If there is an iconic housing style of the early 21st century, it is the contentious movement that architects call “contemporary,” but that detractors have dubbed the “McMansion.”
These houses from Regan’s Way and Patriot Way are examples of the type. Each one pays homage to local building traditions by incorporating Colonial Revival elements, such as the use of wood clapboarding, six-over-six pane windows, and gable-end roofs. Number six Patriot Way even has a Palladian window mounted above a door with sidelights and a transom window.
Based on that description, there is nothing offensive about these houses. Why then do they generate such a visceral negative response from some people? There seem to be three main objections: that they are mass-produced and homogenous, that they are environmentally irresponsible, and that they perpetuate racial exclusivity.
There has never been a housing style that was not homogenous. Architects have used pattern books since the Georgian era, and even First Period houses relied on standard proportions and stock elements. The very first suburban development in Melrose, the Greek Revival houses of Cottage Street, are more or less the same house over and over again, with slight variations—just like these houses.
Any house built in Melrose since 2011 has had to be a HERS-rated, environmentally friendly building. The four houses pictured here each have a HERS rating of about 50, making them about twice as energy efficient as an older house. While the houses are large, the lots they occupy are less than half an acre, and the destruction of vegetation required to build them released far fewer greenhouse gases than a knock down of an older building.
There has never been an architectural movement that did not have its detractors, and their objections were often based on class resentments and cultural prejudices. If you cannot see the beauty in McMansions, ask yourself why.
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