The Worst Single Family Home Design of 2010

Posted on: December 23rd, 2010 | 8 Comments

In our final installment of the Worst Residential Designs of 2010, John and Matthew critique a McMansion in Philadelphia.

  • jim baer

    oh no the house is ugly …. run away … run away….!!

    happy holidays, john and matthew … and all the other slow homers.

  • Matthew North

    Happy Holidays Jim! Thanks for being such a regular contributor – we really appreciate it!

  • http://www.tangohomes.com Chris Fossenier

    Hello Team SlowHomeStudio,

    I was recently referred to this site and find it of interest as we are just launching our development company in Saskatoon, SK.

    I am the President of Hammers and Nails, so I am more involved with the construction, vendors and trades, but I have shared the site with my partners:

    Scott, President of Money and Time
    Erin, President of Inspiration and Design

    I find these “worst” designs interesting, but I think it would be more more interesting if there was the antidote in the same video.

    I look forward to seeing the antidote videos and am curious when there will be another contest (was it a contest?) for submitting home designs.

    Cheers.

    Chris.

  • http://www.FloydDesign.ca TomE

    Merry Christmas, John, Matthew, The Slow Home Team and the band of merry slow homers.
    All the best in the new year.
    Thanks for the discussions and education.
    Cheers

  • Matthew North

    Merry Christmas TomE! Thank you for being such a loyal follower of Slow Home and we look forward to having you come along for the ride in 2011! Have a great holiday.

  • Matthew North

    Hi Chris Fossenier – thanks for posting the comment! We really appreciate the feedback. It is a good idea to have the “bad” and then the “good” presented in the same video – we will incorporate that in future episodes.

    The floorplans came from our “Slow Home Project” which we ran from January until August if 2010. During this period we (and by “we” I mean all of the slow home viewers) reviewed and rated over 4,500 new home, apartment/loft and townhouse floor plans from nine different North American cities. We used the “Slow Home Test” to rate the plans, and used some of the lowest scoring plans for our “worst of” videos that you have watched this week.

    We started the Slow Home Project because we were trying to get a sense of what the current state of home design was in North America. The results confirmed our assumptions. Over 60% of new apartment/ lofts, townhouses and single family houses scored as “poorly designed”. In fact, about 20% were so poorly designed that we would not recommend that anyone should buy them. The episodes of the Slow Home Project are still available to watch on our site, you just have to go back and watch the episodes from January until August of 2010.

    Also, congratulations on starting your development company in Saskatoon – sounds like you are setting out to build well designed and environmentally responsible homes so we applaud you for this and look forward to your future contributions on the Slow Home site!

  • Mid America Mom

    Seasons Greetings!

    At a brunch a few weeks back I got a peek at a floorplan of the man in the red suit’s place. Bunk beds in a dorm type bedroom, large great room, expansive kitchen, and the garage was huge. But what is one to expect when you consider the needs for housing reindeer and a multitude of elves and you work from home with all of them?

    Sounds like a slow home design challenge ;)

    Mid America Mom

  • Frank

    Seasons Greetings and Merry Christmas John, Matthew, and all the Slow Homers out there. Best wishes for a Happy Boxing Day to those of you north of the border and a Happy 2011 to everyone. I look forward to another year of learning and great challenges. Hope everyone is healthy and happy and enjoying time with their families in their slow home.