When Is A Wall Of Living Room Windows Not A Good Idea? Ask Your Next-Door Neighbor

I am not able to freely walk in and out of homes under construction anymore due to the homebuilding bust a couple of years ago. Builders tend to keep them under lock and key to keep out thieves that are after appliances and copper.

But one of the many things that I still can do is look at the exterior of homes, new and old alike, and gather ideas.

 

While driving around this past weekend, we came across a neighborhood of around 40-50 new homes with a couple of homes under construction.

The homes were priced in the mid-$300′s to mid-$400′s on one-third to half-acre lots with approximately 3,500-5,000 sq. ft.

As we drove around the carefully manicured lots, something struck me as being very odd. (No…it wasn’t just the red deck on a brown house with another home around the corner with the same issue)

Sure…these homes were plenty large with nice architectural features, but massive amounts of square footage isn’t first on my list when I look at houses. When I drove around to the backside of a group of homes via a different street, I began to notice how many homes had the same configuration of 3-story living room windows.

Essentially, these homes seemed to have the same, or similar, floor plan/rear exterior.

There a few things wrong with that and I’ll tell you why:

1. There were too many of them with the same plan within close proximity of one another. I have a photo (shown below) with three homes sitting side-by-side with no view. What is the point?!
2. The only reason I would want a wall of living room windows three stories high is if there was a great view. I saw the view that these homeowners had and if left me wanting. What is the point of creating this great wall of windows only to watch the guy that lives behind you drink from the jug in his kitchen…in his pj’s!!
3. Having too many homes with the same floor plan in close proximity to one another brings down home and property values. If you are house hunting, you always want to look for a neighborhood with a wide variety of house plans. No cookie cutter McMansions…if you can afford it!

To top it all off, all of these homes had spent a fortune on window treatments to either block out the afternoon sun and/or the sweet view of the neighbors back deck.

This neighborhood qualifies for my “Dumb Homebuilding Ideas” category. It really is a shame to see these great looking home floor plans being misused. There are way too many choices for a developer or homebuilder to consider to make this kind of mistake. At least not in this price range it should never happen.

Yes…it’s my opinion whether you agree with me or not.

I’ve written about this kind of problem in the past where a homebuilder decided to build a home with a wall of living room windows facing a busy street (it’s near the end of the article). It never ceases to amaze me how little thought some developers and homebuilders put into creating a neighborhood with variety. You can still make money and create a great neighborhood because most homeowners want their home to be uniquely theirs.

I’ve also written about homes that use this wall of living room windows appropriately (they have a view).

These homes are having an identity crisis and the homeowners aren’t helping matters. We noticed something else very peculiar. Half of the homes in this neighborhood had statuary in their front yards. What is peculiar about that? It was either frogs, dogs or saints, all in quantity. I’ll leave that for another day to post.

 

Let’s hope not.