Tag Archives: reuse

The “reincarnated McMansion”

Posted on by

I saw a couple of pieces referring to the Reincarnated McMansion project. Here is the mission of the project:

Through a media campaign, select suitable building and willing McMansion owner.

Audit, dismantle, and rebuild using existing McMansion materials to create 2 homes, applying best practice environmentally sustainable design principles.

You can read more details of the project here. And if you are a resident of Australia who lives in a McMansion, you would have to meet these guidelines to be part of the project:

  • Do you own a home that has a floor space exceeding 360sqm? (If you are not sure how big your home is, measure the outside dimensions of your home and multiply the width by the length of your building. For example, if the outside dimensions are 13 x 15 m (195sqm) and you have a second floor, your home is approximately 390sqm.
  • Does your council allow dual occupancy in your residential zone? (If you are not sure, call your council – most lot sizes greater than 700sqm allow dual occupancy)
  • Are you willing to contribute financially to the project an amount equal to the value added to the site through the Reincarnated McMansion intervention? Receive very significant service and product subsidies through project sponsorship agreements (in the order of 200K – this figure is our initial estimate)
  • Are you prepared to find alternative accommodation (or go on a holiday!) for the duration of the auditing, dismantling and rebuilding process approximately 6 months.
  • Tell us about your home, your family and why you wish to be involved in the project.
  • If you can, please attach digital images of your home.

It will be interesting to see who they sign up for this project: it would require admitting that your home is a McMansion as well as giving up your home.

If this idea catches on, perhaps we will see it imported to the United States where the housing market continues to be in the doldrums. And this is not the only team looking to reuse McMansions – perhaps these groups are forerunners of a larger trend.