The McMansion Next Door

"If you ripped off the roofs—and the turrets and gables and fake widow’s walks—or peered into the windows—double-hung, round, Palladian, picture (often in the same house!)—you’d find essentially the same thing: a vast foyer with chandelier; formal living and dining rooms (rarely used); open-plan kitchen/family room; master suite and bedrooms; many bathrooms; at least a three-car garage... Whatever happened to the modern house, and why the core idea of modernism—that through mass production, ordinary people could afford the best design—never caught on when it came to houses. Le Corbusier called the house "a machine for living in" -- which meant, notes New York architect Deborah Gans, that the house is a tool people control, not the other way round."