'Starter Castles' Change Historic Neighborhoods

"Indeed, the number of oversize houses from 3,000 to 10,000 square feet with entrances like Tara, windows like European cathedrals and garages like small municipal lots has increased so drastically in the last decade that many local governments...find themselves struggling to establish new zoning ordinances or rewriting existing ones in an effort to restrict the size of the new structures.

These sprawling new homes...present neighbors with a sudden expanse of towering wall to look at, blocking sunlight, altering the streetscape and even changing the character of the neighborhood.

...In 2002, a report sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 'Taming the Teardown Trend,' said that demolitions were approaching 'epidemic proportions' in historic neighborhoods, and that 100 communities in 20 states had experienced significant numbers of teardowns."