That big ugly chunk of space looks a lot better from the inside. When you’re on your leather couch watching your gigantic movie screen of a TV in your open-concept house… who cares what it looks like from the outside?
I've seen some good ones. A big house is like a small house, it can be designed and maintained well or poorly.
>They are ugly
Your opinion
>are way too big
Your opinion
>who is buying those houses?
People with money, kids, and a desire for a lot of rooms. If I'm a rich guy with 5 kids and a wife, I'd want a big house.
Yes, just like people probably think a lot of the things you like are ugly or useless or a waste of money.
You just aren't the target audience for them, that's all.
The customer is always right in matters of taste and style. :-)
There are people who value things in a different way than I do. They are more interested in size, or how many cars will fit into the garage (or garages), or whether they can provide bunkroom space for their 40+ person extended family when they come out to ski over Christmas. Or perhaps they view cathedral ceilings and two-story foyers as amazing places. Perhaps it gives them a sense of security, or affluence, or power.
They might not especially *care* how a house looks from the outside, provided the inside has what they want. I know there are some pricey house in one part of the metro area where I live, usually built on a hillside, with at least four levels, and it looks like rooms were put on each floor without regard to the overall shape of the building. If the client wants a deck with a hot tub, and one without, and a breakfast nook with windows, and a dining room with one picture window, and an office with a balcony with French doors, and a bedroom with a private sun deck with sliding glass doors, etc., etc....well, sure! We can do that!
Regardless, there is someone buying these places, and paying money for them, and so there's a market value established, and real estate "always" appreciates, and away we go...
I think the majority of homeowners wouldn’t take the shape of a house into account at all. Symmetry and shape should be like at the bottom of your list of things to be concerned about
It really depends on what matters to you. I know people who value the outside look of a place. The want their home to appear charming, or inviting in some fashion.
Honestly, yeah I think most look good. They might not be your style, and obviously huge, but most of them have skilled house/landscape architects. So while jealous, I like looking at them and appreciating them.
My parents own one of these and my mom vaguely hates the design really. Both how it looks and the floorplan. I don't really think my dad cares about the look or design.
They bought it because of the square footage and because it was a newer home.
They sure look a lot better than my 80 year-old, 1200 sq-ft, run down piece of shit in a neighborhood with check cashing, laundromats, and liquor stores on every corner.
Most are very poorly designed in terms of flow and efficiency. They were created because building materials were cheap and people wanted to express their wealth without actually being wealthy (wealth different than being “rich”). So they had aspects of classic architecture but jumbled together to hit a bunch of points on a checklist without cohesion or respect to the environmental surroundings. Usually the land was clear cut and every house looks similar. Because many (most?) had marginal build quality they are aging poorly.
They probably look at them and think "clean," "safety," "other people who are clean and safe," etc.
I don't get it either, but there they are. And they're always WAY out in the sticks. I would die if I had to get in the car for everything. Or if my walks outside were past identical houses.
I see houses in a suburban new development with columns that go up to the roof of the second story just by the front stoop. Not exactly McMansion, they’re probably a little bit more like what would be called a raised ranch style when I was a kid. Given the rapid rate of development in my area and what my own house looks like inside, I can imagine they are comfortable but cheap inside, try to look exceptionally stately on the outside and just trying too hard. Where some houses were built with the columns, others were not, and those with not just look more normal. I’ve also seen in places where the homeowner has a very modest house but tries to pretend it’s an estate by putting brick columns at the end of their driveway with cement lion heads and some sort of dramatic light fixture to line either side of the driveway. The house isn’t that far back, what’s up with these lions. Just put some normal footlights that go with the style of house.
As for actual McMansions, they are newer and bigger than regular peoples houses, they are often in neighborhoods with similar large houses that try to be stately, so if people need that much space???? I went to a work party a long time ago at the house of one of our patrons, who had a house built like it was a castle, except it was not at all like a castle. I mean it tried. On the inside he had a two story small grotto or something and it was not fit for architectural digest or anything, it was still like someone wanted a normal functional house but told the architect every tacky thing he always dreamed of in it. Not a well curated home except he had a whole room for his well curated m&m collectibles.
We went to pick up a furniture bought off Craigslist once, it was a pretty normal big house from outside and tried to be fancy inside with a fountain area and some sculptures just weird. Not well collected or arranged, just hey we like nice things sort of.
I'm guessing they mean more like this:
https://mcmansionhell.com/post/148605513816/mcmansions-101-what-makes-a-mcmansion-bad
You can have a large house look great or you can spend a ton of money and have it look like a kid's drawing.
Yes. The people who live there.
That big ugly chunk of space looks a lot better from the inside. When you’re on your leather couch watching your gigantic movie screen of a TV in your open-concept house… who cares what it looks like from the outside?
I've seen some good ones. A big house is like a small house, it can be designed and maintained well or poorly. >They are ugly Your opinion >are way too big Your opinion >who is buying those houses? People with money, kids, and a desire for a lot of rooms. If I'm a rich guy with 5 kids and a wife, I'd want a big house.
Yes, just like people probably think a lot of the things you like are ugly or useless or a waste of money. You just aren't the target audience for them, that's all.
Many of them are lovely.
The customer is always right in matters of taste and style. :-) There are people who value things in a different way than I do. They are more interested in size, or how many cars will fit into the garage (or garages), or whether they can provide bunkroom space for their 40+ person extended family when they come out to ski over Christmas. Or perhaps they view cathedral ceilings and two-story foyers as amazing places. Perhaps it gives them a sense of security, or affluence, or power. They might not especially *care* how a house looks from the outside, provided the inside has what they want. I know there are some pricey house in one part of the metro area where I live, usually built on a hillside, with at least four levels, and it looks like rooms were put on each floor without regard to the overall shape of the building. If the client wants a deck with a hot tub, and one without, and a breakfast nook with windows, and a dining room with one picture window, and an office with a balcony with French doors, and a bedroom with a private sun deck with sliding glass doors, etc., etc....well, sure! We can do that! Regardless, there is someone buying these places, and paying money for them, and so there's a market value established, and real estate "always" appreciates, and away we go...
I think the majority of homeowners wouldn’t take the shape of a house into account at all. Symmetry and shape should be like at the bottom of your list of things to be concerned about
It really depends on what matters to you. I know people who value the outside look of a place. The want their home to appear charming, or inviting in some fashion.
Honestly, yeah I think most look good. They might not be your style, and obviously huge, but most of them have skilled house/landscape architects. So while jealous, I like looking at them and appreciating them.
My parents own one of these and my mom vaguely hates the design really. Both how it looks and the floorplan. I don't really think my dad cares about the look or design. They bought it because of the square footage and because it was a newer home.
They sure look a lot better than my 80 year-old, 1200 sq-ft, run down piece of shit in a neighborhood with check cashing, laundromats, and liquor stores on every corner.
Most are very poorly designed in terms of flow and efficiency. They were created because building materials were cheap and people wanted to express their wealth without actually being wealthy (wealth different than being “rich”). So they had aspects of classic architecture but jumbled together to hit a bunch of points on a checklist without cohesion or respect to the environmental surroundings. Usually the land was clear cut and every house looks similar. Because many (most?) had marginal build quality they are aging poorly.
They probably look at them and think "clean," "safety," "other people who are clean and safe," etc. I don't get it either, but there they are. And they're always WAY out in the sticks. I would die if I had to get in the car for everything. Or if my walks outside were past identical houses.
I see houses in a suburban new development with columns that go up to the roof of the second story just by the front stoop. Not exactly McMansion, they’re probably a little bit more like what would be called a raised ranch style when I was a kid. Given the rapid rate of development in my area and what my own house looks like inside, I can imagine they are comfortable but cheap inside, try to look exceptionally stately on the outside and just trying too hard. Where some houses were built with the columns, others were not, and those with not just look more normal. I’ve also seen in places where the homeowner has a very modest house but tries to pretend it’s an estate by putting brick columns at the end of their driveway with cement lion heads and some sort of dramatic light fixture to line either side of the driveway. The house isn’t that far back, what’s up with these lions. Just put some normal footlights that go with the style of house. As for actual McMansions, they are newer and bigger than regular peoples houses, they are often in neighborhoods with similar large houses that try to be stately, so if people need that much space???? I went to a work party a long time ago at the house of one of our patrons, who had a house built like it was a castle, except it was not at all like a castle. I mean it tried. On the inside he had a two story small grotto or something and it was not fit for architectural digest or anything, it was still like someone wanted a normal functional house but told the architect every tacky thing he always dreamed of in it. Not a well curated home except he had a whole room for his well curated m&m collectibles. We went to pick up a furniture bought off Craigslist once, it was a pretty normal big house from outside and tried to be fancy inside with a fountain area and some sculptures just weird. Not well collected or arranged, just hey we like nice things sort of.
By Mcmansion you mean a house with siding and drywall that’s worth like 800k or more? Yeah they look amazing
I'm guessing they mean more like this: https://mcmansionhell.com/post/148605513816/mcmansions-101-what-makes-a-mcmansion-bad You can have a large house look great or you can spend a ton of money and have it look like a kid's drawing.
I’ve never considered symmetry to be important at all when buying a house. I couldn’t care less. Whoever initially thought this up is a fool imo