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Tricky Ed posted:You can't put a Home Depot kitchen in a place with millwork like that. Come ON. I know, right? What's funny is that while I understood why they went and did a quick Home Depot kitchen in there, I couldn't get past the atrociously ugly floor and how the cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling. They just hang six inches from the ceiling. Just cover that up with some trim, guys! That entryway, though. And the built-in arched cabinet in the dining room that matches the door on the same wall. And the servant's stairs from the kitchen to the second floor that went to a well-trimmed laundry area. I mean, I like my house and everything (and we're in a much nicer area and have a ton more land), but even though my house was built at almost the same time, we've got nothing on that place in terms of either size or quality of workmanship.
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Jul 3, 2017 23:36
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tetrapyloctomy posted:I know, right? What's funny is that while I understood why they went and did a quick Home Depot kitchen in there, I couldn't get past the atrociously ugly floor and how the cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling. They just hang six inches from the ceiling. Just cover that up with some trim, guys! Hmm. My cabinets end about a foot from the ceiling. I don't know how people would really use the space above it, but am I even less fashionable than I thought? 
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Jul 4, 2017 00:04
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Subjunctive posted:Hmm. My cabinets end about a foot from the ceiling. I don't know how people would really use the space above it, but am I even less fashionable than I thought? Well, yes, but not because of the cabinets. If you flip through the photos, the cabinets are awkward, and should have either been shorter or trimmed out.
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Jul 4, 2017 00:06
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TheMadMilkman posted:Well, yes, but not because of the cabinets. Ah, yeah. Those aren't nice. I have a builtin cabinet with about 4" between it and the ceiling, but trimming it out isn't really an option (no upper trim in my place), and I didn't want the top board sitting against the ceiling. I think it looks fine, but...
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Jul 4, 2017 00:12
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Subjunctive posted:Ah, yeah. Those aren't nice. I have a builtin cabinet with about 4" between it and the ceiling, but trimming it out isn't really an option (no upper trim in my place), and I didn't want the top board sitting against the ceiling. I think it looks fine, but... Do what the rest of us do and use the space to hoard dishware and appliances you never use.
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Jul 4, 2017 00:46
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Drape Culture posted:Why would you do this? In my opinion, full custom cabinetry is usually* a colossal waste of money. Custom kitchen cabinetry is one of those markets that sets its own price and designers love using custom cabinets because they make laying out a kitchen way easier for them. 80% of your cabinets are going to be standard sizes, but you'll pay full custom price for the whole batch. They take forever to be built and shipped to you, and a full kitchen of them can cost as much as a car. If you have a good carpenter and think ahead as you plan your kitchen, you can customize stock or RTA cabinets to do almost anything you want to do and save a ton of money over custom built ones. You'll pay more on the installation, but the materials will be comparable, and you won't have paid $30,000 for a bunch of wooden boxes that you use to store your blender and Honey Bunches of Oats. *There is a point where custom is expected and semi-custom will cause your house to lose value -- that's usually somewhere around twice the "average" home price in your area, or when the house is old enough to have custom millwork throughout the rest of the home and stock cabinets will stick out. If that's where you are, congratulations, you don't need advice on how to save money!
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Jul 4, 2017 00:54
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Subjunctive posted:Hmm. My cabinets end about a foot from the ceiling. I don't know how people would really use the space above it, but am I even less fashionable than I thought? Those don't bother me -- the house in question has a peninsula in the kitchen. The cabinets suspended there just look really strange. It's not jarring when the cabinets are up against a wall. There was something else visually off about it in person too; I think it was the asymmetry of the glass-fronted cabinets. But overall, it looked very cheap and not at all a part of the house we just walked through. I think our realtor actually grunted and winced when we stepped into the kitchen. edit: just reminded of this other place that was up for sale after foreclosure. I used to walk by it frequently and looked to be in pretty sad shape as well. There used to be more pictures up of the interior, but you can get an idea from the blurry shots there how phenomenal the place used to be. It was listed for $1.5M then, having been bought for about half that ... and given that it eventually sold for $341,000 I'm going to guess that the buyer just realized they couldn't pull themselves out of whatever situation the house was in. tetrapyloctomy fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Jul 4, 2017 |
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Jul 4, 2017 02:53
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Tricky Ed posted:In my opinion, full custom cabinetry is usually* a colossal waste of money. Custom kitchen cabinetry is one of those markets that sets its own price and designers love using custom cabinets because they make laying out a kitchen way easier for them. 80% of your cabinets are going to be standard sizes, but you'll pay full custom price for the whole batch. They take forever to be built and shipped to you, and a full kitchen of them can cost as much as a car. This is a great post - can you tell us more about customizing stock cabinets? I imagine swapping out doors and hardware isn't too hard, but can you do more?
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Jul 4, 2017 03:15
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tetrapyloctomy posted:edit: just reminded of this other place that was up for sale after foreclosure. I used to walk by it frequently and looked to be in pretty sad shape as well. Ok, you'll have to explain to me why this neighborhood is so cheap. This home has been for sale for 90 days and is beautiful. What gives?
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Jul 4, 2017 05:54
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Drape Culture posted:Ok, you'll have to explain to me why this neighborhood is so cheap. This home has been for sale for 90 days and is beautiful. What gives? I'm going to go with these two hints: Zillow posted:Lifetime opportunity to restore a 10 bedroom Tudor Mansion Zillow posted:This home is sold in "as is" condition. Also, Tudor? it was built in 1925. Zillow posted:you sense the studied grace of the Edwardian Era So is it Tudor or Edwardian, make up your mind folks. Zillow posted:Structure type: Victorian ??????
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Jul 4, 2017 07:17
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tetrapyloctomy posted:edit: just reminded of this other place that was up for sale after foreclosure. I used to walk by it frequently and looked to be in pretty sad shape as well. There used to be more pictures up of the interior, but you can get an idea from the blurry shots there how phenomenal the place used to be. It was listed for $1.5M then, having been bought for about half that ... and given that it eventually sold for $341,000 I'm going to guess that the buyer just realized they couldn't pull themselves out of whatever situation the house was in. God, what a beautiful house. The kind of thing I'd definitely buy, if I had unlimited money and resources. The interior reminds me a lot of a library I used to work at which was built onto an old Queen Anne mansion. That gorgeous paneling and woodwork on the stairs! And that paneling, ugh. I hope someone with a lot of patience and money buys it, but probably not.
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Jul 4, 2017 07:24
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Drape Culture posted:Ok, you'll have to explain to me why this neighborhood is so cheap. This home has been for sale for 90 days and is beautiful. What gives? As always: location, location, location. Mt. Airy can be a great place to live, but Germantown separates West from East Mt. Airy, and East Mt. Airy is historically a lower-income, higher-crime area. Same goes for going just south of City Ave in Bala Cynwyd -- all of a sudden you're in Philadelphia County, not Montgomery, so you see some huge, beautiful houses for a lot less. "Nice" Mt. Airy is a few blocks south, a few blocks west, or preferably on the other side of Lincoln. Edit, now that I'm on my computer instead of my phone, for another example check out this house. Washington Lane (two blocks to the west) is sort of the unofficial delineation between Mt. Airy (good), and Germantown (bad). The 19119 ZIP code ends on Johnson St, a few blocks more the the west, and some use this as a harder definition of the border, but it's really sort of gradual. If this property were on Upsal (but still more than a block or two off Germantown), it would be seven figures. Move it to the 19118 area code the the west, in Chestnut Hill, the house on half an acre would probably be in the $1.3M to $1.5M range. But it's not. And so it goes. The history of Mt. Airy is interesting. I only have a minute or so, but the long and the short of it is that West Mt. Airy is incredibly integrated due partly to the efforts of one influential guy. But his efforts also caused a lot of white flight in the 60s (I think, Painter of Crap probably can give a better account), and at the same time real estate agents were pushing African American families into East Mt. Airy. I love West Mt. Airy, and I'm glad it was my introduction to Philadelphia. tetrapyloctomy fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Jul 4, 2017 |
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Jul 4, 2017 11:57
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Arachnamus posted:Also, Tudor? it was built in 1925. In the U.S. "Tudor" always refers to Tudor-revival, and is a reference to the design of the house rather than the period it was built. Listing agents typically use multiple descriptors like "Edwardian" and "Victorian" for any stately home built in the 19th and early 20th century, to garner more search results.
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Jul 4, 2017 21:10
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Nothing makes me sadder than to see historic homes from a definite time period that have been updated with a modern design aesthetic. I get that stuff wears out and needs to be replaced, but at least keep things true to the period of the house. Don't knock down walls and put up can lighting in a 1925 Dutch Colonial, and don't put a marble facade on the brick fireplace surround in a 1960s mid-mod ranch. Example (and the one that inspired this post): A lovely historic home in a nearby college town (a 1925 Colonial, as a matter of fact):  But what's this? Let's make the whole downstairs "open concept"! That's huge right now, right?  Can lights, can lights everywhere:   Even in the bathroom! And while we're at it, let's just put in builder-grade tile and not bother with actually trying to match the period of the house:  And what's this? Let's cut a hole in the wall at the top of the staircase. Why? I don't know. Just because! I mean, it's not like there's any other way you can light a stairwell, right? Maybe some can lights! 
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Jul 5, 2017 12:00
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If it makes you feel better the UK has laws against this kind of thing, not so much the 1920s housing unless they have something special like original Art Deco features (I once owned a shed that was older than America) but the nice buildings are protected https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_building. Last year some silly mare decided to alter the interior of her 14th century house without permission, got fined £400,000 and then they made her pay to have it restored back to how it was.
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Jul 5, 2017 13:42
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After house shopping in the Philadelphia suburbs and looking at a lot of colonials with really dumb layouts I would have bought that remodeled one in a heartbeat. Now I bought a 1750s farmhouse with it's own odd layout and segmented additions, but it really had it's own unique charm and lot for the neighborhood.
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Jul 5, 2017 14:14
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learnincurve posted:If it makes you feel better the UK has laws against this kind of thing, not so much the 1920s housing unless they have something special like original Art Deco features (I once owned a shed that was older than America) but the nice buildings are protected https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_building. Last year some silly mare decided to alter the interior of her 14th century house without permission, got fined £400,000 and then they made her pay to have it restored back to how it was. Some of the make-good work that has been ordered on listed properties is obscene. It's the most incredible sauce of schadenfreude. You didn't like that roof? Well I hope you're happy employing the one guy left in the UK who knows how to weave thatch in that manner, and you're happy bidding on half the UKs yearly supply of that particular reed to get it done.
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Jul 5, 2017 14:29
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Kid I went to school with once passed out smoking weed with a joss stick stuck in the wattle and daub wall in his bedroom, and burnt down half of his parents grade II listed Manor House. His parents, being lawyers, immediately ratted on him and he ended up on some sort of young offenders program.
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Jul 5, 2017 16:03
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:Nothing makes me sadder than to see historic homes from a definite time period that have been updated with a modern design aesthetic. I get that stuff wears out and needs to be replaced, but at least keep things true to the period of the house. Don't knock down walls and put up can lighting in a 1925 Dutch Colonial, and don't put a marble facade on the brick fireplace surround in a 1960s mid-mod ranch. While I sort of agree, living in New Orleans where the vast majority of the housing stock is 120+ years old it's very common to see gut renovations where the facade and other exterior features are retained (necessarily by preservation codes) but the interiors almost totally redone. Many period design features are also either salvaged or reclaimed (crown molding, pocket doors, chandeliers and coal fireplaces that may or may not work) but the layouts are not reasonable for modern living. As an example, the shotgun double.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_house These homes were designed to allow maximum airflow in hot climates. The houses are made up of rooms in a row, with doors leading from one to the next---no hallways. The kitchen is the last room to the back, to keep the stove from heating the entire building. This all served a purpose in the 1800s south, where it was hot as hell and no air conditioning, by allowing air to move freely and by keeping the hottest room of the house off the back. But these houses are small, and the layout is inconvenient though quaint. So shotguns are frequently gutted to the studs, and the layout totally changed, with open living/kitchen front rooms, hallways, and bedrooms in the rear of the house. And if you convert a shotgun double to a single family home, you are probably going to rip out the separating wall, rearrange bathrooms and kitchens, and probably install central air and heat. Or one side entirely bedrooms, the other side living/dining/kitchen den in the rear. The point is, while you will keep a lot of the architectural details, you have no desire to stay true to the floorplan of an 1870 shotgun. Like so (not endorsing the design necessarily, just giving examples): https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sa...305_rect/10_zm/ https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/pmf,pf_pt/84454646_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/29.979788,-90.038946,29.95235,-90.076454_rect/14_zm/ Floorplan:  For a much cheaper job in a less desirable neighborhood, there is this one. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/pmf,pf_pt/2096048120_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/29.953875,-90.085037,29.92643,-90.122545_rect/14_zm/ That one used to look like this. Pretty blighted property in an "up and coming" neighborhood.  The new front elevation is butt ugly but overall I don't think it so blasphemous what they did to the floorplan. Though it would've been nice to install a few period accents like molding, soffit vents, or double-hung corded sash windows, they did what they could to a run down house within an acceptable budget.  Also, space is very limited and lots are typically long and narrow to maximize the number of properties with street frontage. So if you want to build an extension, you have to go up, resulting in camelback shotguns.  Or bigger homes that have been repurposed from their previous, many-small-rooms histories. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/pmf,pf_pt/2099113994_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/29.942124,-90.069501,29.914676,-90.107009_rect/14_zm/ Anyway, I'm not trying to say that all historic homes should be gut renovated and their floorplans totally changed with can lights everywhere. And obviously this house should not be hosed with in the way you are describing. Just that many times, totally redoing an old house is perfectly okay, even if you aren't able to make it period-appropriate. Just for laughs, what parts of this house should be kept and what parts should be sledgehammered with extreme prejudice: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/pmf,pf_pt/73837106_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/29.938368,-90.090744,29.910919,-90.128253_rect/14_zm/ Phil Moscowitz fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Jul 5, 2017 |
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Jul 5, 2017 16:06
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Phil Moscowitz posted:While I sort of agree, living in New Orleans where the vast majority of the housing stock is 120+ years old it's very common to see gut renovations where the facade and other exterior features are retained (necessarily by preservation codes) but the interiors almost totally redone. Many period design features are also either salvaged or reclaimed (crown molding, pocket doors, chandeliers and coal fireplaces that may or may not work) but the layouts are not reasonable for modern living. Thank you very much for this effort post. I looked at the homes you linked, and I think the fundamental difference between those and the one in my example above is that, with those homes, they were able to make them more workable for modern living without losing the "soul" of the original building. The "updating" in the house I posted above doesn't seem to be done with much forethought -- to me, at least, it's got a very McMansion sort of vibe to it. quote:Just for laughs, what parts of this house should be kept and what parts should be sledgehammered with extreme prejudice: Sweet Jesus. 
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Jul 5, 2017 16:28
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We have a ton of shot gun houses and gutting them to an open floor plan is pretty much the only way to make them more livable (if the previous owners didn't throw on a camelback). Either that or you wind up with the master bedroom at the front door. I live in the front of a camelback shotgun duplex and it's basically entrance with walled in bedroom to the left, to an open eat-in kitchen, living room is at the back with a large bathroom with washer and dryer squeezed between the kitchen and living room. My landlord did a really good job with the layout. Here's one for sale near me and I like what they did with it. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/618-Camp-St-Louisville-KY-40203/73667253_zpid/?fullpage=true cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Jul 5, 2017 |
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Jul 5, 2017 16:46
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Sledgehammer with extreme prejudice you say?  Did they go in with "overpriced hibachi" as the style brief, or did it just come up organically?
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Jul 5, 2017 16:47
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there wolf posted:Sledgehammer with extreme prejudice you say? I'm having trouble finding a spot in there that isn't potentially lethal if you slip and fall.
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Jul 5, 2017 17:10
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Doctor Butts posted:I'm having trouble finding a spot in there that isn't potentially lethal if you slip and fall. Sounds like a silver lining to me.
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Jul 5, 2017 17:13
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And the ugliest bathroom tiling award goes to...
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Jul 5, 2017 21:29
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:I have to admit, on review I'm mildly disappointed that there's not a single suit of armor to be found in any of those photos. http://www.fairstone.com/property/or/portland/97231/-/14125-nw-germantown-rd/57d1fa7e30e08a73a0000144/         wait for it... wait for it...  It was built in 2014, listed for sale in 2015 (hence the date on the MLS photos) at $7.175 million and 2 years later they're still trying to sell the monstrosity.
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Jul 5, 2017 22:12
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there were no utensils in medieval times, hence there are no utensils at Medieval Times
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Jul 5, 2017 22:34
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  I clicked on the listing and I love how they did their damndest with the first photo to make the house look somewhat normal before getting to the crazy. This is a big old pile of what-the-gently caress. Annnnnd the Realtor's description of the property: For the love of God, please buy this house posted:Gated estate w/ easily expandable private pinot & chardonnay vineyard. Stunning tasting room/wine cellar built into hillside. Grand entry w 2 story Oasis atrium bar. Hand painted ceiling, spiral staircase in turret w/ 2 story custom library & clock ceiling. Great room, gourmet kitchen, 5 bedroom suites, home theater w/ marquee. Master suite w balcony. Gym w/ rock climbing. Complete with 2nd home for guests/caretaker. Tennis court. Zamboni Rodeo fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Jul 5, 2017 |
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Jul 5, 2017 23:31
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That place better have a couple of hidden doors and secret passages and maybe also a bretèche or two.
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Jul 5, 2017 23:37
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:
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Jul 5, 2017 23:38
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I would totally live in the clue mansion are you kidding me?
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Jul 5, 2017 23:43
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Do you mean that was built as a private residence, not a winery x b&b?! 
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Jul 5, 2017 23:49
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:Nothing makes me sadder than to see historic homes from a definite time period that have been updated with a modern design aesthetic. I get that stuff wears out and needs to be replaced, but at least keep things true to the period of the house. Don't knock down walls and put up can lighting in a 1925 Dutch Colonial, and don't put a marble facade on the brick fireplace surround in a 1960s mid-mod ranch. I don't think this is too bad. The lights are kinda yucky, and I hate that bathroom but I'd hate it in any house. It looks like they did a decent job of updating it and making it nice and livable to modern tastes. Those old houses can be so closed in and labyrinthine, I like the way they've opened and brightened it up. They definitely didn't just gut the whole place and rebuild it, it looks like they kept a bunch of the original features, like the crown molding and the fire place. I dunno, I've seen worse. I'd live in that house.
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Jul 6, 2017 00:26
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Phil Moscowitz posted:While I sort of agree, living in New Orleans where the vast majority of the housing stock is 120+ years old it's very common to see gut renovations where the facade and other exterior features are retained (necessarily by preservation codes) but the interiors almost totally redone. Many period design features are also either salvaged or reclaimed (crown molding, pocket doors, chandeliers and coal fireplaces that may or may not work) but the layouts are not reasonable for modern living. I sort of assume that this happened to a lot of houses that got Katrina'd.
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Jul 6, 2017 03:01
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peanut posted:Do you mean that was built as a private residence, not a winery x b&b?! Seriously, I thought the same thing. They even have signage in one of the photos.
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Jul 6, 2017 03:20
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:I sort of assume that this happened to a lot of houses that got Katrina'd. Definitely, but even outside the Katrina damage not local building codes make it extremely difficult to just tear down historically or architecturally significant houses. Even if you get permission to demolish you almost always have to save the front of the house.
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Jul 6, 2017 03:53
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Phil Moscowitz posted:Definitely, but even outside the Katrina damage not local building codes make it extremely difficult to just tear down historically or architecturally significant houses. Even if you get permission to demolish you almost always have to save the front of the house. Luckily nothing in the Marigny or Bywater is considered either, so rock and roll.
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Jul 6, 2017 04:02
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Fan was last seen in an IKEA warehouse
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Jul 6, 2017 06:41
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Zamboni_Rodeo posted:Nothing makes me sadder than to see historic homes from a definite time period that have been updated with a modern design aesthetic. I get that stuff wears out and needs to be replaced, but at least keep things true to the period of the house. Don't knock down walls and put up can lighting in a 1925 Dutch Colonial, and don't put a marble facade on the brick fireplace surround in a 1960s mid-mod ranch. The track lighting looks incredibly out of place. Other than that I like it. That style of house (and age of house for that matter) is also a dime a dozen.
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Jul 6, 2017 06:46
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Progressive JPEG posted:Fan was last seen in an IKEA warehouse Oh, you wish
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Jul 6, 2017 07:22
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