Pottery Barn Creates McMansions

[REWahoo]

In suburbs, mansions are only getting bigger
Hot housing market opens doors to mini-Taj Mahals

From the kitchen of her 5,300 sq. ft. home, Alyson Skinner complains:

...I think Pottery Barn is responsible," Skinner said. "You get the catalogue showing playrooms, then there's a craft room, and you're like, 'Yeah, I need a craft room.'

"The irony is, the bigger the house, the more junk you buy. Then you have nowhere to put it, so you want more storage."


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10119555/from/RS.2/

 

[cube_rat]

Where's the puke emoticon?

Ahh, here it is:

 

[kz]

Ahh yes....blame it on Pottery Barn. Damn those slimy catalogs!

 

[Lazarus]

I am thinking 800sf would be fine for retirement.

 

[jj]

Spot on, cube rat!  I love the puke emoticon....

Is this article really meant to be taken seriously?  Many of my neighbors are on this "bigger is better" trip.... large house on the lake, boat, pool, summer kitchen, home theaters, pots of money spent on designer decorators (who give you their vision of your taste!?)  The people I gravitate towards are the ones who've left it behind, traded out of these mansions, after realizing that they spend all their time servicing their "stuff" not enjoying the company of their children and family/friends.  Who needs a house that big?  After growing up in a house of about 850 sq ft for 4 people I wouldn't want to go back to that - but there are definite limits - do these people really want to be so remote from each other in their houses that they can't even tell that anyone else is in the house?

We're talking here about appearances and conspicuous consumption again, and how the "American Dream" feeds into the consumer cycle which is so important for the US economy.  I would also say that it's the power of marketing and advertizing in the psyche of the US consumer.  LBYM just does not have any attraction to most US consumers - it's just not sexy to save instead of spend....

We're a weird lot on this board, you know that, right?

jj

 

[jj]

I am thinking 800sf would be fine for retirement.

Precisely, my parents still live in their 850 sf house, the one they've owned for 35 years, I'd say it's a perfect size for two retirees.

jj

 

[yakers]

I am thinking 800sf would be fine for retirement.

For retirement? We have @1000sf 2 bd 1 ba house and still have one son at home, other one has grown and moved. This is all the house we have and mostly what we want. Its crammed full but we would fill any additional space if we had it. Interesting thing is this house in Southern Cal is valued over $500K. Bigger would cost more to buy, more to maintain, more tax, we would fill it up with stuff and not have any more life than we have now.

 

[KB]

I downsized to 1670 sq feet less than 2 years ago with 2 kids at home at that time.
Now I have 1 kid at home who is considering joining the Army, so the house will actually be a little large for just me.

I'm using 1 of the bedrooms as an office and the other will be a spare bedroom for my son or guests.

I guess it'll be ok, I can handle the extra space for the first time in my life.

 

[Lazarus]

For retirement? We have @1000sf 2 bd 1 ba house and still have one son at home, other one has grown and moved. This is all the house we have and mostly what we want. Its crammed full but we would fill any additional space if we had it. Interesting thing is this house in Southern Cal is valued over $500K. Bigger would cost more to buy, more to maintain, more tax, we would fill it up with stuff and not have any more life than we have now.

Wow! $500K for 1000 sq feet? I have 1800 sq feet here in Texas for $140K. More room than I need really. I can buy a trailer in Missouri where I plan to retire for $27K on three lots with a garage. About 800 sq feet or so. You could take the $450K left over and come pretty close to retiring.

Like your sig.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Wow! $500K for 1000 sq feet? I have 1800 sq feet here in Texas for $140K. More room than I need really. I can buy a trailer in Missouri where I plan to retire for $27K on three lots with a garage. About 800 sq feet or so. You could take the $450K left over and come pretty close to retiring.

Like your sig.

Yeah, our condo (Texas) and house (Illinois) are both around 1000 SF.
Both pretty nice, and I paid WAY under 100K for each of them.

JG

 

[sgeeeee]

I am thinking 800sf would be fine for retirement.

For your whole house, or for your craft room?

 

[SteveR]

We are looking to down size to around 2500 sq. ft.  We like a lot of open space and need some extra bedrooms for visiting family and some "get away space" to maintain marital bliss.   

 

[Honkie]

We are looking to down size to around 2500 sq. ft. 

Downsize to 2500sqft?? 

We have two adults,  one child and a live in helper in 1100sp ft.  Three beds, two baths, and a helpers room with en-suite bath.

Price today? about US$ 1 million, yup about US$1000 per sq ft!!

Cheers
H

 

[vic]

I wonder whether these superize mcmansion will lose its attraction at some point. Entry level housing in the burbs (aka pasture) here are easily 4000 sqft at less than $40/sqft. It is all quantity and no quality at all. They are built like mobile homes. Within 10-15 years everything will need replacement and repairs. The trend seems bigger is better. But you got to pay for and heat/cool/maintain it which people tend to forget. Some of my former colleagues said they never went upstairs. Only family would use it during Thanksgiving. I am happy with 1700 sqft + garage but could do with less if we did not run a business from home.

Vicky

 

[HFWR]

1650sf + garage

"Valued" at $80sf or so; bought at $68sf...

 

[Outtahere]

My sister and her dh just went from the little cottage to the McMansion, it's only 10 years old and already needs repairs. I can't wait till they get the first heating bill this winter.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

McMansions aren't the status symbols they were 10 years ago. These days, people are downsizing from McMansions not only to capitalize on the appreciation (which is getting more difficult), but also to move somewhere with a shorter commute.

 

[Nords]

Our lot's LAND is 15,000 sq ft, considered huge by Hawaii suburban residential standards. That's doubled in value over the last five years.

The house is just 2400 sq ft of depreciating materials & maintenance hassles. But last night's rainstorms confirmed that we've indeed fixed both roof leaks. I can't wait to get up there and drill more holes for solar panels!

 

[Lazarus]

For your whole house, or for your craft room?

My craft room would be the kitchen table.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I have to admit, Pottery Barn has some nice looking stuff. However, the vast majority of it is over-priced.

 

[TargaDave]

Speaking of pottery and big homes. Here is a 5500 sq ft contract job on 9 acres big bro and I did back in 1988 not too far from NYC. The 1000 sq ft barrel roofed wing (can't even see it from the other side) was the sculpting studio for the owner; obviously not his real job. The RE taxes on this home in 1989 => $21k. Kinda mish-mosh looking but it was his dream. Seems quite modest compared to the monsters out there today.

 

[REWahoo]

60 Minutes had a segment tonight on McMansions. (BTW, there is evidently no truth to the rumor that the program title refers to the average remaining lifespan of the correspondents on the show. )

Morley Safer took the audience on a tour of several huge, austentatious houses and interviewed homeowners, builders, architects and others. There was discussion of how the size of upsale homes beiing built today had grown dramatically over the past few years. One described it as an "arms race" using house size for weaponry. Safer asked one of the architects how he would describe the style of the homes in the neighborhood of 10,000+ Sq Ft homes they were driving through. His answer: "vulgar".

One couple was showing Safer their new 11,000 Sq Ft house and he asked if there was anything they would change if they had to do it all over agan. They both said yes...he would have made the "gathering room" larger and she wanted more space in the breakfast room.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

60 Minutes had a segment tonight on McMansions.  (BTW, there is evidently no truth to the rumor that the program title refers to the average remaining lifespan of the correspondents on the show. ) 

Morley Safer took the audience on a tour of several huge, austentatious houses and interviewed homeowners, builders, architects and others.  There was discussion of how the size of upsale homes beiing built today had grown dramatically over the past few years.  One described it as an "arms race" using house size for weaponry.  Safer asked one of the architects how he would describe the style of the homes in the neighborhood of 10,000+ Sq Ft homes they were driving through.  His answer: "vulgar".

One couple was showing Safer their new 11,000 Sq Ft house and he asked if there was anything they would change if they had to do it all over agan.  They both said yes...he would have made the "gathering room" larger and she wanted more space in the breakfast room.

I watched it. I found the homes/owners pretty nutty, but was not too surprised
by any of it.

JG

 

[cube_rat]

One couple was showing Safer their new 11,000 Sq Ft house and he asked if there was anything they would change if they had to do it all over agan. They both said yes...he would have made the "gathering room" larger and she wanted more space in the breakfast room.

Okay, I just have to ask: What in the hell is a "gathering room"? It sounds like another name for the viewing room at a funeral home.

 

[REWahoo]

Okay, I just have to ask: What in the hell is a "gathering room"? It sounds like another name for the viewing room at a funeral home.

It appeared to be a large seating area with a grand piano just off the entry hallway. I think us non-McMansioneers would call it a living room.