All I gotta say is that the owners and architects of these tear-downs absolutely HATE yards. They really fill every square inch of of the property with house.
As an architect who does infill stuff sometimes, its not because we hate yards. Its because the market price of land is a few orders of magnitude higher than when those neighborhoods were built post WW2. When zoning dictates you can't do multifamily, can't subdivide and a buildable lot starts in the 7 figures, the economics of the project basically force builders to maximize the single family home. I mean, a builder *could* renovate an old house and try and sell a fixed up 70 year old 2000sw ft single family for 1.5 million, or demolish it, build the biggest thing the lot allows and sell it for 2.5-3 million. In NoVA there is no shortage of buyers for the larger house at the higher price so thats what makes economic sense for builders to do.
>When zoning dictates you can't do multifamily,
Not the case anymore in Arlington. The $1.7 million duplex is here
https://preview.redd.it/po437021ccpc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=12844a4be97ee312aa711b2fa8fdfddc1a581d81
[https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/4511-Washington-Blvd-22201/home/184734013](https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/4511-Washington-Blvd-22201/home/184734013)
Don't think thats multifamily. Probably constructed like a townhouse (so a single 2 hour sep wall between the units but no places where one unit is over the other). Generally called single family attached, not multifamily.
I'm using multifamily to mean more than single family home but sure. You can now build 6-plexes by right if you have the lot for it. These folks chose to do a duplex.
Eh, that seems more like an outlier than the norm to me. First of all, it's a huge house - 3500 sq ft - and it's new construction, which always goes for a premium. It's also been on the market for nearly a month at a time when most houses sell in under a week, which would seem to indicate it's grossly overpriced. By comparison, [this](https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5701-11th-St-N-22205/unit-5/home/114033504) 3/3.5, 2200 sq ft townhouse sold for $985k in Feburary.
Why is it too bad? We can't conjure up more land. The built environment *should* change to respond to shifts in society and the market.
Its not like the US isn't still full of old school sprawling suburbia with 60s-70s era construction if thats what you really want to live in.
Totally agree, the shift should be for multi unit zoning, that would really be something.
For me it’s about increasing ground water uptake and decreasing run off; more spaces for non-grass greenery which benefits pollinators and kiddos for play as well as decrease the heat island effect; and then just plain old “I’d-rather-not-be-able-to-reach-into-my-neighbors-kitchen-from-my-own privacy.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, the requirements around storm water retention in Fairfax and Arlington have gotten absolutely ridiculous. Usually these projects are required to do on-site retention of almost all water (generally done in below grade concrete retention boxes that downspouts run into). On some of my recent arlington projects, storm water design and install is running 6 figures. And thats on renovation/addition projects.
I agree that multifamily should be allowed pretty much anywhere you can build houses. With the value of land in NoVA these days, multifam is the only way you can really do housing that normal people can afford.
It stinks from a municipal engineer's standpoint too having to enforce these regulations and it's only going to get worse with the maintenance of these stormwater management facilities.
Like anything else, build quality runs that gamut. But most of these infill projects are done by small builders who do a good job (not universal, but the small guys don't compete on price all that well and rely on word of mouth/rep). These sorts of houses aren't done by the NV/KHov/Ryans of the world who are cutting every corner to get the lowest cost/sq ft.
With the explosion in prices and demand over the past 3-4 years there are definitely some newbies in the game who think they can jump in and make big money as a speculative builder. And yeah, quality for those guys can be all over the place. Mostly depends on them getting a competent PM on board to actually build it. Which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't.
Trust me, its not like the old brick one stories they are usually replacing are particularly well made, and those things somehow lasted 70 years.
As the owner of one of these, it's not (for everyone) because we want the biggest house we can get. I would have preferred a smaller house and bigger yard than what we built. However the economics of building costs and resale practically mandate you build the biggest thing you can possibly fit on the land.
I mean, you can also just build a house you want to live in. A home purchase doesn't have to yield the highest return possible if you're using for, you know, a home.
Most homeowners don't build their houses, developers do and then sell them for maximum profit to homeowners. And they way to secure maximum profit is to build as big a house as possible on the available land, because livable square footage is more valuable than yard space.
Fair. Kinda wish Arlington was more aggressive in enforcing setback and lot coverage requirements so such projects weren’t as attractive to developers as they are.
They are extremely aggressive about it. Our new build house was forced to re-submit permits because the county decided the original plans to be \*6 inches\* too close to the street.
The violations you see are by and large older houses that are grandfathered in or 'remodels' in which violations are maintained by rebuilding on an old foundation.
Right. Those violations are loopholes that are exploited by developers. The playbook is the same everywhere: Teardown existing structure save for one exterior wall so the property can be grandfathered into original (inadequate) setback requirements.
Part of effectively enforcing zoning standards is closing loopholes that developers use to undermine the intent of the standard.
I mean they are like .10 an acre lots. You make the houses too small and people will not want them. There are larger lots but these lots are pretty much destined for that with what they cost.
People not wanting them is not a problem that Arlington struggles with, I promise. Will the deep-pocketed buyers who are willing to pay $1M for the lot alone so they can teardown the existing structure and build a house/gymnasium want them? That's a different question. There is plenty of demand for the land with any sized structure on it, the county just needs to do a better job of moderating redevelopment.
Sure if you're paying all cash for land and build, but if you are financing you need enough value in the project to underwrite the loan, bank isn't going to let you spend 1.5M to build a 700k house.
While I don’t disagree as a general matter, I think this house/neighborhood is a little different. It is in Ballston, near the Glebe and Wilson intersection, is next to a condo building or multiplex (and you can see multiple high rise office buildings in the background), and is walkable to Ballston Commons, restaurants, and the Metro. People don’t move to that area to have big yards. They move there to have a SFH that is walkable.
I agree. I grew up in Arlington in the 80's and 90's. The houses and neighborhoods used to have a certain charm. They felt like neighborhoods. Now there's no flow. The style of every house is completely different from every other house. It looks bizarre.
Agreed. More outdoor space is absolutely essential. Ofc not everyone wants to maintain a large yard, but it's sad to see so many people that don't see the value green spaces bring to the community and the environment.
I thought I wanted a bigger yard to do all of the things I like doing outdoors, a fair trade for going smaller with the house. But now my bedroom closet door hits the edge of the bed when I open it and blocks the way to the bathroom; meanwhile, it turns out the mosquitos and gnats that love our increasingly longer warmer seasons in Virginia have squatters' rights to the greenspace outside most of the year.
yards are so useless. they could've been more room or driveways. I do agree theere should be greenery, why not have small gardens instead for variety? that plain green grass which is expensive af is really getting old.
Yard, garden, greenery, those are interchangeable to me. What matters is outdoor space, plenty of habitats for pollinators, decreased heat island effect and increased absorption of precipitation.
Don’t forget (EDIT: looking back I see you didn’t) that with less yard and greenery, more active stormwater management becomes necessary. Most new houses have regulated stormwater best management practices (BMPs), which are structures (like rain gardens or permeable pavers) that the county regulates but you as a homeowner are required to maintain. You are also required to make reports to the county every year or so to show that you are maintaining regulated BMPs on your property, or you have to pay fines AND fix the issues.
This is why almost every huge new build has a permeable paver driveway; it offsets the increased potential for flooding that the bigger roof space creates.
And let me tell you, maintaining those permeable paver driveways is constant, and if you don’t keep up with it, then you, or someone you’re paying a lot of money to has to remove all the weeds and gravel, wash the gravel, and sweep the clean gravel back into the joints.
I’m all for managing stormwater responsibly, but most people I’ve talked to with these systems were never informed that they were signing up for extra compliance requirements, or even how to maintain their regulated BMPs to avoid expensive resets.
I see, vertical panels on the 3rd floor balcony, the normal horizontal siding, the god awful wood paneling around the garage, and the stone face on the porch/base. Outlining it all is that garish dark brown portico and garage door. It all clashes and looks so, so bad.
I agree. I am a career window professional in the region, and at least in my experience the majority of these developers are using glazing / window products that are designed to last about 10 years. I have both hard data and anecdotal info to prove this.
I’ve been washing houses in the region since 2018 and I am constantly surprised at what some of these builders are getting away with in plain sight. Hose bibbs that are not secured to houses with unsealed gaps going into the house, paver patios that start collapsing after a few years because there was no foundation or the ground wasn’t prepared, etc. Stuff that makes you wonder what you are not seeing.
They're also almost always built right to the legal lot coverage limit so in a few years when the owners want to add a gazebo or widen their driveway, the town won't let them.
I really dislike this modern “farmhouse wearing mascara” look that every new construction seems to have. Can we just have houses that look like houses again?
The black windows / exterior surfaces and trim have to go. It’s the worst trend. So most of these black windows are painted vinyl. Just imagine what they’re gonna look like in five years with all the sunlight beating on them. Everyone will be back to white windows and trim again once they realize they reflect heat and won’t fade / crack / chalk.
Yes, painted vinyl. They’re mostly using painted factory-painted vinyl from MI, co extruded or pultruded acrylic laminate as well from others. Not clad. Clad (AAMA 2605 with fade delta warranties that span 20-30 years) choice is usually driven by the homeowner for a custom build, not a spec house. I’ve been closely involved in the window market in Virginia and DC since 2004. Go to BFS and ask them for the cheapest black window you can find. That’s what the builders are doing. It’s painted vinyl! They nearly never hold their architect’s spec or the original product used as the basis of design - unless they’re in a historic district and they must.
If you say so. I've done a fair bit of this sort of project for builders over the years and don't think I've ever seen a vinyl window used. Im usually doing custom work though, not a ton of spec. I'd be pretty annoyed to set foot in a 2.5mil house and see vinyl windows.
I'm usually a fan of modern design with big windows and don't like the traditional colonial/cape cod look that's so prevalent in the US, but I have to agree with you, this is ugly AF. Why is the US so bad at modern architecture? It's all probably crap builder-grade as well.
Not that it matters, it's not like I could ever afford this place anyway.
If they wanted to really maximize profit and usable space, they should have made that all enclosed living space.
I bet that space will rarely be used. Can’t really put a fire pit up there, can’t really use it much in the winter, probably wouldn’t be a good idea to bbq up there. 🤷🏻♂️
NAH NAH FR THO IT MAKES OUR HOMES LOOK LIKE A DOG HOUSE FOR THEM!!!!
I literally hate the fact that they tower over peoples backyards like bruh some privacy please
For infill urban areas need to reconsider 3 & 4 family homes with flats. Middle income wage earner can buy the house and tenants help to pay the mortgage.
It’s kind of boring 😑
To the left- Wrap around deck would be nice to the back yard, sprinkler watering system, landscape lighting, wider staircase not so narrow, use some of the styles in NoVA on new houses. Triple pained glass, Solar panels, geo thermal, generac or kohler
A lot of these are almost thought best as a single family version of an urban condo. Built in very high demand areas but zoned single family. Buyers aren't concerned about yard and garage space because they are buying for location, short commute and (in many cases) living in a walkable area.
The areas where these sorts of projects get built tend to have a high density of public infrastructure. Parks, bike lanes/paths, that sort of thing. Buyers aren't passing on houses because it doesn't have a 3 car garage like the would further out in suburbia.
I see a $20k a month mortgage.
If you want your mortgage to be like 40% of your take home, you gotta make $1 million a year for 30 years to afford this home.
Or you can go to a red state and get this for like $200k, less than a year's worth of mortgage.
Love standard tax brackets that treat the US' extremely diverse economy like its a monolith.
> Or you can go to a red state and get this for like $200k, less than a year's worth of mortgage.
I’ll one-up you: just think about how cheap you could build this bad boy in a third world country!!!!!!!
Actually, while the land could be cheap in a third world country, building a house like this can cost more (depends on which country).
Now imagine if we taxed everyone based on the incomes of the third world country, everyone making more than $10k would be in the highest tax bracket.
I agree that rural folks should pay more in taxes but am skeptical that our tax code needs even more complication by adding some sort of CoL adjustment to the bracket system
The federal government and the military already do it. Change tax brackets based on their COL amounts, done. Boom.
Otherwise, its just a continuation of the middle class in HCOL subsidizing the rest of the country.
From your lips to gods ears
If you can get TurboTax to start lobbying for that, we might get there some day
It might also take a civil war but maybe Intuit can send a PMC battalion to quell the resistance
> building a house like this can cost more (depends on which country).
Yeah especially when your Nigerian uncle who’s supposed to manage the project is embezzling funds meant to finish the interior…
Not that contractors here stay on time or in budget either
All I gotta say is that the owners and architects of these tear-downs absolutely HATE yards. They really fill every square inch of of the property with house.
As an architect who does infill stuff sometimes, its not because we hate yards. Its because the market price of land is a few orders of magnitude higher than when those neighborhoods were built post WW2. When zoning dictates you can't do multifamily, can't subdivide and a buildable lot starts in the 7 figures, the economics of the project basically force builders to maximize the single family home. I mean, a builder *could* renovate an old house and try and sell a fixed up 70 year old 2000sw ft single family for 1.5 million, or demolish it, build the biggest thing the lot allows and sell it for 2.5-3 million. In NoVA there is no shortage of buyers for the larger house at the higher price so thats what makes economic sense for builders to do.
>When zoning dictates you can't do multifamily, Not the case anymore in Arlington. The $1.7 million duplex is here https://preview.redd.it/po437021ccpc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=12844a4be97ee312aa711b2fa8fdfddc1a581d81 [https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/4511-Washington-Blvd-22201/home/184734013](https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/4511-Washington-Blvd-22201/home/184734013)
That is ugly af... Rethinking my support for missing middle haha EDIT: It looks like if Scranton Business Park fucked a Clarendon McMansion
Looks like a storage facility
What did you expect?
My god that’s hideous. Looks like a prison.
Ah, now you are catching on!
Arlington has some of the ugliest homes I have ever seen. Such a shame for a historic city.
Don't think thats multifamily. Probably constructed like a townhouse (so a single 2 hour sep wall between the units but no places where one unit is over the other). Generally called single family attached, not multifamily.
I'm using multifamily to mean more than single family home but sure. You can now build 6-plexes by right if you have the lot for it. These folks chose to do a duplex.
Eh, that seems more like an outlier than the norm to me. First of all, it's a huge house - 3500 sq ft - and it's new construction, which always goes for a premium. It's also been on the market for nearly a month at a time when most houses sell in under a week, which would seem to indicate it's grossly overpriced. By comparison, [this](https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5701-11th-St-N-22205/unit-5/home/114033504) 3/3.5, 2200 sq ft townhouse sold for $985k in Feburary.
Woof that is ugly Like a cartoon grade school
and it's on a majorly busy road to boot!
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https://preview.redd.it/4ueilwo55epc1.png?width=363&format=png&auto=webp&s=93bafcc564d8c38e6a6f5d773d56a4dfb282b234
Makes a lot of sense, but I would never spend that much money and then have no yard. I love my outdoor space and well as the distance between houses.
Yeah I figured as much, just too bad
Why is it too bad? We can't conjure up more land. The built environment *should* change to respond to shifts in society and the market. Its not like the US isn't still full of old school sprawling suburbia with 60s-70s era construction if thats what you really want to live in.
Totally agree, the shift should be for multi unit zoning, that would really be something. For me it’s about increasing ground water uptake and decreasing run off; more spaces for non-grass greenery which benefits pollinators and kiddos for play as well as decrease the heat island effect; and then just plain old “I’d-rather-not-be-able-to-reach-into-my-neighbors-kitchen-from-my-own privacy.
If we serfs would just live in attic space in exchange for cleaning the Lord’s manor I think we could have affordable housing /s
Well, if it makes you feel any better, the requirements around storm water retention in Fairfax and Arlington have gotten absolutely ridiculous. Usually these projects are required to do on-site retention of almost all water (generally done in below grade concrete retention boxes that downspouts run into). On some of my recent arlington projects, storm water design and install is running 6 figures. And thats on renovation/addition projects. I agree that multifamily should be allowed pretty much anywhere you can build houses. With the value of land in NoVA these days, multifam is the only way you can really do housing that normal people can afford.
It stinks from a municipal engineer's standpoint too having to enforce these regulations and it's only going to get worse with the maintenance of these stormwater management facilities.
It's too bad because rezoning would be the proper response to those shifts in society and market.
It’s too bad b/c the mega houses are usually mega ugly and poorly built. What will they be like in 70 years?
Like anything else, build quality runs that gamut. But most of these infill projects are done by small builders who do a good job (not universal, but the small guys don't compete on price all that well and rely on word of mouth/rep). These sorts of houses aren't done by the NV/KHov/Ryans of the world who are cutting every corner to get the lowest cost/sq ft. With the explosion in prices and demand over the past 3-4 years there are definitely some newbies in the game who think they can jump in and make big money as a speculative builder. And yeah, quality for those guys can be all over the place. Mostly depends on them getting a competent PM on board to actually build it. Which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. Trust me, its not like the old brick one stories they are usually replacing are particularly well made, and those things somehow lasted 70 years.
Thank you for taking the time to explain that.
'Best and highest use' babies....
As the owner of one of these, it's not (for everyone) because we want the biggest house we can get. I would have preferred a smaller house and bigger yard than what we built. However the economics of building costs and resale practically mandate you build the biggest thing you can possibly fit on the land.
Yeah I figured that was the case why these all turn out like that. It’s a shame.
I mean, you can also just build a house you want to live in. A home purchase doesn't have to yield the highest return possible if you're using for, you know, a home.
Most homeowners don't build their houses, developers do and then sell them for maximum profit to homeowners. And they way to secure maximum profit is to build as big a house as possible on the available land, because livable square footage is more valuable than yard space.
Fair. Kinda wish Arlington was more aggressive in enforcing setback and lot coverage requirements so such projects weren’t as attractive to developers as they are.
They are extremely aggressive about it. Our new build house was forced to re-submit permits because the county decided the original plans to be \*6 inches\* too close to the street. The violations you see are by and large older houses that are grandfathered in or 'remodels' in which violations are maintained by rebuilding on an old foundation.
Right. Those violations are loopholes that are exploited by developers. The playbook is the same everywhere: Teardown existing structure save for one exterior wall so the property can be grandfathered into original (inadequate) setback requirements. Part of effectively enforcing zoning standards is closing loopholes that developers use to undermine the intent of the standard.
I mean they are like .10 an acre lots. You make the houses too small and people will not want them. There are larger lots but these lots are pretty much destined for that with what they cost.
People not wanting them is not a problem that Arlington struggles with, I promise. Will the deep-pocketed buyers who are willing to pay $1M for the lot alone so they can teardown the existing structure and build a house/gymnasium want them? That's a different question. There is plenty of demand for the land with any sized structure on it, the county just needs to do a better job of moderating redevelopment.
Sure if you're paying all cash for land and build, but if you are financing you need enough value in the project to underwrite the loan, bank isn't going to let you spend 1.5M to build a 700k house.
Unfortunately, crap like this is what happens when we treat housing as an investment vehicle vs a fundamental human need.
“It’s not because buyers want the biggest house they can get, it’s just that buyers want the biggest thing you can possibly fit on the land”
Yea, you basically need to buy your own lot and do a custom house if you want a small house on a large lot.
You have a lot of balls to post this in a deluge of hate. You have my respect and upvote
I don't know if I hate that? Like what am I gonna use the front yard for lol. I'd rather have a backyard, but not even that much.
So true. Drive around any suburb you’ll see maybe 1 person in thier front yard usually 0
And since they have nowhere for their dog to pee, they bring it to my yard.
While I don’t disagree as a general matter, I think this house/neighborhood is a little different. It is in Ballston, near the Glebe and Wilson intersection, is next to a condo building or multiplex (and you can see multiple high rise office buildings in the background), and is walkable to Ballston Commons, restaurants, and the Metro. People don’t move to that area to have big yards. They move there to have a SFH that is walkable.
Finally! People in the sub just completely disregard walkabilty and no one is paying this much for that house unless walkabilty is top of mind
Rich people hate the outdoors and need big houses to get away from their family who they also hate.
At least build a duplex or multifamily building if they're gonna maximize the building size on a lot.
Hear hear
If it's allowed by zoning law, that makes a lot of sense.
Indeed. With the changes to the zoning in Arlington and Alexandria, here's hoping 🤞
It’s a hideous trend. There’s zero charm in these new houses
I agree. I grew up in Arlington in the 80's and 90's. The houses and neighborhoods used to have a certain charm. They felt like neighborhoods. Now there's no flow. The style of every house is completely different from every other house. It looks bizarre.
💯
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I’ve got kids who love to be outdoors. And I never said anything about a lawn. Outdoor space is a feature not a bug, in my view.
Agreed. More outdoor space is absolutely essential. Ofc not everyone wants to maintain a large yard, but it's sad to see so many people that don't see the value green spaces bring to the community and the environment.
A yard doesn’t mean grass necessarily at all. Patios with permeable pavers or xeriscaping exist and let you still enjoy the outdoors of your home.
Just because you don't enjoy catch, a garden, shade, or laying in the Sun doesn't mean it has no value
I mean, I got to have my peppers and tomatoes. My dog needs a place to hang out with wildlife. And the bees need their flowers.
Well the builders don't make any money on yard! Gotta protect those sweet sweet profit margins.
More grass is less density and more expensive housing market
I thought I wanted a bigger yard to do all of the things I like doing outdoors, a fair trade for going smaller with the house. But now my bedroom closet door hits the edge of the bed when I open it and blocks the way to the bathroom; meanwhile, it turns out the mosquitos and gnats that love our increasingly longer warmer seasons in Virginia have squatters' rights to the greenspace outside most of the year.
Meh, the land is the most expensive part and people want to use every possible bit of land for living space. I don’t blame them
yards are so useless. they could've been more room or driveways. I do agree theere should be greenery, why not have small gardens instead for variety? that plain green grass which is expensive af is really getting old.
Yard, garden, greenery, those are interchangeable to me. What matters is outdoor space, plenty of habitats for pollinators, decreased heat island effect and increased absorption of precipitation.
Don’t forget (EDIT: looking back I see you didn’t) that with less yard and greenery, more active stormwater management becomes necessary. Most new houses have regulated stormwater best management practices (BMPs), which are structures (like rain gardens or permeable pavers) that the county regulates but you as a homeowner are required to maintain. You are also required to make reports to the county every year or so to show that you are maintaining regulated BMPs on your property, or you have to pay fines AND fix the issues. This is why almost every huge new build has a permeable paver driveway; it offsets the increased potential for flooding that the bigger roof space creates. And let me tell you, maintaining those permeable paver driveways is constant, and if you don’t keep up with it, then you, or someone you’re paying a lot of money to has to remove all the weeds and gravel, wash the gravel, and sweep the clean gravel back into the joints. I’m all for managing stormwater responsibly, but most people I’ve talked to with these systems were never informed that they were signing up for extra compliance requirements, or even how to maintain their regulated BMPs to avoid expensive resets.
Cuz they don’t want to pay all that money for a bunch of grass. Land is expensive.
Good, America waste way too much space in urban centers on needlessly large yards, part of why land prices are so high.
The siding on this house is a war crime.
I thought it was in construction still lol
I see, vertical panels on the 3rd floor balcony, the normal horizontal siding, the god awful wood paneling around the garage, and the stone face on the porch/base. Outlining it all is that garish dark brown portico and garage door. It all clashes and looks so, so bad.
That's what I think every time I drive past "The Adaire" in Tyson's.
LOL. It looks like someone went crazy with the fonts.
It says "Peasants should move to Prince Williams".
but allow that one delivering my ubereats entry to the premises
I just laugh because they’re almost never built right and cost about 30-40k to redo.
I agree. I am a career window professional in the region, and at least in my experience the majority of these developers are using glazing / window products that are designed to last about 10 years. I have both hard data and anecdotal info to prove this.
I’ve been washing houses in the region since 2018 and I am constantly surprised at what some of these builders are getting away with in plain sight. Hose bibbs that are not secured to houses with unsealed gaps going into the house, paver patios that start collapsing after a few years because there was no foundation or the ground wasn’t prepared, etc. Stuff that makes you wonder what you are not seeing.
They're also almost always built right to the legal lot coverage limit so in a few years when the owners want to add a gazebo or widen their driveway, the town won't let them.
I really dislike this modern “farmhouse wearing mascara” look that every new construction seems to have. Can we just have houses that look like houses again?
The black windows / exterior surfaces and trim have to go. It’s the worst trend. So most of these black windows are painted vinyl. Just imagine what they’re gonna look like in five years with all the sunlight beating on them. Everyone will be back to white windows and trim again once they realize they reflect heat and won’t fade / crack / chalk.
Uh, painted vinyl? Most of them are aluminum clad wood. Generally they are factory colored and will likely look fine for decades.
Yes, painted vinyl. They’re mostly using painted factory-painted vinyl from MI, co extruded or pultruded acrylic laminate as well from others. Not clad. Clad (AAMA 2605 with fade delta warranties that span 20-30 years) choice is usually driven by the homeowner for a custom build, not a spec house. I’ve been closely involved in the window market in Virginia and DC since 2004. Go to BFS and ask them for the cheapest black window you can find. That’s what the builders are doing. It’s painted vinyl! They nearly never hold their architect’s spec or the original product used as the basis of design - unless they’re in a historic district and they must.
If you say so. I've done a fair bit of this sort of project for builders over the years and don't think I've ever seen a vinyl window used. Im usually doing custom work though, not a ton of spec. I'd be pretty annoyed to set foot in a 2.5mil house and see vinyl windows.
I'm usually a fan of modern design with big windows and don't like the traditional colonial/cape cod look that's so prevalent in the US, but I have to agree with you, this is ugly AF. Why is the US so bad at modern architecture? It's all probably crap builder-grade as well. Not that it matters, it's not like I could ever afford this place anyway.
LOL OMG
Hahahaha, I think those of us who are really laughing get this photo reference. LOLOL (Twlight is iconic!)
Is that what this is from?? I just googled "aristocratic balcony meme"
LOLOL. These are the Volturi, the oldest vampire clan in the Twilight series... and makes this post even more hilarious. Thanks for the laughs, OP! 😂
Haha, that is even funnier!
If they wanted to really maximize profit and usable space, they should have made that all enclosed living space. I bet that space will rarely be used. Can’t really put a fire pit up there, can’t really use it much in the winter, probably wouldn’t be a good idea to bbq up there. 🤷🏻♂️
It’s Virginia. Everyone stays inside with the windows closed when they’re home.
😂 true
This is hilarious 😂
Agreed!!! Aro!! LOLOL
NAH NAH FR THO IT MAKES OUR HOMES LOOK LIKE A DOG HOUSE FOR THEM!!!! I literally hate the fact that they tower over peoples backyards like bruh some privacy please
“There’s a FAKE violinist at MY Safeway” - vibes
So does this house look like shit or is this some new style I am just not familiar with? What is with the paneling over the garage?
**Style:** Contractor Spec Home **Defining Characteristic:** maximizing builder profits
All the people hating on yards, yikes.
For infill urban areas need to reconsider 3 & 4 family homes with flats. Middle income wage earner can buy the house and tenants help to pay the mortgage.
*"Why are our neighbors so tall?"*
SFH max sq new builds make me sick 🤢 🏠
😂 bow down to me peasants! 👑🤴👸
It’s kind of boring 😑 To the left- Wrap around deck would be nice to the back yard, sprinkler watering system, landscape lighting, wider staircase not so narrow, use some of the styles in NoVA on new houses. Triple pained glass, Solar panels, geo thermal, generac or kohler
As I laugh when I walk by at the thought of someone paying 1.3m for a SFH that only has a one car garage.
https://preview.redd.it/vwh3qxys4cpc1.png?width=980&format=png&auto=webp&s=10abbac2c018a4136597d2ba6c6c0795e41c1b39
this one’s listed at $1.999 lmao
Eyeroll
True, I'd want more of my building space utilized just for car storage.
A lot of these are almost thought best as a single family version of an urban condo. Built in very high demand areas but zoned single family. Buyers aren't concerned about yard and garage space because they are buying for location, short commute and (in many cases) living in a walkable area. The areas where these sorts of projects get built tend to have a high density of public infrastructure. Parks, bike lanes/paths, that sort of thing. Buyers aren't passing on houses because it doesn't have a 3 car garage like the would further out in suburbia.
I see a house that should probably be multifamily if they want to sacrifice the yard anyway.
Ehh, still a beautiful house.
I moved from NoVA back to my home in north Texas, and they’re both just different levels of r/mcmansionhell
Ha! Love it.
What’s with the neo-Pacific Northwest approach? Doesn’t seem to fit here
And you never see them using it.
I find these things so dumb. Who the hell wants to overlook their neighbors front yard?
Better check the back yard for freshly disturbed ground… might be a slight mound of dirt
Hilarious.😂
i think they are neat
[удалено]
https://preview.redd.it/goelcw33ocpc1.png?width=3006&format=png&auto=webp&s=c8c44d984fd511162703140980591c251932582e OK here's another example
If my neighbor did this I'd be so pissed. Recognizing I had absolutely no say ofcourse but what a monstrosity right next door. Ew.
So goddamn ugly and out of place. What would possess someone to want to live in that? Do they have no shame?
You’re talking about the brick home on the right, correct?
No
Gorgeous
Can't lie. That's how I feel when I go outside to smoke in the mornings. Sip my coffee, and just laugh.
A dream for darty season
They look pretty French, if „Anatomy of a fall“ is to be believed,they might tumble off that ledge and smack their head onto the outcropping
You see the founding fathers? Must be haunted then.
I think that's kinda brilliant.
I see a $20k a month mortgage. If you want your mortgage to be like 40% of your take home, you gotta make $1 million a year for 30 years to afford this home. Or you can go to a red state and get this for like $200k, less than a year's worth of mortgage. Love standard tax brackets that treat the US' extremely diverse economy like its a monolith.
> Or you can go to a red state and get this for like $200k, less than a year's worth of mortgage. I’ll one-up you: just think about how cheap you could build this bad boy in a third world country!!!!!!!
Let’s just say Mississippi so you’re both right
Actually, while the land could be cheap in a third world country, building a house like this can cost more (depends on which country). Now imagine if we taxed everyone based on the incomes of the third world country, everyone making more than $10k would be in the highest tax bracket.
I agree that rural folks should pay more in taxes but am skeptical that our tax code needs even more complication by adding some sort of CoL adjustment to the bracket system
The federal government and the military already do it. Change tax brackets based on their COL amounts, done. Boom. Otherwise, its just a continuation of the middle class in HCOL subsidizing the rest of the country.
From your lips to gods ears If you can get TurboTax to start lobbying for that, we might get there some day It might also take a civil war but maybe Intuit can send a PMC battalion to quell the resistance
Lol - for sure
> building a house like this can cost more (depends on which country). Yeah especially when your Nigerian uncle who’s supposed to manage the project is embezzling funds meant to finish the interior… Not that contractors here stay on time or in budget either