On Architecture: Living in a dream world
They’re billed as eco-friendly, but Street of Dreams homes are really about lavish luxury
This year, Seattle’s annual Street of Dreams home show is trying to paint itself green, bringing waterfalls indoors to recall a home’s “connection to nature,” and outfitting the mansions with features such as on-demand water heating and recycled paper countertops that resemble stone.
But as a theme, this rings as hollow as a General Motors promise to build energy-efficient SUVs. The smallest house in this year’s collection outside Woodinville is 4,200 square feet, and the showcase dwellings are as lavish as ever in anachronistic pomp and fatuous luxury.
When this column last slipped into the Street of Dreams two years back, it whacked away at the houses’ rampant irrelevance and suggested the builders turn their efforts to a Street of Reality, which would address the serious issue of increasingly unaffordable housing for the middle class. But forget it; that was a fantasy dream in itself. However it’s approached, affordable housing would mean thinner profits for builders and suppliers, so there’s no incentive for showcasing concepts that might lead that way.