I remember when it was still cool to buy an enormous home with four or five garage bays, flowing, Tara-style staircases, cavernous living rooms large enough to put a normal sized house in, and huge master bed/bath suites. A former owner states, “As I remember it, we used three rooms 90 percent of the time and the other ten or twelve rooms ten percent of the time if we tried to find a reason. I was in my thirties and living there the odd effect of making me feel like a real grown up but ostentatious at the same time. As pretty as it was, the scale wasn’t necessary and the extravagance felt too conspicuous every time I drove up to it. It was just the trend of living large and actually a waste of space, materials, and energy resources like oil, gas and water.”
That said, I am in love with the glamour of the Guilded Age. I’ll forever be awed by the lifestyle, staggering elegance and true craftsmanship of the mansions of that era and I appreciate when they’re well tended by new generations stewarding their ownership as homes, museums, or public spaces. I imagine how dreamy it would have been living in “Rosecliff” or “The Breakers” high on bluff overlooking the ocean in Newport, RI. If it were only the late 19th century!
Early into the new millenium, a new breed of faux mansions in overly developed subdivisions popped up everywhere and a certain exclusivity was lost.
The price points were favorable to a wide audience of buyers and many of them were built quickly with inferior construction and cookie-cutter lack of imagination. All over the country we’re seeing prices for McMansions in developments dropping lower than prices on smaller homes in more desirable locations, and worse, they’re sitting on the market for years.
“We continue to move away from the McMansion chapter of residential design, with more demand for practicality throughout the home,” writes Kermit Baker, chief economist at the American Institute of Architects. “There has been a drop-off in the popularity of upscale property enhancements such as formal landscaping, decorative water features, tennis courts and gazebos.” article from Feb 2016
27 Aunt Molly was designed giving careful attention to how a family actually uses a house combined with a desire to make it comfortable yet luxe through the use high quality materials and a dialed sense of style. It wouldn’t be considered small but there is no wasted space. There are no staged, soaring, ‘untouchable’ rooms but it is large and airy, it’s comfortable for kids, pets and guests and the open flow is great for entertaining.
PRINCETON, NJ AREA HOME FOR SALE 