Unexpected

The hubby and I took part of our weekend to visit some Parade of Homes residences and see what was new and special. However, I am very sad to report, that based on the homes we visited (and I will admit we only made it to ten or so) I was not overly impressed. Yes, they were nice houses. Yes, they had wide plank wood floors, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances. But to me that does not make a beautiful home. I recognize that some of the residences featured on a POH are built as models and do not have a family who put their own personal stamp on the layout, features, and furnishings. I do not see this as a reason to be bland and boring though! With the exception of one home, every house we toured was just nice. Not a single feature, built-in, bump-out, or architectural detail that really made me pause and admire it. I felt as if the houses had a check list of what was supposed to make them a feature home but that in the end they all felt flat, seemed spacious but empty of character and pretty much soul-less if I can be that harsh. Please do not misunderstand me, as to think that I did not enjoy our tours or that you should not tour homes as well if you are so inclined. This is just my personal rant to urge homeowners and builders to pause and reflect on opportunities to make a statement in the architecture or layout of their homes. Chances to step out of the  accepted granite and stainless box and do something that will say 'Here I am! This is me!' 


And so as I wrap up this rant, I will share some pictures with you of something (deceivingly) far simpler than layout or architecture and that is color. Moments of unexpected color or unexpected placement of color. Enjoy the pause and the 'hmmmm' as you step out of the box of convention.

McMansion

I know that not everyone will agree with me on this post, but you can't please everyone. It is my personal opinion that most of today's homes are built larger than we need them, with rooms we will rarely, if ever, use. I may be a sucker for old homes, but I think that most people would agree that the character and charm of an old house is not usually found in a standard house built today. I believe that this is in part because the expense of building a *'McMansion' is costly enough that details and opportunities for character and charm are overlooked in the race for bigger and better. However, with that being said, I stumbled upon this concept house and I must say that this is probably taking it too far in the other direction. Granted Americans live in luxurious spaces compared to most of the rest of the world, but even our space-conscious friends overseas I think would agree that it would take a special person, with a unique way of life to find this house tenant-able. Read more here: http://freshome.com/2011/08/28/soon-to-be-the-thinnest-crib-in-the-world-keret-house-by-centrala/

Not without some redeeming character but who NEEDS a house this large?! 

 This however seems cramped to me.....

You can get an idea of scale in this picture if you look at the person seated inside.

You want to build a HOUSE in there?!

*McMansion is a pejorative term for a large new house which is judged as pretentious, tasteless, or badly designed for its neighborhood. Alternately, a McMansion is a large house in a sub-division of similarly large houses, which all seem mass produced and lacking distinguishing characteristics, and at variance with established local architecture.^[1]

The "stunt word" McMansion seems to have been coined some time in the early 1980s.^[2] It later appeared in the Los Angeles Times in 1990^[3][4] and the New York Times in 1998.^[5] Other terms applied to this type of dwelling include "Persian palace,"^[6] "garage Mahal," "starter castle," and "Hummer house."^[7] An example of a McWord, McMansion compares the generic quality of these luxury homes with mass-produced fast food meals.

Trying....

 Well for those of you who waited with baited breath for the most spectacular and fabulous blog posts ever...I apologize. But I promise to try and be better. So while I don't have a 'spectacular and fabulous' post up my sleeve, I do have a cache of beautiful photos, some of which I will share with you now (wouldn't you love to be at any one of these locales? I know I would!) . And then I will go to work writing some awesome content to accompany the next batch of beautiful photos. Promise. :)