The McMansion, ultimate symbol of the US pre-recession boom, is back

Washington

IF there's anything that typifies the boom times before the Great Recession, it is the McMansion. These sprawling houses proliferated around the country in the 2000s, as banks shelled out easy credit to fuel a housing bacchanalia they thought would never die.

McMansions became the ultimate symbol of living beyond one's means. Unlike your standard mansion, McMansions aren't just large - they are tackily so. Looming ove…