McCastle (barf)
We kind of knew even before the house was finished that it was too much house for us,” –Stan Cheslock, 60-something financial investor
What can I say about this 26,000 square foot house in Greenwich, CT other than it disgusts me? One upside of the stock market meltdown is that poor Mr. Cheslock lost a fortune. Boo-hoo. Unfortunately, the damage from wasted energy and resources going into building this house — and the “normal” sized McMansions across the country — is already done. (Median square feet of floor area for new privately owned, single-family homes jumped from 1,560 in 1974 to 2,248 in 2006. The typical McMansion is 3,000 square feet or larger.)
I’ll just quote a few lines from Slackonomics about the changing housing preferences from Boomers to Generation X, which almost every housing developer has ignored for the last 10+ years. “… according to market research conducted by Reach Advisors, a Boston-based marketing firm, even Xers who prefer single-family houses [as opposed to condos or apartment in urban areas] want smaller homes built closer together with amenities that foster interaction with their neighbors, such as dog parks and walking trails. Ever the practical generation, wealthy Xers, too, prefer quality over quantity, and are less concerned than older generations with what a house says about one’s status.”