define McMansion (Great Falls: lawyer, live, vs)

[normie]

Originally Posted by Denton56

How long will the other family be living with you? Or is that working well for all of you and will continue?

They finally found another place they liked and moved on. We had a sort of "Golden Girls" situation going for awhile. It was fun, but over time they realized they really wanted their own place. We've also had various nephews, nieces, and grandkids living here for a few months at a time so they could pursue internships or school. So, lots of housemates over the past year. Right now we have the house to ourselves and as much as I enjoy the company I'm also glad to have things quieter around here for a few months.

My kids mean well, they're just a little overly protective. They'll mellow out with time.

[Yankeesfan]

Normie, thank you for taking the time to share your story. You come across as such a vibrant woman enjoying life to the fullest -- and you don't dwell on the your health problems although you have mentioned them in passing. I trust that your children will mellow out in time and that the hard feelings will pass.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by normie

They finally found another place they liked and moved on. We had a sort of "Golden Girls" situation going for awhile. It was fun, but over time they realized they really wanted their own place. We've also had various nephews, nieces, and grandkids living here for a few months at a time so they could pursue internships or school. So, lots of housemates over the past year. Right now we have the house to ourselves and as much as I enjoy the company I'm also glad to have things quieter around here for a few months.

My kids mean well, they're just a little overly protective. They'll mellow out with time.

I know those feelings well. While I love having my kids, their girlfriends, and all of other friends here, sometimes the quiet is nice. We have so enjoyed having our son here over the last few months that I know it will be a huge adjustment when he leaves. We just may have to get a puppy!

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by ngadude

My father's sister - when her husband died, sold her house and moved to a small 1 bedroom efficiency apartment. I know my father didn't think that was smart of her - but that's what she wanted to do. I don't know why at least she didn't put the money into a nice condo. She was a homeowner for probably 45 years - so seemed odd to sell the house, which was paid off, and now start throwing away the money in the form of rent! To each his/her own, I guess!

Yes! That's it! "To Each his own". People should do whatever works best for them. We can't be in the hearts and minds of other people, nor do I want to be! Live and let live.

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Yes! That's it! "To Each his own". People should do whatever works best for them. We can't be in the hearts and minds of other people, nor do I want to be! Live and let live.

I agree, we have enough trouble making good decisions in our own lives; we can't possibly know what's best for others!

I wonder whether she was concerned about maintenance--if her late husband took care of repairing things and doing the yard work, for example, she may have worried that she wouldn't know how to fix something or the expense and hassle of paying others to do what hubby always took care of. Or she might have had physical limitations (e.g., trouble walking) which makes it hard to do many things. She can also travel easily. This way, she has a relatively carefree lifestyle, perhaps cheaper, and time to do anything she wants and go wherever she wants.

[pandorafan5687]

Originally Posted by car54

Big house+small lot=McMansion

big home+small lot+all other homes looking like that one=McMansion.

[Bull Run Paradise]

Home built using cheap prefab materials for the "bones" of the house on barely enough land for one house to fit on. Fortunately, noone in the Manassas incident was injured (a townhouse fire in Lorton the other day turned out much worse). If governments are serious about having and enforcing building codes they need to be written with basic safety taken into consideration. House fires are not unheard of; lets rethink how houses are built before more of NoVA is developed.

8 homes damaged or destroyed by fire | InsideNova
Blaze kills two children, one adult | InsideNova
ICF DIRECT Homepage
Monolithic — Home of the Monolithic Dome

[brooklynborndad]

the first time I encountered a McMansion was when I worked for a consulting firm and went to a christmas party at the home of one of the partners, in Great Falls. They were mansions - by size - and "mc" an entire subdivision of almost identical homes. They were on large lots - what made them distinctive as McMansions was that they had the style of a an elite mansion, with little things and big to look rich - but they were built and arranged on a subdivision, like regular old suburban ranch houses. Way back in 1994, that was something new, and really rather surprising.

The owner was in fact somewhat pretentious, his furnishings were pretentious (including the fox hunting prints on the walls) and his lifestyle was (IMHO) pretentious. He fit every stereotype of who lives in a McMansion and how.

My later experience with McMansions was in Annandale, where we rented a modest but charming 1940s house on a block that was a mix of charming older houses, and fillin/teardown McMansions. I could grow nothing I was interested in in my backyard, cause the McMansion next store blocked the southern light. Im glad we now live in a TH in a different part of Annandale.

Everyone makes decisions that make sense for them, naturally. I think its hard for many of us to seperate our feelings about McMansions from our feelings about conspicous consumption, about energy use, and about the real estate bubble.

Obviously many (maybe most) owners of McMansions have sound financing. Many bought for reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with conspicous consumption. A few may well be off grid, or in some other way very "green". I am speaking generally, however.

[brooklynborndad]

McMansion - a house that is larger than many apartment buildings in the Brooklyn of my youth

McMansion - a house that in a hundred years will BE an apartment building, housing 30 or 40 poor people. But will be somewhat transportation challenged (except for those built as infill/teardowns in older nabes)

[brooklynborndad]

McMansion - a house that exists because the income distribution in this country has changed so much in the last few decades.