Betsy DeVos's summer home deserves a special place in McMansion Hell

[ehrnst]

My mission for the past three years as the creator of the architectural humor blog McMansion Hell has been to unpack what makes mansions like DeVos’s so terrible, from both an architectural and social standpoint. It’s bad enough that we have a president who oversaw a massive redistribution of wealth toward the already wealthy through tax breaks. What’s worse is that obscenely wealthy people like him waste all their money building pseudo-castles and other eclectic tragedies, all while wagging their finger at the rest of us telling us to eat cake.

Trump official and fellow rich person DeVos just rolled back Obama administration loan forgiveness rules for students defrauded by for-profit colleges. It’s unsurprising that she doesn’t want to forgive the student loan debts of those defrauded by for-profit colleges considering that she got her net worth of more than $1 billion from her husband’s company, the multilevel marketing giant Amway, which is often described as a cult. Meanwhile, her brother Erik Prince owns the Blackwater firm, which essentially sells mercenaries. As we can see, we are not dealing with nice people.

As someone who owes tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, getting paid to make fun of DeVos’s tacky seaside decor is one of few ways to both feed myself and make myself feel better. With that, I’d like to dedicate this essay to all of the public school teachers who taught me how to write.

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/8/6/17654434/betsy-devos-yacht-mcmansion-hell

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. Butt ugly.

[cutroot]

2. An architectural disaster

Realtors will be pointing at this and laughing for decades until they finally have to tear it down Still, some builder made a kings ransom on it.

[The Blue Flower]

3. Two things money can't buy: taste and class

What an ugly disaster.

[LuckyCharms]

4. That's a nasty ass lookin' building. n/t

[Polly Hennessey]

5. That fifth living room

is so poorly designed even I cannot stand it. Why do all of their homes seem so joyless?

[NCTraveler]

6. Other than the "lifeboat," "widow's walk" and interior decorations.....

I find the place to be beautiful.

[unc70]

7. A Realtor friend's response

Architect: what style do you like?

Betsy: all of them.

[TubbersUK]

8. Truly hideous n/t

[Javaman]

9. this is called, in some circles, the "new rich".

just sayin'...

[heaven05]

10. this mega-rich uber-crass

person called Education Secretary is a sham and a god awful shame. She could care less about students of colour and deprived students. LeBron for Education Secretary. Get rid of this whole administration. Al Franken for President.

[DownriverDem]

11. West Michigan

Devos is from West Michigan. I bet that's Lake Michigan.

[Brother Buzz]

12. When you can't differentiate status and class you end up with tacky

Something Betsy DeVos and the orange anus have in common

[FakeNoose]

13. I have a hobby too - I locate these places in Google Maps

The write-ups for these gawdy mansions almost never reveal a street address. But they do narrow down the location to a small area (usually). The description and photos give enough info such as proximity to beaches, golf courses etc. The photos usually show at least one aerial shot with the property lines. So it isn't all that hard to locate these places in Google Maps. Of course the streetview option is your friend when the satellite photos don't show enough to be sure. Needless to say, Google Maps doesn't reveal anything on private property except what can be seen by overhead satellite, or by the drive-by Google car that will only access public roads.

Celebrities and super-rich people HATE Google Maps for obvious reasons. Good times!

[JHan]

14. did a search to see if anyone posted this

you rock ehrnst