McMansions Across America

For some odd reason, I have always been intrigued by those monstrous homes you see down the street, next to a humble 1950's ranch, along a busy road or highway, or endlessly copied in subdivisions snaking their way through the open expanses of former farmland. In some ways, these glorified, one-sided boxes, are the Victorians of our era. Although they lack the cohesive, highly-detailed ornamental designs of 19th century Victorians, culturally, they are both the product of eras in which new-found prosperity brought about a wholly new method of expressing wealth. Like Victorians, they are likely to be heavily-ridiculed in their dying years, as a severe recession forces many Americans to (once again) rethink the functionality and purpose of homes.


Ok, that was a little too much of a rant, and this blog will get really boring if that's how I sound the whole time. What I'm trying to say is that I find it weirdly interesting the way that people express their wealth, and the awkward forms and designs that many homes took over the past boom cycle. I'll talk about modern homes, which I've been hoping would become the predominant style for a long time. Overall, expect this to be a blog about houses. Albeit, the extremes and oddities of housing design in America (of which there are (sadly) many, many examples).