Category — Megahouse

In Seattle, if you saw something like this in a neighborhood you’d probably be right if you thought it was a megahouse.However, if you’re in Victoria Canada’s very walkable James Bay neighborhood (where this building really is located) then you’re actually looking at three different units. (The third unit is the daylight basement)

A while ago I took a photo of a megahouse that was under construction and posted it to the blog. I also added my observations that the new house towered over the neighbor and that they had put in a large two-car garage.

Boy, was I suprised when I actually got a response from the owner. I thought their response was interesting because it explains the reasoning why one family decided to demolish an existing home and rebuild it with a newer (and much bigger) one. 

Just a couple of things to note - the house is really about 2 and 1/2 stories since the ’basement’ is mostly above ground, and to anonymize their comment I’ve replaced the neighborhood’s name with ‘XXX’.

Our family made a commitment to XXX by investing in the neighborhood which included remodeling an existing house and adding a 2nd story. The original house was 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, the roof leaked, there was extensive dry rot and when it rained water was getting into the house.

The house is now safer (lead and asbestos were removed) along with an underground oil tank. We have 2 children, one who attends XXX School and one who will start attending next fall.

Stay focused on the goal of neighborhood planning, support will wane if XXX is posting photos of a home when a family opted to stay in XXX and be part of the community which included remodeling their home.

If a XXX homeowner has a decision to make remodel (generally includes commitment to neighborhood and community) or move (may decide to rent house) - what would you choose?

I’ve never quite seen a design like this one, it’s like four home designs all melted together  - spanning from left to right I see ‘farmhouse, tool shed, modern, skinny townhome.

You can read the entire story on Phinney Ecovillage.

(photo from Phinney Ecovillage)