations of a certain kind of person.

Grey Gardens is constantly referred to as a "mansion". http://media.vanityfair.com/photos/5...dith-beale.jpg It is NOT, nor was it ever intended to be. Its style is deliberately casual - even humble - despite the fact that it was finely designed and expensively built , for persons of importance. It supports a casual 'at-the-beach' lifestyle.

The James Burgess Book House, in Detroit, IS a true mansion. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...592fc52d32.jpg It's about the same size as Grey Gardens, but the intent of those shaping it was entirely different. Notice the formality of the design, and the choice of surfaces. While Grey gardens is covered in shingles, this one is stuccoed to look like fine cut stone. It exerts a posture of importance. And it supports a certain way of living. A true mansion is a residence, in a formal style, designed to support a conventionally proper lifestyle, for Upper Class or Upper Middle Class persons.

A McMansion is an oversized house of pretentious bearing, built for classless persons. It will have a huge kitchen, which flows into a huge flop-out area, for "being casual". The dining room will be undersized, because it's really just a fantasy space. The kitchen will be "eat-in", with a counter for undignified eating while seated on stools.

A true mansion will have a kitchen designed for use by servants and/or caterers (even if used exclusively by family members). The kitchen/laundry/sewing room/wine room/utility rooms/pantries will be segregated from rooms used for entertaining and for family dining. The dining room will be relatively large, and intended for actual use.

And then, there are issues of QUALITY. Mansions, today, are designed by architects (in the past, they were sometimes copied from pattern books, by expert carpenters). Their foundations are major productions, in contrast to the rudimentary foundations of McMansions. Mansions have thick walls, where McMansions' walls are built to the minimums set by building codes.

While the plans for a true mansion tend to be so heavy, many ladies cannot carry them, the plans for a McMansion, are not nearly so comprehensive. For a true mansion, the designers leave nothing to chance. Elevations for every wall, in every room of any importance, will have been drawn. Large-scale detail drawings will have been done, for every drawer, every cabinet, every moulding assembly, and every door frame. There will be a landscape architect (and possibly a garden designer, too, or various garden specialists). There will be an interior designer. Engineers will have been employed by the Architects.

McMansions tend to have a great many cheaply-made elements, interspersed with "feature" elements, which can cost a great deal. So, you may have fabulous countertops, and fabulous bathrooms, but cheap, flimsy garage doors just like what you'd see on the cheapest tract house. You'll find cheap, gimmicky windows and doors, but foyer floors with inlaid fancywork.

While true mansions are designed by persons of taste and erudition - persons who have studied long and hard, to be able to produce coherent, convincing, cohesive homes, McMansions are produced by people who know how to draft on a computer, and not much else. McMansions are awkward, faddish, and frequently just-plain POINTLESS. There are so many silly things about McMansions - things which good architects, and good interior designers, simply will not allow. If a true mansion is a brilliant designer's rational and substantial response to a set of needs and desires, then a McMansion amounts to a schizophrenic's erratic and ineffective efforts at solving a set of nonexistent problems.

As for size, I've seen true mansions not much larger than three thousand square feet. And I've seen McMansions exceeding thirty thousand square feet. So size, really, is the least relevant factor.

This is certainly a fun thread to read. Even more so because a lot of us probably live in someone's definition of a mcmansion

I recently balked at the suggestion some made to 'open' up a mansion that seemed to have been designed exactly as you describe, with the kitchen separated from the main dining area. That would have been a costly mistake.

That said, I'm conflicted about true mansions. I like a quality home as much as the next guy. But these are houses...not Pyramids meant to bury gods in. After a certain threshold, it seems like an awful lot of expense of time and money. For what exactly? A shrine to achievement? There is a market for that though and i think such homes do fulfill a certain societal need for aspiration. Plus there's nothing wrong with awe or beauty. Some are marvels of engineering and art.

I dont dislike ( some) mcMansions either any more than i hate Club Monaco's cheaper versions of Versace pants. Give them a break. Everyone cant live in a true mansion.( or afford Versace pants) But they can still get the look for less, right? McMansions fill a need too! Lol... I'm on thin ice here....

I spent about a decade living in a poor part of the world that's ironically rich in resources and that frames my outlook on most things luxurious. After a certain threshold I simply don't care for the expense. The experience just makes shiny surfaces less amazing, especially when you understand what some go through to make those available. On the other hand the luxury market provides the income those people need. So like i said, I'm conflicted.

Still on a certain scale.. if it isn't a future historical landmark I find it so very wasteful. I cant help seeing it that way... i apologize! A lot of mansions (and McMansions) are truly beautiful though, they are, and for all the above reasons i think they are still worth building no matter how i feel about them. (Don't egg me yet architects)

[TheOverdog]

Does it have or could it support a moat? If so, mansion.

Moats are around castles! Also slits for arrows to be shot out of. Both totally optional on a mansion.

Even more so because a lot of us probably live in someone's definition of a mcmansion

I lived in a small house when I was a kid. It totally sucked, and I can't really visit and stay with my parents today because there is simply not enough space for my family + kids and any of my siblings plus their kids. Mcmansions may get a lot of derision, but they do have their place and the problems they solve are not non-existent, they are real.

[lepoisson]

I've always assumed that a McMansion is more about quality rather than size. McMansions are built quickly and use cheap building components, whereas an actual mansion will have top of the line appliances, faucets, floors, etc.

But when I think of a mansion, I think of a turn of the century home that has 10+ bedrooms.