snowbunny

Here in Austin it's not a term given to new construction per se but rather when people go into quasi-historical districts, tear down one or more houses, and construct a bland, cookie cutter big box that ruins the feel of the neighbourhood. We have zoning laws against this now.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/mcmansions/

You can rate the houses on a McMansion scale.

BadgeIsBack

Don't they use the term Tract Housing too? Not, infact, implying that Australian McMansions are always cheap or for the one of a better US word, 'low rent'. (some cost!).

I had never seen or heard about McMansions my entire 1st year in Australia. It was only finding BE on my return to UK I heard about them.

It's possible to live without seeing them. You get nice architect designed tasteful homes too.

My wife tells me one of the mothers she knows has a mansion in Berwick - it's a REAL mansion, practically couldn't find the way out. Dad is a consultant urologist yadda yadda.

snowbunny

It's possible to build entire subdivisions full of oversized shoddily built unattractive houses. This happens all the time where land is plentiful and people want a lot of space for a small amount of money.

The term McMansion here is when someone wants to live in a well-established neighbourhood, usually close to the centre of the city where homes tend to be older and small, but wants a huge house that doesn't fit into the character of the neighbourhood. If you're a resident of these neighbourhoods full of quaint 1930s one storey cottages, your property value will plummet if someone builds a McMansion next door. The existing houses are often around 1000 sq feet; it's hard to build bigger than that without it becoming very noticeable, especially because cellars/basements are almost unheard of here.

This has become a huge issue here because our traffic congestion is worse by the day and people want to live close to the city centre AND have a big house. I do too..... if I win the lottery.

Maple Leaf

wow you must be so excited! a brand new home! good on ya!

Maple Leaf

yep it is possible to live without seeing them! as australia is a HUGE country!

however..i dont' see anything wrong with them anyways!!

ACE

And a lovely 'McMansion' it is too. Nice one!

I love new houses. Our first home in the UK was a huge victorian terrace with a tiny balcony. It was nice enough but it was drafty therefore cost a fortune to heat. It was also really noisy with creaky old floor boards and rattly sash windows and was home to some of the biggest spiders I have ever seen.

We are delighted that we are in a position to build our own home, something that we wouldn't have dreamed of doing had we stayed in the UK.

ACE

tassietiger

McMansions are usually built in new outer suburb housing estates, which are often called " Legoland" becasue the houses all look alike as if they were built from a lego set.' Mc 'is for Mcdonalds, which implies they are cheap or second rate mansion sort of like how a McDonalds watch is a cheap second rate watch.They are cheap because they are often build on cheap land with cheap bulding materials. The suburbs they are built on are often described as being souless, lacking facilties, transport and things to do. not somewhere l would want to live, if l was going to live miles from the city or anywhere l would want to live somewhere in the country with nice scenery, not a bland outer suburb.

Vash the Stampede

[QUOTE=Maple Leaf;6537468]i was wondering about this too as i had never heard of the term before i started viewing this forum.

it's not something we use in australia. ( well maybe some do but certainly not anyone i know)/QUOTE]

It's definitely used in Australia, mate. Even the ABC uses it.

BadgeIsBack

Yeah the problem is location, not just the build. Combined together = issue.

asprilla

If there's anyone in the UK that read the statement above and got a little confused, let me clear it up for you.

McDonalds restaurants in Tasmania also sell cheap watches and jewellery alongside the big macs and fries.

tassietiger

No they don't , but McDonalds in Australia years ago used to give away free plastic watches and cheap toys with fries and burgers, the watches were second rate and always broke.

Babsw

well,I think its a Mc Mansion for us when we get there as well!!!!
each to their own!

ACE

Spot on.

Both our homes in the UK were in good locations. The first one was opposite the flower gardens and tennis courts at Southchurch Park (where they play county cricket). The second was on a hill in Ashingdon over looking the surrounding countryside with the River Crouch in the distance.

Coming up with the house design was relatively painless. Finding the right block of land however, took a lot of leg work, friends in the real estate industry and was most definitely not cheap.

talbot

And no ROOMS - just vast living space!

Maple Leaf

[QUOTE=Vash the Stampede;6539240] oh my~~ well like i said...no one i know of uses that term..it must be a very new thing! and

tho the term mate!..might be coined as an aussie lingo thing..not everyone uses it...i myself...very rarely..if at all..