More sprawl, this time from Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart and her house designs for a subdivision in Cary, NC.

At the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference once of the sessions I went to was a lunch about the "Save America's Treasures" program. One of the featured speakers is the vice president of marketing for HGTV, which has a significant "cause marketing" relationship with the National Trust.

A gutsy questioner got up and said, what do you think about how your shows promote sprawl, big new houses, and changing over houses while discarding perfectly functioning materials.?

Today's papers report on the new "Martha Stewart" houses from KB Homes.

Such seems to be an approach markedly different from Sarah Susanka's -- The Not So Big House. By the way, architecct Susanka will be speaking soon at the National Building Museum. Granted Susanka's homes are for people with money, but the idea that you don't need a gargatuan house, and that how the house is designed and flows makes such a different, that the features of the big suburban houses -- two story foyers and family rooms, don't make a house very homey -- are important points that need to be repeated.



Lecture
Inside the Not So Big House: Discovering the Details that Bring a Home to Life
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 6:30–8:00 pm
Join architect and best-selling author Sarah Susanka as she zooms in on the architectural details that make a home functional, harmonious, and filled with the personality of the homeowners. After the lecture, she will sign copies of her just-published book Inside the Not So Big House (Taunton Press). •1.5 CEU $12 Museum and AIA members and students; $17 nonmembers. Registration required. Click here to register