Its not right or wrong - its just a commentary on our society that the majority of people prefer, are conditioned to, or have little desire to question the Sham that is house style in our country. I believe its indicative of how readily americans accept all manor of other Shams in other parts of their life. This is what society becomes when a Sham is an acceptable choice.
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The ones made fun of here are all new builds with sometimes quite if not tacky but a wtf were they thinking clash of styles. Also they are way bigger than 98% of us would ever need for a house.
Having just downsized from a 3 bedroom with an unfinished basement built in 1947 to a 2 bedroom condo I kinda miss some of the extra floor space. But that is mostly due to my geeky hobby being one that really needs a dedicated space. That said the 3 bedroom house was a PITA to keep clean and maintain. So I can’t imagine what dealing with one of the beasts featured would be like.
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Sorry, I could not disagree more. These houses are neither designed with form in mind, or function. Instead, they combine the worst of both. There is a vast difference between good design and bad, and those principles of harmony have been recognized for a couple of thousand years. In reality, these houses are meant to provide an illusion of grandness, while including random features and weird elements which obviously do not belong.
Often, in order to build the biggest possible house for the lowest possible price, cheap windows, fakey materials, tacked on balconies, inoperable chimneys, drywall boxes for interior rooms, and inconsistent period elements get included. Either the builders have capitulated to the restricted budgets, or the architect has capitulated to the demands of the tasteless owner, and the result is an inconsistent mess.
Of course, anyone is entitled to buy and live in these monsters. But we are entitled to mock them for their failures and pretensions.
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I think the main criticism is that these houses weren’t designed as such, instead they were a list of “Luxury” features to be ticked then executed as cheaply as possible, on as little land as possible, to maximise revenue.
See also:
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I do not think these homes are the majority in our society…I think they account for a far smaller percentage.
I think this more the majority, maybe its just where I live…
BUT…I do get your point and I don’t think you are wrong. I know I have walked into plenty of homes and thought “ugh…what did you do to this kitchen, this is a horrible space to prep and cook in!” but that’s just where my thought process is.
And a very visible commentary at that. It’s harder to ignore the design sensibilities of the built environment that surrounds us than it it to ignore the more hidden excrescences of late-stage capitalism.
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so…since you brought it up…What’s the “hobby”?
yes, but that house was built around 1965. And although today it is regarded as unremarkable, it is one thing that all the McMansions are not - authentic.
Nobody (meaning very few) builds houses like this anymore. Certainly not any merchant builder developer that has a business plan.
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Oh come to my neighborhood. every ranch and raised ranch is the exact same thing. They cleared the whole plat and built cookie cutter homes (development was in the 1960’s). Nothing original about any of them.
So…I guess YMMV.
THIS! So so much this.
I know a lot of people in Seattle grumble about the large, though they are more narrow and tall rather than just huge, modern square flat topped houses going up but I like them. They at least have a consistent style in the building itself and are at least from the ones I have been in are very functional and don’t have huge lawns as they are using small lot sizes usually 3 or 4 on a lot that was a house with a way too big yard. All those stairs are gonna stuck when you get old and your knees start complaining though.
My big beef is they are not affordable and a lot of the street infrastructure isn’t ready for the increase in density though the transit situation is getting better.
A big issue there is the zoning which does not allow for 2+ flats or row/townhouses proper in a lot of areas. Which I am actually fond of for style.
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Warhammer 40K. Or fantasy battles IN SPAAAAACE!
And other various table top miniatures games.
Seriously when I learned you could stuff the record keeping mess of fighting battles in D&D and just have a good time with lots of toys on the table I was hooked.
Play space isn’t a big deal as going to the shop has always been the best choice for that. But having a dedicated desk/space for modelling and painting your toys is really handy.
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I am pleased by this reply…but also a bit disappointed.
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It’s not too bad. But almost 7000sf. Jesus.
I live in Southern CA now, and the McMansions in the burbs here are generally 1000 times more hideous than this thing.
My wife and I live in the city in a house built in '47 on a 5500sf lot that’s 1300sf with a garage conversion. I don’t know what in the hell we’d do with 7000sf of house. I grew up in a house about the same size as ours - 4 of us - built in the early 60’s in San Jose.
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Interesting how this modest home also ticks the boxes on the McMansion site. Mismatched windows? check. Long boring/dominating roofline? Check. Yard is a monoculture except for some wispy shrubs? Check. Useless porch which should be half that size? Check.
But all in all it’s easier to hate on the McMansions because the people who own them should have enough resources to do it right. The person who can’t afford to even build a walkway to their front stairs has a good reason for not following design fashion perfectly.
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The unibrow on the top is making me giggle. Otherwise it seems fairly inoffensive except for being too big for the lot.
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Or its also what I found when I googled “basic modest ranch single family”.
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Exactly. Like having 20 kinds of crest toothpaste (I once counted) but only 2 choices for president.
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I’m looking at that picture, my eye bouncing around at all the various absurd McMansion standard features, when my eyes finally hit those chimneys. It took a few seconds to take in what I was looking at. Those really are industrial smokestacks. What the Actual Fuck?
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The front door on that one deserves a McMansion Hell comment.
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