Supersize it

Dallas is home to one of country’s biggest concentrations of McMansions

There are mansions, and then there are McMansions. Dallas has them all.

Photo courtesy of Allie Beth Allman & Associates

To be sure, North Texas is heralded for its massive ranches and sprawling estates. But it turns out the Dallas area also is a mecca for McMansions.

According to a new ranking from Realtor.com, Dallas is the sixth most McMansion-y metro area among the country’s 150 biggest metros. That’s based on the percentage of homes for sale measuring at least 3,000 square feet.

Realtor.com’s research unearthed nearly 9,000 of these properties listed on the website, up 35 percent from two years ago. This represents about 40 percent of the Dallas-area homes on the market, Realtor.com says.

Realtor.com did acknowledge a limitation in its McMansion sleuthing. The research encompasses all homes on the market that have at least 3,000 square feet, not just those that could be dubbed McMansions.

“Sure, this includes some tasteful, large homes and legit mansions,” Realtor.com says. “But it was impossible to separate those from the McMansions — it’s rare to see the word ‘tacky’ in a home listing.”

So, what qualifies as a “tacky” McMansion?

“The term was first attached to some of the brash would-be luxury homes cropping up in status-crazed Los Angeles,” Realtor.com explains. “Before long, developers went McMansion Mad. From coast to coast, they erected pricey, supersized homes that hogged just about every square inch of their lots. They were fancy. They were heavily ornamented. They were made to impress.”

McMansion construction largely stalled during the housing crash and the Great Recession, according to Realtor.com. But now that the economy is back on solid footing, McMansion construction appears to be making a comeback.

“If a buyer wants a McMansion, then come to Texas — I have some great ones,” Roxann Taylor, a broker at Engel & Völkers Dallas Southlake, tells Realtor.com. “Builders are putting up 4,000- to 6,000-square-foot homes, but they can’t build them quick enough.”

By the way, the average new single-family home in the U.S. has about 2,600 square feet. In other words, a lot of us don’t occupy McMansions.

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Celebrity listing

Miranda Lambert’s East Texas childhood home hits market for $1.6 million

18621 Country Rd 477-1, Lindale Miranda Lambert childhood home

Photo courtesy of Compass

Miranda Lambert's childhood home, at 18621 Country Rd. 477, in Lindale, Texas is for sale.

The 25-acre childhood homestead of country music star Miranda Lambert — whose popular ballad “The House That Built Me” very well could apply to the Grammy winner’s upbringing — is on the market in East Texas for nearly $1.6 million.

According to Mansion Global, Lambert and her parents, Beverly and Rick, have listed the estate nearly 30 years after the family bought the main residence there.

She and her family moved into the house when she was 14 years old. Lambert lived there till age 21, when she relocated to the adjacent “pink house,” which she purchased with money from her first big record deal.

Lambert still owns the “pink house,” and her parents have vacated the primary home but still own everything except their daughter’s house, Mansion Global reported. The property is in Lindale, about 90 miles east of Dallas.

Miranda Lambert received the 2023 TMAA for achievement in music and songwriting. Photo by Taylor Prinsen Photography

The main attractions at the four-bedroom, five-bathroom, 103-year-old property are its two cottage-style homes, stocked three-acre pond, and shooting range.

“The main residence showcases hardwood flooring, built-in cabinetry, textured walls, and vintage details that add character throughout,” says the listing from Lee Trowbridge of Compass. “Light-filled living spaces connect naturally to porches, decks, and courtyard areas, offering comfortable transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces.”

The second home offers views of the pond and its own outdoor areas.

The property, an old dairy farm at 18621 County Road 477, also includes:

A soaking tub in the primary bathroom.
An outdoor kitchen.
A brick courtyard.
A warehouse.
A shop with a bathroom and living quarters.
Three RV hookups.

“Experience this rare opportunity to enjoy land, water, multiple residences, and a piece of music history in a setting that feels both quiet and connected,” the listing says.

Part of Lambert’s music history is the 2009 song about “The House That Built Me,” which Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin originally wrote for her first husband, country music star Blake Shelton.

When you read some of the lyrics of that tune, you can picture a young Lambert at the Lindale home:

I know they say you can’t go home again

I just had to come back one last time

Ma’am, I know you don’t know me from Adam

But these handprints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom

Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar

And I bet you didn’t know under that live oak

My favorite dog is buried in the yard

Lambert maintains strong ties to her hometown. There, she owns the Pink Pistol boutique, located on Miranda Lambert Way, according to Mansion Global. The tasting room for Red 55 Winery, which Lambert and her family started in 2005, is attached to the boutique.

Photo courtesy of Compass

Miranda Lambert's childhood homestead, at 18621 Country Rd. 477, in Lindale, Texas is for sale.

celebrities miranda lambert country music east texas luxury home-for-sale