This story from All Things Considered made me really wonder about Americans these days. Perfectly good houses--heck, even some houses that were just built in the late 80s--are being torn down so wealthy Americans can have luxury homes. No, not even luxury homes. These homes this one developer was describing--6,000+ square foot custom homes--are monstrosities.
My house is 2500 square feet. You could fit almost three of my houses in one of these. What's the point?
They are tearing down bungalows from the 20s and 30s because today's homeowner wants media rooms and family rooms and libraries and five bedrooms for their 2.5 children. 3 and 4 bathrooms. "Dream" kitchens.
They want to pretend they live in Buckingham palace and that they are America's royalty, when in fact they are merely arrogant idiots who enjoy crushing architectural history under their five hundred dollar alligator hide hiking boots.
What, exactly, does one do with two formal dining rooms? What's the point of having one bathroom per person in the house? I mean, how many times do you really have to wait in line? Is it that important that Sally and John and baby Eric have their own rooms with every individual luxury they could ever want?
We should be conserving, not consuming. Things should start getting smaller, not larger, but I'm afraid we're not to the end of the expansion quite yet.
Way back in the 1850s when women's fashions were out of control, women died while wearing the huge crinolines of the day. I hope we don't lose too many of our historic homes--and yes, I'm counting the 20s and 30s bungalows as historic--before the excess stops.
Get a grip, people. Do you want your children to have a planet to live on? Then think about what you're doing to the environment before trying to outdo the Joneses.
My house is 2500 square feet. You could fit almost three of my houses in one of these. What's the point?
They are tearing down bungalows from the 20s and 30s because today's homeowner wants media rooms and family rooms and libraries and five bedrooms for their 2.5 children. 3 and 4 bathrooms. "Dream" kitchens.
They want to pretend they live in Buckingham palace and that they are America's royalty, when in fact they are merely arrogant idiots who enjoy crushing architectural history under their five hundred dollar alligator hide hiking boots.
What, exactly, does one do with two formal dining rooms? What's the point of having one bathroom per person in the house? I mean, how many times do you really have to wait in line? Is it that important that Sally and John and baby Eric have their own rooms with every individual luxury they could ever want?
We should be conserving, not consuming. Things should start getting smaller, not larger, but I'm afraid we're not to the end of the expansion quite yet.
Way back in the 1850s when women's fashions were out of control, women died while wearing the huge crinolines of the day. I hope we don't lose too many of our historic homes--and yes, I'm counting the 20s and 30s bungalows as historic--before the excess stops.
Get a grip, people. Do you want your children to have a planet to live on? Then think about what you're doing to the environment before trying to outdo the Joneses.
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