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Tumblr
Personal blog · mcmansionhell.comdesignculture
Tumblr is a personal blog at mcmansionhell.com about design and culture. Since 2016, 91 different Hacker News readers have linked it 121 times, most often “Coronagrifting: A Design Phenomenon”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-29, and you can follow it by feed.
Sometimes recommended · 6 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link McMansion Hell for its critiques of ugly, poorly built homes, which explain architecture and design as they mock. Commenters cite its guides on what makes a McMansion bad and its posts on kit homes, ceiling fans and roof lines.
- Recommended for · 6 comments
- one commenter calls the blog a treat to read; another loves one article and its sarcasm; others say it is worth reading or enjoying, and one lists it among favo
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
If you love to hate the ugly houses that became ubiquitous before (and after) the bubble burst you've come to the right place. Be sure to check out McMansions 101! All photos © McMansionHell.com...
Most-linked posts?
- /14 people · 14 mentions · first linked 2019-05-11
- /7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2016-09-28
- Coronagrifting: A Design Phenomenon5 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2020-05-23
- /post/150597521816/mcmansions-101-revisited-aesthetics-aside-why5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2016-10-21
- /5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2018-06-15
- McMansion Hell4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2021-10-05
- What is going on with ceiling fans3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-10-01
- McMansion Hell2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-06-21
- McMansions 101: What Makes a McMansion Bad Architecture?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-01-24
- What Is Brutalism? Act 1, Scene 1: The Young Smithsons2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-03-19
What Hacker News says?
You can find some of the posts by searching http://www.mcmansionhell.com/ on archive.org.
Comment linking /
on “Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts”Submitted Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts as a story · 621 points
HN discussionFunny. One of the homes they showed is in my area, and I had driven by it recently (since we're thinking about moving). And they're definitely right. It's a weird mix of horribleness. Especially the kitchen with its "update", aka let's throw in a couple of premium appliances and $2k worth of marble and call it a day. http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/162143229176/50-states-of-... https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1…
Comment linking /post/162143229176/50-states-of-mcmansion-hell-hennepin-county
on “Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts”Submitted What is going on with ceiling fans as a story · 414 points
HN discussionIt looks like she just mocks gaudy Americana houses/feature creep mansions http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/162143229176/50-states-of-... Edit: gender
Comment linking /post/162143229176/50-states-of-mcmansion-hell-hennepin-county
on “Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts”Submitted The McMansion Scale, Explained as a story · 291 points
HN discussionWebsite is still up. http://www.mcmansionhell.com/
Comment linking /
on “Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts”Submitted What Makes a McMansion Bad Architecture? (2016) as a story · 108 points
HN discussionhttp://www.mcmansionhell.com/ is still up, for now, at least not all the posts are gone, so have a look.
Comment linking /
on “Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts”Submitted We've found it folks: mcmansion heaven as a story · 74 points
HN discussionOn what grounds can they sue? Isn't this pure free speech? It looks like the only references to Zillow ever are citations that the photos come from their website http://www.mcmansionhell.com/search/zillow
Comment linking /search/zillow
on “Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts”Submitted McMansion Hell as a story · 39 points
HN discussionThose homes that can be hauled from A to B in the US are not the only type of home available, they are just the cheapest option to get a home. They are called (if the speaker is kind) "mobile homes", or (if the speaker is derogatory) "trailers", leading to the insult "trailer trash" for the people living there. People living in these mobile homes are typically poor, and the low cost of these homes is all they can af…
Comment linking /
on “Evergrande has defaulted on its debt, Fitch Ratings says”Submitted The McMansion Hell Yearbook: 1981 as a story · 24 points
HN discussionReference materials: https://mcmansionhell.com/
Comment linking /
on “So you want to build a house more efficiently”Submitted McMansions 101: What Makes a McMansion Bad Architecture? as a story · 19 points
HN discussion^She https://mcmansionhell.com/about
Comment linking /about
on “What is going on with ceiling fans”Submitted The Brutalism Post, Part One: Introduction as a story · 5 points
HN discussionIf I get this fan: https://mcmansionhell.com/post/829127919552151552/what-is-go... you're telling me I can find a replacement for the LED base? When I looked, the fans were all listed as having irreplaceable bulbs. That is one of the complaints in the article. > If you do the same with a standard e26 or candelabra bulb setup, you’ll have the exact same issue with bulb longevity. Brighter bulbs stuffed into the tiny…
Comment linking /post/829127919552151552/what-is-going-on-with-ceiling-fans
on “What is going on with ceiling fans”Submitted McMansion Hell: Underground, Part 1 as a story · 4 points
HN discussionKate Wagner is the creator of the viral blog McMansionHell, which roasts the world’s ugliest houses from top to bottom, all while teaching about architecture and design. [...] Kate prefers the pronouns she/her or they/them. - https://mcmansionhell.com/about
Comment linking /about
on “What is going on with ceiling fans”Submitted 50 States of McMansion Hell: Fairfax and Loudoun County, Virginia as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSaw this post today about ceiling fans. what is going on with ceiling fans: https://mcmansionhell.com/post/829127919552151552/what-is-go... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49917536
Comment linking /post/829127919552151552/what-is-going-on-with-ceiling-fans
on “A brief history of the Bloomberg terminal”Submitted The Brutalism Post, Part 2: What Brutalism Is Not as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI feel obligated to to point out the blog McMansion Hell ( http://www.mcmansionhell.com ) which ridicules and explains why these details are ugly.
Comment linking /
on “What Style Is That House? Visual Guides to Domestic Architectural Designs”Submitted McMansion: critic of an house in Montana as a story · 4 points
HN discussionAn excellent time to link to McMansion Hell's various guides on McMansions. Two good starting points are "What Makes a McMansion Bad Architecture" [0] and "The 10 Circles of McMansion Hell" [1]. [0] http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/148605513816/mcmansions-10... [1] http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/151896249151/the-10-circle...
Comment linking /post/151896249151/the-10-circles-of-mcmansionhell-the-mcmansion
on “What Style Is That House? Visual Guides to Domestic Architectural Designs”Submitted The McMansion Hell Yearbook: 1970 as a story · 3 points
HN discussionRelevant: http://www.mcmansionhell.com/
Comment linking /
on “What Style Is That House? Visual Guides to Domestic Architectural Designs”Submitted The Mail Order American Dream: An Introductory Guide to Identifying Kit Houses as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
