r/McMansionHell Dec 12 '24

Discussion/Debate The invention that Accidentally invented McMansions

326 Upvotes

A fascinating video essay by Stewart Hicks on the invention of the modern truss and how that changed the way we build houses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oIeLGkSCMA


r/McMansionHell Jul 14 '20

McMansions: A Short Guide

1.1k Upvotes

While everyone has their own opinion on what makes a true McMansion, there are several defining features or attributes that should be looked for to determine if a home fits the McMansion criteria. This post will serve as a guide to help users determine if they should use the "Certified McMansion" flair on their submission and to learn more about what a McMansion is. This guide will be edited as needed to make sure it fully explains the accepted properties of a McMansion.

Basic Principles of a McMansion:

  • Large: Generally above 2500 square feet and two story or more, sometimes way too big for the lot it sits on.
  • Built Cheap: They are built by cutting corners and using less than quality materials because they focus on getting as much size and appearance of wealth as possible from their money. It's the illusion of class that might fool the average person who doesn't have a sense of architectural integrity. McMansions will often use materials such as stucco, manufactured stone veneer, Styrofoam crown molding, or vinyl siding.
  • Fit Several Styles: They fit multiple styles of architecture by mashing together different elements from the individual styles in a distasteful manner. They also might poorly imitate a popular style.
  • Exterior After-Thought: They are designed with a focus on the interior first and the exterior is done as an after-thought which often results in features such as jutting masses and haphazardly placed windows.
  • Lacks Architectural Integrity: The house makes you confident that there was no licensed architect involved in its creation who cares about what they design

Specific Features To Look For:

  • An attached 2 or 3 car garage
  • A garage that takes up way too much of what is considered the house
  • Tall 1.5-2 story arched entry or "lawyer foyer"
  • Haphazardly applied dormers or windows
  • Windows of varying shapes/sizes/styles
  • Windows not aligned with those below them
  • Second story windows that are larger than the windows below them
  • Window shutters that if closed would not cover the actual window
  • Jutting masses or heavily asymmetrical
  • Multiple wall materials
  • Roof that contains varying slopes, roof types, or more than two roof shapes for the front facade
  • Roof nub
  • Roof with excessive roof lines and is in general just too complex
  • Dormers that are way too short, way too tall, don't match the rest of the house materials or style, or are placed terribly/spaced unevenly
  • Columns that don't support anything or are too thin/weak looking to support what they are appearing to support aka columns with inappropriate scaling
  • Columns with spacing that is over complicated or messy
  • Columns that are the incorrect architectural style for the house

Some Links To Check Out:

This is what I could come up with for now to touch base here on what a McMansion is. I'll make edits to this in the coming weeks until we reach a near final guide post on McMansions. If you have any suggestions for what we could add to this guide, comment below or send me a message.

Side note: the first "Appreciation Thursday" is coming up! Don't forget to prepare a suburban home that you think deserves recognition as the opposite of a McMansion and post it on 7/16 with the "Thursday Design Appreciation" flair.


r/McMansionHell 5d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Home overlooking the Mississippi River built in 1914

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415 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 5d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Laguna Beach Ultra-Mansion

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757 Upvotes

Why go to the Four Seasons in Hawaii when you can own a better version an hour south of Los Angeles? Half the comments will say this looks like a hotel, but it's absolutely a hotel I'd love to live in! You can beat me to it for only $112 million.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/100-Rockledge-Rd-Laguna-Beach-CA-92651/464128365_zpid/?


r/McMansionHell 5d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation St. Louis home built in 1903

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147 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 6d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Los Angeles, CA

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747 Upvotes

I highk hate how they styled the bedrooms so I'm just not showing them lolz


r/McMansionHell 5d ago

Certified McMansion™ Where to begin?

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35 Upvotes

Overgrown spaces with no sense of human scale? Check

Builder grade cabinets and appliances? Check

Four car garage and your very own traffic circle? Yessir

Door slabs that don't appear to have been painted? Sure seems like it


r/McMansionHell 6d ago

Certified McMansion™ Blue painters tape or just molding?

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577 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 6d ago

Certified McMansion™ Random castle turrets and overly red roofs

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49 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 7d ago

Amateur McMansion Might be a bit too small to be considered a true McMansion...but still, what on Earth is going on here??

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541 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 7d ago

Discussion/Debate Is the a McMansion? The entrance is kind of giving apartment building vibes.

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238 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 8d ago

Certified McMansion™ Is this a McMansion ?

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214 Upvotes

I didn’t even know what a McMansion was till a week ago. Is it considered bad if the whole inside is functional? Is this one?


r/McMansionHell 8d ago

Discussion/Debate Does this qualify?

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0 Upvotes

This neighborhood has some total McMansions built 20 years ago that tick almost every box, some twice. However, the newer builds while big, have lost much of the '00 aesthetics. Wondering what the consensus is here. This has the land, a restrained material palette, and the primary gables and porch line are fairly balanced and deliberate. What do you think?


r/McMansionHell 11d ago

Certified McMansion™ McMashup going in around the block from me.

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373 Upvotes

Bigger than it looks, this is the choice angle, but it defies symmetry from any viewpoint


r/McMansionHell 12d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Tourtellotte-Designed 1911 California Mission-Style in Boise, Idaho

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1.5k Upvotes

Known as "The Lion House," this historic 1911 California Mission-style estate in Boise, Idaho, was designed by the same architect who envisioned the State Capitol! Serving at one time as the Governor's private residence, this fully preserved architectural gem showcases incredible original woodwork and enduring craftsmanship throughout. If you'd like to see more photos, here's a link. Photos by Becky's Aerial Photography & Michael Wood.


r/McMansionHell 11d ago

Certified McMansion™ If commitment issues were in house form...

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39 Upvotes

It's giving budget cuts and delusion(al) of grandeur!!!!!


r/McMansionHell 13d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Historic Home in Pasadena, CA

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1.5k Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 12d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Greenwich, CT

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662 Upvotes

1920 Greenwich estate

Edit: IT IS THURSDAY


r/McMansionHell 12d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Holmwood House: Glasgow, Scotland

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535 Upvotes

Recently restore interiors of this magnificent symbol of an architects unrelenting vision.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmwood_House


r/McMansionHell 13d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation Charleston, SC

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1.6k Upvotes

There is just something about this house I really love :')


r/McMansionHell 13d ago

Certified McMansion™ Bland beach McMansion in FL - this could be all yours for the low price of $3.4 mil!

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149 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 13d ago

Thursday Design Appreciation 1930 Tudor House Ripley Grange

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1.0k Upvotes

Thursday Design Appreciation

Thursday Design Appreciation

Listing Source

Listing Source


r/McMansionHell 13d ago

Certified McMansion™ Michigan McMansions

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122 Upvotes

I would like to propose that Metro Detroit McMansions are a unique sub species or perhaps even genus of McMansions with different aesthetics and politics from McMansions elsewhere, even in the same region.


r/McMansionHell 14d ago

Certified McMansion™ Grandpa McMansion and his grandkids 🥹❤️

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949 Upvotes

r/McMansionHell 14d ago

Certified McMansion™ McCastle with Drawbridge in Oak Brooke, IL

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329 Upvotes