I was just out in New England visiting some friends. In the area we were in[1], almost all the houses look the same, seriously unimposing, aggressively bland.

I was just out in New England visiting some friends. In the area we were in[1], almost all the houses look the same, seriously unimposing, aggressively bland. They'd point over to a (admittedly large sqft) boring looking house and say "oh yeah, some super rich guy lives there, heir to some fortune or another." It was weird coming from the west coast where the front facade[2] of a house is itself a status symbol of sorts. [1] A generally well to do nice area with a bit of history to it. [2] And sometimes just the front, hah! Horrible vinyl siding everywhere else...