What Is a McMansion?

McMansion is a slang term that describes a large, often ostentatious, mass-produced house. The name carries a r🐼ather critical connotation because McMansions lack architectural uniqueness, class, or style. 

"McMansion" is a play on McDonald's fast-food restaurants but also is associated with a generic, cookie-cutter suburban aesthetic for home design.

Understanding McMansions

The slang term connects the McMansion style to upper-middle-class homeowners. Built to provide a luxurious housing experience that previously was available only to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:high-net-worth individuals, a McMansion is often considered a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:status symbol.

These homes are generally between 3,000 square feet and 5,000 square feet. The large home size is meant to signify the owner's high social and economic standing. McMansions were most popular from the 1980s through the early 2000s, before the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:crash of the hܫousing market in 2008.

Characteristics of a McMansion

McMansions are known for their poor design. Some of the most common features of McMansions that are looked upon negatively are their oversized proportion in relation to the neighborhood; low-quality building material used in construction; incongruous ꦓplacement of windows, doors, columns, terraces, and porches; a poor mix of different architectural styles, usually histor⭕ic, which make for an odd appearance; and entrances and rooms with grand openings.

Cookie-cutter designs, tiny lawns, closely packed neighbors, and garish designs that feature multiple garages nearly as big as the homes (earning these dwellings the nickname "Garage Mahals") are all common features of the suburban McMansion. Expensive brick or stucco on the front of the house with vinyl siding on the sides and back are signature design features, putting an elegant face toward the street, and less costly coverings elsewhere.

The Rise and Fall of McMansions

Many of the negative connotations associated with McMansions resulted from the Great Recession. The Great Recessio💫n refers to the sharp decline in economic activity during the late 2000s, generally considered the large🦹st downturn since the Great Depression.

The combination of rising home prices, loose lending practices, and an increase in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:subprime mortgages, alongside a growing supply of large tract homes, caused the U.S. housing market to bust, causing large amounts of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:derivatives to lose significant value.

Because of the 2007 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:housing crisis, the McMansion lifestyle equated to living beyond one’s means. Many homebuyers took out mortgages to buy these McMansions, but they were subprime mortgages, which were seen as an underlying cause of the 2008 recession. A subprime mortgage is one granted to borrowers with low credit ratings or those at a larger-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan. Subprime mortgages often have higher interest rates than conventional mortgages but require little to no down payment.

The McMansion, because it was easily built and attractive to consumers, was the perfect vehicle for subprime loans. Many people lost their homes, and others saw the value of their homes drop below the original loan amount because of the subprime mortgage. In some cases, borrowers were better off defaulting on their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:underwater mortgage loans rather th🏅an 𒐪paying more for a home that had dropped so precipitously in value.

The Bottom Line

McMansion is a disparaging term for overly large, ostentatious, masℱs-produced homes without architectural authenticity or class. They are considered generic and a cliched reflection of new wealth and superficial lifestyle. McMansions began appearing in the 1980s but then slowed in the 2000s up until the financial crisis. These big homes first were built as a statement, rather than practical places to live, often with cheap materials or poor construction.