Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Window Views #5



Welcome again everyone, to WINDOW VIEWS.

The house below certainly shows off all sorts of windows and architectural styles. It's called in my neighborhood a McMANSION.

Photobucket

Photobucket

So let me tell you a little bit about McMansions.

McMansion is a term used to describe a particular type of housing that is constructed in an assembly line fashion reminiscent of food production at McDonald's fast food restaurants. The term is one of many McWords.

A McMansion often denotes a home with a larger footprint than a median home, an indistinct architectural style similar to others nearby, and is often located in a newer, larger subdivision. On a singular level, one can also replace an existing, smaller structure in an older neighborhood, often referred to as a teardown.

A McMansion is a house with a floor area commonly over 3,000 square feet in size, often on a small lot (the house itself often covering a larger portion of the land than the yard in a more conventional design) and typically built in homogeneous communities that are often produced by a developer.

Although they are generally large homes, they are mass produced and are not of the caliber of a mansion. Their cost places them in the purchasing range of the upper middle class segment of the population.

The large, numerous windows that are sometimes used in the great room can result in buildings that are much more expensive to cool and heat, especially if the house has been designed without consideration for its orientation relative to seasonal sun paths or without proper insulation. Large rooms, especially those with high ceilings, are frequently more expensive to heat.

There is good news though this article says the McMansion trend is slowing...



Hope you enjoyed this "Window Views" post. Don't forget to post your own and then come here and sign Mr. Linky and leave a comment. Then go visit other participants. We all like visitors, right?



20 comments:

Mojo said...

They call 'em McMansions everywhere I think. We're being overrun with them in my neighborhood. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, it's prime "Inside the Beltline" real estate and for years it's been populated mainly with 2500-3500 sq ft homes on lots in the half-acre range. So there's room for a larger footprint without crowding the houses next door most of the time. The trouble with that is that, because they can, the builders are putting up even more ludicrous copies than usual. I suppose I shouldn't complain since it escalates property values in the subdivision but somehow it bugs me to have seven-digit houses popping up like mushrooms after a summer rain.

Sometimes? Less is more.

Terri said...

Very cool building and windows, Mary! It looks like an old home; disappointing that it's a McM and undoubtedly used a bazillion more resources than necessary. sigh.

Leora said...

A precise definition you present, Mary. There are these houses built in the middle of "nowhere" (well, what used to be a field) in Central New Jersey that we refer to as McMansions.

I don't have any strong desire to live in such a house, and it doesn't sound like you or Mojo do, either.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Hi, you are a very good teacher! You always include some interesting info with your windows. I also wanted to say I love that window at the top of your sidebar - just beautiful.

I've been remiss in keeping up with this blog....lots of other things on my mind at the moment. However, I think I'll be seeing lots of unusual and interesting windows over the next three weeks and hope to catch up with you again when I get back after June 13th!

Milo and Alfie said...

Well we learnt something today; We'd never heard of a mMcMansion! It looks an interesting building - and Mom says she knows what you man about large rooms with high celings being hard to heat.
We're posting our entry tomorrow.

ellen b said...

McMansions! I love that term. I've never been attracted to this type of house. Thanks for the information...

Shey said...

This is a fascinating house. Looks like a mini palace. Makes you think of Romeo and Juliet. :)

Love the photo and learned a lot as usual. Lots of info. Thanks!

Gemma Wiseman said...

This one almost looks unreal! Such a conglomeration of styles and even stained glass windows too? To me, it almost screams that "I have a weighty bank account" with little thought for street style and presentation.

I agree with Mojo. Often less is more!

sunnymama said...

What a lot of different shaped windows this McMansion has! I do rather like the colour of the building, and your picture makes a great window view!

Jeri ~ said...

Well you have taught me something again! I have never heard the term McMansions!! Great window views photo - so many windows.

Snowbird said...

We have two ridiculously huge McMansions on Captiva Island which is right next to Sanibel where we live. Sanibel has restrictions on sizes of houses but Captiva doesn't. These two are soooo out of place. They look like big federal bank buildings or libraries which belong in NYC.

I do like the different windows in your McMansion though.

Lew said...

A Mcwindowed McMansion! A bunch of those have been built here, especially closer to DC. The tear-down, rebuild McMansion trend has caused quite an uproar insome communities, with law suits and changes to zoning to reduce the effect on the neighbors.

Mo and The Purries said...

Wow - McMansions in your part of the world are a helluva lot nicer than in the midwest.
I posted a couple pics of our local historic train station, that is about 2 blocks from my store.

Gattina said...

I would say it looks very southern European. In Northern Italy you I saw mansions like that.
Must be fun for a window cleaner, lol !

MaR said...

I learned something new today and it's not even 8 am :)
It looks nice, though!
Happy Thursday!

kayerj said...

I don't know that much about architecture so I really enjoy your tidbits of information. And the windows are beautiful too. See the view from this window

Ivanhoe said...

I love the color combination! Have a wonderful Thursday, Mary :o)

Annie Jeffries said...

I got such a kick out of this picture. She looks like an overdressed Grande Dame though I have to admit, I like the staircase window around the turret.

Unknown said...

Looks like my brother's neighborhood. Don't get me started...I wonder if your neighbors' McMansion has a very green chem lawn to go with it. It's usually the case...I said I wouldn't get started...

RA said...

Wonderful shots and great information about the mansion! Thank you for sharing. Have a nice weekend, everyone :)