From the NY Times:
Living Larger, and Drawing Fire
LIKE the many Eskimo words for snow, a multitude of nicknames exist for the oversize houses commonly referred to as McMansions, and they mirror the uneasiness over the spread of the homes.
“You hear them called starter castles, beltway baronials, mini Taj Mahals, but my favorite is parachute homes, because of the disregard for local styles — like they were dropped from the sky,” said Edward J. Trawinski, a lawyer and land-use expert from Morristown, N.J.
Although the names may be amusing, many owners of smaller homes, especially in older communities dominated by more traditional architecture, find it anything but funny when one goes up in their neighborhood. With the proliferation of mammoth residences throughout the suburbs of New York City and beyond, some towns are trying to restrict the size and, sometimes, the look of new homes.
Mr. Trawinski has helped municipalities in northern New Jersey, including Wayne, Montclair and Bergenfield, write such laws, which commonly set maximums for height and square footage on a sliding scale that varies with the lot size. The laws may also dictate the slope of roofs and require side yards to be large enough so the new home does not loom over its neighbors.
…
But the main goal of such ordinances is not to mandate smaller homes, but to preserve a community’s “streetscape” by preventing houses that are so much larger than the prevailing architecture as to be jarring, said Virginia Kurshan, chairwoman of the Maplewood, N.J., Historic Preservation Commission.At one extreme, she said, nearby Glen Ridge declared the entire borough a historic district, putting tight restrictions on any building allowed. Maplewood, she said, is considering a less drastic law that might apply to new construction and additions.
…
Mr. Benson said he finds ordinances restricting large houses infuriating because they take aim at a problem that is disappearing on its own. “We’ve had three years of an economic slowdown, and market conditions and energy costs are causing builders to build smaller houses,” he said.As an example, he cited two houses he built on adjoining lots in Westport: one a 6,500-square-foot home on one and a half acres, which was purchased well before completion, the second a 9,600-square-foot residence on two acres, which took two years to sell.
“I had to keep dropping the price,” he said. “It was just too big.”
This has actually been going on in my neighborhood, but as the last man quoted noted, the market seems to be pushing back.
In fairness, the area had some very large houses when I moved in 8 years ago. Still, in the last couple of years I would guess that at least 10 of the 150 houses nearest me have had either massive additions or been knocked down and replaced. Another 5 or 10 or so (including my own) have had smaller additions.
It really has changed the appearance of the neighborhood. I moved into a neighborhood of capes, ranches, and colonials, but I will move from a neighborhood of McMansions.
While I think a lot of the architecture is awful (a couple are actually pretty nice, something more than thatbigwindow ;)) I figure the work others have done has actually raised my property values, so I’m not complaining.
I wonder what residents first thought when the Forest Hills Gardens “planned community” was developed. I live within a 5 minute walk from there in Queens and aside from the cars parked in the driveways, it’s as if time has been frozen and it’s such an amazing area to walk around and get lost in.
The neighborhood association there certainly won’t allow for a knockdown to turn into one of those monstrosities and I highly doubt 50 years from now we’re going to embrace the McMansion community (Anywhere, USA) and say to ourselves that this was a good thing.
Wow, look at me… I’m turning into my father in law. (Sorry, Mrs. B!)
If you live down the street from one of these, just smile. Today’s McMansions are tomorrow’s multi-family housing.
Rob, you’ve made an interesting point. A friend of mine is looking for an apartment and is finding some in wings of McMansions. My town just passed an ordinance limiting the size of driveways and disallowing parking on grass or gravel; presumably to discourage doubling and tripling up on families in these houses.
What I don’t understand is why in Bergen County the McMansions are all so ugly. I grew up on Woodbrook Circle in Westfield and went back there last year to do some canvassing. There were plenty of bash-and-builds, but the new houses were gorgeous. They were built with still plenty of space around them, and with architectural details reminiscent of Victorians. In Bergen, they build big boxes with the Yuppie Scupper (® P.J. O’Rourke) windows and the fake stone fronts. Down in the Chatham County area of North Carolina, the new houses take their inspiration from the Arts & Crafts movement. Of course to make a “classic” looking home is more expensive than building a big box with little tiny windows, a fake stone front and vinyl on three sides, and no windows at all on either side.
Mc mansion and Hummers, people will come to realize that those that choose to avail themselves of those items have some very deep issues of insecurity.
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