December 11, 2013

929-Leigh-Mill-front-at-angle

Land of Excess’s big beef is with giant pretentious badly designed and badly built residential dwellings that we can’t avoid seeing as we drive through the Greater Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area.  However, we do find there can be beauty and integrity in some rather grand houses. By request, Land of Excess presents a ‘no-Mc’ mansion, i.e. a real mansion in our humble estimation. It was built in 2004, in Great Falls, VA with garaging for 4, 5 bedrooms, and 6 full and 4 partial baths, all on 5 acres, for $6,500,000.  This place lacks most of the Mc-like hallmarks such as, for instance, fake molding.  This has real wood stuff, fancily milled.  This building also lacks the typical overly-busy facade with fake-mullioned vinyl windows. We like the slightly raised entrance allowing basement rooms to have some light (without the typical and excessive earth-moving on the back side to allow a basement to be fully windowed).  We like the modest and suitable-for-the-country pebble driveway. There is no grand multi-tiered fountain out front featuring cherubs or little puti or whatever.  But most striking of all is the siting.  Spec-built McMansions are normally built on a lot viewable from the roadway, and are set down facing the road so that passers-by might gawk and be impressed etc.  This non-Mc is built on a lot that does not abut the road and is also concealed by trees.   More on this place coming soon, including some STARTLING and AMUSING little facts.