Ultimate Suburban McMansions

[LowPolygon]

came across these on Sunday. Just off Weston Road near Major McKenzie. I really had no idea how out of control these things were! Kitsch at monster scale. of course they are just the same old crappy chipboard framed, fake beige stoned "design build" bullshit that is destroying neighbourhoods like Leaside but taken to a ridiculous degree. Who lives in these things?

 

[TKTKTK]

I take it you're not a fan of Hysteric eclecticism?

 

[LowPolygon]

I take it you're not a fan of Hysteric eclecticism?

ah, Bletchley Park. a wonderful example...

you know what? i love 19th century historicism. its long been a guilty pleasure of mine...

what's different now?? well, just about everything i suppose. the materials are one very big thing. also, the fact that these gargantuan things bestride the landscape without the benefit of an architect guiding the design seems to render a fatal judgement against them.

in any event, however 'reactionary' 19th century historicism was, one senses a hand, a mind, a coherent sensibility behind the design. these incoherent new models seem to be lacking any semblance of integrity and mostly, intelligence.

 

[flar]

Those things are out of control!

 

[junctionist]

If you're going to do historical, then it should be built in the traditional manner which much more attention to the details. But building technology has changed so much that it's no longer feasible for the budget these houses are built, even if it already seems high to the average citizen. It's the awkward compromise of the buyer's taste for both modern convenience and tradition that give these houses an almost comedic look. It's becoming less and less relevant as construction techniques move further away from the past methods.

 

[PukeGreen]

As the old saying goes, money can buy a lot of things but it can't buy good taste. In the few years many of these owners will find their hideous monstrohome has become an albatross they can't get rid of when nobody wants to buy something that costs a small fortune to maintain and commute from. I have a weird feeling that very soon homes like this will seem like relics from an age long gone.

 

[Mustapha]

The OP asked, who lives in these things?

Well, it ain't pretty.

Some of them have entire extended families 3 generations or more, sometimes grown married siblings all pitch in to buy. Often Chinese or Indian.

A lot of children of Italian descent have bought these with parental help, where image is all.

A couple I know extended themselves into divorce when they bought one of the earlier ones 15 years ago for $500K. Both worked at Pearson. One was a ramp rat and the wife was a customer service agent. They sewed their own curtains and deleted the central air 'cause they really didn't have the money. The wife had 2 convection ovens installed so she could entertain '100+' as she put it.

Yes, the banks will loan you money with no conceivable way of paying it off.

All this crap is encouraged by the home decor porn publication and TV industry.

-Moose

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Hahahaha. This IIRC is what we used to call 'behind the wall' when we were kids. It's nothing, take a drive around the National Golf Course on Pine Valley Drive and Langstaff.

 

[Jarrek]

Would rather live in a nice 1920's Kingsway Tudor than in one of those monstrosities.

 

[flar]

As the old saying goes, money can buy a lot of things but it can't buy good taste. In the few years many of these owners will find their hideous monstrohome has become an albatross they can't get rid of when nobody wants to buy something that costs a small fortune to maintain and commute from. I have a weird feeling that very soon homes like this will seem like relics from an age long gone.

Like the countless Victorians that were abandoned and demolished by the mid 20th century. Unlike the Victorians, there'll be no redemption in the future for these monsters.

 

[Urban Shocker]

These trophy homes are all about pretentious "good taste" though ... rather than good design.

In their own way they parallel what Peter Clewes refers to, in the recent Mays interview, as "the desire of the middle class to be recognized as important, with something that has an individualized expression" through Big Hair Starchitect condos and the trend of "rock-star architects to do one-off residential buildings - Herzog & de Meuron on Bond Street, Jean Nouvel in Soho". He identifies Ma's "Marilyn" as a local example.

 

[Therion]

I saw a few of these on a recent drive down Major Mac. How much electricity, water, heat etc. does it take to keep one of these things functioning? The sheer wastefulness of it all annoys me to no end. Given a choice (and the funds for property taxes) would any of you live in a house like these?

 

[Edward Skira]

^ Actually checked out an open house in your neck of the woods recently (Yonge and Sheppard). New monster home with 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 3 car garage, large living room, TV room, family room, office and fully finished basement. 4500 sq feet. 3 of the bedrooms had their own bathroom and the other two shared one. And there's me, my wife and my daughter and I'm thinking how much space does someone really need? We could spend days in there without running into each other.

 

[Jarrek]

Hopefully if the owners can afford such a house, they're putting in a geothermal heating and cooling system in.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Spare space is nice to have around though, because it represents potential. I live in a small two bedroom house, and the second bedroom is empty except for a large built-in closet along one wall. I'm tempted to turn it into a sculpture gallery for two or three items. But then again maybe I'll just enjoy the luxury of the empty space.

About a year ago I was reading a magazine article on Jeff Wall, with photographs of him at home, and noticed that his walls are free of adornment. British architect John Pawson, who designs minimalist spaces, sees them not as empty but as calm.