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Commitments and Contingencies (Details Textual) (USD $) | 1 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Mar. 31, 2012 | Dec. 31, 2014 lender | Dec. 31, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012 | Feb. 14, 2014 | Jul. 17, 2013 | Jul. 08, 2013 | Jun. 17, 2013 | Sep. 30, 2012 | Jun. 06, 2011 | Oct. 26, 2011 JointVenture
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Reserved for litigation and asserted claims |  | $ 16,499,000 us-gaap_LitigationReserve | $ 16,463,000 us-gaap_LitigationReserve |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Warranty reserve |  | 22,080,000 us-gaap_StandardProductWarrantyAccrual | 21,971,000 us-gaap_StandardProductWarrantyAccrual | 22,064,000 us-gaap_StandardProductWarrantyAccrual |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of lenders filing petition for involuntary bankruptcy |  | 3 mth_NumberOfLendersFilingPetitionForInvoluntaryBankruptcy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Initial Litigation Judgment Amount |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 15,053,857 mth_InitialLitigationJudgmentAmount |  |  |
Litigation Judgment Amount With Interest |  |  |  |  |  |  | 15,753,344 mth_LitigationJudgmentAmountWithInterest |  |  |  |
Litigation Judgment Interest |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 699,487 mth_LitigationJudgmentInterest |  |  |
Supersedeas Bond |  | 16,930,477 mth_SupersedeasBond |  |  |  | 16,050,604 mth_SupersedeasBond |  |  |  |  |
Incremental Attorney Fees to Supersedeas Bond |  |  |  |  | 877,241 mth_IncrementalAttorneyFeestoSupersedeasBond |  |  |  |  |  |
Amount requested in demand for arbitration related to alleged breaches | 13,500,000 us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Additional amount requested in demand for arbitration related to pro rata future infrastructure improvement costs |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 9,800,000 mth_FutureInfrastructureImprovementCosts |  |
Rent expense |  | 6,500,000 us-gaap_OperatingLeasesRentExpenseNet | 6,400,000 us-gaap_OperatingLeasesRentExpenseNet | 5,500,000 us-gaap_OperatingLeasesRentExpenseNet |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Sublease income |  | 600,000 us-gaap_OperatingLeasesIncomeStatementSubleaseRevenue | 1,600,000 us-gaap_OperatingLeasesIncomeStatementSubleaseRevenue | 2,000,000 us-gaap_OperatingLeasesIncomeStatementSubleaseRevenue |  |  |  |  |  |  |
South Edge Guarantee [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage |  | 3.53%us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = mth_SouthEdgeGuaranteeMember |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Springing Repayment Guarantee Original Demand Letter |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 13,200,000 mth_SpringingRepaymentGuaranteeOriginalDemandLetter / us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsByNatureAxis = mth_SouthEdgeGuaranteeMember |
South Edge [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of co-ventures in joint venture |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 4 mth_NumberOfCoVenturesInJointVenture / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = mth_SouthEdgeMember

X
- Definition The pro-rata share of alleged future infrastructure improvement costs to be incurred by the joint venture. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Incremental attorney fees awarded on 2/14/14 related to 7/17/13 supersedeas bond + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Initial litigation judgment amount related to joint venture litigation on June 17, 2013 + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Initial litigation judgment amount related to joint venture litigation on June 17, 2013 including pre-judgment interest on July 8, 2013 + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Interest attributable to initial judgment amount related to joint venture litigation ruling on June 17, 2013 + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Number of co ventures in the joint venture. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The number of lenders who filed a petition seeking to place the venture into an involuntary bankruptcy. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Amount in original demand letter from lenders seeking to place joint venture into involuntary bankruptcy (June 2011) + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Amount of supersedeas bond posted to stay enforcement of July 17th judgement. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (a)(1) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571 + Details
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- Definition Rental expense for the reporting period incurred under operating leases, including minimum and any contingent rent expense, net of related sublease income. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 840 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6453985&loc=d3e41499-112717 + Details
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- Definition Amount as of the balance sheet date of the aggregate standard product warranty liability. Does not include the balance for the extended product warranty liability. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 460 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 8 -Subparagraph (c)(1),(c)(5) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6398077&loc=d3e12565-110249 + Details
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