It’s becoming an increasingly common sight in many neighborhoods: a so-called McMansion crammed onto a small lot and surrounded by smaller homes.
Now there is a growing backlash against the trend of tearing down a small ranch or Cape and replacing it with a structure that has two to three times the square footage.
“Around 8,000-9,000 of the lots which should have smaller homes, probably 1,000 have been converted to much larger houses via this teardown phenomenon,” said Joe Matthews, a Needham town meeting member.
“That’s continuing at a rate of 70 to 100 houses per year.”
Matthews doesn’t like the impact this is trend is having on his hometown. “I think really what you’ve seen with these teardowns is an explosion of property values. That’s really shifted Needham decidedly out of having any middle-class presence.”
Needham isn’t the only community where developers think bigger is better.
Boston 25 News found a lot in West Roxbury where a small ranch has been replaced with a huge modern house.