House Stalking On New Things for the New Year

I'm sure you guys have all picked up on the fact that I'm not really a new house person. I like old houses for lots of reasons. Not that new houses aren't beautiful. Many of them are. So I thought I'd feature new construction for the first House Stalking of the New Year.

Infill housing refers to houses built long after the majority of housing in the neighborhood was constructed. In my opinion, most infill housing looks awful. People construct large Tuscan-style villa McMansions on streets full of turn of last century cottages. Not a good look.

Grant Park is a wonderful in-town Atlanta neighborhood with great restaurants (Six Feet Under!) and in walking distance to the actual Grant Park and Zoo Atlanta. As a desirable intown neighborhood, it is no stranger to infill housing.

Here is a beautiful example of infill housing done well. 

All photos from Realtor.com 

The listing calls the house "Craftsman" which...okay. The neighborhood is full of Craftsmen style homes, but it also has lots of what I think of as Early Twentieth Century Vernacular Construction. This house falls more into that category, in my opinion, but it is completely adorable.

Love the deep front porch (I'd go with a black wicker loveseat and rocker). Painting porch ceilings blue is an old southern tradition. What's the purpose behind it? It's believe to both protect the house against haunts and the blue color keeps spider from spinning webs on the porch. Either way, I like. The leaded glass numbers embedded in the front door is a nice, Craftsman-y touch.

The foyer. The paneled door shows nice attention to detail.

 The living room, which is open to the dining room and kitchen.

The dining room, with batten board paneling and an absolutely fantastic built-in china cabinet. Leaded glass doors! Crystal knobs! And check out the windows! They really look like old house windows. Love it. 

Who ever designed this house did a a great job with almost all the permanent fixtures and most of the other design choices, but the chandelier was not the best choice. Maybe a more Craftsman style fixture like this or this? Even a Tiffany style chandelier would work in this space.

 I think this is the downstairs bath. The tile wall is a little trendy, but everything else looks classic.

 This (upstairs hall?) bath sports classic black and white tile and equally classic fixtures.

So this bathroom is so awesome I'm just going to imagine my steam shower and long, hot bath. Love the double sinks and restrained luxury. 

The screened in porch on the first floor runs the width of the house. The master bedroom has its own screened porch upstairs.

So I am absolutely in love with this house, right? I mean, if I won the lottery tomorrow and bought it the only change I'd make is the dining room light fixture. It's a great, great house.

And then I saw the picture of the kitchen. The whole house is brilliantly designed to recall the past while incorporating modern life and luxuries (open living room, the amazing master bath). So why does the kitchen look like 2012 threw up all over it? I personally think super dark cabinetry is going to look dated fast. There's also the matter of the very busy backsplash and equally busy granite countertops. Also...boob light. I don't understand the thinking here. Wouldn't white cabinets with a creamy marble tile backsplash and white granite counters with softer pattern work better with the over all style of the house?

Still, this a beautiful house in a great neighborhood and a great example of good infill housing.

House Stalking: Christmas Edition

Picture From An Old Grad School Blog

A northeast suburb of Atlanta boasts of a neighborhood called Merry Hills. Within this neighborhood you'll find streets named Christmas, Holly, Merry, North Holly, Pine Tree, and Reindeer. Who wouldn't want to live at the intersection of Reindeer and North Holly? The original neighborhood was built 1950 and 1963 as one story ranches on 1/4 to 3/4 acre lots. The houses were built to be eligible for VA loans, making them attractive to returning WWII and Korea vets.

So this neighborhood? PRIME Grandma house territory...except this is a very popular area of town (near all the interstates, Emory, and the CDC) with great schools, which usually ups the chances of turnover and remodeling.

So...what's available in grandma style houses with a Christmas address?

1755 Reindeer Lane 

This house lists at 200k with four bedrooms and three baths.

Reindeer Lane Photos From Redfin

I love the outside. It looks like a split level from the outside, but after looking through the pictures I think the bottom right window is part of a daylight basement. This house, by the way? Kind of reminds me of Young House Love's house.

I love the openness of the kitchen. I would love, love, love a sitting area with a fireplace attached to the kitchen. It needs new flooring and a new light fixture, but the white painted brick and paneling is sweet. And I've learned from people like Kenz how to deal with a fireplace surround you are unhappy with.

The great room, which shares the fireplace with the kitchen. The smurf holocaust carpet would have to go, but the bones of the room are awesome. That lofted ceiling? The bank of windows? I love. This is obviously an addition to the original house.

Remember in the1980s/early 1990s when colored mini-blinds were a thing? Here is a sad, sad remnant of that time period. Here's a hint: while shades of green often look amazing together, mint and forest green? Not so much. I do like the tile, though!

All in all, a very cute house.

1324 Merry Lane

This three bedroom, 1.5 bath lists for $180,000.

Photos of Merry Lane from Zillow

The outside of this house is straight up adorable. Love the glassed in porch and brick facade.

 This staging just leaves me cold. It reminds me of apartment listings, and when you are expecting someone to shell out almost 200k for a house with one bathtub/shower do you really want them thinking mid-level apartment? It's not bad, it's just...blah. It doesn't do anything to show up the house's good points. These aren't horrific pictures, or anything, (I mean, there's no guns stored over cribs or evidence of alien abduction like other real estate pictures I've featured) they just don't stimulate my interest in the house.

 The kitchen is  cute, but I would have moved the awkwardly placed microwave before I worried about setting out wine and wineglasses.

I do love the original cabinets, and painting them ACTUAL white instead of this weird pinkish shade would go far.

The glassed in porch and the yard are fantastic.

1442 Christmas Lane

This is a classic grandma ranch with four bedrooms, two baths, and an asking price of $299,000.

Christmas Lane Photos From Willow

The front is really cute. I love the tree, long driveway, and two car garage in the back.

 I think this is the screened porch, and I love it. White painted paneling and angled ceilings are a real estate sweet spot for me, apparently! I think the floor is either vintage linoleum or polished concrete. I'm leaning towards polished concrete. 

There aren't enough words to express my love of this front door. My last house had a similar one, and I loved it. People pay almost a $1000 for reproductions of this door style.

The den. I love the build-ins. Another room also had some great built ins that featured a two person desk. The perfect office! All the hardwoods looked like they were in great shape.

So, if you lived in Merry Hills what Christmas flavored address would you go for?

Three Way At The Beach

As Christmas approaches and winter settles in over most of us (although I have a rose bush blooming...) I start dreaming of a beach escape. Sun, sand, and saltwater baby.

Picture from Elite Hospitality

Like this. A pier, the waves, and the promise of fun!

Picture from Go Florida

My family spent vacations in the Daytona Beach area for my most of my childhood, but I haven't been back in over a decade! When we stopped going the Daytona boardwalk was largely abandoned. It's since undergone a renaissance. You can enjoy an amusement park, Ferris wheel, the pier, et cetera!

So, I wondered...what could you get for under a 100k in Daytona Beach in a mid-century ranch? And how close would you be to the beach? Ah, lovelies, you'd get more for your money than you'd think!

House Number One: Remodeled. At Some Point. Not A Particularly Recent Point.

All Photos In This Set From Zillow

Part of Daytona Beach is on the mainland of Florida; the rest is on a small strip of land between Halifax River and the Atlantic Ocean. This home is on the mainland near the Daytona Beach Golf Club. Built in 1962 it has 4 bedrooms and 3 baths over almost 1500 square feet.

 The kitchen looks like it renovated in the 1990s. Change out those pendents, repaint, and it would be a really nice space!

The sponge paint is another renovated in the 1990s clue. The tile floor is one of three types of flooring I noticed in the house.

 A bath, remodeled at some point, which is desperate need of cleaning.

I'd guess this is the master bedroom, since there's an attached bath. The vanity looks newish. This is the only room where I noticed hardwood floors; the other rooms had carpet in need of replacing (or pulling up).

The backyard is lush. Love the palm trees! The asking price is $87,900.

House Two- Grandma Style

Yep, house two is a true Grandma ranch.

Photo Set From Billow

It's located on the strip, maybe a block or so from the river and still in walking distance to the Atlantic Ocean. Built in 1954 it has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and comes in at almost 1500 square feet. The house definitely has a mid-century modern feel. Love the roofline.

The kitchen could use a little help. A paint job, if nothing else, could go far. See the notched pine and barn-style hinges on the left? Probably the laundry room.

There were lots of what appeared to be living spaces. There appeared to be a dining room off the kitchen, where I think think this picture was taken looking into the living room. The room at the very back is the family room. All of the hardwoods seemed to be in okay shape, and at least you wouldn't have to pull up carpet.

One of the bathrooms. Love the gray tile with pink accents. So cute. Even the toilet paper holder is pink! The wallpaper would have to either be stripped (shudder!) or be replaced. The tiles looks like it is in fantastic condition.

The family room glimpsed in the living room photo. Very vintage pickled cream paneling with built in shelving/dry bar. The sliders lead to the pool area...

This vintage with possibilities within walking distance to the beach? Lists at $78,500.

House Three: Terrible MLS Photos

Let's be honest. The first time I featured bad realtor photos the house itself was a bit of a disaster. It wasn't just dirty, it veered right past handyman special and straight into major renovation territory.

Not so with this house, and yet these pictures? SO BAD.

Photo Set From Zillow

This house is the closest to the beach, and is in easy walking distance to both the river and the Atlantic Ocean. Built in 1956 it has almost 1300 square feet, including two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The outside is super cute and Florida-y (I so want to stick some flamingos in the front yard!) and boasts a garage.

This kitchen. Good Lord. Was there some sort of Roanoke event where the people just disappeared? It looks like someone was making a sandwich! Although the counters are a mess, the cabinets look to be in good vintage condition and I love those knobs. This is a cute house! If someone had just straightened up the counters and attempted to take a straight on picture there would be nothing to snark on.

There's a fireplace, which is relatively rare in Florida. The hardwoods look okay. The people left the television on, adding proof the owners were abducted by aliens and the agent/the agent's photographer were forbidden from turning the tv off. Maybe its the owners' anchor back to this dimension and if its ever turned off they'll never be able to return? If that's the case, it'll drop the sales price a bit. Because...that TV is both ugly AND in an awkward place. And, OMG, what if the channel can never be changed and it's stuck on the local channel where Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown are shown? That's a Dante level six or seven. It will MAJORLY reduce the price of the house!

Vintage gray tile bath with walk in shower. And toiletries. Which the owners didn't need when they abandoned the house to escape from the zombies. When agents post super close up shots of spaces like bathrooms I wonder what horror lurks just outside the frame.

This house is listed at 99k.

So, what under 100k at the beach house would you choose? I'm going grandma, I think. Lots and lots of potential, and its in good enough shape that preserving the vintage elements would be doable. Plus, I could watch any television channel I choose!

Introducing House Stalking Saturdays!

Yeah, I really enjoyed writing last week's post about terrible real estate photos. Part of my love is that I love stalking real estate sites, so this lets me share my favorite of the week.

This is a house I'm a little in love with.

All photos from Zillow

I'm going to make a completely unsurprising admission-I love Grandma houses. They are called different names. Mid century ranches or bungalow or ranchalows. Pam calls them Mid-Century Modests. Whatever. I love them. Our forever house will probably (hopefully) be one. Also, youngins, I learned from watching a sick uncle and then dealing with a severely sprained ankle that one floor living is WONDERFUL when you are sick or injured. My poor uncle lived in a split level while terminally ill, and it added a LOT of difficulty to his day to day living. J spent the first few months of our marriage dragging me up the stairs to our second floor walk-up after I hurt my ankle. Not fun.

ANYWAY. I like my Grandma houses in their original condition. Okay, I want a good roof and I want it well maintained and all that, but I want it untouched. How can you determine from real estate pictures if your ranch home is in original condition?

It helps if the real estate photos have furniture in them. Although hipsters have made this more difficult! The Chippendale chairs, vintage sofa, super cool set of tables instead of a traditional coffee table, rocking chair, and faded Oriental rug could just as easily belong to Zooey Deschanel as to your typical Greatest Generation-er. (Oh, and I'm pretty sure that open door leads to the kitchen.) However...

The television set is a dead giveaway. Hipsters will go far, but their technology choices are basically no TV or a flatscreen. No way will 99% of hipsters be cool with this energy sucking/poor screen quality floor model.

Ah, the kitchen. Your true test of vintage charm. This kitchen is pretty charming (and its in a super Yuppie part of town, so it's time is probably at an end). Look at that vintage refrigerator!

Another view of the kitchen. See the sink with built-in drainboard? It's the little details, people! You can also check out the vintage vinyl floor. As I stare at the cabinets I'm beginning to think they might be metal or steel kitchen cabinets. The real estate listing says they are vintage to the house. A nice fresh coat of paint, replace the window valance, and maybe go with a pendent instead of the baby light and you'd have an adorable kitchen that retains its vintage charms!

Okay, so the washing machine is in the kitchen and I HATE that. But there's a screened in porch, it's the South, go ahead and make it a service porch! Then you can pop in a dishwasher (the plumbing's obviously there!). And replace the black stove. Please. There's more to the kitchen (see the counter/table/something on the right side?) so it's probably more spacious than it looks!

One of the three bedrooms. The floors are in fantastic condition! And I'm totally digging that bed frame.

Ah, yes! Vintage tiled bathrooms make my heart sing! And this tile looks NICE. Someone was a good housekeeper (another plus of grandma ranches that haven't been used as rentals!). I love the pistachio green tile with the black trim. Imagine the walls painted a nice smoky gray. Also, the bathroom has a linen closet (mega important!).

The rest of the bathroom. Cast iron tub, and more proof the tile and fixtures are in pristine condition. Cast iron tubs will survive the apocalypse, people. And will be the only time a cockroach will ever get near this beauty. I wish there was a better picture of the floor, but it looks like some sort of basketweave pattern.

The screened in porch. Do I even NEED to say anything about the fantasticwonderfulawesomeamazingness of that glider? Yeah, I didn't think so.

The backyard, complete with brick barbecue! Add some wrought iron outdoor dining furniture and you are good to go.

This house is in an awesome part of Atlanta, and lists for $260,000. I love it! What was your favorite part?