McMansion Park?
For the second time in a month, I’ve been asked to comment on the appropriateness of a house remodeling project under way in a well-established neighborhood. I feel like I’m becoming an architectural adjudicator. Actually, I feel every Chico citizen should serve in that capacity. All new structures that can be seen from a public roadway should be tried in the court of public opinion.
I got a call from a reader who was worried that the alteration of a house in Mansion Park would make it too big and modern for its surroundings. The neighborhood was subdivided in the early 1920s. In the next 20 years, it filled up with houses.
You can’t beat Mansion Park for its location. It’s within walking distance of downtown and Chico State University. It’s right next to The Esplanade — Northern California’s premier grand boulevard — and Bidwell Mansion. That’s how the neighborhood got its name — by being close to the Bidwells’ former home. In most communities, this would be an inner-city neighborhood, but Mansion Park has the feel of a leafy suburb on the outskirts of town.
So far, the only house in the neighborhood that even approaches mansion status is the Albert E. Warrens Reception Center, which illustrates this blog entry. It was designed by famed Bay Area architect Julia Morgan and built in 1923 for Daniel H. Moulton a Chico physician.
Judging by the “house for sale” ads in the Enterprise-Record, Mansion Park has some of Chico’s priciest real estate. Asking prices are approaching $1 million.
Just as falling prices are a sign that a neighborhood is in decay, prices moving into the stratosphere are an unmistakable clue that it is becoming upscale. The transformation of relatively modest residences into bigger, fancier abodes through additions and teardowns seems inevitable.
I took a look at the house in question. Like the house at the corner of Arbutus and Filbert avenues that I was asked to critique a few weeks ago, I have no problems with how this one looks. Mansion Park’s houses come in many sizes, so this one isn’t out of place. But it would bother me if the trend continued and the neighborhood turned into “McMansion Park.” This is a charming part of Chico and the alteration beyond recognition of several blocks of early 20th century bungalows and period revival houses would be a blow.
I have a feeling this is one of the issues the Chico Avenues Neighborhood Association is mulling over as it works with the city to come up with a plan for the neighborhood.