Blog suggestions like McMansion Hell?

January 6, 2019 6:05 AM

I used to like reading McMansion Hell, both for her delicious take-downs of the houses everyone loves to hate and also because I felt like I was learning something useful about architecture and architectural history, without being talked down to. But there hasn't been a substantive post in ages, so I'm looking to get my snark-fix elsewhere.

Other interests: books, costume dramas (I'm aware of and read FrockFlicks), food history/domestic history more broadly (e.g. Ruth Goodman). Teaching points are a bonus -- like McMansion Hell 101's overview of just why those houses are so offensive.

I am looking for blog/longform type articles, rather than one-liners or twitter or something.

posted by basalganglia to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

I think you would like Eyesore of the Month. It's another architecture/snark blog. Only updated monthly, but it goes back over a decade.
posted by lockedroomguy at 6:21 AM on January 6, 2019

I think McMansion Hell has gone mostly subscription. The snark is probably still available for about $5 a month.
posted by COD at 7:05 AM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

It's very local, but Philaphilia is a snarky blog about architecture, development, and urban planning, and the history of same, in Philadelphia. Some of the posts go into an amazing amount of research and detail.
posted by moonmilk at 8:31 AM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I didn't make it clear in the original post, but I'd be interested in more than just architecture blogs. McMansion Hell was just the first example that came to mind.

moonmilk, I used to live in Philadelphia so that suggestion is excellent!
posted by basalganglia at 10:12 AM on January 6, 2019

I like The History Blog for this. I’m also an avid reader (and Patreon supporter) of McMansion Hell, and though The History Blog is lighter on the snark, it manages the same trick of being consistently interesting and educational.
posted by minervous at 10:59 AM on January 6, 2019

Via your "snark" keyword, here's a previously you may like, with plenty of snarky links.
posted by beagle at 1:33 PM on January 6, 2019

Actually the writer of McMansion hell has been suffering from a lot of outside study and financial pressures which have affected her mental health. Sorry not really a great answer but if you enjoyed her blog I thought you might want to know why she hasn’t been posting.
posted by gomichild at 11:51 PM on January 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

When I encoutered McMansion Hell it reminded me of Bike Snob. Some big differences in format, but pretty similar panache.
posted by mahorn at 8:46 PM on January 7, 2019