Moving

[guido911]

A big kitchen, as long as it's not so big you can't make your workflow efficient, is great, IMO. It's one of the few places I feel like I need more space in my present house. Of course, my kitchen is about the size of a postage stamp, so...

That's not to say I would object to having a dedicated home theater room and game room. My office is more than a little crowded with the pinball machine...

So yeah, to me the real advantage of a big house is more room for toys.

Guido, I believe cleaning is what my housekeeper does. 

As far as jealousy, I don't think that's really the reason behind the term. Most people I've seen use it are the sort who have no interest in a big house anyway. I think the distinction between "big house" and "McMansion" is a) cookie cutter design, such that the entire neighborhood has only 3 or 4 different floor plans and facades and b) poor quality construction using the cheapest materials possible except where they are seen, often leading to structural issues down the line.

Whether or not you're one of those people, you have to admit that there are plenty of folks who buy houses like that as a status symbol and for no other reason. They are the ones the term is directed at.

I can think of no reason other than jealousy to call something a "McMansion" unless it has been at least seen first. But ultimately is doesn't really matter since where one lives is their choice. My current neighborhood does have hints of a cookie cutter look, but my home has nothing in common with almost all (save one) of them.

And I got a housekeeper that picks up after my messy self.

My future home has lots of bells and whistles (pool, hot tub, game room, and other things I'll never use), but the kitchen is what sold me. Again, I'll post a picture and I think you will appreciate it.

[heironymouspasparagus]

McMansion? The home I bought was built years before that word was a part of pop culture. And my current home is by no means a McMansion either. People that mindlessly throw that word around, to me, are so damned jealous of those with the ability to afford such a home that they feel they have no other recourse but to run down the "haves" homes.

Large kitchens that are functional can become the centerpiece of a home. This particular kitchen, which includes the granite top cooking island that serve as a table, is in excess of 500 square feet. I will post a picture of it and you can decide if it is ostentatious. Everyone I have talked to that has seen it believes it to be an outstanding entertainment area--particularly since it blends so well with the downstairs living room and sitting room/study.

And housecleaning? What's that? 

Wasn't knocking you for a big house.  (My definition of a McMansion is anything over about 3,000 sq ft).  Several relatives have between 3500 and 6000 and they are all McMansions.

Not jealous at all.  In fact, I am planning to build a house that is smaller than what I live in now - for the reasons stated; cleaning and maintenance.  See the tiny house web site I mentioned earlier.  Will probably be a little bigger than 185 sq ft, but don't plan to have more than 1,000 sq ft.  Might go with granite, too, but won't take much to do my kitchen.

I'm sure your kitchens are both nice.  It just doesn't take that much room for me to do the cooking that I want to do.

As for the kitchen, think Bill's Hamburgers.  Or some of those little closet size places that Guy Fieri goes to on DDD.  I will have a large grilling area in back - the patio.

Now, here is a pet peeve I do have about ANY neighborhood and the big house ones seem to get a double dose of it - the garage door as an architectural element.  We have done this topic to death in the past, but I still submit that the truly classy neighborhoods have a pave alley way to keep cars and trash cans off the front of the house.  Most of these big new additions could learn a huge lesson from some of the smaller older areas.

Now if there were just a law against kids living in neighborhoods....

[nathanm]

Again, I'll post a picture and I think you will appreciate it.

I'm looking forward to it. I love me some decked out kitchens, even if I have lived in houses smaller than said kitchen.

[Townsend]

Now if there were just a law against kids living in neighborhoods....

Not that I like other people's kids but I think the words you're looking for are "retirement community"..."retirement community".

[guido911]

Wasn't knocking you for a big house.  (My definition of a McMansion is anything over about 3,000 sq ft).  Several relatives have between 3500 and 6000 and they are all McMansions.

Anything over 3000 sq. ft.? Man you need to get out more. There are some homes in the Swan Lake/Utica area that fall in that category and I cannot think of anyone but you that would call them McMansions. The future neighborhood has no alleys that I have seen, but many homes have circle driveways in the front (like mine) but I have not seen them used as a parking area.

When I consider a home, size is a factor because of unknowns. We may become foster parents again, we may adopt, our parents are aging and we may need to take care of them, when family visits from out of town we want them to stay with us, etc. Simply, I feel that a larger home gives me a sense of preparedness and flexibility (and hide and seek with my son REALLY takes on new meaning).

[heironymouspasparagus]

Anything over 3000 sq. ft.? Man you need to get out more. There are some homes in the Swan Lake/Utica area that fall in that category and I cannot think of anyone but you that would call them McMansions.

More than 5 or 6 times a year?  Don't think SWMBO would put up with looking at houses any more than that.

Swan Lake is just flat out mansions.  No Mc involved....
Kind of an esoteric, quaint, comfy version of Maple Ridge...

[dbacks fan]

Anything over 3000 sq. ft.? Man you need to get out more. There are some homes in the Swan Lake/Utica area that fall in that category and I cannot think of anyone but you that would call them McMansions.

Comparing McMansions to Swan Lake area is apples and oranges.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Comparing McMansions to Swan Lake area is apples and oranges.

Not McMansions - just plain old mansions!!

[guido911]

Comparing McMansions to Swan Lake area is apples and oranges.

Oh absolutely. Heiron said anything over 3000 sq ft fell into that category and I was pointing out that those homes are by no means McMansions. To me, a McMansion-type neighborhood isn't so much the look but the sense I get that they have zero personality. No uniqueness and the feeling that some developer just xeroxed a similar neighborhood and planted it some place else. Once I get some pics together, I post them. Again, it was just 11 days ago we decided to move and just one week since I got a contract.

[carltonplace]

McMansion? The home I bought was built years before that word was a part of pop culture. And my current home is by no means a McMansion either. People that mindlessly throw that word around, to me, are so damned jealous of those with the ability to afford such a home that they feel they have no other recourse but to run down the "haves" homes.

I can afford a much bigger house than I live in, I just don't see the point. I inhabit less than 1/3 of the house I'm in unless people are in from out of town.

To me the term McMansion describes large houses churned out one after the other without much care for design or features.
Garage up front
Front door, office and dining room on the right, utility, garage access, stairs on the left
Living room, kitchen and informal dining in the back.
I've been in a million just like it. 

[dbacks fan]

I can afford a much bigger house than I live in, I just don't see the point. I inhabit less than 1/3 of the house I'm in unless people are in from out of town.

To me the term McMansion describes large houses churned out one after the other without much care for design or features.
Garage up front
Front door, office and dining room on the right, utility, garage access, stairs on the left
Living room, kitchen and informal dining in the back.
I've been in a million just like it. 

That describes most houses built in the last ten years, including those under 2200'ft all over the country. Phoenix and Las Vegas are full of them, and even the neighborhoods they are built in are all the same as well, common mailbox area, green space, small front yards, no porches (not the car) every third house is the reverse of another one, four different elevations to choose from so you don't all look the same from the street.

[Conan71]

Kitchen is the most important room in a house to me.  FMC and I are waiting to hear something definitive on a project we've been working on for a couple of months this week.  If that deal is a no-go, I'm totally pimping out my kitchen and opening up the main room of my house into one large area.  I love to entertain, it's kind of hard to when the space is really broken up or to only be able to entertain in summer when I can have friends on the patio.

There will be a throw down and Marshall-a-thon upon completion.

[SXSW]

Swan Lake is just flat out mansions.  No Mc involved....
Kind of an esoteric, quaint, comfy version of Maple Ridge...

Around the lake and a few on 19th west of the park...the rest of the neighborhood is a mix between bungalows, brick cottages and small apartment buildings.  Swan Lake includes the entire area between Peoria, 15th, Utica and 21st...generally the southern end has larger, nicer homes (especially the aforementioned lake area) while the northern end is more of a mixed bag of  smaller mostly well-maintained bungalows with a handful of rundown-looking homes in need of some work.  Southern Swan Lake is more similar to Maple Ridge (the northern and western sections with smaller homes) while northern Swan Lake is more similar to the Yorktown neighborhood east of Utica. 

[guido911]

Around the lake and a few on 19th west of the park...the rest of the neighborhood is a mix between bungalows, brick cottages and small apartment buildings.  Swan Lake includes the entire area between Peoria, 15th, Utica and 21st...generally the southern end has larger, nicer homes (especially the aforementioned lake area) while the northern end is more of a mixed bag of  smaller mostly well-maintained bungalows with a handful of rundown-looking homes in need of some work.  Southern Swan Lake is more similar to Maple Ridge (the northern and western sections with smaller homes) while northern Swan Lake is more similar to the Yorktown neighborhood east of Utica. 

Could you be more specific? 

[Red Arrow]

Guido,

Last Saturday morning I saw some garage sale signs on 111th by the entrances to your neighborhood.  Were they yours?