undefined | Better HN

0 pointsryandrake8y ago0 comments

While there may not be One True Definition, and there's room to agree and disagree, there are attributes people probably could agree are tasteless and help qualify a house as a McMansion:

* No clear architectural style, or a haphazard/incoherent mix of styles

* Brick or stone facades in front, and cheap siding on the (less visible) sides

* Non-structural arches and columns

* Oddly placed/sized windows

* Multiple roof lines, chimneys and dormers

To the extent that a "Recently built house in a more or less modern style" incorporates these elements, it can be considered more or less a McMansion.

0 comments

trentmb8y ago

> * No clear architectural style, or a haphazard/incoherent mix of styles

Isn't that just a new style?

fsloth8y ago

Uh, no, it's noise synthesis.

The point is, with the effort and money spent, the houses are not even necessarily nice to live in when the designer just adds a hodge podge of features. The critique may sound elitist but the actual defects are concrete once you notice them and not just 'accept and adapt' to them.

emodendroket8y ago

The first bullet point, anyway, is also typical of any house that's been around a while.

dagw8y ago

There is a fundamental difference between a 17th century house with wing added in the 19th century and garage added in the 20th century, and a 21st century house trying to mimic that look.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse