McMansions: The houses that people love to hate 

*''I've seen some really heinous nubs in my life''*

Imagine randomly watching this only to see her in front of your house hating everything about it.

Never met an Architectonically Emo before... Weird...but in a funny way...

Major pet peeve: when a mcmansion architect sacrifies like 2 rooms worth of space upstairs for a balcony that’s just looking down at the first floor. What do you need to see down there?!

Sounds like this girl is trashing all my sim 4 creations. Unbalanced and ugly. I mean she's not wrong. ROOFING IS HARD OKAY!??

I aspire to this level of hater

Imagine they were just outside people's houses and roasting them and then the owners see this video and go, "Hey! That's my house!"

McMansions aren’t designed by architects, they’re designed by the engineers and builders, which is why they are so ugly, they take luxurious details from traditional styles of architecture, turrets and bay windows from Queen Anne, exteriors from craftsmen and classical details from geek revival and then mix it all up without guidance because they know people don’t know any better. Also I work in construction and have seen the way these are built, every single one I’ve ever seen is made with builder grade materials. Builder grade usually refers to the cheapest materials on the market, ie. cheap fixtures, vinyl windows, stone veneer, stucco, hollow columns, asphalt roof, plywood frame, these materials have been used in every single house I’ve worked in, the only exception was that once they used composite roof shingles instead of asphalt shingles. These materials are used essentially because people don’t know any better, these are essentially mass produced, low quality houses, meant to give the average upper middle class family a grasp at something that would be in the millions, they are a cash grab, a well built house of this size would cost almost 10 times the price of one of these, the ones I’ve seen usually have some sort of water damage within two years of construction, if you want a new house please meet with an architect, you’ll end up with better quality and design than these scams.

me on the sims

This is so funny! She is SO bothered. It's actually hilarious... I get her passion, but 😂😂😂

“I’ve seen some heinous nubs in my life” That has to be my favorite quote of 2019.

Fun Fact: No one searched for this

The thing about these “McMansions” is you pay for a house that is practically made with paper, and will start causing headaches in 10yrs.

It's wildly ironic that she's complaining that the houses are pretentious in the most pretentious way possible.

She has a Ted Talk about this. Wow. Her passion is honestly inspiring.

She's helping point us towards good taste

Heinous nubb is a good band name.

To me mcmansions look like they were built to just make it APPEAR as if the owner has a lot of money, they look so tacky and fake

Is it bad that I really like McMansions, they looks like something Regina George would live in.

The people who live in the McMansions shown in this video: 👁👄👁

I hate McMansions because they're supposed to look so expensive, and are, but are so cheaply made that anyone with eyes can see its all tacky.

Washington post coming after Vox's format, lol

Dislikes are from people in debt after buying an overpriced mcmansion

i thought i was the only one who looked at these homes and thought "that house looks off"

"And now everyone has to suffer alongside of me because they will forever notice that the shutters won't actually close over the windows." 😂😂

These houses looked like they were made on the Sims

“Giving people the freedom to say ‘I HATE THAT’!”😂 I love her bitter passion!

Years ago a developer built a ton of McMansions behind my house. There was a gorgeous forest back there and they cut down almost all the trees. So yeah, I hate these houses

It's better than working paycheck to paycheck living in a mcstudio with 3 mcroommates.

Noooo, you guys don’t get it. It’s not an indictment of fancy homes, it’s about bad design. If you’re rich enough to buy a McMansion you can also hire a good architect.

damn I didn’t know Shailene Woodley hated McMansions so much

“Cathedral ceiling in a bathroom” Me: what the...

I wonder, how it is to live in a mcmansion, because they are strucured from inside out. My Mother use to say, it is better to live in a ugly house with a nice layout, than otherwise around. And she was right.

But SIMS!

The McMansion is the architectural equivalent of the SUV.

They’re like counterfeit houses 😂

She needs a mc hairbrush

I never unserstood why I didn't like these homes .... UNTIL NOW . Thank you for explaining this, everytime I looked at them they make no sence to me and I could not explain it ... Thanks again .

damn - i liked all of these houses

Castles are the best type of houses, if you say differently your incorrect

Everyone’s triggered but she’s right

I wonder if she plays The Sims and builds on it. lol

totally thought this was going to be about those bougie looking mcdonald's

I love these houses. Maybe I don’t have any class.

The problem with these houses is that they're made out of crappy, cheap building materials. They burn down more easily.

So basically like Hummer of houses

I mean il gladly swap my home for any McMansion owner having second thoughts lmao

Best line: *“I’ve seen some really heinous nubs in my life”*

The thing I hate about McMansions here is that developers stick them on as small a plot of land as they can. They are the predominant influence on development in local suburbs and have become preferred over a sensible sized house with a decent yard. . If you’re gonna pay that much, I’d rather have a smaller house and more land than a house that eats up square footage with decorative architecture.

that's how I build my houses in Sims :(

What is this? The fashion police for houses!?

I live in one and it's not bueno I can agree with a girl!!! when it comes to repairs it's an arm and a leg !!!!the roofing I don't even want to talk about it!!!💰💰💰

She must be fun at parties Welcome to my house "This is hardly a house this mcmansion is a mcflop. YOUR PILLARS DO NOTHING!!!"

For me, the sign of a Mcmansion is that they only try to look presentable from the front. If you look at their sides they look like a county jail. Tiny, different sized windows in really weird places, and recessed far into the wall. And for such enormous residences, it's weird that they only have two exits, typically. Also kind of like a county jail.

A great example of why being a hater isn't always a bad thing! Keep up the good work Kate!

Don't forget the maintenance. These things are mass-produced and often times cheaply built, and the large size means there's a lot of stuff to maintain!

She didn't even get into the fact that McMansions are an environmental nightmare. Who'd a thought, but it turns out it's hard to heat those two-story rooms, and turrets, and nubs and whatnot, especially when the building is situated toward the road rather than located according to the site conditions. When designers (of any kind) don't have to work within constraints, like a reasonable price, durable, and economical, they get lazy.

Not a lot of young people are passionate about these things. Good for her.

Love the total look of disdain at around 2:05 when she turns and say "slab of foam." :)

My friend lives in a McMansion and the outsides looks like The school from Matilda

I feel like most of the criticism in the comments are based on her appearance and the way she sounds. She actually made good points and seems to know what she's talking about

Wealth doesnt account for taste

I don't see anything wrong with them. I'm not a house reviewer though.

I always have a negative stigma to those modern mansions. I'll always choose a decaying victorian masonry house from Detroit over a modern suburban American mansion over any day. Lowkey finally relieved that someone has the same viewpoint as I.

McMansions it's like wearing the designer label of your clothes on the outside but for domiciles. They are everywhere here in Connecticut. Horrendous little beasties. I never see the owners outside in the huge yards, probably because they are working 90 hours a week to pay for their own personal Tara.

SEEING THROUGH THE BEDROOM WINDOW ASSUMING PASSERS-BY LIKE YOUR HOUSE. ONLY TOO REALIZE THEIR WERE HATING ON IT ON CAMERA

the only ppl who disliked this vid are the owners of mcmansions

I didn't realize til now how oogaly they are.

Finally, someone who is willing to fight for good design. It’s not even necessarily the size. It’s just really bad, lazy and incompetent architecture. Please just pick up a book. All the principles of style and proportion is in there.

I really hate the simple mind set where people assume you're jealous for criticizing something or someone's attitude. That's just not right. She was giving good reason as to why to proportions of these homes make no sense and are of no refinery, which bothers her. People are allowed to have opinions on things you knows, you can't actually refute her points that make sense so you go after her haircut and whatnot? How tedious.

She really brings up some good points. Thank you including the link to her web site

So basically a real life version of the stuff I build on the sims

is she 15 or 50

Comments saying she's mad because she cant afford one sound like they're mad because they live in one.

I AGREE 100% I detest "fake" dormer windows and if you're going to waste time with shutters make sure they actually serve the purpose they were meant for! Thanks for sharing!

Homes used to be so beautiful back in the 30s, like Elvis’s Graceland is soooo pretty

People are harsh on this girl. She's a bit annoying but she's right, Mcmansions are ugly, drive up property prices, are bad for environment, impractical, cost-inefficient, bad for families, isolates family members, and poor quality material and construction. May not like her but totally agree with her. It's not art, it's tacky architecture. I have money and I do NOT want to flash wealth or buy something dumb as a mcmansion. A lot of people, especially seniors do not like these houses.

this is mcdramatic

Mansion-shaming seems to be a thing now...

So what would be the recommendation for "appropriate" housing?

So many of these comments are old people who are offended that someone has legitimate criticism of mcmansions and that's what they happen to live in. The thing is most of them don't even have a valid comeback, they just say she has a bad hairstyle or doesn't, "dress properly."

So many triggered people here. You really can't see how tacky they look to someone trained in architectural style.

Kate- look at that awful nubby roof! Me-... ~quickly exits out of sims 4~

So, I guess my house might be a McMansion???

She’s totally right. Most of the new homes I The great Atlanta area are these types of McMansions and are made of styrofoam and fiberglass. When your home isn’t made of brick and wood, your shit’s cheap.

*The voice tones that people love to hate*

I love this video so much!😂😂😂 I’ve always felt this well but she articulated it so perfectly.

Garage Mahals. I remember seeing these types of houses as a kid and thinking of them as really nice but weird looking.

I like her. She's the funny, interesting kind of nerd.

*the haircut that people love to hate*

Am I the only one that actually like these houses?

If you comment something about her being wealthy and thinking she is “too good” for these houses you are missing the point. These houses are a symptom of the disease of capitalism. Where a middle class family will go hundreds of thousands into to debt to live in an oversized, brown, dated edifice of a pseudo mansion to try and project the image of higher wealth and status. These buildings are so large that they could house like 20 people and yet they only home Krysten and Bill and their kids Jayden, Brayden, and Carleigh. Not to mention that the architecture itself is soooo atrocious. It’s disgusting and her blog is really hilarious and informative I really recommend it

I don't mind these houses. The house I can't stand are the ones that are built super close together. Big houses with no yards and no shade trees.

I like the people in here commenting that she's "shook" about these houses. She obviously has an idea what she's talking about and is educated on the subject. No matter how much you want to discredit her, it doesn't change that those houses are quite literally mathematically ugly.

Reminds me of a baroque castle i've been to. It looked horrible because it was just overloaded with valuable elements that didn't fit together at all and probably should just show the wealth of the owner. However, I don't quite agree with the video, the houses don't disgust me and are funny in a way - I think that they should mind their own business. Maybe it's because I have never seen a McMansion in real life.

Peak of tackiness but thankfully they're also cheaply built out of sticks so there's a chance fire or hurricane will take them out.

My friend, an architecture major, and his father also have strong opinions on poorly styled "McMansions" but people don't seem to hate on either of them as much for em because they're male, rather conservative, and don't look or sound 12 years old. I've never known anybody to be like "oh he's so bitchy, he's just jealous" when either of them expresses a valid but critical opinion on McMansion home design. Y'all in he comments are just hating.

Don't let her watch any sims play throughs

You know you're in a mcmansion when: -it has 3k sq foot space but not one quiet room because it's all open.

This sound more like people who are poorer hating on homes of the more rich just because they can’t afford it. Not actually anything to do architecture