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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (54766)	9/5/1999 2:12:00 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

My father has one, just outside of Annapolis, on a quarter of an acre lot. (He moved from the Potomac/North Bethesda area about 8 years ago). The rationale, as far as I can see, is simple. Had he gotten a half-acre, it would have cost another 50 to 100 thousand dollars. A full acre would have cost twice as much as the price he paid. To afford it, he had to get a small lot. I wouldn't have done it, for a variety of reasons, but he was looking for a house that made a statement, I think. Pretty standard conspicuous consumption....

To: Ilaine who wrote (54766)	9/5/1999 2:44:00 PM
From: Ish	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Yep, we got 'em here too. Builders love them because they charge by the sq ft but as the houses get bigger the cost per sq ft to build them goes down. <<My guess is that the people who live in them are corporate executives, who are mobile, need upscale housing, and don't have time to spend on the yard.>> They use that "time to spend on the yard" here too. Actually it has more to do with how many lots you can fit per acre. I mean how many people who spend $1MM+ on a house are pushing their own mowers unless it's a hobby? One of the newest developments here has a minimum of 8,000 sq ft for a ranch and 10,000 sq ft for a two story. 3 car garage minimum. The lots are so small it's hard to fit the houses on them.

To: Ilaine who wrote (54766)	9/6/1999 12:56:00 AM
From: Jacques Chitte	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

I suspect the biggest single factor behind McMansions (Ipreviously called them dense-pack mansionettes, but your term has the benefit of conciseness) is that a developer got away with them. Wheedled a tract by the city and the county, then found that the suckers would buy them. Once the wedge was driven ... it was all over. Now they are building these travesties of upscale living on 3600 square feet (never mind an agoraphobic .18 acre) and selling them. Because today's Bay Area consumer has been stripped of choice. I cannot think of a quicker way to overwhelm the infrastructure and turn a burb into a city.