THIS OLD HOUSE ROXBURY SECOND EMPIRE

photo courtesy TOH website

This Old House is doing a Second Empire In Roxbury Mass. The duplex Second Empire was severely deteriorated and is the kind of house they would bulldoze In Cincy but there they are bringing it back and the home will be sold to to deserving families. You can follow the progression the This Old House website and of course the TV show:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/current-house-project


This project shows that even severely distressed property, in the worst of neighborhoods, can be restored and reused. the goal is to bring homeowners back into the neighborhood. Doing just one house on a block like this will have a dramatic impact on the entire neighborhood and bring others in. This approach works and why we can't get it right here in Cincinnati, baffles me.


You redevelop neighborhoods one house at a time, you bring new people in, you establish community.

You DO NOT redevelop neighborhoods by ordering houses vacant, Demolishing them and creating roadblocks to restoration and new people moving in.

Extreme Home Makeover comes to Indy and why I am not excited

Well the Extreme Home makeover folks are in Indy and I'm not really excited. I guess the only fortunate part of it is that they are tearing down a house that historically has no value. That's a good thing. The bad thing is that the house will be worthless in the neighborhood they are building it in and they will "saddle' the family with a home that they will never get any "real Money" out of should they need to ever sell. A property tax bill of 3-4000.00 or more a year not to mention the fact that the neighborhood is a war zone and homeowners insurance will cost them a mint if they can even afford it. Also do not forget the IRS tax to pay on all of this .

For what will be spent building the house, the man hours involved, and for those of you who care about such things, "the carbon footprint" of this project. (You should see the Rows of luxury RV's that the staff and crew have parked near the site), Extreme Home Makeover could have gone to the burbs bought 20-30 foreclosures in a great, low crime, neighborhood and relocated the entire neighborhood that is frankly one of the few parts of town most people will drive out of their way to avoid.

For all their "Good Intentions" it is amazing how many recipients of this " good will" have had to file bankruptcy do the upkeep and maintenance costs.

I know this isn't a populist viewpoint, but I have to think there is a better way of helping people other than parading them on TV so the viewers can "feel good". Interestng that they dont followup on what REALLY happens to teh recipients of this generousity.

An article about the "downside" of "Winning" a makeover:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/07/two-more-extrem.html

'The Peacock Room"

Anyone who has more than a passing interest in the Victorian Era would be well advised to visit this blog which focuses on the Aesthetic Movement within the Victorian era. There is a large quantity of well researched information that is a great resource for anyone who is involved in historic restoration or just a fan of the Era.

http://thepeacockroom.blogspot.com/

A Major Step_Hoppe building in Preservationsist hands!

As you know we have been trying to get the Historic Hoppe Building in St Joe Missouri saved. We are pleased to report it is now in the hands of a local Historic Preservationist there in St Joe. We could not be happier as it removes one obstacle and source of frustration to our move to Cincinnati!

National Night Out Tuesday Night

Neighborhood organizations, block clubs and Crime watch groups will be celebrating National night out with a variety of activites. Our local neighborhood is one of several hundred ornganizations celebrating tommorow night. We will have our local Police stopping by as well as people in city governmentand the crime watch program. We are also block off the street for a block party with food and music.

We apologize for the brief interuption

I've been having some knee problem taked care of. I was putting this off for a while and finally decided it was time to get this done. Soooo, I wont be running any marthons for the next few weks but I will be spending alot of time on the computer sharing news and information about historic restoration and urban planning and development.

Will Mortage bailouts work?

The Senate voted 76-10 Monday to advance the bill, a broad array of housing measures including overhauls of the Federal Housing Administration, the Depression-era mortgage insurer, and government-sponsored home loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Its centerpiece is a new $300 billion FHA program to allow debt-ridden homeowners who are currently too financially risky to qualify for government-backed loans to refinance into safer, more affordable mortgages.

The question is will it work and this assumes the President would actually sign it into effect? I am not sure. It seems that the concept is good but I wonder if taking risky people who should not have bought a home in the first place and refinnancing them with more affordable loans really solves the problem.

Its is really about confidence in the market, and at the moment there doesnt seem to be any. The bigger real problem is that regular homeowners who didnt use their house as an ATM, and want to sell can't because of lack of consumer confidence. Case in point, we have a house on the Market in Indy at 279K we started at 350 and it appraises at over 400K. Despite the instant equity anyone would have if they bought that house, everyone is afraid to enter the market for fear it will get worse.

In our case we have to look at potentially leasing out this home, which will be easy since quality property for lease brings a premium but we get the whole set of headaches from managing a property 100 miles away and our equity is tied up.

This is really about perceptions and I think until the "media' decides it OK to buy housing again, these bailouts will not really help the market recover. At best right now its a very expensive bandaid

Antiques at the Willows a sucess

In spite of a rainy Friday the 3rd Annual "Antiques at the Willows" Tag Sale was a sucess! We sold a bunch of stuff we didnt need but I still have a carriage house full of stuff we will have to move to Cincinnati however!

Comeback kids: Flowers and Old houses

As you can see my carnations are a bloom! nothing special until you know that these are from last year and they are still alive! I bought the basically indoor plants last year and used them in pots on either side of the front steps , after they were done blooming, they were just greenery. I changed the plants out but since they were obviously alive I didnt have the heart to pitch them. So I threw them in a flower box I built on the back deck. I couldnt seem to get anything to thrive there, because of the heat generated by the deck in the morning. Amazingly they survived. Well when fall came aroung I normally put in pansys or ornamanetal kale in that box but I decided what the heck, lets just leave them in there.

Despite our cold winter and snow and ice, they made it through the winter (they did turn a little brown in the middle of winter) but, Lo and Behold this spring they turned green as did the two I put out in the back yard by the pond and waterfall. As you can see, against the odds, they are blooming! Flowers are alot like old houses and neighborhoods, just when you think they can't make it they come back!

Restorers Resources: Where to buy it!

I plan on adding a regular feature to the blog on Restorers Resources since many of my readers are old house owners and in mid restoration of their homes. One of the most frequent emails is where do I find this or that? The hardest part of getting that perfect look is in the details. One of the best resources for Wolf House Wallpapers LLC, based in Mt Vernon Ohio.. They have an exciting line of Period wallpapers that are perfect for Italiante homes with high ceilings. they also offer reporoduction services as well. You can take look at their complete line of papers at http://www.wolffhousewallpapers.com/

Photo courtesy of their website

Cottage Home Tour

The Cottage Home neighborhood will host a Home and Garden Tour this Saturday and Sunday, 12 homes and gardens will be featured on the tour. Cottage Home, just east of downtown and west of the Arsenal Tech Campus has enjoyed a rennaisance in recent years. For more information about cottage home please visit www.cottagehome.info

AH SPRING!

I must confess that this is an unusual spring. Normally I am in the middle of major renovations and this year, well.....this house is done! Ive landscaped, touched up, cleaned, staged and basically just sitting around waiting for this @#$%^%@ house to sell! We are not alone, there are millions of homeowners with perfectly good houses priced at bargain prices and NO ONE is buying!

I think there are a couple of reasons, the overall economy one but clearly the media has painted a perception that now is not the time to buy, that prices will go lower. I am not sure that really is the case. Our house at the "crest of the housing boom" could have probably sold for 450K (If I had only rushed and did it half way!) Instead I took my time and did it right. On the market at a very reasonable 295K and its done right and you cant find anything lose on the market for less than 400K.

Its funny though as I get calls from people wanting restoration consulting because that "Restored Charmer" they bought has become a falling apart "Money Pit". I recently did an "evaluation" for a client. They had bought a nice 4 bedroom victorian 525K in one of the best downtown neighborhoods, and now they were having prolems. Tile was falling off ( not properly installed), Circuits were blowing (inadaquate circuit box). Well the list goes on and on and the estimated bill to fix what needed to be done will likely be over 30K. They had an inspection but that inspector missed some basic "design issues". The "restoration contractor" has run water lines on improperly insulated outside walls (you cant do that in Indiana they will freeze in the winter). he didnt use tile backer board, too many outlets on one circuit. basically the guy cut corners. It "looked" great but a more complete inspection would have revealed it was done on the cheap.

Doing things right takes planning, time and money. I have more information on proper planning on my website: http://thevictorianrestorer.googlepages.com/restorationplanning

Getting it right Period Interior Design

I often have people come up to me and ask "how do you get it right" when it comes to the period look of your house? I think few actually want a "museum period" look for their home. In fact few would want to actually live in a museum period victorian era home because it isnt very practical. In this example this is the parlor to entry view in our home. Now this house was built in 1915 but largely based on shingle design circa 1895, the big difference being a "craftsman brick porch", however it could have just as easily been shingled columns. As part of the restoration, (this house has zero woodwork when we got it), the goal was to recreate the era. This home is what we might call more "transitional" in its interior design. It has many craftman elements but still has the room layout you would have seen in its 1896 design. Since this isnt a 'grand mansion" but a typical working class home the interior is treated more along the lines of how it might have looked. In the time of this house this would have been decorated in family hand me downs do the earlier victorian era pieces work fine with the later circa 1900's pieces.

The goal is if you are "stepping back in time" but not necessarily a "time warp". One trick I tell my clients if you really want to see if you have that "period look:" take a photo then convert it to black and white. If it looks like an old family photo then you've got it right!

A Moving Experience

I always like to report on House Moves. In this case we are speaking about the Weaver house is Granite Falls Minnisota. This house was due to be demolished as it is located in a flood plain. As the Federal Government "reclaims" areas that are prone to regular flooding many historic homes or in some cases whole neighborhoods or towns are lost.

Fortunately this was not the case here. The town offered the home for relocation! The main Historic structure built in 1878 is being moved and the rear later addition will be salvaged. This is a prime example of how towns should approach the issue of demolition. House Moves are expensive but typically the restored home is well worth the cost.

More information, in case you'd like to follow the process or learn more about the history of this home please visit: http://www.holthouse.org/WeaverHouseindex.html

A Spring Evening at home

We really had an almost perfect evening the other night so I took some pictures. There are times when I forget I live downtown our house is like living in a resort. I'm planning our new "urban" envirionment in Cincinnati as we speak, I can only imagine a rooftop deck!

Is Suburbia Dying?

There seems to be some credible numbers and evidence that the suburbs are dying. A recent NPR article http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89803663 points to more urban home prices are actually increasing slightly while suburban areas are taking a heavy hit. The sprawl that has taken place over the last few years has converted rural farmland into large yard starter homes. The foreclosure crisis and the high cost of commute is creating virtual ghost towns where 30-50 percent of homes may stand vacant and basically unsellable or unrentable as people can no longer afford the cost of gasoline for long commutes.

I was speaking to my father the other day who lives in the suburbs and his big complaint of the day was it took forever to get anywhere due to the traffic and congestion. I have noted myself that as the downtown of Indianapolis becomes more populated which has cause a substancial rise in near downtown neighborhoods that many suburban neighborhood primarily the west and east sides of town deteriorate. Crime has risen in those areas and their once popular shopping malls look like ghost towns. In fact one mall 'Eastgate' has closed down completely. Washington Square has lost several anchor tenants and its death seems close at hand. Despite efforts at revitilization Lafayette square Mall is a shadow of its former self. If one contrasts that with Circle Center Mall which has high occupancy and good tenants. There is even a website dedicated to shopping mall history http://www.deadmalls.com/

This is a trend that has been repeated in several cities across the country like Washington DC and Atlanta. In fact the only complaint I hear or reason why some wouldnt move back downtown is the quality of Education. It stands to reason that any city trying to revitalize it's downtown will need to improve Educational opportunities in k-12 to bring families back to urban living

New Resources for Victorian Restorers

In the early years those of us trying to restore old houses struggled with trying to find historic interior suppliers. Fortunately it gets easier every day. Now I don't want this blog to just be a rant but to be informative and provide restorers with resources. One of thsoe resources is Aesthetic Interiors, one of the new small specialty wallpaper companies. Their site:

http://www.aestheticinteriors.com/sc/store.php?crn=212 has a nice line of period papers. I estpecially like their Anglo-Japanesque line of Aesthetic Monvement papers. Samples are available and they have complete room sets or you can just buy friezes or borders.

Urban Gardening

I always enjoy conversations with uninformed suburbanites who upon hearing I live in an Urban environment always comment "how can you live in town with all that noise and concrete!"

As we all know and hope, spring is here and I was going through photos of my back yard, something I recomend every spring so you remember what is planted where and I was struck by the fact that my 'Noise and concrete" is really an Urban Oasis. I am a big believer that lawn is a 4 letter work and I have strived to have not one blade of grass in my yard. In the process I have created a yard that is both functional and saves water.

In our new home in cincinnati we will have slightly less space but I am already in the planing stages for my urban oasis!

The Victorian Calling Card

Part of the "Joys of Packing" is finding things you forgot you had. I came across a collection of vintage "calling cards" for those of you who may not know whata calling card is: In the victorian era it was the custom for everyone to have a "calling card" usually a simple card with ones name but depending on your "station" in polite society it might be a very elaborate card with paper embossing and hand colored designs. Homes usually had a small silver tray on a table. the custom of the time dictated that one would leave their card in the tray when one came to visit or "call" as it was known at the time.

In any event at the time we thought we would be moving to St Joseph MO I began to collect historical items related to the city and I bought this collection of 130 or so cards. It really is a fascinating "look back" at the history and custom of the day. One things immediately appraent is how names have changed over the years. names like Nannie Dean, Millie M Thompson, Lillian Ethel Miler, Constance Abbot Limerick.

Today we email and blog, the 'personal touch" is often gone from our lives as is the practice to "come calling"

The Past Revisited

I had a most interesting thing happen yesterday. The doorbell rang and it wasnt a political candidate or those door to door bible thumpers. Earlier in the morning, I had noticed a van driving around, that stopped in front of our home. Now this was not surprising as our home is for sale and I wrote if off as another 'lookly loo'.

The gentleman at the door introduced himself and apologized for the intrusion. He had is 72 yr old grandmother with him and was taking her around the old neighborhood. She had sent summers in this house with her grandmother back in the 1950's. He wondered if it would be possible for his grandmother to "take a peek" at the inside of the house.

I was ecstatic to find someone who actually spent time in the house and I invited them in. She shared with me some stories "back in the day" when she lived here and she remarked how "wonderful" the house looked. I brought out some photos from the sorry state it as in when we bought it. She looked at it those , then as it as now and remarked we had done a wonderful job of restoration.

I exchanged email addresses with her Grandson. They are going through her old photos this weekend and she thinks there are some of the house in the 1950's. It always nice to meet "living history!"