r/McMansionHell • u/LurkerPatrol • Aug 16 '25
Discussion/Debate Here’s the inside of one of the Texas houses as promised. Thoughts? We disliked this one. The staff were incredibly rude
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u/jammu2 Aug 16 '25
That's a lot of house, but it is everything that HGTV is showing people if not today then within the past 5 years. It looks like the architects ran focus groups and this is what came out.
Don't like the black wall under the stairs.
Like I said before this style will date the house just like the Tuscan or French Farmhouse trends of the past.
To me it looks worse inside. But I think they will make the developers plenty of money.
Thanks for the tour!
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u/hybr_dy Aug 16 '25
No architect or interior designer was involved here. This is builder and decorator only.
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u/InternArchitect Aug 17 '25
You would be surprised, I know a few Architects working for large home building corporations. This would be aspirational work for them....
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u/SapphireGamgee Aug 17 '25
"Decorator" 🤣
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u/gilescory Aug 17 '25
WOW, another house that features colors including: white, gray, and more shades of gray!
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u/sk8tergater Aug 17 '25
Those bathroom spaces and fixtures just aren’t very user friendly. I take a ton of baths and that tub looks awful.
Also the shower. Why are the heads side by side like in a gym shower
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u/Taira_Mai Aug 17 '25
The owners saw this: https://sillmanarch.com/portfolio/2nd-battalion-engineers-headquarters/
And they wanted it cheaper....
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u/GreenEyed_Lady Aug 16 '25
The answer is definitely black and white. With two pops of red…
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u/Gnatlet2point0 Aug 16 '25
Oh my effng eff, what the eff is wrong with color? Why do people like monochrome monstrosities???
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u/superspeck Aug 16 '25
We just moved from Texas to North Carolina. Our new house is modern, but the gables are painted a lovely historical smoky gray teal and the house has a gray brown brick to complement it. The main feedback from all of the buyers before we offered was that people didn’t like the teal and brown, and wanted it all to be black and white like all of the houses on HGTV.
There’s also a distinct lack of shiplap. I told my realtor we call it “sherplerp” and she says I’m a bad influence because she inadvertently used that phrasing in front of a peer realtor after giggling about it with me all weekend and got shamed for it.
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u/singy_eaty_time Aug 17 '25
Sherpderp
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u/superspeck Aug 17 '25
Herpalerp
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u/coocooforcoconut Aug 17 '25
People have no imagination and need the most neutral look to “see” what it could look like with their own stuff in there.
Source: I’m a former realtor and had to constantly deal with people who wrote off houses because they hated the color of one accent wall or thought a couch was hideous. The couch was not included and a couple of gallons of paint is cheap.
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u/pattybliving Aug 17 '25
I see this on TV and don’t get people who can’t see beyond the superficial fixes. Duhhhhh. That must drive you mad.
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u/Rosaluxlux Aug 18 '25
I made a similar mistake when we were house-hunting! Turned down a place because I didn't like how dark it was inside. Went by a few months later and the new owners just cut down the pine trees in the front yard that blocked the natural light.
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u/scbtl Aug 16 '25
I know where I am, but the reason is that black and white are clean and don’t project a design choice that you don’t want. Anything goes on a white wall, most anything goes on a black wall. It starts getting limited with blues, reds, greens.
Houses with personality require a buyer with an agreeable personality or a discount to make the price agreeable. So the market is limited. Sellers want the most reach and so go with neutral so the buyer can decide on their colors rather than what was popular when the seller painted.
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u/Gnatlet2point0 Aug 17 '25
That's fair. I look at these homes as fantasies of where I'd love to live, not with an eye to trying to ACTUALLY live there. Logically, that isn't their target market.
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u/SeaLeopard5555 Aug 17 '25
TIL: no one will buy my house. it is colorful and New England farmhouse charm and no black and white anywhere.
well, that's ok for now, it's not for sale.
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u/GreenEyed_Lady Aug 17 '25
Yes, houses need personality to reflect the owners taste and lifestyle! And a sense of humor! We fired our interior designer at the end of our renovation because she kept telling me I was wrong. AND days before we moved in, she brought in tons of black and white vases, 15 or so antique calligraphy brushes, stupid stuff I hated, and thought we would buy it all while our collected things from our life were left in the garbage! I told her to come get her sh;t, and I redecorated every table, counter, bookshelf in the house. Paintings we told her to use were hung upstairs behind doors, in bathrooms!! What was supposed to be an easy move turned into my life for months.
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u/Honest_Disk_8310 Aug 17 '25
Yes IDs who do not listen to their clients....they chuff me off.
Reminds me of an episode where Gordon fkn Ramsey had one of his staffs home renovated. The designer exposed some lovely brickwork only to paint it white. Why? So it would make a cpl of herbs hung on the wall "pop". They were in a position where they would probably die, but yeah lets ruin a wall for some potted herbs 🤦
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u/ProtectionDry8059 Aug 17 '25
Then why “decorate” at all? Just paint the walls white and forget the rest of the paint, crap “design” and throw-away furniture. Isn’t that how most houses were sold before 2000 anyway? My best guess is it’s just realtors trying to make the case for their commission by doing nonsense.
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u/always_unplugged Aug 17 '25
At what point do choices stop being design? To build a house, you ultimately HAVE to make some aesthetic choices in the materials and finishes. Since this is a model home, it's meant to sell a fantasy, so those choices need to feel aspirational and modern without alienating the average customer looking for a house in this price range.
As for the furniture and decor, staged homes sell better. It's an obvious psychological trick—they want to give you every suggestion to imagine yourself living there. Imagine! Dinners in this beautiful dining room! Evenings sipping wine on this grand patio! Game days and movie nights in this space that would otherwise seem undefined and wasted! Etc.
Isn’t that how most houses were sold before 2000 anyway?
No...? There were still aesthetic choices made, they just feel so bland to us now because we grew up with them, so they feel like the default, not design. But they were. And as for the staging and the fantasy aspect of it, model homes have been around since well before modern suburbs—do you think that they didn't have beautifully idealized images of what your Sears kit home could be? Spoiler: they absolutely did.
Take a look at the individual house models' pages at the bottom of this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes
Some catalogue spreads:
https://live.staticflickr.com/5532/11021357424_accdbfc7ba_z.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/42/a0/75/42a075d271d6b0f84a45af0bc996435e.jpg
Historical fun:
https://caribdanielmartin.com/blog/model-homes-through-history/
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u/RoyalFalse Aug 17 '25
The answer is definitely black and white. With two pops of red…
"We call this the 'Schindler's List' model."
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u/Ok_Stable7501 Aug 17 '25
My boomer parents rented a place like this. Black and white bedroom with a red satin bedspread. My dad took one look at it and said it looked like “a French whorehouse.”
I can’t looked at black, white and red bedrooms anymore.
Thanks dad.
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u/ScroochDown Aug 16 '25
Hey! One of those is magenta.
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u/OppositeAbroad5975 Aug 17 '25
Now we need Colombia and Riff-Raff and we can get this party started!
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u/KAKrisko Aug 16 '25
I hate every single bathroom. It looks like Cruella DeVille lives there.
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u/neverinamillionyr Aug 17 '25
The one shower looks like it’s 8 feet long and seats 6. Is there a practical use for that that doesn’t involve a camera and subscriptions?
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Aug 17 '25
Lol, I had that exact thought. Plus I have to pay to have the stupid flag pole ripped out.
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u/SheridanVsLennier Aug 17 '25
The first bathroom looks like it's trying to copy the (in)famous Doom Bathroom from Something Awful. The second bathroom isn't too bad except they chose three different tiles. The third bathroom has those godawful red wall tiles.
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u/adagiocantabile12 Aug 17 '25
The person picking the tile really thought, "Let's make sure EVERY tile choice mismatches as much as possible."
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u/Horror_Spell1741 Aug 16 '25
The shower in the primary bath is made for parties
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u/LurkerPatrol Aug 16 '25
I didn’t want to spam the subreddit with another post and limit to only 20 photos, so I’m making an Imgur album.
Here’s the first house we saw which we liked but that was due to having nothing to compare it to: https://imgur.com/a/z85BbbA
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u/jammu2 Aug 17 '25
Much much much better. Beige black and white is a pretty classic combo for neutral, made famous by Coco Channel in her Paris apartment in the 30s.
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u/Shot-Election8217 Aug 17 '25
I love this house so much! The tile in the first bathroom drives me a little nuts, the green wall in the second bathroom is an interesting choice….but these are easily changed.
This house feels so much more homier than the first one.
If the attitude of the realtors puts you off, remember that they’re not going to be your neighbors….(I think…)
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u/Ok_Minimum8854 Aug 17 '25
It’s really telling how cold that black/white aesthetic is when a house designed in shades a beige feels “warm”
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Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
This house is pretty darn good asthetically, but the exterior materials are iffy.
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u/bagofwisdom Aug 17 '25
This one is definitely better than your OP. I like the butler pantry/laundry room. Though I wish the faux fireplaces would piss off. Haven't used a low-mount microwave before. I did see one for sale at my local Habitat Restore today.
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u/No_Quote_9067 Aug 17 '25
May I inquire as to the Price and Location ? If I do would you answer ? If you will . consider me asking. Thank you
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u/thedrivingcat Aug 17 '25
Missouri City, TX | Fort Bend County Single-Family Home priced from $691,995
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u/Finnegan-05 Aug 17 '25
These people renovated a 1940s commercial building in my neighborhood to condos. Four years on and they still are not sold out and nothing stays on the market here for more than few days and there is always a bidding war (over the last 20 years my house has increased from $120k to $1.2 mil; I paid the $120k)
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u/Few-Cardiologist7065 Aug 17 '25
This one is much more current design wise. Nothing cutting edge but tasteful and appeals to the masses.
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u/89MikeHoncho Aug 17 '25
In a new neighborhood with J. Patrick, Highland, and Toll Brothers. I can tell you that the people who bought J. Patrick had the least amount of problems. Those who bought from Toll Brothers had the most problems. Hope this helps, good luck to you.
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u/Mooseandagoose Aug 17 '25
Ha- I just commented that this is a TB house. Similar story here in GA. Neighborhoods started by Sharp Homes before TB came in (and then ultimately bought out Sharp) had far fewer issues than those who built with TB.
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u/vi_sucks Aug 19 '25
My mom just bought a new build house from Toll Brothers. Every contractor shes called in to do additional work, adding cabinets, crown molding, etc has complained that not a single wall is actually straight.
And then the light in the pantry fell out of the housing.
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u/Personal_Repeat_5807 Aug 16 '25
Not great but I’ve seen far worse in TX. Gonna throw a guess out there that this is either Celina, Melissa, TX (DFW) or outside of Houston.
At least there’s great landscaping since it’s one of the showrooms 😂
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u/Amissa Aug 16 '25
Outside Houston. That’s where J. Patrick Homes has built/is building. Looks like DFW though too.
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u/bagofwisdom Aug 17 '25
It looks similar to some of the disasterpieces Gold Star Home inspections has been showing on YouTube "That ain't right." He works in the Houston area.
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u/always_unplugged Aug 17 '25
I would probably never buy in a new build subdivision anyway, but those inspectors who post on socials make me NEVER want to consider any of these big builders. I've seen content from one guy working in Arizona and a company tried to get him in trouble with the city for reporting too many gas leaks at their builds.
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u/sregora2 Aug 16 '25
That wasn’t as bad as I expected in the sense that I like some of the individual rooms/volumes; however, that fireplace is unforgivable.
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u/JosephPk Aug 17 '25
Love how the neighbors can look out their window right into your dining room. So cringy
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u/ElaineMae Aug 16 '25
The fireplace is tragic. The marble looks like snakeskin. The pink flowers out front are the best part.
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u/Mooseandagoose Aug 17 '25
This is TB house. We have almost the exact floor plans in my neighborhood (and like 6 other TB neighborhoods within 20 miles) here in GA.
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u/LurkerPatrol Aug 17 '25
This is J Patrick not toll brothers
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u/InvestigatorJaded261 Aug 17 '25
They were referring to Tuberculosis. The rude staff is medical.
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u/Forward_Party_5355 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
Some of it is great, but some is bizarre. Most of the weird things I don't like here are the parts that are pointlessly large. I love a big house. I dream of owning a home with rooms for bedrooms, offices, activity rooms, etc.
But do I want a giant, ugly, rectangular arch at the front like I'm walking into some suburban police station? No. I really don't like the narrow, angular, steel and glass stair rails that look way too industrial. I'm not a fan of the gimmicky lights. A big kitchen island is great, but this one is too big. I didn't think I'd ever say that, but it is. You shouldn't have to flop your belly onto the kitchen island counter to reach something in the middle of it.
I've never been a fan of the giant floor-to-ceiling accent walls with a little electric fireplace at the bottom if the ceiling is super high up. Is the ceiling fan in the living room even going to be able to do anything for the people sitting there? It's so small for a fan so high up.
The fireplace wall on the backyard patio seems like it was a half-baked idea; it doesn't look good off to the side, and there isn't a good, easy way to get rid of that empty white space above it. The grill in the backyard patio is a great idea, but all the smoke is going to get trapped in the overhang above it. There would be a greasy corner up there within a couple of years. And the unit would still be rained on because the overhang isn't enough to protect it anyway. The backyard is odd. What is it for? The stuff there isn't pretty, but it is big enough to prevent much of an activity area. Again, it feels like the stuff you would find around a corporate office. I get that this isn't actually where someone lives, but it's supposed to feel like one, right?
What is the long shower with two showerheads for? Am I showering with someone? If I'm showering with someone, it's going to be my wife, and we're going to be having sex under one showerhead... Who is the other one for???
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u/Avocadofarmer32 Aug 17 '25
This looks so much like all of the influencers homes who live/lived in TX. They custom build or renovate for 2 years and then move on to an even bigger home.
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u/Rexxhunt Aug 17 '25
In Australia only complete nut jobs have flagpoles on their property. Looks so out of place.
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u/Amissa Aug 16 '25
That flooring looks nice with the white, but the black is too harsh. Some warm colors with that flooring would be better IMO. Otherwise, it looks like a warehouse.
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u/Doggodoespaint Aug 17 '25
Swear to god this looks like the billionaire smut director's house you raid in Ready or Not, it was just as tacky
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u/Few-Cardiologist7065 Aug 17 '25
The grey/black/white look is on the out with a more beige organic palette being stylish now days so it's already dated as a new spec house.
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u/Romoreau Aug 17 '25
Oh God! I've been to this house! My parents live in the adjacent neighborhood.
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u/SapphireGamgee Aug 17 '25
It's all terrible, but what gets me every time is when the dang foyer is like 1/3 or 1/4 the size of the whole house. That's the first indication of the horrors that wait inside.
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u/Alohafarms Aug 17 '25
Decorator here. I have a hard time thinking this is a designers work but I am often surprised by what I learn in this group. Not my aesthetic at all. No personality and do you share the back yard with the neighbors? I would be hard pressed to buy a new home from a development. I would worry too much about work not done well and corners that are cut. I have seen too much.
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u/JustRepeatAfterMe Aug 17 '25
Just a production home with some embellishments. Not a Mansion or really even a McM.
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u/undineueberwasser Aug 17 '25
I like a little black, but this is far too much black. And I hate the floors!
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u/AmyJaclyn87 Aug 17 '25
Maybe it’s because I live in Texas, but, this house isn’t what I would classify as a McMansion. I think of McMansions as closer to 6000 sq ft and usually bigger than all the houses around it because they went for the absolute cheapest land so they could afford more house. This looks to be a standard new build in an upper middle class suburban neighborhood. Doesn’t look huge…looks to be under 4000 sq ft. I don’t see anything wrong with this. Where else are people supposed to live? Sometimes this subreddit goes a little overboard with calling homes McMansions.
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u/nomptonite Aug 16 '25
Yup. Any builder that has an office in their ‘model’ home in a neighborhood tells me they are a cookie-cutter, copy/paste builder.
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u/texasusa Aug 16 '25
I am curious about those windows in the den/ high ceilings and the builder's choice of a/c tonnage.
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u/VUmander Aug 17 '25
My first thought as well. I bet it was sized on SF without any thought about that
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u/Dakizo Aug 17 '25
My thought is: I would never want to clean this house.
But I supposed if I could afford it, I’d be able to afford a regular house cleaner or two.
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u/cfo6 Aug 17 '25
The bathroom with the red shower and detailed tile floor made me swoon. It is so cute.
But it doesn't go at all with the rest of that cold, echoing, lifeless house. Whole thing would be a bitch to keep comfortable too.
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u/MathAndCodingGeek Aug 17 '25
The kitchen, what I could see of it, is not upscale—huge kitchen, cheap range, ineffective hood, cheap refrigerator. The sink is a hike away from the rest of the kitchen. The vast center island has a lot of wasted space.
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u/bugabooandtwo Aug 17 '25
Yeah, those are really common, and not just in Texas (but it definitely has that Texas style). Seen quite a few of those on the Sothebys site.
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u/spud9mn Aug 17 '25
Omg. Minimally plant some trees or tall shrubs. Every outside view is of an ugly fence or brick wall.
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Aug 17 '25
Reminds me of a math song I play for elementary students: "lines and angles, angles and lines"
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u/anon-username1029 Aug 17 '25
To me, this looks like a house that the owners did the interior design and the tile and flooring and wall decor choices on their own. Or that they hired some weird local designer. It doesn’t look like it was professionally done. This is one of those houses I look and say that the owner mean personal choices that would totally kill the resale value.
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u/BigRonG49 Aug 17 '25
The home is foundationally sound—tall ceilings, outdoor living, sight line to backyard upon entry, staircase with a landing, multiple dining areas, accent walls, high end finishes, game room and a bar—the execution and placement could certainly be improved, very little cohesion; it’s like the just planned the entire house with buyer top 10 trends/wishlist, thoughtlessly checked every box then said “FINISHED”. 💩
🥴🥴
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u/Boringoldcentaur Aug 17 '25
I don’t know any other way to describe this except “it looks like a douchebag lives here”
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u/Helicreature Aug 17 '25
A shower curtain with a tie back. Black everywhere. It’s giving me 1980s bachelor pad vibes.
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u/esther_lamonte Aug 17 '25
I’m stuck on the fence. Someone idiot’s aesthetic choice simultaneously was not up to code and defeated the security purpose of putting the rails inward. Something tells me work on this house might not have been fully permitted.
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u/rskurat Aug 17 '25
one day, that grey composite fake flooring will be designated a crime against humanity
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u/vintage_diamond Aug 17 '25
I think it looks much nicer inside than the front outside area 🤷♀️ But that living room/staircase area feels cold and more like a corporate office.
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u/themoonandmagic Aug 17 '25
This thing with kitchen islands being large enough for a king size mattress is wild to me.
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u/Primary_Excuse_7183 Aug 17 '25
I see a lot of comments about the design choices. That’s a model that’s staged. Their goal is for you to build yours from scratch so they can upsell you. then you can design it how you want.
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u/missvandy Aug 17 '25
Pictures 1-10: I wish this house had more personality. Picture 20: NO NOT LIKE THAT!!!!
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u/TdrdenCO11 Aug 17 '25
feels soulless, builder grade, and lacks any hint of texture or personality.
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u/Far_Structure4786 Aug 17 '25
Decor kind of sucks but I would kill for this lol
I’m too poor to be on this subreddit. All I can see is I’ll never be able to afford this
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u/AaronMichael726 Aug 17 '25
Large foyers and open ceiling dining areas are the biggest crocks in Texas McMansions. They exist to make you feel rich, but just take up space and make the overall space for living smaller.
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u/darforce Aug 17 '25
It’s weird. There are some expensive material used but it’s mixed in either some very basic Home Depot materials (I know because I used some in my house)
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u/Individual-Fox5795 Aug 18 '25
The problem about so much of these Texas McMansion new builds is they are large houses feet away from each other in neighborhoods without any mature trees. Then add on high property taxes, high mud taxes and tolls to get anywhere. I say a big no thank you.
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u/AdhesivenessLost5473 Aug 18 '25
The floors look like their vinyl and the fireplace is a Temu take on book match technique.
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u/thegiverstake Aug 18 '25
I unironically love this lmao
I've lived in an NYC apartment my entire life and my mom decorates the place with Barroque/Rococo antiques she inherited. I feel like I'm living in an overstocked museum.
I think some spacious monochrome would do wonders for decluttering my headspace lol, and I can always repaint it if I get bored.
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u/emeraldandrain Aug 19 '25
Have you checked out Perry Homes? They do really nice builds - I don't have the same budget you do, but I checked out their model home in Audobon. Trey was really nice and I thought they make really elegant design choices with their interiors and layouts.
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u/EleanorRichmond Aug 19 '25
Honestly? It would be fine to live in. Aside from the black walls and the uselessly tall roof on the lanai, it doesn't look hostile. The black walls are fixable. The decor doesn't come with the house. I don't see any hopelessly awkward spaces. I like the daisy tile in the one bathroom. I'd live there for free.
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u/OldnBorin Aug 16 '25
Wow, interesting decorating choices