We didn't give it the same press as when Santa Clara County changed its policy on secret contacts with developers, but on the same day, the County rejected a 25,000 square-foot monster mansion on a ridgeline. CGF Journal describes our work on this here.
The County told the developers to to reduce the size of the building and to take it off the ridgeline where it dominated the views of all the neighbors. Even more important, the County is now beginning a process to consider house size limits and rideline/viewshed protections. We're glad the County wants to deal with the problem in a systematic way, and we hope it will devote the resources to make it happen.
-Brian
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
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According to this article on Salon.com (requires registration or watching an ad for a free day pass), the average house size in 1954 was 1,100 ft2, while today's is 2,150 ft2. In that same period of time, the average household has plummeted from 4.2 to 2.3 people, meaning today's house-dweller needs 3.5 times as much space to call home.
ReplyDeleteThe Salon article, "Great big green monster mansions," makes the case that even green homes, when super-sized, make a larger impact than smaller, traditionally-built homes.
It also points the finger at lenders, the building industry, and resale value for encouraging the monster mansion trend.
-Kathy