Jerry Fleeman of Gastonia e-mails with this (sarcastic) query:
“Given the many past columns and blogs surely you will write on the evils of the McMansion built by the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in the Windsor Park neighborhood of Charlotte.
A 1,900 square-foot single-story house was transformed into a 5,100 square-foot multi-story mansion. Surely this house now adversely impacts the neighborhood. Some quotes from the Observer story: “At 5,100 square feet, it barely fits on their Sudbury Road lot. “
And, “Its tall roof soars over the Windsor Park neighborhood, where modest one-story brick homes are the standard.”
Whaddaya think?
I’ve been wondering how much thought went into making the house as energy efficient as possible. Does anyone know? I’ve not been following it closely. Is there daylighting? Passive solar? Any solar panels? Geothermal heating? Recycled materials?
I hope some provision is being made to help this family with what are likely to be much higher utility bills (unless the house is “green”) and higher property taxes.