ABSTRACT
The suburban dream home of North America and Australia is packaged for consumption in the form of ‘model homes’ or ‘display houses’ advertised in the property supplements of weekend newspapers. Maps lead to display ‘villages’ where full-scale models are open for perusal (Figure 10.1). The model ‘home’ (it is never called a ‘house’) is furnished to the last detail and the advertising text spells out the narrative:
you are walking through the front door into a room that soars upwards into light filled space. You are standing on the upstairs balcony looking down into that same room, past the staircase and past every feeling you’ve ever had of there not being enough. You know only the joy of openness…Someone should shout ‘lights, cameras, action’ as you sweep down the staircase for, in this home, you entertain in a manner people talk about for a long time.
