6 ms·
On one hand I'm really sympathetic to the criticisms from this blog. On the other hand people want big houses and they have a limited budget. They can't afford
by harryh 10y ago
On one hand I'm really sympathetic to the criticisms from this blog.
On the other hand people want big houses and they have a limited budget. They can't afford a real mansion, so this is what they get instead. Is it really so wrong for people to want a lot of space?
I wish there was more in this blog about how to do it right other than "have enough money for a proper mansion" or "you should have a smaller living space."
- jaxomlotus 10y agoThe criticism in the article wasn't about people on a limited budget owning big houses. It was about the lack of architectural cohesiveness in the big houses they do build.
- Diederich 10y agoIndeed. Most of the 'McManshionish' stuff is more expensive.
- majormajor 10y agoSeems like the same thing - isn't that pretty tied up to "don't have the budget for a 'proper' architect"? Design is a get-what-you-pay-for field. Do it piecemeal vs a single grand unified vision from the start and you end up with something easier to pay for but less ideal.
- sotojuan 10y agoAlso note that many suburban neighborhoods have rules on what your house can look like. Usually you get to pick from a lot of designs (hence the crazy mismatch of styles) but very rarely do you get to "design it from scratch".
- CapitalistCartr 10y agoMost mcmansions have zero budget for design. Fifteen thousand dollars on a $600,000 job is good sense.
- CapitalistCartr 10y agoShe does have that a bit, too, but the blog is new and its in bits here and there.
- awesomerobot 10y agoI think the argument can be made that for the same money someone could build a mansion that also doesn't look awful.
- basseq 10y agoMost people don't build houses. Most people buy houses that other people build. Therefore, most people don't care that the houses other people build are "McMansions".
- dimino 10y agoMost people don't make clothes. Most people buy clothes that other people make. Therefore, most people don't care that the clothes other people make are (random style out of a hat...) "punk". I don't think this logic adds up. People care what the house they buy looks like, and some people even care what their house's appearance projects as an expression of their own taste.
- basseq 10y agoHave you visited a menswear blog or forum recently? It's the same sentiment. "How could you buy a dress shirt that's not 100% Egyptian cotton with perfect hand and pattern matching with fabric from a 200-year-old Italian mill and hand-stitched by this guy I know in rural Siam!?" People don't close their eyes when the buy houses, but neither do they have an eye for architectural nuance.
- DanBC 10y agohttp://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/151896249151/the-mcmansion-scale-explained?is_related_post=1 http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/151896249151/the-mcmansion...
- harryh 10y agoThis actually demonstrates some of what I'm talking about. See the comments on some of the houses in the 6-7 range about garages or additions. Sure, they make things look unbalanced but the occupants wanted an enclosed space for their car or an extra guest bedroom or whatever. Is that really so bad?
- rayiner 10y agoI think the blog's issue is with people who want a house with features like fake columns that are designed to evoke wealth rather than serve a functional purpose.
- harryh 10y agoThat's certainly part of the blog's issue, but I don't think it's all of it. There's a lot in there about clean rooflines and such which I totally get. But sometimes you get a wacky roof because you shoved in an extra playroom for the kids or whatever and that was more important to you than the aesthetics from the outside.
- cam_l 10y agoWhat I find hilarious about this is there is no functional difference between the fake columns on mcmansions, and the fake columns on an architect designed neo classical building built on the properly proportioned 9 square palladian grid. Both are pastiche of someone else's stylistic ideas, painted onto a cheap timber and steel hybrid structure. Both are designed to evoke wealth. One is just more successful..
- kasey_junk 10y agoEven though its not presented as such, this is really an indictment of the spec housing builders right? They are the ones not applying design aesthetic and thats because its expensive and custom per lot and they do not have the inclination (or potentially profit motive) to make their "stock" designs more aesthetically correct. Once you get into actual custom builder prices it is pretty trivial to get a house that doesn't fall into these categories, and only taste prevents it.