The Faux Chateau, the Starter Castle, the Garage Mahal. They've been called plenty of things. Now they may be called dead.

mike kravinsky

Blame it on the economy, or aging baby boomers, possibly fewer couples having children, but it appears that not only is there a growing backlash to those behemoths from local governments, but also, home buyers are now turning their backs on Mcmansions.

The real estate website, Trulia, did a survey, and found that just 9% of people wanted homes over 3200 square feet. Meanwhile, more than a third of respondents said their ideal home size was under 2000 square feet.

Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder of Trulia, said on CNBC's website, “That’s something that would’ve been unbelievable just a few years back,”.... “American's are moving away from McMansions.”

Builders are heeding the call, and offering smaller homes, but, what will happen to the existing stock of homes, the one's that now may not sell? Is it possible that the high priced, vaulted ceiling, media roomed, formal dining roomed, gazeboed homes become future slums?

Some people and groups are getting creative with the glut of  Mcmansions. Seattle's Beta Society, a film collective, use the 10,000 square foot colossus they bought to not only sleep in, but, they've converted the garage into a stage and green screen studio, and the wine cellar became editing facilities.

Near San Diego, the non profit, TERI Inc. bought a home to house four autistic young adults. In Idaho, another non-profit, Housing Company, is looking for a 4,000 to 5,000 square foot home to house teens who are aging out of foster care. In Time magazine Douglas Peterson, the director of the organization said, You have all these spaces for teaching life skills before they try to make it on their own." A restaurant-league kitchen, for example, can be used as a place to give cooking lessons. An industrial-size laundry room is large enough to handle a group lesson on separating whites.

When it comes down to it though, if the trend continues, Mcmansions may have to be downsized, similar to turning the huge old inner city Victorians into condos in the 1960's and '70's.

Sarah Susanka, the author of the "Not So Big House" series notes that "Today we have a much greater awareness on what it means to have high energy prices.. a desire to have lower overall maintenance costs, and to understand that the most sustainable thing is to build a house that will last for the long haul." She added, "I often say that square footage has almost nothing to do with the feeling of home"