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Gotta love it, lol. So you can build a ungodly monstrosity, but may get your wrist slapped if they don't like your house color.
No, that's why the ARDB doesn't get involved - they don't want to police the little things like that. Personally I think they've reached the tipping point because some really fugly stuff has gone up there....not to mention situations like hotkarl mentioned where people on a block of ranches are now dwarfed by the 3 story McMansion next door. I suppose it must be some comfort to know some of those people are so underwater right now it's scary.
No, that's why the ARDB doesn't get involved - they don't want to police the little things like that. Personally I think they've reached the tipping point because some really fugly stuff has gone up there....not to mention situations like hotkarl mentioned where people on a block of ranches are now dwarfed by the 3 story McMansion next door. I suppose it must be some comfort to know some of those people are so underwater right now it's scary.
Oh I bet! I remember you posting (i think it was you) you have heard of GC people in huge houses with almost no furniture inside because they were so underwater and in debt. Saw similar stuff in FL after the housing crash, not to mention the McMansion 'ghost towns' and half-built subdivisions that will never be finished. Sad.
Bastards did this on my old block. Right next door to me. Quaint charming dead end block of colonials and ranches. Some pecker head developer bought the over sized piece of property, tore down the house and put up 2 McMonsters. I swear you could pass your neighbor the sugar from the windows they were so close. Totally ruined the whole look of the block. I felt like I had no privacy anymore with this monstrosity overlooking my yard. Then to top it all off the owners converted the one next to me into 3 apartments and rented it out. That was the end for me. I couldn't sell fast enough.
Yeah, see this is what I mean. I could only imagine it isn't going to make you too popular among the neighbors. I wonder if anyone in history has ever gone to his neighbor before building one. Well I read once that in Colorado there is possibly a 15,000 sf cap after a really wealthy out of towner built a home that that size in Aspen. I don't know enough people to put in a house that size...
One was built next to my ranch home now it's 2nd story bed room windows are level with the top of my wood stove stack's top and I heat my house with the wood stove,just waiting for them to complain.
We converted our newly-bought ranch to a 4-bed colonial which 4 other houses on this block have also done in the last 5 years. I don't see how this hurts the sale value of the ranches. If anything, people like us would see the other improved homes on the block and consider the homes - as well as the neighborhood - a good prospect to build on - and so we did.
As for overbuilding - if you're paying out $150-500k to do renovations with adding sqft as your primary goal, you're gonna want to do whatever you can while you have the can of worms already open. It's like after deciding to buy a car when you're about to have your first baby. You don't spend your $25-30k to buy something just-big-enough. You want to plan even further ahead and use the money wisely. With expanding a house, it's pretty much once-and-done. Making it visually unappealing is a completely different story than building big for sqft. Is every built-up home visually overdone? Of course only the ones that are are pointed out.
The one negative with building up ranches is the width of lots don't correlate with the height of the house sometimes. You already have limited space between houses in Nassau and if both are built up, it looks like there is hardly any space between properties. At least it's just a side-yard issue rather than front or back. People looking to buy a bigger house on LI won't consider that a serious issue.
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There's barely any space between the house and the property line on either side. I don't know how the Town of Huntington can allow such a thing.
This is why there are variance hearings in the town court. If nobody opposes - and the builder is req'd to notify the neighbors within 100ft of the issue & court date - then it is allowed. I had to go through that with the CAC units on the side yard. My surrounding neighbors of course didn't care about such a small issue.
We converted our newly-bought ranch to a 4-bed colonial which 4 other houses on this block have also done in the last 5 years. I don't see how this hurts the sale value of the ranches. If anything, people like us would see the other improved homes on the block and consider the homes - as well as the neighborhood - a good prospect to build on - and so we did.
As for overbuilding - if you're paying out nearly $200k to do renovations with adding sqft as your primary goal, you're gonna want to do whatever you can while you have the can of worms already open. It's like buying a car when you're about to have your first baby. You don't spend your $25-30k to buy something just-big-enough. You want to plan even further ahead and use the money wisely. With expanding a house, it's pretty much once-and-done. Making it visually unappealing is a completely different story than building big for sqft.
If you added a 2nd floor to an existing ranch then the homes footprint remains the same as does the distance to the property lines. I have seen the websites where Levitt homes are expanded with upstairs additions/dormers thats fine. The problem is when the homeowner chooses to replace the existing cape/ranch and put up a 2.5 story Georgian Revival that seems to go almost to the property lines. The other thing that looks really bad is when an ultra modern home is put on a street of traditional homes.
But as always beauty is in the eye of the beholder and most town governments only care if they get their money. Stay vigilant and attend meeting when a zoning variance sign is put up.
A lot of the time you'll find it's a person who grew up in a particular area, or even the street they are buying on, and they are just desperate to own the biggest house on the block.
Other times it's simply a matter of bad taste. Columns are nice? Ironwork is nice? Pavers are nice? Twisty topiaries are nice? Pergolas are nice? Maybe a mini gazebo? Well, who can decide, so let's just throw it all in there and the hell with the aesthetics. We had a teardown near us in Garden City where the people did this. Literally every design element you can think of on one 60x100 plot.
There's another house in Franklin Square that looks like the owners went to Hicks Nursery on a Saturday and picked up every landscaping feature they sell and put it all out front...and then ran out of room so there's more on the grassy swath between the street and the sidewalk. Must be seen to be believed.
I can't believe I haven't come across this house in Franklin Square. I'd love to see it, where is it??
I THINK it's on Maple - off Courthouse Road (know where I mean? The road that branches off from NHP Rd as you head northbound?) If not it's in that general vicinity.
I am totally with you. How can people here do not understand the impact of McMansion on nearby home values? It is going to INCREASE neighborhood house values.
For me, I would be extremely happy if people keep building big houses around my house. This tells me that my location is excellent so that rich people are buying houses around me. My land value will increase, I can get better return when I sell my house. What's not to like? snobbish neighbor? as long as they do not make noise, that's fine with me.
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Originally Posted by rh71
We converted our newly-bought ranch to a 4-bed colonial which 4 other houses on this block have also done in the last 5 years. I don't see how this hurts the sale value of the ranches. If anything, people like us would see the other improved homes on the block and consider the homes - as well as the neighborhood - a good prospect to build on - and so we did.
As for overbuilding - if you're paying out $150-500k to do renovations with adding sqft as your primary goal, you're gonna want to do whatever you can while you have the can of worms already open. It's like after deciding to buy a car when you're about to have your first baby. You don't spend your $25-30k to buy something just-big-enough. You want to plan even further ahead and use the money wisely. With expanding a house, it's pretty much once-and-done. Making it visually unappealing is a completely different story than building big for sqft. Is every built-up home visually overdone? Of course only the ones that are are pointed out.
The one negative with building up ranches is the width of lots don't correlate with the height of the house sometimes. You already have limited space between houses in Nassau and if both are built up, it looks like there is hardly any space between properties. At least it's just a side-yard issue rather than front or back. People looking to buy a bigger house on LI won't consider that a serious issue.
This is why there are variance hearings in the town court. If nobody opposes - and the builder is req'd to notify the neighbors within 100ft of the issue & court date - then it is allowed. I had to go through that with the CAC units on the side yard. My surrounding neighbors of course didn't care about such a small issue.
We have a neighbor that built a 9000 sq ft home, plus a 1200 sq ft pool house on an acre. To quote some of the other neighbors "It's vulgar!" LOL It's actually a well done custom built home and they really spared no detail...but it's just out of place. It casts shadows on the surrounding homes. And I feel bad for many of their direct neighbors because they've been building this house for well over 2 years. Their taxes are going to have to be close to 40k, if not more. I have one neighbor who razed their old house and built a new custom one and their taxes are 33k+ for approximately 5000 sq ft.
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after a really wealthy out of towner built a home that that size in Aspen. I don't know enough people to put in a house that size...
