mcmansionhell

Tonight's livestream postponed until tomorrow

hey folks, after doing some testing to prevent what happened with the last stream I haven't been able to get crowdcast to work and have to wait until tomorrow (the next business day) to talk to a tech support rep. Hopefully the issue with dropouts can be resolved by 8PM EDT tomorrow. I will update tomorrow when I get feedback. Sorry about the inconvenience. If this doesn't work, I will be switching streaming services before next month's stream. Kate

Good House of the Week: Utah Edition

Hello friends! Today I found the most precious (extremely) 70s A-frame. A-frames like this one are really just a step up from camping and the photographs frankly don't do it justice. 

A-frames were popular second homes or vacation homes in the 60s and 70s because of their economical, yet drama...

Second McMansion Hell July Livestream

Hi Folks! Because of technical difficulties during tonight's livestream, I will be doing another livestream to make up for it next Thursday July 26th at 8-10PM EDT. 

Sorry for all the trouble!

Results: Round 1 of the McMansion Hell Worst of Texas Standoff!

Be sure to vote in round two!  

IMPORTANT! Tonight's McMansion Hell July Live Stream Rescheduled for THURSDAY

Hey folks, some storms knocked out the internet/cable on my block and it looks like the issue isnt going to be resolved before the original scheduled time for the livestream. The new date for the livestream is Thursday from 8:30-10:30 EDT. Apologies for the short notice and inconvenience.

Our Homes Don't Need Formal Spaces

My latest piece for Curbed about the sneaky irony of formal entertainment spaces. 

Random Texas Bonus Content

The Texas search was so exhaustive and expansive, I couldn't possibly cover everything. Still, there were a couple of trainwrecks where for some reasons weren't included in the post. Some of them are weird but not terrible enough, and some of them are too small to be McMansions. Enjoy, Patreon!

Denton County

<...

Good Houses of the Week: Texas Part 2

Howdy! I bet you need some eye-bleach after those monstrosities. (Especially the Castle from Hell!!!) Fortunately, I'm here to deliver. 

Montgomery County 

This lovely 2008 Colonial Revival home is a lesson in stuffing a lot of house in a neat package. The double porches a...

50 States of McMansion Hell: Texas Part 2

Be sure to fill out the poll for Worst McMansion in Texas!  

50 States of McMansion Hell: Texas Part 1

I'm messin with texas 

Good House(s) of the Week: Texas Part 1

Howdy y'all!

Since the Texas posts are taking the form of a list of insane houses instead of a single house, for every two bad houses, I would like to present one good house to use as eyebleach. I'm posting this ahead of time in order to inoculate my lovely patrons against the horror show they are about to witness. These houses may not be from the same counties included in the most recent post, as I wanted to save some houses for next week to evenly balance out the atrocity.

Without furt...

50 States of McMansion Hell: Williamson County, Tennessee

Tennessee Bonus Houses

Hey folks! It was really hard picking this week's Tennessee McMansion. In my search for great material, I came about a number of really neat and frankly insane houses that weren't suitable for posting for a number of reasons, and I wanted to share a couple of them here with you! After all,
nobody wants a good (bad) house go to waste.

2018-06-05 16:24:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Maintenance!!!

McMansion Hell will be down this evening for maintenance. I've been having difficulties posting today's house and am doing some troubleshooting. The site will be back up by tomorrow.

New Patreon Rewards are Live!

Thank you all so much for your feedback and advice. 

Reward delivery will be staggered throughout the month. The Crowdcast Q&A will happen from 8-10PM on the first Tuesday of every month. (There will be a scheduled post and reminder beforehand.) 

I'm going to try for the essays to be posted the second week of the month, the Bonus Roast the 3rd week of every month and the Archives the fourth week of every month. This might shift a bit until things get settled into a routine....

Updates to Patreon & Rewards

Hello folks! 

This has been a long time coming, but in honor of the new "season" of McMansion Hell, I'm updating the (in my opinion very dated and hard to keep up) Patreon Rewards. These are not final and are open to discussion!!

Here are the proposed new Reward Tiers: 

$1: Access to the Good House of the Week (this remains the same)

$3: Access to a monthly live Crowdcast session, where I roast houses you send me in-chat. 

Good House of the Week: Charleston County, South Carolina

Howdy folks! Today's Good House of the Week is this lovely seaside estate built in 2015. The house borrows from a variety of styles, including Colonial Revival, and vernacular styles such as the I-house (with a full width front porch, typical of architecture found in the Tidewater region). Today, we'd call this style "Farmhouse" and be done with it, but it does have some roots! 

This house is wonderfully proportioned (simple, symmetrical massing, porch is not overly monumental) and the cr...

50 States of McMansion Hell: Charleston County, South Carolina

Howdy!

After turning in my thesis, I spent this week in New York to attend a design writing fellowship. I'm extremely excited to begin writing full time which hasn't even been a thing the entire time the blog has existed, as I started it when I first began grad school. I want to thank you all so much for your patience during these stressful last few months. Your continued support really means so much to me. As the blog enters its 3rd year, I'm excited to present some new ideas to my patrons to get yo...

Patreon Exclusive: These WILD Before and After Pics from 2001 HGTV

I posted some of these in a twitter thread earlier, but frankly there are a lot more of them and I thought y'all'd be the perfect audience for this absolute absurdity. Some of them are as PDFs. 

A lot of these are broken now on Archive.org so these may be the only existing copies of some! 

2018-04-27 20:13:52 +0000 UTC View Post

McMansion Hell Cast: 4/15/17

To make up for infrequent posts due to grad school hell, I'm welcoming all of my patrons to join me on Crowdcast for a live Q&A and house roasting session! Be sure to come prepared with the most hideous houses you have to offer~ 

McMansion Hell Cast: Live Q&A and House Roasting Session

Howdy folks! To make up for my lack of posts due to the final stretch of my master's degree, I'm inviting all of you to join me on Sunday, April 15th on Crowdcast for a Live Q&A and House Roasting session from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM EDT. 

Be sure to come prepared with your ugliest houses and juiciest questions! 

See you soon!

Kate

Good House of the Week: Lincoln County, South Dakota

This week's house is a bit unusual looking, especially its hipped-on-gabled roof. However, inside is a cozy little house that is surprisingly large. 

Hipped-on-gabled roofs were briefly popular in the late 60s and the 1970s, alongside other unusual roof shapes such as the Mansard. It's rare to see a side-facing hipped-on-gabled roof on a new home, considering that they are most commonly associated with commercial architecture, specifically Pizza Hut. Personally, I think that the unusual r...

50 States of McMansion Hell: Lincoln County, South Dakota

sneak peek

Hey folks!

I'm not on haitus! I've been ill this past week and generally swamped with my last month of graduate school. There will be a house post tomorrow and a special Q&A/live house roast this Sunday to make up for the lost time. Thank you for your patience and understanding! Kate

Looking Around: All Buildings Are Interesting

Hi, I traveled A Lot and spent a lot of time thinking about this idea that I sincerely believe in. 

There's Nothing Wrong With Your House

I wrote this article after seeing the people in my life struggle with the image of their homes: whether or not they were ready for the judgement of company (both loved ones or strangers), or the peering eyes of social media. Folks who work in the worlds of architecture or design feel this need for personal curation particularly badly, because the ability to craft a space is tied to their profession. 

For all the joking on this blog about contractor errors and heinously tacky decor, p...

Acoustic Office Furniture Won't Save You

Hey folks! check out this polemical bit I wrote for the excellent @studyhall about why "acoustic" office furniture is extremely dumb and useless. 

See ya tomorrow with this week's McMansion!

50 States of McMansion Hell: Washington County, Rhode Island

beachy keen

Good House of the Week: Rhode Island

Hello Friends! I decided to post my Good House of the Week before my general post as a change of pace.

This 2001 home is probably one of the more stunning ones I've seen in my time doing McMansion Hell. It's almost a dead ringer for an authentic 19th Century Second Empire-style home, down to the craftsmanship and details.

The house is beautifully proportioned - note how none of the 3 stories dominate the other. Unlike those seen on a McMansion, the double bay windows do not look tacked o...