patrick.net

OFGS, you're making me feel ancient. And I'm not even a Boomer, just on the leading edge of X.

Randy,
While I don't rent a Mcmansion, the house I rent is pretty old( 1916) but was more recently renovated. The only bad thing about is the shower, which is a sheet plastic liner that I've had to caulk several times already. If I ever get my own place, this will be the only place I'll spend the money. Tile all the way- either that or vintage stuff. The plastic sheeting has got to go.

(disclaimer: his IB higher level math 7 notwithstanding, my boyfriend profess absolutely no interest in money management, corporate law, management consulting, or anything else that would result in big money -- it's pretty much a hopeless situation)

Randy,

I know, that's why I said dweller;) Sorry. If I was in your situation, I'd do exactly the same thing.

PS - Randy, that's not my job anymore. That's Conor's job.

If I was in your situation, I’d do exactly the same thing.

I'm not sure I would. But I'm existential about such things.

I don't have a problem with McMansions, it is just a style of home like Victorian or Colonial. Many 1900 era Victorians around here (VA) are McMansion sized, 3,000 sqft or more. They seem to be quality built, but that may be from original construction or from renovation.

If someone has saved his money and wants the benefits of lots of space, I see no problem. I just have a distaste for a McMansion Heights whole neighborhood of fiscal fools pushing a facade of wealth, inhabited by the couple so stretched out financially that wife yells at husband for wasting money on a candy bar. No problem with a new Expedition though.

Oh. so this is "McMansions are not bad" thread. Just a few threads ago they were bad.

I like McMansions. I do not like the 40 year old floor plans in Cupertino at all. In every such house the first thing you notice after entry is kitchen ! There is nothing pretty, classy etc about these plans.

I need big kitchen, big bathroom and a big room for a big TV. Rest is too subtle for me.

Astrid says:

The house where I spent the first 8 years of my life had one toilet for 2 kids and 7 adults. I’ve lived most of the next 10 years with 2 adults and one bathroom. We managed, somehow

In the '60s when we were at my grandparents house in central VA, we had to take a bath in a steel tub with well water heated in a kettle on a cast iron stove. The toilet was an outhouse 50 yards from the house. However, nothing beats the fresh eggs we gathered from the henhouse, or the fresh veggies from the garden (no pesticides). Also, nothing beats the taste of water from that well. We also used kerosene lamps since they did not get electricity until the 70s. None of us live like that today, of course, but the place was great fun during extended family gatherings.

SP,

I don't completely agree with you. I know people who can afford the "real thing" but chose not to. Sometimes, it's just not efficient to spend $100K on a deck, even if you're extremely wealthy. If a knock off Gucci bag will satisfy the social pressures without spending the money on a real Gucci bag.

SP,

Do you still smell like elephant piss?

Cheers!

Headset,

My first home was not a matter of eccentric grandparents. The house I lived in didn't get indoor plumbing until the late 1970s. Even now, there are legal residents (as opposed to slum dwellers) in Shanghai who don't have indoor plumbing and are forced to use waste buckets and public latrines.

I guess I have a tendancy to mildly mock Peter P's (and maybe my own) sybaritic tastes and expectations.

SP,

Good grief, did you memorize all the Monty Python episodes?

SQT says,

I live in what some here would refer to as a stucco $hitbox, but frankly I like it. It’s almost 2000 sqft with an excellent floorplan.

Who would call that a $hitbox? That sounds like a practical, desireable home. Especially if it is paid for or has a low financial drain.

There's something to be said for imitation and the " real thing" For example, one of my hubcaps came off my toyota truck. It is 11 years old, and the dealership wanted $75 PER HUBCAP! So.. I went to Kragen and bought a box of 4 fake plastic chrome hubcaps for $30. Ghetto. Nothing else describes the way my truck looks now. Anyone can tell that those "rims" on my truck are cheapo plastic. It doesn't feel or look cool at all. That's the same way I feel about fake wood and cheapy interiors on some of these massive houses.

Astrid,

I hope you don't think I was implying you had eccentric grandparents. I assumed your grandparents lived how they lived for the same reasons mine did - economics.

SQT,

As long as a home provides value to its owner and/or resident, it's fine. There are huge multi-million dollar homes in Jackson Hole that gets use 2 weeks a year, but if money is no object and the primary value is to boast of a Jackson Hole home, then more power to them.

What I object to is that general uselessness of houses built btwn 2000 and now. They sell an imagine of high quality and high class but are actually poorly designed and shoddily built. Their owner will quickly discover just how quickly those two facts will conspire to deflate the value of their house.

Headset,

At least you got fresh vegetables and eggs. We had food rationing for the entire time I was in Shanghai. ;)

(to SP, ugh, sorry. Last time, I promise.)

I'm fairly agnostic on "McMansions" as a contemporary style/class of tract homes, however one chooses to define them. However, depending upon the specific builder/location, there is some valid criticism out there in terms of poor construction quality, needless use of sub-par materials and inefficient use of space, poor design issues, etc. That said, the main issue to me isn't the style of housing being built, it's the insane valuations and financing used in this part of the country.

There are some viable alternatives out there for non-rich hard-core D-I-Y types who want a truly custom-built house, without having to pay $millions to have a world-famous architect build the thing for you: straw-bale, adobe, rammed earth/cobb, etc. The possibilities are limitless, assuming you have the necessary skills, time and willpower to see it through (which few people have).

I like McMansions. I do not like the 40 year old floor plans in Cupertino at all. In every such house the first thing you notice after entry is kitchen ! There is nothing pretty, classy etc about these plans.

I need big kitchen, big bathroom and a big room for a big TV. Rest is too subtle for me.

Same here. I like a big master bathroom with tub, separate shower, and separate toilet stall. If I cannot spin around freely with my arms fully extended, the bathroom is too small.

SP,

Very few people in this world are truly indifferent to cost and most of the world does hold some value for perception of prestige. Thus, I do not discount such behavior outright but measure for durability of such perception under duress.

If we go solely by actual usefulness of goods, most luxury goods makers would go bankrupt very quickly.

SQT,

It just sounds like you found a home you're happy with, and that's really more important than anything else.

Peter P,

One of these days I will create a thread called "build the perfect house for Peter P." You just wait!

If we go solely by actual usefulness of goods, most luxury goods makers would go bankrupt very quickly.

True. I enjoy luxury food very much. But it gets turned into human waste just as quickly as normal food. :(

Perhaps I should condition myself into hating good food.

Maybe there is something to Feng Shui.

Absolutely.

Peter P,

I think my analogy would be for you to trick your mind into believing that PB&J sandwich tastes like toro and $2/lb hamburger tastes like Kobe beef.

If I eat rich food like the kind people in California must have every day, I tend to have a profuse amount of gas and very frequent bowl movements. On the other hand, if I go home and eat all that southern food again, boy oh boy! It literally lubricates my innards.

OT

I can't believe there are so many idiots who want to buy into Bank of China's IPO. Have they learnt nothing from the last ten years?

Ya.. Went into the outhouse humor land there for a second.

I think my analogy would be for you to trick your mind into believing that PB&J sandwich tastes like toro and $2/lb hamburger tastes like Kobe beef.

I do enjoy plain pasta with olive oil, garlic, and chili flakes, with or without clams.

Joe,

Thanks for confirming my own belief about the behavioral patterns of the rich. I think when the upper middle class and the (gilt) gold collars start acting like the rich, the rich will mutate into some other sort of craziness.

Thus, Paris Hilton dresses like a skanky ho and the Olson twins dress like bag ladies. When the poor dresses like the rich, the rich will dress like the poor.

Or something. It's not a very well thought out theory.

My old coworkers' house was for sale last year (don't know whether he ever managed to find a buyer), and I was looking for it on realtor.com and debating whether to post a link to it so that everyone can see the inside. It seemed a little like an invasion of privacy, so I was unsure about whether I should do it.

The question was moot, because his house wasn't on the site, but one of his next-door neighbors has listed their house for sale:

http://www.realtor.com/Prop/1060284957

To picture my coworker's place, imagine the same basic house with approximately ten times as much bling.

Note that what you are looking at the is one of the very first McMansions, built in 1987. CA really set the trend here.

When the poor dresses like the rich, the rich will dress like the poor.

Derelicte

I believe if you really want something it is better to get the best example of it that there is within your reach… i.e. if I want a Mont-Blanc, and I can afford it, I get it. If I cannot afford it I don’t see the point of buying a cheap knock-off because I get no satisfaction from knowing that it is fake.

Is Mont Blanc any good? I heard that the resin body cracks easily. Is that true?

SP,

I think you're ignoring the market segment that places an extremely high value on the opinion of others, rich enough to afford the real thing, but unwilling to pay full price. I will argue that for this segment may find McMansions to be a good match for their needs. I think Randy's earlier comments about potential Toll Brothers purchasers go to the same demographic.

Note that what you are looking at the is one of the very first McMansions, built in 1987. CA really set the trend here.

But what about Tony Montana's place from Scarface? That pre-dates it by at least 4 years.

I'd go with an Omas. They're sooooo pretty. Monte Blancs are too heavy and stiff.

HARM,

When you think about it, high fashion has been going into the ghetto look for quite a while. John Galliano's entire line is pretty much crap in my eye and Prada has managed to market generic black stuff for a pretty outrageous price...and LV handbags? Ugly!

SP,

The true connisseur will realize the MontBlanc pens, from a practical standpoint, are like a low-end Jaguar (the one that's really just a dressed up Ford). High on prestige, low on quality. My own preference is to look for quality, and often that will guide me to a brand that's outside the normal "prestige-brand continuum".

For a pen, I might spend 100$ or more for a nice Namiki model (first brand I can think of right now, so not that obscure, sorry). It provides some satisfaction of eliteness both over those who wouldn't pay even that much (the price angle) and over those who buy the MontBlanc (the "actually knowing what you're buying angle").

Oh, and to bring this back to housing, if I wanted crown molding, I'd go buy power tools and lumber (or visit a friend with power tools). The "rich" I have known seemed to generally take a healthy attitude of "who cares what the others think; I'll buy it if it works for me". So, they might drive an older Mercedes or higher end Volvo, but it was usually because it was a solid car, not for the prestige value.

Joe,

Talk about price compression. That house actually looks pretty reasonable for the price. If I remember correctly, Northridge is a reasonably good Westside neighborhood, right?