Want to start off by acknowledging that I'm not a super active member here and mostly just lurk. But I've noticed a few crossposts that are clearly the OOP's own home and wanted to pose the question to see how others feel about that.

While I generally agree that the homes in question are ugly, I've started to feel a bit guilty knowing the owner might be reading all our comments shitting on a house they're clearly proud of. It's got to feel awful to pour your time, money and energy into a new home only for a bunch of people on the internet to mock all your design decisions.

That said I can absolutely see both sides. Anytime you post something online, you're opening yourself up to criticism. It's not our job to protect people's feelings when they choose to put their house on the internet. I also don't have a ton of sympathy for people that decide to build a home without learning about basic design principles first. In any case, I'm not trying to shame anyone that has crossposted stuff here. Was just curious to hear other people's opinions on the topic.

where people rant about the big houses they cannot afford?

Someone with a construction background on this sub once made a comment that if your budget is around or under the one million mark then it is very difficult to escape the McMansion trap. I think this video sums up very well one aspect of the trap, which is materials. Now I'm not against engineered materials. I used to have to spend my summers varnishing wooden windows, it was not fun. If I was building a home it would be as low maintenance as I could make it. The issue comes when fake materials meet traditional designs, it cannot help but feel inauthentic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCUyxQPl4o4

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It's my relative's place in [redacted] county TN. The turret is useable.

I peruse Zillow in out of the way places when I’m bored. I’ve been oddly transfixed with this eyesore for years.

Calling out the small circular window above the garage in particular, but I don’t like the entire elevation. It feels incredibly low effort for the price tag. Many houses in the neighborhood look like this, and all are for sale in the $900s and up.

basically you're shown 2 houses scraped from zillow. you see the location, beds, bath, etc. and a shot facing the home. you just tap on which house you think is priced higher. hella fun and there are some ridiculous houses on here

https://flipha.us