Are New Houses Getting Too Big?

July 27, 2007

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, some U.S. cities are restricting the size of new homes to curb the "McMansion" trend. Boulder, Colo., for instance, is charging homeowners extra if they want to build a home larger than 3,000 square feet. Do you think the big house trend has gotten out of hand?

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50 Comments

pam427 5 years 41 weeks

I'm all up for a big house... if you can honestly tell me that you use every room in it! Why have a formal dinning room if you only use it twice a year?

libs1dlab 5 years 42 weeks

I have a friend who has 8 children and needs more space than the average family. I think if you have a large family, then go for it, but if you are using your house as a status symbol to boost your sagging ego, then you need to reevaluate. Not only are they wasteful (heating, cooling, maintenance, cleaning) but they also encourage people not to relate to each other. You can get lost in some of those places. I know that a lot of people are in serious debt to keep up that lifestyle. I'm sorry, but I'm just not impressed.

rubiesymusica 5 years 42 weeks

well in my old neighborhood all the houses are 3/1 maybe 3/2 and have a decnt backyard but now people are using their whole lot to make a home and two story as well! no wonder property taxes are going up! just because you have the money to build your dream home does not mean it should look like an eyesore with the older homes in your neighborhood- go outside of the city or into a community subdivision.

ALSW 5 years 42 weeks

I get sick of seeing all these new mansions and huge houses going up and wondering who can actually afford them. My husband and I are happy enough with our little house and little slice of land!

JaimeLeah526 5 years 42 weeks

I think houses may be getting too big. You don't need a lot of space to have a nice house. If I had all that money I'd get a home large enough for my family and use the extra money to decorate it very nicely. Landscaping and interior decoration are not cheap and the money you save by building a smaller home could really come in handy to make the home you've always dreamed of.

lanuchan 5 years 42 weeks

some of them are so big and dont even look nice...im not a fan of the trend.

popgoestheworld 5 years 42 weeks

I think it's getting ridiculous. However, it's a free country and a market-based economy, so these developers are filling a need. It's the new american dream. A huge house on a golf course in a community that lacks individuality in any sense of the word. KerryG I'm a HUGE fan of the "Not so big House" series also. I love the principle behind that. My BF and I are planning to use those books if we are ever lucky enough to get to design our own space.

cretinhop 5 years 42 weeks

they tore down an old playhouse that did productions every summer and put up a development there with $750,000 homes and had the audacity to call it "playhouse village".

Random 5 years 42 weeks

I have mixed feelings about the larger houses being built today. While a lot of them are really ugly, I've seen some nice ones. As for more bedrooms than people argument, there are people who work at home (private business, teachers, etc.) and prefer to have a private study as opposed to the living room or kitchen. However, I do agree that the people who build the huge houses and never spend any time in them, or just have the rooms for the sake of having them are wasteful and it is excessive.

nomerz 5 years 42 weeks

I think things should be realistic and not "look at me I have money" ... and than god, I don't live in the Boulder mess. I live about 20 minutes southeast. :)

leeluvfashion 5 years 42 weeks

I don't like this trend at all. Who actually need 15 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 2 kitchens? I mean, it's dumb. Why do you need a showroom kitchen? If you want nice kitchen - clean. People want more, more and more and it's a downward spiral.

ailene 5 years 42 weeks

The size of the house isn't what bothers me so much as the size of the yard. It is nearly impossible to find a new house with any sort of a yard up here in Washington. I saw someone mention that some people like yards, and some people don't... well, they should make some houses with big yards and some without! Not all without like I see up here. I want a place that my kids can go out and throw a ball, have a barbeque with friends, etc... not having a yard for them is sad. :(

demeter 5 years 42 weeks

Yes they definitely are. Houses are becoming to spacey lately. They're nice to look at from the outside, but smaller houses are prettier on the inside.

Marci 5 years 42 weeks

Ugh, you've touched a nerve with me here. I hate the houses that are being built now. So big, no one has lawns anymore and everyone's houses are on top of each other. There's just no space.

sweetheart_450 5 years 42 weeks

I think it depends on where you live. Where I am, new houses are not getting bigger they're getting smaller.

cocca 5 years 42 weeks

not around san diego! they are building like crazy over here!!! the houses here have smaller rooms and no front yard and a small backyard... then, the streets they are on are so small, you have to make way to other cars when passing... i don't like it :(

MrsJigglesworth 5 years 42 weeks

I agree w/ redsugar. I hate it when they tear down quaint historic homes, but I don't have a problem with people building what they want in the appropriate neighborhood. Also, some people want a yard and others don't want to have the maintenance. I don't think one way is right or wrong.

snickerdoodle 5 years 42 weeks

I agree with the majority to some extent, but I don't think that size is the answer to the problem of neighborhoods appearing generic or bland. As a resident of a suburban community, in which houses are all small-to-moderate in size, I still wouldn't deny that mine is a neighborhood completely lacking in character. In my opinion, the problem is one of entire communities being planned well beforehand, with the same architect's cookie-cutter plans behind streets and streets of homes. If we wanted each house to look distinctive and different, we would need a more organic planning process.

keanusmom 5 years 42 weeks

If my house has to be big I'd prefer something designed custom with modern architecture which is unique that doesn't look like all the rest of the cookie cutter homes. Big houses on small lots seem to be the trend nowadays and who wants to live 10 feet from their neighbors?

isiness 5 years 42 weeks

It just bugs me how on top of eachother these houses are. You look out right into your nieghbors window and the yards surrounding the house are so small, whats the point of having such a huge house on a tiny lot.

SweetE 5 years 42 weeks

Good call SpanishRose...also, building one of these monstro-houses means getting land which is really far away. I'd much rather be closer to the city than in a bigger house.

SpanishRose 5 years 42 weeks

I think the bigger a house is, the easier it is for people to avoid each other. The point of family is being together, extremely large houses are so impersonal and really take away from the sense of a "family".

sofi 5 years 42 weeks

Redsugar and jmarc- I totally agree. We've been looking at new construction but what I constantly find is too huge homes on small lots with no garage or no driveway or no yard. The prices are OUTRAGEOUS (metro DC specifically) and you don't even get the basics. I refuse to look at houses like this. I don't want to worry about cleaning 5 bathrooms and 6 bedrooms!

hestadalen 5 years 42 weeks

The real problem, as other readers have mentioned, is that these homes take up too many resources--too much land, too many building products, and then when they're built, too much energy and water! Plus a lot of studies are coming out showing how the size of these homes actually erodes the family dynamic, so there are social ramifications as well! For a really gorgeous take on modern, sustainable design, check out Living Homes: http://www.livinghomes.net/primer.html They're the first house in the U.S. to get a LEED Platinum designation (that's dork speak for super environmental).

colormesticky 5 years 42 weeks

I definitely live in the land of giants, and the worst part is that these hideous cookie cutter houses have no yard and cost over $2 million. Screw that crap.

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