Opinion: Oversized Mansions Are Harming Maryland Neighborhoods

In a letter to the editor published in The Washington Post, Mary Speck of Bethesda, Maryland claims that "[m]onsterfication is destroying the region’s inner suburbs." Speck is referring to the accelerating construction of single-family 'mega-mansions' that are, in her view, "irreversibly degrading charming neighborhoods" while failing to increase housing stock or promote affordability. The proliferation of outsized homes in older neighborhoods, Speck argues, puts housing out of reach of working-class households and caters only to "the region’s all-too-abundant lawyers, consultants and lobbyists."