What is a McMansion?

[Anonymous]

Tasteless just like Mickie D's and about as thoughtful made.

Will tend to have at least 12 of the following:

* Be so massively sized relative to the lot and the surrounding neighborhood that it stands out. Not in a good way.
* Have columns, often with capitals that do not belong to any recognizable style
* Have a foundation course made of a different material that the upper exterior (e.g., stone with a stucco facade on the front, ever so vaguely reminiscent of the Meditterean and vinyl siding on the other three sides. Or massive foundation blocks followed by 1.5 stories in another material and the remaining 0.5 of the front done in third material).
* Have an overly grande/overly wide front path. The path is ramrod straight.
* Have either a very straight driveway or one that is circular.
* The front entry is double height and matches the massive double front doors.
* Have at least one oriole window AND a palladian window.
* One or more turrets.
* Have little to no landscaping.
* At least one upper story balcony that faces the street. Often a busy street. The door leading to the balcony will often be a sliding glass door.
* Have at least three car garage. The garage doors will have hinges or windows that do not blend with the house. The garage doors will be stained or painted in a pattern that says "look at me".
* Have a fully tricked out "bonus" room over the three car garage.
* Borrow freely from four or more known architectural styles.

Bring wholly new feelings to the phrases: they put up a parking lot and paved over paradise, and gee, there goes the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tasteless just like Mickie D's and about as thoughtful made.

Will tend to have at least 12 of the following:

* Be so massively sized relative to the lot and the surrounding neighborhood that it stands out. Not in a good way.
* Have columns, often with capitals that do not belong to any recognizable style
* Have a foundation course made of a different material that the upper exterior (e.g., stone with a stucco facade on the front, ever so vaguely reminiscent of the Meditterean and vinyl siding on the other three sides. Or massive foundation blocks followed by 1.5 stories in another material and the remaining 0.5 of the front done in third material).
* Have an overly grande/overly wide front path. The path is ramrod straight.
* Have either a very straight driveway or one that is circular.
* The front entry is double height and matches the massive double front doors.
* Have at least one oriole window AND a palladian window.
* One or more turrets.
* Have little to no landscaping.
* At least one upper story balcony that faces the street. Often a busy street. The door leading to the balcony will often be a sliding glass door.
* Have at least three car garage. The garage doors will have hinges or windows that do not blend with the house. The garage doors will be stained or painted in a pattern that says "look at me".
* Have a fully tricked out "bonus" room over the three car garage.
* Borrow freely from four or more known architectural styles.

Bring wholly new feelings to the phrases: they put up a parking lot and paved over paradise, and gee, there goes the neighborhood.

wrong again, must be a repeated design and mass produced. You are describing a multitude of houses ranging from older renovated homes to Disney world mansions. Try again you get a D for effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A home built after 1990, at least 2 car garage, colonial, that has more than 3000SF on the upper level. Basically the ideal home that is standard in most areas but a premium in the DC area.

Where is a 3000sq.ft. House "standard"?

Most of America

[Anonymous]

And "McMansions" are more offensive than makeshift add-ons to sh*tshacks, how, again?

[Anonymous]

How do you post a picture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you post a picture?

Maybe if you were smart enough to live in a McMansion you would know how

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A McMansion is a house. Where I would live is a home.

My "McMansion" is filled with a husband, three children, two dogs and three cats - I call that a home. I am currently sharing our sectional with two very comfortable dogs.

We have enough space for my children's friends as well as any stray that ends up on our doorstep - and they do tend to find our home. That's the benefit of space, to folk like us. YMMV.

Why do people buy houses and fill them with filthy animals?

Because those people are kind and loving.

[Anonymous]

They are just classless and trashy. Which is why you seem them more in VA than in Chevy Chase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are just classless and trashy. Which is why you seem them more in VA than in Chevy Chase.

We need a new thread - what is a McHuguely?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are just classless and trashy. Which is why you seem them more in VA than in Chevy Chase.

Chevy Chase does have that McMansion development on CT ave between Manor and Jones Bridge. Those are some serious McMansions!

[Anonymous]

Wow some strange definitions of a McMansion here. Probably because so many of you live in McMansions. And 8 bedroom 16,000 sq ft house is an actual mansion. A 4500 sq ft house with 4 bedrooms built on a postage stamp lot within spitting distance of your neighbor is a McMansion. Often times a McMansion will have a couple of cavern sized rooms that are absurdly large. A friend of mine has a family room that's so big, the 60" TV hanging on the wall looks tiny from the couch 20 feet away. It's way more room than a family of 4 needs.

[Anonymous]

I don't think true McMansions exist in this area.think Nevada, Arizona, and California. There, they're basically tract homes, +3000 square feet, with maybe four or five model homes to choose from. All are very similar looking usually with three (sometimes four) car garages.

[Anonymous]

McMansions are a west coast phenomenon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow some strange definitions of a McMansion here. Probably because so many of you live in McMansions. And 8 bedroom 16,000 sq ft house is an actual mansion. A 4500 sq ft house with 4 bedrooms built on a postage stamp lot within spitting distance of your neighbor is a McMansion. Often times a McMansion will have a couple of cavern sized rooms that are absurdly large. A friend of mine has a family room that's so big, the 60" TV hanging on the wall looks tiny from the couch 20 feet away. It's way more room than a family of 4 needs.

The weird thing is that so many of you who live in shitshacks don't seem to mind the "actual mansions," but the thought that someone you actually know lives in a bigger house than you do sends you off into such a frenzy (cue the "we could easily afford to live in a 6000 sq ft house, but we chose a house with craftsmanship.(sic)").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow some strange definitions of a McMansion here. Probably because so many of you live in McMansions. And 8 bedroom 16,000 sq ft house is an actual mansion. A 4500 sq ft house with 4 bedrooms built on a postage stamp lot within spitting distance of your neighbor is a McMansion. Often times a McMansion will have a couple of cavern sized rooms that are absurdly large. A friend of mine has a family room that's so big, the 60" TV hanging on the wall looks tiny from the couch 20 feet away. It's way more room than a family of 4 needs.

The weird thing is that so many of you who live in shitshacks don't seem to mind the "actual mansions," but the thought that someone you actually know lives in a bigger house than you do sends you off into such a frenzy (cue the "we could easily afford to live in a 6000 sq ft house, but we chose a house with craftsmanship.(sic)").

The old "shitshacks" as you call them are worth way more than the new developments. I guess you can afford one