2112 Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Just wondered what the difference is between a new home with some square footage, an actual Mansion, and the so-called McMansion? Is its strictly a square footage issue? Is it style? Is it location? WHAT IS IT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 In my book, McMansions are what happens when neighborhoods become "tear downs". They are built out to the sidewalk, have no yard, and for the most part lack any redeeming architectural qualities.There are boatloads of examples of this in Bellaire. But I'll take one McMansion vs. three Town Homes on a single lot any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 McMansion information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 more about McMansions Earliest examples in the Houston, as far as I know, include the Bellaire area of town. This is where we all learned that when McMansions go up on both sides of a 50's bungalow, they build up their foundations about 2-6' higher than the bungalow, and when it rains, the never-heretofore-flooded bungalow floods. We're getting a little smarter when it comes to building, but not much. The West University area and neighborhoods off San Felipe are repeating these same mistakes. Everything's a "tear-down" these days, it's kinda sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 So if someone calls the large homes in Cinco Ranch "McMansions" they would be wrong?I've not really thought about the word other than to consider that perhaps the term is a little insulting to the people who like that sort of thing, but it's good to hear something offered in the way of clarification.Would this definition apply to some of the homes going up in the Heights and Braeswood as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Nah, its not just Bellaire (the big homes on tiny lots) I think the stuff seen in Cinco Ranch/Riverstone, etc also would count as McMansions. These are essentially generic "faux riche" homes with fake stucco (or sometimes brick) sometimes tile roofs, upgraded interiors, and they are large of course, but they are lacking in true architectural character, and are extremely generic. I would not mind living in one, but they are essentially "upscale sprawl". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Would this definition apply to some of the homes going up in the Heights and Braeswood as well?South of the Braes bayou, yes. Toward Braes Heights, no.Not sure about the Heights. But some of those Faux Victorians are pretty scarry looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 mansion vs. mcmansiondefining mcmansions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 article about "trying to legislate taste" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmancuso Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 i think "mcmansion" is just a loaded term for large contemporary house. i personally, i have no beef with the houses themselves (some are quite nice) but i certainly do have a problem with where they are built and the mentality behind them when being built. they have become the SUV's of houses; status symbols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasdago Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 I would say that houses in Sugarland aren't McMansions... they're just bland and generic tract houses - completely boring neighborhoods. Very mundane.McMansions are what oyu find in Braes Heights, Bellaire, Briarcroft, Briargrove... they're popping up all over the place, displacing ranch houses, modern homes and otherwise normal houses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 It makes you wonder what the architectural legacy will be for our time. Will it be the ability to build gigantic houses out of relatively inexpensive materials? What is happening here or elsewhere in the world right now to get people excited about design and aesthetics? Something that is new and not derivative - something that is not faux anything. Not to get off the subject, but I get excited about environmental architecture like the new UT School of Nursing built from mostly salvaged materials. There has to be some sort of consciousness in architecture about the world around us. The worst thing about McMansions, particularly the ones popping up in bungalow-style neighborhoods is how indifferent their builders and owners are about the world around them. It's like they live in some kind of fantasy world of their own making. And as far as neighborhood dwellers that are so full of their own pompous sense of aesthetics that they push for draconian zoning laws, I have little respect for them. I understand not wanting someone coming in and building Hardy Plank monstrosities on every corner, but to insist that every home has to be a Tudor of a certain style is over the top. There has to be some latitude for new developments or you'll kill the housing market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 a little background on neighborhoods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowbrow Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 A good look at Mcmansionism would be the one mile drive down Tanglewood. Between San Felipe and Chimney Rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeightsGuy Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 McMansion to me means large homes built with budget in mind, lot proportions don't have anything to do with that and are a separate problem. If you have a 4000sf home valued at <$75 sf, you live in a McMansion. I don't think large homes in Bellaire and WestU can be considered McMansions for that reason. Take a drive around the Southampton area north of RiceU, there are a lot of older mansions built on the same 5000-8000sf lots you see in WestU/Bellaire. You don't call them McMansions, why are new million dollar homes in WestU/Bellaire getting that rap?On the other hand, homes out in Sugarland and many other 'burbs better fit the description. I have been to many friends' homes that are 4000 plus sf, but built with materials better served in mobile home. Plastic crown moldings, minimal trim details, hollow interior doors, the list goes on..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 i agree with heightsguy. there are huge cookie cutter $200K houses being built in the burbs with over 3000 square feet, made to order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 So what? In any other market besdies Houston, that same house would cost $450K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeightsGuy Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 OK, taking that further then, any million dollar home in WestU would be 3 million elswhere, and 3 million does not a McMansion make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 So everyone shoud live in 1,200 s/f, but with the highest quality material, of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 No, I don't think that's a McMansion at all...I stand by my original definition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeightsGuy Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Midtown, the problem with your definition (and mine for that matter:) is that we both paint with pretty large brushes. I can name a dozen historic mansions on Heights Blvd that are built out to the sidewalk and have no yards to speak of. My argument comes more from me trying to justify my feelings toward the preservation and urbanization of our landscape. I find a lot of people out there willing to argue against and make fun of all the large homes being built in the city that look out of proportion to land they sit on. Those same people will argue against sprawl in the outskirts of town. You just can't have it both ways. People are going to build big houses, it's what they want and is part of the general attitude people have right now toward housing. Maybe it's not the right thing, but there it is. I would rather see these homes built on smaller parcels of land here than on 1/4 acre lots in the next development being planned on top of a wetland somewhere out in Ft. Bend County. I would rather we spend our time focusing on how to mitigate flooding due to excess concrete in Houston than spending time figuring out how to make new wetlands to replace the one we are currently destroying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Last week, while travelling along Flintridge in the Woodlands area, I noticed a house with a widow's walk (very unusual out here), so I turned the car around to check it out. The house is located on a small, carved-out side street alongside Flintridge. It contained, in total, only four homes. Each one took up at least 95% of the lot size, sat side by side, with black wrought iron fencing and gates out front, and each one had the exact same front doors, almost identical coloring, and what really stood out amidst this sea of sameness, the only way to tell which house was which, each had a small oval brass plaque on the gate with the owner's name. It was a little too Stepford- wifish even for the Woodlands. These homes were easily 4000 sq. foot homes with price tags of at least $700,000. Who would want to build such a big nice home with that kind of money only to have the exact same house, style, color, everything, built on either side of yours? This was the epitome of McMansion to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 This was the epitome of McMansion to me.That's how I feel about the boxes in Bellaire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.