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I would argue that the problem with McMansions has less to do with their sheer size (though on the larger end, their size truly is ridiculous) and more to do wi

I would argue that the problem with McMansions has less to do with their sheer size (though on the larger end, their size truly is ridiculous) and more to do with how badly utilized it all is. One of these days I hope to be fortunate enough to design and build my own house, and so it's a subject I think about frequently. I'd like it to be a bit larger than average, but the allocation of space is determined almost entirely on practicality. So for example, rather than having a cavernous reception/living room and a dining room that's rarely used, the ground floor would have a small living room with the extra space instead going towards a kitchen with ample counterspace to do serious cooking in (something that's oddly skimped on not only in McMansions, but also more traditional houses) and a mudroom at the entrance so guests have a place to put their bags, coats, etc and have room to take their shoes off without stumbling over each other. I suspect that there's demand for sizable, yet practically-designed houses like that but nobody's building them so people instead buy what is being built.

MSFT_Edging 3y ago
> has less to do with their sheer size(...) and more to do with how badly utilized it all is. That's basically what I'm getting at. I've been in close to a dozen mcmansions, only one actually felt like it was a home rather than a catalogue ad. I don't think the average McMansion owner has any intention of utilizing the space, and I'd argue they're designed in a way antithetical to utilizing the space. Large open areas aren't suitable for living space unless you want a full living room in every room. If you were to say, convert one into an office, it'd be an interesting arrangement. They're basically designed with the kind of banquet you see in movies, in mind. Once the party is over, you just have empty space.
- yamtaddle 3y ago
  > Large open areas aren't suitable for living space unless you want a full living room in every room. If you were to say, convert one into an office, it'd be an interesting arrangement. Oh my god, the move away from having actual rooms is so awful. But as long as people keep falling for the "wow" factor (in real estate photos and on first-viewings) of big, useless open spaces and cavernous open living/dining/kitchen combo rooms and signing on the dotted line, it's what we're gonna keep getting :-/
  - MSFT_Edging 3y ago
    I agree with you here but I think you might be more horrified with the image I actually was trying to draw. These houses have distinct rooms(not open concept)a, but they're all so big that most of it is empty space.
    - yamtaddle 3y ago
      Ah, yeah, that sucks too. A small count of enormous rooms where a larger count of normal-sized rooms would be way more useful.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    "Open concept" is way more horrible than anything McMansions have ever done (except themselves having open concept). Make all the rooms have no walls, and then make the house even bigger so you can get away from all the noise! Brilliant.
JKCalhoun 3y ago
I too want to design and build my own (modest) house. Maybe I should get cracking....
- bombcar 3y ago
  The "barndominum" craze around here is getting kinda interesting; especially as you can build in "steps" depending on how you design it.
crooked-v 3y ago
To me it sounds mostly like you're describing a well-planned Victorian. There's of course some unpleasant cross-pollination with McMansion designs, but the more sensible floor plans still follow the practice of a bunch of smallish, specialized but not hyper-specialized, efficiently laid-out rooms that are easy to move between.
- revolvingocelot 3y ago
  It's worth pointing out that nobody is building "well-planned Victorian" houses, either.
  - crooked-v 3y ago
    Of course, another question there is, how much of that is the result of local zoning and permitting processes banning all the stuff that people actually like? I know I've seen a lot of complaints about basic stuff with stairs, windows, and bedroom sizes in older plans that have been rendered illegal by newer zoning.
    - revolvingocelot 3y ago
      I haven't seen such complaints about basic stuff. Maybe it's just my own bias, but whenever I see people complaining about "regulations" choking out The Way Things Used To Be, it's usually actually about cost to the producer, whether houses or soda or anything else. See this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35894852 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35894852 Everything that made century homes desirable isn't mass-producible, and therefore untenable.

MSFT_Edging 3y ago

> has less to do with their sheer size(...) and more to do with how badly utilized it all is. That's basically what I'm getting at. I've been in close to a dozen mcmansions, only one actually felt like it was a home rather than a catalogue ad. I don't think the average McMansion owner has any intention of utilizing the space, and I'd argue they're designed in a way antithetical to utilizing the space. Large open areas aren't suitable for living space unless you want a full living room in every room. If you were to say, convert one into an office, it'd be an interesting arrangement. They're basically designed with the kind of banquet you see in movies, in mind. Once the party is over, you just have empty space.

yamtaddle 3y ago
> Large open areas aren't suitable for living space unless you want a full living room in every room. If you were to say, convert one into an office, it'd be an interesting arrangement. Oh my god, the move away from having actual rooms is so awful. But as long as people keep falling for the "wow" factor (in real estate photos and on first-viewings) of big, useless open spaces and cavernous open living/dining/kitchen combo rooms and signing on the dotted line, it's what we're gonna keep getting :-/
- MSFT_Edging 3y ago
  I agree with you here but I think you might be more horrified with the image I actually was trying to draw. These houses have distinct rooms(not open concept)a, but they're all so big that most of it is empty space.
  - yamtaddle 3y ago
    Ah, yeah, that sucks too. A small count of enormous rooms where a larger count of normal-sized rooms would be way more useful.
- bombcar 3y ago
  "Open concept" is way more horrible than anything McMansions have ever done (except themselves having open concept). Make all the rooms have no walls, and then make the house even bigger so you can get away from all the noise! Brilliant.

JKCalhoun 3y ago

I too want to design and build my own (modest) house. Maybe I should get cracking....

bombcar 3y ago
The "barndominum" craze around here is getting kinda interesting; especially as you can build in "steps" depending on how you design it.

crooked-v 3y ago

To me it sounds mostly like you're describing a well-planned Victorian. There's of course some unpleasant cross-pollination with McMansion designs, but the more sensible floor plans still follow the practice of a bunch of smallish, specialized but not hyper-specialized, efficiently laid-out rooms that are easy to move between.

revolvingocelot 3y ago
It's worth pointing out that nobody is building "well-planned Victorian" houses, either.
- crooked-v 3y ago
  Of course, another question there is, how much of that is the result of local zoning and permitting processes banning all the stuff that people actually like? I know I've seen a lot of complaints about basic stuff with stairs, windows, and bedroom sizes in older plans that have been rendered illegal by newer zoning.
  - revolvingocelot 3y ago
    I haven't seen such complaints about basic stuff. Maybe it's just my own bias, but whenever I see people complaining about "regulations" choking out The Way Things Used To Be, it's usually actually about cost to the producer, whether houses or soda or anything else. See this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35894852 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35894852 Everything that made century homes desirable isn't mass-producible, and therefore untenable.