“As the social critic H. L. Mencken wrote during the 1920s when examining the architecture of suburban Pittsburgh:

Here was wealth beyond imagination - and here were human habitations so abominable that they would have disgusted a race of alley cats…[Architects] have taken as their model a brick set in end. This they have converted into a thing of dingy clapboards, with a narrow, low-pitched roof. And the whole they have set upon thin, preposterous brick piers. By the hundreds and thousands these abominable houses cover the bare hillsides, like gravestones in some gigantic and decaying cemetery. (Mencken, The Libido for the Ugly, Prejudices: Sixth Series, 1927).”

Personally, I’ve never liked the kinds of over-stuffed looking housing that’s been popular for the past 10+ years. They build the hell out of these kinds of houses within ever-encroaching proximity to my parents. Just plop down a hundred of em’ or so and fill them up with refugees from the Notheast and Florida.In the process, the orignal character of the area is decimated.

Admittedly, the ones at Bayport don’t really bother me. They do have better taste than the fake Southern Antebellum style they build in the Southeast.That and they’re sort of isolated and more like their own micro-community.

But on the other hand, I can’t help but think that while we’re not a communist country and people are free to buy what they want, that the average person doesn’t need such a massive house. Most of the reasons I hear are ” for the kids! for the kids!” But if I look back at how my family was raised, mom and her sisters lived in a 750 Sq foot house. My grandmother even smaller. I grew up in one that was around 900 sq feet. Yet the last time I went home, one of my friends just bought a 6,500 sq foot, three car garage massive house complete with a fireplace above the whirlpool. They have no kids. Ironic.

Not to far off from what appealed to the middle class in the 19th century.

From “Victorian Architecture and Styles” http://www.ragtime.org/arch/Arch_Vict.html

“Smaller victorian cottages may only have had one or two bedrooms, but they imitated the wealthy by having at least a separate dining room if not an extra parlor.”

Many of the Queen Anne cottages in town have quite elaborately detailed formal rooms, with high ceilings and beautiful hardwood floors. The private rooms, however, tend to be tiny and plain and often have softwood floors.

“As Jack said, someday people will probably find Bayport charming just like all the mass-produced clapboard sided victorians on Central.”

I didn’t say that. The charm of apartment boxes, of which I was speaking, may lie somewhere down the road. On the other hand, many already find Bayport structures charming.

“The Ten-Minute House

The movement of the “atrium concept” home layout from popularity to ubiquity in modern American architecture stems largely from the “Ten Minute House” theory that has been espoused by real estate developers, realtors, and home builders. Economic changes in recent decades have made Americans change jobs more frequently, often necessitating moving. Today, the average American family will change houses every six years.Consequently, houses change owners more frequently and thus must be designed to be marketable and appealing to as many people as possible, with less emphasis placed on the specific needs of the house’s initial buyer. Most realtors agree that a client will like or dislike a house within ten minutes of entering. Combining a home’s foyer with a two-story ‘great-room’ leaves secondary rooms more visible, making it easier for agents to show the house — and hopefully win the client over — in ten minutes or less.”

So it’s interesting that such homes are designed with marketing and modern American professional tendencies and their increasingly transient lifestyles.

more:

“Other characterizations

Implicit in the term “McMansion” is that many people choose to live in them. The trend gives middle and upper-middle class households greater access to desired luxury housing options that were previously only available to much wealthier homeowners. While this may be perceived as a general indicator of the increasing wealth of the middle class (previously the middle class was generally only able to afford much smaller homes with fewer amenities) the reality is that people are taking on increasing per capita debt.”

So in some ways, Mcmansions are sort of like the replacements of the 1970’s Rancher homes that my parents live in. Sort of a shoehorned approach to gaining additional luxuriant status. Many people who moved into Ranchers in the 70’s probably did so for the same reasons as those who move into Mcmansions.

more…

“A substantial amount of a typical McMansion’s square footage goes toward large hallways, aiding the maximum visibility required for the “Ten Minute House” concept. The individual rooms in a McMansion, particularly secondary bedrooms, are often no bigger than in earlier housing.”

So in reality, the square footage that’s actually usable within these are about the same as earlier homes that were smaller. I’ve toured Bayport twice. the “ten minute house” definitely applies.

Anyhow, I fail to see the difference between Bayport and Marina village. The two represent different eras when people had different tastes. I’m sure negative and positive things can be dug up about either style of development.I’m sure people hated rancher homes as much as people seem to dislike Mcmansions. As Jack said, someday people will probably find Bayport charming just like all the mass-produced clapboard sided victorians on Central.

Even the apartment boxes built to replace demolished vickys in the 50/60/70 decades of the 20th cent have a certain likeness to them and some a simple charm. They’ll probably be on some historical advisory’s commission “structure of significance” in a few years.

I like both Bayport and Marina Village. But then, I remember what was there before.

Well, partly, but Marina Village could have looked a lot worse and Bayport could have looked a lot better. The developer obviously wants to maximize profits, but he also needs something that will be appealing and sell easily. There are lots of condominiums that were built recently; you just don’t see them in Alameda. I know of no unsubsidized apartment buildings being constructed nearby. Quite often investors will buy condos and then rent them out. They’ll be sold when the market turns unless the rental cash flow is very attractive.

What total BS. When Marina village was built, it was what was popular at the time: condos and squished-together townhouses. When Bayport was built, Mcmansions were popular. The statement above is sort of like saying that Bellbottoms are very wholesome but heaven forbid Air Jordans are the great evil.