Houston McMansion (Victoria, River Oaks, Mart: new home, buying, construction)

[Lbjen]

I thought it was awesome, but unfortunately I can't send it to any of my local friends because they'll all be offended.

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by shortel

Most of those houses are built using cheap materials and shortcuts. The only part that has the expensive stuff is the stuff people see and touch. A lot of those houses are not structurally better then any other house. Expensive tile,counter tops,carpet, appliances,fixtures dont make a house built better. You can get better roof materials but those really dont cost most much more; they just dont use them because most people dont know the difference.

And yes the piano under the staircase I bet that is there for show and has never been played. It certainly wasnt put there by someone who cares about acoustics.

I implore you to show me a home where the room was designed around the acoustics of a piano and where it will sit in the room. If you find 1 in 1,000,000 I will be utterly shocked.

Most pianos are family heirlooms, decorative, or played very seldom.

[3shipguy]

Originally Posted by Liljo22

I always thought a McMansion was in the older established neighborhoods when there tear down a smaller home and replace with one that doesn't fit in with the area.

What about areas that are gentrifying? Lots of homes in Bellaire and West U. used to be small ranch homes and now over 3000 sq ft monstrosities. Were they once McMansions?

McMansions, to me, are homes greater than 3000 sq ft that are cheaply, quickly, and mass produced, like McDonalds. You get the size, but no interior architectural interest. So basically, you live in a big box with every 3-4 house on the block looking the same, but with varying stone/brick elevation. Not that there's anything wrong with this. It keeps homes affordable.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by shortel

Most of those houses are built using cheap materials and shortcuts. The only part that has the expensive stuff is the stuff people see and touch. A lot of those houses are not structurally better then any other house. Expensive tile,counter tops,carpet, appliances,fixtures dont make a house built better. You can get better roof materials but those really dont cost most much more; they just dont use them because most people dont know the difference.

And yes the piano under the staircase I bet that is there for show and has never been played. It certainly wasnt put there by someone who cares about acoustics.

I'm guessing most of the tile was from Flour & Decor and not custom made in Italy, sure.

I'd imagine the construction was on par with my parents old home in the Bridgestone neighborhood up in Spring. It was your typical Doyle Stucky tract home build in 1979. I drove past it about six months ago, and guess what? After 36 years, it and the hundreds of others in that neighborhood are still standing. I'd wager to bet that in another 30 years, they will be still standing.

Are you expecting your grandchildren to be living in your home? Is that how you chose your home, based upon how many generations of your descendants will live in it? Lol

The homes are structurally sound, probably for a hundred or more years assuming they are properly maintained.

Can you point to some of the McMansions built in 1991, 25 years ago, that are being torn down for being not structurally sound? I'd imagine there should be thousands going off your opinion.

[Liljo22]

Originally Posted by 3shipguy

What about areas that are gentrifying? Lots of homes in Bellaire and West U. used to be small ranch homes and now over 3000 sq ft monstrosities. Were they once McMansions?

McMansions, to me, are homes greater than 3000 sq ft that are cheaply, quickly, and mass produced, like McDonalds. You get the size, but no interior architectural interest. So basically, you live in a big box with every 3-4 house on the block looking the same, but with varying stone/brick elevation. Not that there's anything wrong with this. It keeps homes affordable.

The first part is what I was thinking. You have small older house, small older house, and huge new house. Looks out of place for the street.

If its the second part, I guess I live in a McMansion.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by 3shipguy

What about areas that are gentrifying? Lots of homes in Bellaire and West U. used to be small ranch homes and now over 3000 sq ft monstrosities. Were they once McMansions?

McMansions, to me, are homes greater than 3000 sq ft that are cheaply, quickly, and mass produced, like McDonalds. You get the size, but no interior architectural interest. So basically, you live in a big box with every 3-4 house on the block looking the same, but with varying stone/brick elevation. Not that there's anything wrong with this. It keeps homes affordable.

Some people are more interested in what suits their needs over being architecturally interesting to any party guests.

I'd rather have my movie room than one of a kind custom crown molding. If you'd rather tell the story behind the carpenter that did your molding than a movie room, that is your choice to make. I can appreciate a smaller craftsman home that is truly unique, but it's not for me. Additionally, I'm not going to rag on it in an attempt to feel superior.

I know you said homes looking alike aren't a big deal to you, but you hear the home outraged folks go on about it fairly often. What's funny is that when you ask them about how they feel about NYC's brownstones or SF's row houses looking the same on the outside, suddenly it's not an issue for them.

Finally, different people have different tastes. It may be food, music, movies, art, cars or even houses. I am amazed at the popularity of the Transformers movie franchise. Oh, those films are just pathetic to me; however, after earning however many billions they made, they obviously appeal to a whole lot of people. If those people like those films, it's because they have different tastes than I do. Their tastes aren't wrong, because the enjoyed those crapfest movies that are horribly ridiculous on so many levels. Lol

I love the fact that I can afford my McMansion which fits my needs.

[SuperPollito]

God bless McMansions and the beautiful large open spaces they give me, a poor pauper, who knoweth not French from English design elements, and thank the baby Jesus for large attached garages to house the bounty of His blessings.

[Augiec]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Finally, different people have different tastes. It may be food, music, movies, art, cars or even houses. I am amazed at the popularity of the Transformers movie franchise. Oh, those films are just pathetic to me; however, after earning however many billions they made, they obviously appeal to a whole lot of people. If those people like those films, it's because they have different tastes than I do. Their tastes aren't wrong, because the enjoyed those crapfest movies that are horribly ridiculous on so many levels. Lol

I don't know much about architecture, and I don't know what kind of house we'll eventually build when/if we tear down, but I do know those Transformer movies are pure crap.

[3shipguy]

Originally Posted by Liljo22

The first part is what I was thinking. You have small older house, small older house, and huge new house. Looks out of place for the street.

If its the second part, I guess I live in a McMansion.

The point was that those 3000 sq ft plus home in West U and Bellaire used to look out of place when they were surrounded by older, small ranch homes at one time. Those areas gentrified, and now the older ranch homes are the ones that may look out of place. The definition of McMansion is all over the place. If we live in Houston, most likely we live in a McMansion. Nothing wrong with that. I'm proud of my McMansion

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

The home outraged will use the term for any number of reasons when they are outraged by a home.

I think it is primarily an aesthetic term. For instance, the homes in River Oaks are often very big, but seem to have been designed with an overall sense of what fits in that area. I know I'm never going to live there, but I think it's pretty there and I appreciate the drive or the jog. Otoh, when I drive through many of the "villages" in the Memorial area, I'm grossed out. The houses are too big for the lots so if they were designed to look stately, they look more in proportion to a trailer park. A lot of stuff's walled-off from view in the first place. There really is a crassness to this area and I don't attribute it just to people being rich.

My point is simply that the rich aren't immune to bad taste. Making a claim that any criticism of the rich comes from jealousy obviates the possibility of criticism--it's a rhetorical trick. Poor people with bad taste are constantly being mocked for being "trashy" or whatever. Well, the truth is that they have their counterparts in the upper income echelons as well.