There has been an article making the rounds, you have probably already seen it. If you haven’t yet, it’s called Death of the ‘McMansions’: Era of Huge Homes is Over, and you can read it by clicking on that title. Funny thing is, 7 years back when my really good friends were starting a home building company, they too had run across an article degrading McMansions, but not for their size. That first article was pointing out that, if you want a large home you should have one, but how a McMansion has an utter lack of personality and personalization. They are basically tract houses, on a larger scale. This current article is more about downsizing, and the current economic climate.

I loved that first article I read all those years ago! After all, if you are spending half a million dollars or more, shouldn’t your house be custom made to fit your needs? And shouldn’t you also not have to be right next to your neighbor? In our area there is one builder, who makes gorgeous homes (but cookie cutter) that would look so amazing if they weren’t surrounded on every side by homes that all matched. That just rang true with me on so many levels.

We live in a house that looks just like the house across the street from us. It also looks the same as the house south of us, and there are other homes in our cul de sac community that also look just like each other. Our home was built in the early 1980s. Planned communities with house plans that match are nothing new. And it’s not fun to live in a house that looks like someone else’s home, no matter how big or small that house may be.

I don’t have a problem with people wanting large homes (if they can afford them), just as I see nothing wrong with people who choose to live in tiny spaces (check out all the small spaces on Apartment Therapy for examples). We personally love a larger space, but they do need to be designed well. Our home, while large by some standards, is laid out over 4 levels, making each level a smaller space, and not nearly as usable as if our 2025 sq feet had been laid out across one level or two. Hopefully people are starting to think more about how they use space, and what they want from their homes, and more personalized houses of all sizes will be the new norm in house building.

What are your thoughts on the topic?