Readers bashing ‘popular’ huge box-style homes in Los Angeles
To the editor: I can only assume that the people promoting these huge, boxy homes dotted around Los Angeles grew up in a tiny trailer. I grew up in a huge house, and now it’s the last thing I want to own.
It is unfortunate that all the middlemen who “sell buzz” convince people that the primary purpose of any house is not to be a home, but rather a “tangible asset” and its value must be maximized at all costs.
Not long ago, smart people enjoyed the Mediterranean climate by living in cool, modern homes that blurred the lines between inside and outside. Now people enjoy the weather by sitting in huge McMansions that cover a lot of ground and staring out the window.
Some defend these horrific boxes as “elaborate,” but all they indicate is a complete lack of concern for others, especially their neighbors and their children’s futures. Anytime you build anything that seems out of place, you’ve made a huge architectural mistake.
J. Marvin Campbell, Culver City
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To the editor: Los Angeles loves these modern boxy homes, and nature loves it too.
The cliché of these homes is the wall of all-sliding glass doors. This showcases the spacious living room and huge open plan kitchens with miles of marble and granite.
It looks great, but the first time you open that wall to your dinner guests, you’ll have to make room for extra seating.
Every creature that flies, crawls, wiggles, slithers or walks will invite itself inside and join your dinner guests. Nothing says elegance like swatting flies over your dinner plate.
You will then immediately close those massive glass doors and accept the reality of nature while you quickly call your real estate agent.
Rodney Kemmerer, Beverly Hills
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To the editor: I hope you don’t tell Angelenos which home styles are so popular in Los Angeles. Locals I know think modern boxy houses are ugly and soulless. So they’re not very popular, but they’re not very popular in Los Angeles.
Developers build box-like structures because they don’t want to spend time (and money) designing homes with more creativity and elegance. So Angelenos have no choice, because the market is driven by the marketer.
Older homes are becoming more popular because they have elegance and charm. Having more space is good, but not at the expense of giving up pleasing aesthetics.
Jane Demian, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Did you just imagine the yard signs displayed in front of these box homes as they were being built? The one that says “architectural design from Tetris”?
Jim Metzler, Culver City
