McMansions 101: What Makes a McMansion Bad Architecture? (2016)

https://mcmansionhell.com/post/148605513816/mcmansions-101-what-makes-a-mcmansion-bad

25•nivethan•1h ago

Comments

lemoncucumber•50m ago

[2016]

bondarchuk•41m ago

>Disclaimer: These same principles do not always apply to Modernist or even canonically Postmodern architecture. These principles are for the classical or traditional architecture most residential homes are modeled after.

Seems like an obvious way out of this conundrum is reclassifying these so-called mcmansions as postmodern. Description instead of prescription.

mikgp•40m ago

This is interesting but I was recently in England at a country house, which should be a pinnacle of architecture and it like I assume many of them were just added onto over and over again over the years leading to all the problems described. Still gorgeous, but certainly not “good architecture”. Much more McMansiony.

mitkebes•33m ago

Adding onto a house over and over would probably create the same issues with inconsistency and mismatched styles. With later additions, there's at least a decent reason for that inconsistency though. McMansions lack that consistency from the start.

egypturnash•29m ago

Perhaps this lack of consistency is deliberate: “this house is trying to look like a miniature version of an estate that grew over many generations”.

Curse not the McMansion. Rejoice in The People’s Gormenghast.

bluebarbet•30m ago

Exactly the thought I had. The typical (i.e. not-very-grand) English country house looks a bit like a McMansion with added ivy.

steveBK123•39m ago

A lot of my friends enjoy sending links to this around from time to time, and for me I just don't care.

It just all comes across as very elitist navel gazing.

I don't actually care what other peoples properties look like.

It's also kind of faux populist because while the homes they are criticizing are certainly higher income for their area, a lot of these are like $500K homes in exurbs.

The people that enjoy laughing at the McMansions are like SF/NYC $5M condo owners. So it's kicking down in a way they can rationalize to themselves.

bobson381•33m ago

I dunno, my Mom in the midwest thinks it's the funniest thing ever, having grown up in an area where all the houses looked like this. There's some element of satisfaction knowing that you can't buy good taste

ryandrake•4m ago

Yea, I distinctly remember one of the major aspects of making fun of McMansions was that we are punching up, not down. We'd look at houses 2-4X more expensive than we could ever afford and conclude the exact sentence you posted: "You can't buy good taste!"

jollyllama•19m ago

Don't worry, the people in the McMansions do not care that coastals correctly point out their lack of aesthetic sensibility.

forgetfreeman•5m ago

Oh they're lacking more than aesthetic sensibility. Frugality and appreciation of build quality are also lacking in these designs. The sheer volume of roof angle transitions alone are a huge force multiplier on the cost per square footage of construction like this and are prone to cause expensive maintenance headaches.

froggertoaster•30m ago

Generally speaking, classifying a house as "McMansion" feels like a form of gatekeeping. If the person who lives there enjoys it, who are we to judge?

bluebarbet•28m ago

That logic would make all cultural criticism verboten.

MarkusQ•25m ago

You don't have to sell me on it, I was already convinced.

asdff•10m ago

I will shit on your porch and you will have to respect my cultural decisions as you step over it.

ImPostingOnHN•6m ago

If you want to shit on your own porch, and while you're at it, redesign your porch to look like shit, more power to you.

MarkusQ•4m ago

See, the "your" in there is what we call a possessive pronoun. It indicates that something (in this case, my porch) is owned by someone (in this case, me). That makes what you are proposing doing a property rights issue, not cultural criticism.

Shit on your own porch all you want.

spamizbad

gorgoiler•29m ago

Salem Mass represent whoop whoop! Been dropping mad gables — sorry, secondary mass — since 1668 for real yo. Check this witchin’ crib’s void rhythm:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_the_Seven_G...

It’s a very cool place to visit and there are a bunch of other similar houses to visit in the city, albeit less McMansiony than OG 7G, as literally no one calls it hah.

asdfasgasdgasdg•26m ago

Seems to me there are two possible definitions of good architecture which might be in conflict. The American mansion-style suburban home is good architecture in the sense that the people who want to buy homes in these places and of these sizes are happy to buy these homes. It is bad architecture in the sense that architecture nerds, who do not even live near these mansions and are not affected by them, don't like them.

bluebarbet•16m ago

By that standard, a Picasso painting is only good art because it's expensive.

asdff•11m ago

Might as well say fentanyl is a good drug because its users are really fond of it.

kodablah•19m ago

> Design Principle #1 [...] The secondary masses should never compete with the primary mass.

> Design Principle #2 [...] shows multiple violating their own mass rule as good examples

While there are some ugly/gaudy houses out there, the gatekeeping behind what is a "McMansion" is subjective and silly.

Lammy•17m ago

“McMansion” is just a way for The System to shame the middle class for daring to want some space to live in, and I'm disappointed when I see anyone propagate it.

asdff•13m ago

Uhh, these are not humble middle class homes. These are the definition of American excess and the perpetual "me, me, me" attitude that sees an f250 with 5 feet of ass hanging outside the standard parking space giving everyone else a hard time. And of course they are basically also built by George Bluth, so all this material expenditure is going towards a terrible product that is already falling apart the day after the contractors are done with it.

AnimalMuppet•8m ago

Not at all. It's a way to shame the (upper) middle class for wanting some space that looks pretentious, and doing it badly.

crystaln•9m ago

Interesting position, and also very opinionated.

For instance, personally I think having secondary masses dominate can make the structure look smaller and more intimate.

Like in this one, it looks like a bunch of cottages instead of a behemoth.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3e5a80e11854cd751a1bb314a4591c87...

I live in a house with MANY "voids" aka windows. The house looks pretty stunning, and the views are spectacular.

ryandrake•7m ago

Weird that there are so many comments defending McMansions here, I would have expected the opposite. We have no problem pointing out poorly, haphazardly, or tastelessly designed tech devices and applications with terrible UIs, and tech companies with more money than design sense, but when it comes to a tasteless house, criticism is elitist gatekeeping?

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