sesame street

One of these things is not like the other one...



I read something that prompted me to look and see what is available in Beverly Hills, and found this 3 bedroom/3.5 bath beauty for $2,995,000. It is on a half acre (21,825 square feet), and basks in warmth and sunshine year-round. And, you might bump into Salma Hayek whilst looking over the asparagus and arugula at the Atelier Market.

So, maybe you can't get a Green Card, and need to settle for something in Vancouver. There is always V738247 in Shaughnessy for $2,888,000. On a 16,748 square foot lot, 3 bedrooms, with 2.5 baths, it basks in sunshine and relative warmth for about 100 days per year. And you might bump into David Emerson whilst having your BMW lubed.

...one of these things is not the same (although the prices are so close).

Things are still way out of whack here folks.

living large

or not.

Here is an alternative to the 2,100 sq. ft. junk boxes that plague our fair landscape - a mobile mini-manse that has less of a foot print than a Cadillac SUV. Low cost, and low emission, it costs only $6/month to heat, and $10K to build. No landlords either. Why throw your money away on rent? It is an answer to the land shortage - there are so many roads, and soon, nobody will be able to afford to drive.

Spiced by some other of my readings on the dark days that are rolling down upon us, my mind turned to The Grapes of Wrath, and the Joads' plight. This little love shack would have been perfect for them.



Okay, so that might do for a single, or maybe a very loving couple, but what about the kiddies? I'm glad that I asked, it seems that there is a solution for that too - the folding house!



It looks a bit problematic as far as the furniture and appliances though, I guess you would need a 5 ton truck to carry that stuff around, and tow the trailer. Need a crew cab for the kids.

604 it's over

or, more signs of the times


I rather liked the last post picture, with allusions to perversion, a black hole sucking in the 604 area code, y'know.

The picture for today seemed emblematic as well - a sign advertising "quality homes" that has a mean list to it. I hope they build homes better than they put up signs. It does not instill confidence. Most of us are well aware of the preponderance of cheap construction and poor workmanship these days. Having a sign like that is like going to a job interview downtown unshaven, and unwashed.

Shortly after taking that picture, I saw a roofing crew re-doing a residential roof. The truck driver did not seem to know how to operate the boom crane to load the new shingles onto the roof, and I watched in dread anticipation of a work place accident. Nobody seemed to know what they were doing - the roof was not properly stripped, and it looked as if they were going to shingle over the remaining nails and detritus from the old roof. I had to keep moving.

Somewhat disheartened, I came across this place -


and my heart sang again. I like the style, and the use of the lot. It was refreshing to see after seeing so many dreary New Vancouver Specious - er, Specials. They look to be quality built, it is apparent from the curb. I like the whimsy of the upper floor windows, and half-expected to see The Cat in the Hat lurking about somewhere. It looks like Dutch Modern meets Harbour Grace, NFLD, or such. Why can't tasteful, quality construction be codified? If we are going for density, let's do it right.

A bit further on, I passed another house under construction, and saw a guy putting up the fascia above the front entrance. It was uneven, and there was a gap. I fully expected to see the guy leave it that way, but he actually pulled it off and fixed it! I commented to him as I passed, and thanked him for making it right. Why should that make me so happy? I am just so tired of seeing crap being built, and having to look at it.

Then again, maybe I am just manic today.

random repair residences

Yay! I was allowed back in!

I was out perambulating with li'l solipsist today and grabbed a few shots for curb appeal/appall/whatever. I don't think that the correction has happened yet, and I can't even be bothered to check.

So, a few shots of what East Vancouver has to offer, though none of these are for sale to my knowledge.

From not too bad to worst.

This place isn't too bad for some reason. There is something that I like about it. The colour is bold, the lines are fairly clean, but the designer seemed to have nothing really to say.

It reminds me of northern Europe if you scale it down and get rid of the cheesy cultured stone facing, and butt-ugly entrance doors. Actually, the whole front entrance area needs re-working.



This non-descript little place is dwarfed by its neighbours, so they put up a big, ugly sign to compensate.

The advertisement looks to be threatening with a 45 gallon drum of various colours of paint, or a nuclear device of some sort.

I don't know, maybe spruce yer place up before using it as an advertisement, and use a little imagination in your sign.



This unfortunate little place has no windows on the sides at all. The front windows are shuttered. I think vampires live here.



This place looks plain abandoned, and is an eyesore. Perhaps the police should investigate. It just has that air to it.



Well that was exciting. the pope, mohican, paulb, Rob Chipman, et al have the news and numbers, I am just a random commentator.

Stay tuned for my copper chopper/VANOC/CSIS/RCMP surveillance post.

report

Yesterday, the Missus and the Ba, and I (Da) checked out this "lovely 1912 home" just for fun (it was an Open House, and we were passing by). The first thing that the agents said (beyond "hello") was that the price had been dropped from $799k to $709k, and that the sellers were "very motivated". The male agent started blathering about how the market was strong for another 4-5 years. I did not ask why the price reduction in the face of all that market strength.

The agents seemed a bit dejected.

The house is tenanted, with the main and upper floor rented at $1300/month, and the basement suite rented at $700/month. The two bedrooms at the top were very small, and the Missus said that it would be good for a couple, but not so much for a family. The kitchen has been recently modernized, and the basement suite was all modernized -with new plumbing, wiring, drains, etc. I asked if there was still knob and tube wiring in the house, and the agents were...evasive - pointing out the original fir trim and panelling.

The female agent looked at our gorgeous Ba, and said "Hi. You're kind of cute." The Missus looked at her sharply (usually, we hear "gorgeous", beautiful", or "adorable"), and I muttered that the house was "kind of over-priced".

It is a character-filled house, but I would not offer more than $400k.

curbed

Not much to say for me these days, so I thought I'd drag out the curb thang agin.

I wrote about this place back in November. This is what became of the funky little cob house, and the de facto park that had grown on the lot over the last 20 years, or more. The place is done now, and doesn't look too bad (the fences and ladders are gone. At least it "fits" into it's surroundings.

I wonder if that chimney is for a wood-burning fireplace (I thought that that was not allowed in the city any more), or is just an architectural "feature".

I don't know if these homes are full of suites, or not, but the front place looks quite big. I don't like strata though. Why not just subdivide the lot?

You will see the tiny cob house that used to be there below. I think that it would have been very cool if the developer had built something along that line - just much bigger. Building materials are cheap, and it is very flame resistant to boot. It reminds me of some of Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona.

curb appeal - humble houses

I reckon it's time to move the San Andreas Champagne engagement ring love shack grow-op down on it's way into the memory hole, and good riddance.

Call me crazy, but I have always liked this little house near Trout Lake. Nothing ostentatious about it, just a simple little house with some character, on a fairly quiet street. It's the kind of place that I would be willing to pay $250k for, plus another $50k, plus some sweat, to fix it up and live in it.

But alas, I'm sure that it will be bull-dozed, and some hideous Vancouver Specious will take it's place. That monster will have a bunch of suites in it, and the area will start on a slow decline.

It's all about "eco-density" (TM - Sam Sullivan). There's not much ecological friendliness in sending hundreds (if not thousands) of these houses to the land-fill, and bringing in machinery to tear things apart, and more machinery to haul it away, and more machinery to make it look "pretty" again.

There will be trees and shrubs and hedges torn out, and the yards will be paved with concrete. Painters will dump their paints and solvents down the sewers, and the streets will be littered with screws and nails that will find their way into our tires.

I'm sure that a lot of people would be glad to get a place like this for 300 - 350K$, but the more voracious have their eyes on it as a vehicle of profit, and they will build some junk on it.

I really hope that this madness ends soon.

curb appeal - the love shack

Back to my favourite subject of late (there really seems so little to comment on).

I found this quirky little gem that stands out like a diamond ring on a sore thumb. It does not fit into the neighbourhood at all - surrounding houses are post-war, Vancouver Specious, or Vancouver Specials.

I don't know if it is old or new, but I like the look of it, and would like to see more of such. I do have the idea that it is newer construction.

Let's call it the love shack.

Sorry for the crappy photo', I took it on the fly.

curb appeal - modern architecture

I've been disdainful of residential construction as of late, and some may wonder what do I like?

I like this one on Semlin Dr. in East Van. I don't know a lot about it, and my Internet search for information has turned up nothing. If anyone has any info. on it, I would be glad to read it.

What I do know about it is that it was bought some years ago by an acquaintance's land lord and restored - with grants from the City and/or provincial gov'ment. It has a heritage designation ("B" list is my understanding) as one of the few examples of Modern Architecture in Vancouver. It was completely "restored" some years ago. I wonder what it's worth?

This place merits the solipsist seal of approval (TM).

curb appeal - the teal townhouse

Here you are - the teal townhouse.

This one is just off Commercial Dr. I give them a "C" for the effort to spare the aesthetic of the neighbourhood, but there is something "off" with it. It looks as if it has been transplanted from the East Coast somewhere - Halifax or St.John's. That's not a bad thing, but I can't quite give it the solipsist seal of approval.

The dormer-on-dormer is interesting, even bold, but they could have more, and larger, dormer windows on the front - which would have made it look a little less stark IMHO. The entrance treatment on the left unit is a bit odd. It would have been nicer without the blind dormer (gable, whatever), and a big covered porch. Might as well tear it down and start over.

I know - I'm a nit-picker, but I just don't get the lack of imagination and attention in the construction of these new places. It is much better than the new Vancouver Specious (which I am dubbing manifestations such as the mandarin monster) though.

And what's with the ersatz rock everywhere these days?

Gack. This is turning into the Architectural Digest. It's kind of like a critique of the Hyundai Pony (easy to find fault with). The difference is - Hyundai Ponies were cheap, and these houses are really, really expensive.

curb appall - the mandarin monster

This one is nice. A little awkward, what with the fake rock and incongruous colour scheme, but someone likes it. Not me though. I'm glad that I don't live anywhere with that in my view.

To complement the Creamsicle Cookie Cutter Castle aspect, there is not a shred of vegetation on the lot. The yard is "lawned" with rocks. That's pretty zen man. I guess you don't want to be giving up navel gazing for yard maintenance. Get a shrub or something.

To each his own, but what are these guys thinking? Perhaps they are visually compromised, and need a bright paint job in order to distinguish their house from all the colonic clones nearby. Maybe they have a lot of parties (yeah, just turn left at the mustard coloured place, drive 'til you see the Emptyville horror, take another left at the Manure Mansion and keep going. You can't miss it, it's the only bright orange house on the block)

Coming soon - the Blood Red Bastille.

curb appall

Sometimes I really wonder. Who designs this appalling junk?

I have watched this place go up over the last few months. The original house was small, and sold for about 529K - if memory serves. When they dug and poured the foundation, I wondered what the hell they were thinking of, as the new footprint seemed smaller than the original. Then it went up to three stories, and I thought that it might be interesting.

But look what they did to it! "The eyebrows" are mighty incongruous, and the doorways look as if they have range hoods above them. The fan coming out of the wall on the front of the house is a nice design feature. They missed out on the south-facing windows in the aerie, but made up for it with a windowless door, and a microscopic "widow's walk". The awning over that door would have been a better fit than the "eyebrows".

On the positive side, the view from the penthouse will be very nice, and the area is "improving" with all manner of modern monstrousities (as can be seen in the background).

I didn't bother researching the wish price, but I would wager that the place cost 300k to build, plus roughly 500k for the lot, plus financing, taxes, GST, PTT, commissions, etc.

What I would really like to know, is where the designer/architect got their training, and whether they have a severe drinking problem. I would be embarrassed to have my name on that wreck. What a mish-mash. It's like New England meets Arte Deco and crashes headlong into Vancouver City Hall.

curb appeal #2

I wrote about curb appeal in a snide way a couple of weeks ago, and promised an example of what new construction could be.

The upper picture (below) is the new place that was built on the rear of a lot just off Commercial Drive. My understanding is that the lot is strata, but the house is freehold. I'm not sure just how that works.

The picture doesn't do justice, it has very nice exterior finishes congruent with the style of the house. I spoke to one of the workers there, and he said that it was pricey to build. But why not build something nice instead of an ugly box? It's worth that much more at resale time. Further, it doesn't ruin the character of the area, and invites a more social way of living with the big front porch. I'm not so sure I like the proximity to the lane way though.

The lower pic' is of the original house at the front of the lot.

There are other such places being built in the area, and I will post them as they progress.

curb appeal

One of the maxims/buzz phrases of RE agents is curb appeal. Everyone understands this. Plant some flowers, clean up any detritus, a few licks of paint, and you are good to go. In this beastly bull market of the last few years, you could tack on 50G's by spending 200 bucks on flowers and 500 bucks on paint.

What kind of curb appeal does the place depicted here have? They're asking 799k for it, and don't even care that the realtor's sign is obscured by garbage. Is the market so hot that you can sell a place that approaches a million dollars so lackadaisically?


Here is a further view. Unfortunately, I framed out the curb appeal that the portable toilet provides, and the orange safety fence - which protects the stump of a downed tree.

Of course, the house is incomplete - which leaves me wondering if it is offered for sale as is, where is, or if one has some choice in the finishes and landscaping included in the asking price. I wonder if they really want to sell it.





There are a lot of places around almost identical to this one. I see older houses bought up, torn down, and almost as soon as the new framing is done, there is a for sale sign up. I watch them complete, and sit there. Price reduced to no avail. They are most often tasteless, character-less, and adorned in hideous colours. I have seen orange ones, blood red ones, manure coloured, etc. They all share the same blue-prints, and I have seen whole streets of identical, ugly, square boxes. These are the Vancouver Specials of the 2000's.

I'm thinking of having a new series on curb appeal - as often I can get to it - over the next while. Feel free to submit candidates.

NOTE: The sign is real, just altered - for my and your amusement, and to save embarrassment to the realtor. Why should I care about the realtor? I don't really, I'm just decent.