McMansions in Tjänna

I am not quite sure about the word. The Swedish tjärn is a small lake tucked into the forest, sometimes in marshland or swamp. Tarn, woodland lake? Let’s decide on woodland lake, that sounds nice.

Sweden is sprinkled with 96 000 lakes. How many of them being woodland lakes (tjärnar) I don’t know, but one of them is located next to the road between my village and Umeå, 7 minutes from here. For years it’s been invisible from the road because of brushwood taking over the site, but this spring the area has been thinned out leaving only slim birch stems offering a pretty view over the tiny tjärn and… the weird development of McMansions on the opposite side!

Now, who is in favor of McMansions anywhere? Didn’t think so. 

Wikipedia about McMansions; McMansion is a pejorative for a type of large, new luxury house which is judged to be oversized for the parcel or incongruous and out-of-place for its neighborhood.

I can understand the reason for them in Seattle neighborhoods. I am not defending them, but I can understand the circumstances. There is limited space within a city. You can’t create more on the ground. People buy a lot with a house on. Maybe it’s a small crummy old house, it’s considered a tear down and it’s replaced with a new one. A big one taking up most every square feet of the lot, and hey, you’ve got yourself a McMansion! Next to another McMansion next to another McMansion and there is only room for the garbage cans in between, and how can people breath in there?

Rephrasing myself: I can’t really understand the reason, who needs that much inside living area? Well, who am I to speak, living on 2000 square feet by myself, having no problem dreaming about adding on for needs I think I have, or just for the fun and esthetics of it.

Anyway, the development I am talking about, Tjänna (local dialect for tjärn) is located in the middle of the woods. By Seattle standards in the middle of nowhere, but by northern Sweden standards in perfect commuting distance to Umeå (15 minutes). Still in the middle of the woods. There is forest forest forest, the McMansion development Tjänna and then forest forest forest.

To me, the thing about living in the woods like I do is that there is a lot of outdoor space. My place is in a village so there are neighbors, but not in my face. I have the safety and comfort of people within walking distance (and I can’t walk very far), but the freedom and solitude of only fields, greenery, Josephine’s horses and at seasons wild life around my house.

What’s the point of moving out to a tiny woodland lake on a dirt road living jammed up like in the McMansioned parts of Wallingford? I just don’t get it! And why did they choose building such big homes on those tiny spots? I am sure the land owner who cut the part of his property on the pretty slope facing the tjärn into 14 lots made a good deal though.

In Seattle neighborhoods once signatured by Craftsman homes and bungalows people live in fear that any property may be razed, sliced and diced and replaced by some creation that looks nothing like what’s already in the neighborhood. And one of the main concerns has been new houses that loom over those around them and eliminate the lawns, trees and open space that make a neighborhood pleasant. You might live in a one floor home with a water view and the next thing you know you are surrounded by new neighbors adding on a second floor blocking it, or a developer filling the lot next to you to the rim.

In May though, a majority of Seattle City Council members sided with neighborhood activists and agreed to set lower height limits for homes built on small lots in single-family zones. The council also voted down a provision known as the “100 percent rule” that would have allowed developers to build on undersized parcels if the property was the average size of others on the block.

Sometimes I have people drive me around the tjärn to get myself a good look at Tjänna. It’s like a field trip. You know, those you take to watch something peculiar or foreign. Those who make you say wow and shake your head.