These neighbors spent 2 million dollars to fend off a McMans

[jeaniebueller]

Mcmansion. Now they can't sell it.

www.washingtonpost.com/local/these-neighbors-spent-2-million-to-block-a-mcmansion-will-their-bet-pay-off/2015/12/20/ba51e124-a336-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_mcmansion_1115am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

They had seen home after home in Bethesda torn down, replaced by behemoths boasting high ceilings, multiple gables and soaring porticoes. So when a small 1940s Cape Colonial on Oldchester Road was about to go on the market last year — and already attracting the attention of a well-known McMansion developer — three neighbors designed a custom-built approach to save it. They pooled $2 million to buy, modernize and resell the old home. The trio hopes the updated brick Colonial, which they expanded from three to six bedrooms, will preserve the charm of their neighborhood and maybe even make them a modest profit.

But the group’s attempt to flip their non-McMansion — located on a street where a 1999 Harrison Ford movie was filmed — has yet to pay off. The now-renovated home at 7812 Oldchester Road in the Bradley Woods neighborhood of Bethesda has been on the market since late August, its price having dropped from nearly $2.4 million to $2.175 million.

The developer they blocked from tearing down the house isn’t surprised.

“I think they’ve learned their lesson. The home’s not selling,” said Carole Sherman, owner of Bethesda Too. “We’re building what people want.”

But the Bradley Woods triumvirate, which includes a senior Justice Department official, a real estate lawyer and a high-end home designer, remain confident they made the right decision, despite the property lingering on the market for 3 1/2 months, longer than the two-month average for a Bethesda home.

“I knew the only way we were going to look out the window and have a home we want to look at is if we did something about it,” said Diane Rosenberg, who owns a real estate law firm and is one of the three sellers. “Looking at what we did with this house versus what you’d get with a McMansion, our quality is unsurpassable. If you’re showy, and you want people to say, ‘Look at this humongous house,’ that’s not what you’re going to get.”

Alana Lasover, branch vice president at the Bethesda office of Coldwell Banker, said she has seldom seen neighbors deploy such a tactic to thwart a tear-down even as tension over McMansions remains significant in the surrounding area.
“This is very rare,” said Lasover, a longtime Bethesda real estate expert.

And it counts even more because it sits on more than 16,000 square feet — a prime target for a McMansion builder.

“No question this is a big win for the three neighbors who bought it,” she said. “A builder would have come in and definitely knocked down that house.”

[Tear-downs: Tearing apart or building up the neighborhood?]

In the case of the Bradley Woods Colonial, that builder would have been Sherman.
When Brad Creer, the home designer, saw Sherman sizing up the Cape Colonial one day in the summer of 2014, he alerted Rosenberg. She told Creer they had to buy it right away. Then they brought on Sheila Lieber, a deputy director at the Justice Department, who lives nearby on Aberdeen Road, as a third investor. The three formed a limited liability company and contacted the family that had owned the home since it was built, paying $1.275 million before it ever officially went on the market.

Creer, whose kitchen designs have been featured in glossy home magazines, worried that a huge new house on a street filled with older, smaller homes would look tacky and, worse, would necessitate cutting down trees. McMansion developers in Bethesda and Chevy Chase have slashed so many oaks that Montgomery County passed a law two years ago requiring builders to plant new shade trees for those lost to construction or else pay a fee.

“This type of street is dying in Bethesda, and there’s hardly any trees anymore,” Creer said as he stood outside the Cape Colonial one day.

He pointed south toward the intersection of Oldchester Road and Wilson Lane, where Sherman had just sold a McMansion that required the removal of trees. Then he pointed north toward the intersection of Oldchester and Aberdeen roads, where Sherman built two McMansions and has a third on the way, one right across from Lieber.

Sherman, whose building practices in the neighborhood stirred protests last year, said she knows exactly what she would have done with the property at 7812 Oldchester Road: “I would have demolished it and built a house those particular neighbors wouldn’t have wanted.”

Sherman, the first woman to serve as president of the Montgomery County Builders Association, dismissed Rosenberg, Creer, and Lieber for ignoring what home buyers want.
“People don’t want eight-foot ceilings. I love trees, and I’m sorry I have to cut so many down, but builders are following what the people want.”

The Cape Colonial that Sherman would have torn down was built in the 1940s by Charles L. Dasher, an Army colonel who died in 1955. It was passed to his son, Charles L. Dasher Jr., an Army major general. After his death in 1968, his widow, Helen Dasher, kept it until she passed away in 1995. On it went to the third generation of the family, Charlene “Tinkey” Dasher. Charlene moved out in 2007 to live with one of her sons in Northern Virginia, and her six children rented out the house. But after Charlene died in 2012, the children — most of whom are scattered across the country — needed to settle the estate and sell the house.
In mid-2014, Helen Skalniak, the third-oldest of the children, said the family was approached by both Sherman and a Long & Foster broker. The Long & Foster guy “was pushy and his party line was, ‘We have built multimillion-dollar homes in Potomac, and they’re running out of real estate there and coming to Bethesda,’­ ” said Skalniak, an administrative assistant at the Episcopal School of Dallas in Texas.

Sherman offered $1.25 million in July 2014 for the home, Skalniak said. But she didn’t like Sherman’s plans.

“I don’t think her definition of charm is the same as mine,” she said. Plus, Skalniak knew how upset her former neighbors would be if the house was torn down for a McMansion.
“There was a lady down the street, and she met me when I was visiting and said she was getting sick to her stomach about it,” she remembered. “I just reassured her that there was no way I was selling to anyone who’s going to kill the dignity of Oldchester Road.”

That’s when she agreed to sell to Rosenberg, Creer and Lieber. Rosenberg estimates they spent at least $600,000 to double the size of the 2,200-square foot home and update it with white wooden kitchen cabinets, an oversize Viking gas range, a stone fireplace and an adjacent living room big enough for a Superbowl or office cocktail party.
“They told me what their plans were and showed me the blueprints,” Skalniak said. “You just felt like you were doing something that your parents would really adore.”

Creer thinks Harrison Ford would approve, too. In the movie “Random Hearts,” Ford played a D.C. police officer who lived in one of Oldchester Road’s homes across the street from the 1940s Cape Colonial. The moviemakers, Creer said, wanted a charming neighborhood.

“They would have never picked it if there were a bunch of McMansions on the street,” Creer said. “Even if there was one.”

[fortnightlily]

This isn't far from where I grew up.

Here's the listing for the curious: www.wfp.com/listing-showcase/wfp-quick-preview.asp?mlsid=MC8774803

I think they did a nice job. I didn't realize 8 ft ceilings were considered a dealbreaker for house hunters with a $2 million budget, but what do I know. The one-car garage I could see being a problem.

But also, the market doesn't move that fast in that price range, and during this time of year. I think it's premature to say because it's been listed since October that it's unsellable.

[Velar Fricative]

I like that house. I would not give a shit about ceiling height (well, unless I had to slouch while walking around).

And I agree that being on the market since October isn't a bad thing to me.

[jeaniebueller]

I didn't think it seemed that long either but live in the Midwest where selling a house in under 6 months is considered fast. The thought of having a huge McMansion on a .38 acre sized lot seems crazy to me. Our lot is that size, and I have a 1390 sq ft house and we think our yard is way too small.

[mmp]

I love that house. It's beautiful.

[readyin07]

I think they did a lovely job, although it's not 100% my style and I agree that a lack of a 2nd car garage in that price point could be an issue.

Sad. My mom grew up in a neighborhood that is half on the golf course, the rest on the water. The homes are not nearly as charming or historic, but it's a nice neighborhood with bigger lot sizes (for south Florida and on the water especially). Many of the waterfront homes are being knocked down and being replaced by McMansions that have a foot print that completely ovewhelms the lot size and then building up to a second story so it towers over the home next to it. So sad and unnecessary.

[marriedfilingjoint]

LOL at 16,000 sq ft being prime location for a McMansion. Rich people are funny.

I think it's gorgeous. I also rolled my eyes at the implication that they've learned their lesson since it hasn't sold yet.

[Velar Fricative]

I will agree with some of the builders that as much as we (collective "we") bemoan McMansions...they're still popular.

BUT, I don't know if they're popular because they're nice and big and we Americans like everything to big, or just because the supply is there and aren't that many options for non-McMansions depending on where you live. So people who have money to spend are limited by what's available. I don't know.

[shauni27]

What a beautiful home; I would buy that in a heartbeat (if I had an extra 2 mil lying around, and I lived in Bethesda still!)

I hate mcmansions.

[Deleted]

I LOVE that house

[marriedfilingjoint]

Dec 21, 2015 13:41:08 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I will agree with some of the builders that as much as we (collective "we") bemoan McMansions...they're still popular.

BUT, I don't know if they're popular because they're nice and big and we Americans like everything to big, or just because the supply is there and aren't that many options for non-McMansions depending on where you live. So people who have money to spend are limited by what's available. I don't know.

Good question. Anecdotally, there seems to be some backlash against McMansions (or their income adjusted equivalent) in my town and I find it funny. The McMansions on the lake have fallen out of favor and everyone wants the historic colonials downtown. Folks my parents age who bought houses on the lake in the 80s and 90s can't downsize because they can't sell (that's not the funny part, I hate that for them). But the developers thought they could buy empty lots or little 700 square foot foreclosures downtown and bulldoze them and put up McMansions and no one wants them. I can think of 6 that have sat empty for YEARS. Meanwhile, our 1940s brick ranch sold in 3 days. NO ONE WANTS YOUR STUPID COOKIE CUTTER HOUSES!

[bowies]

Dec 21, 2015 13:41:08 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I will agree with some of the builders that as much as we (collective "we") bemoan McMansions...they're still popular.

BUT, I don't know if they're popular because they're nice and big and we Americans like everything to big, or just because the supply is there and aren't that many options for non-McMansions depending on where you live. So people who have money to spend are limited by what's available. I don't know.

I joke to my H all the time that we could never be rich around here because the giant mansions are horrendously ugly. Marble foyers with Fiat-sized chandeliers and Ionic columns everywhere. I would totally buy a McMansion over one of those if it had an ounce of modern style. 


The issue is also that older homes come with a host of maintenance responsibilities. Sometimes I fantasize about knocking ours down and starting over from scratch. 

[mrsd2006]

It's very interesting. This is happening often my neighborhood too (except $1MM houses, not $2MM houses). All the brick ranches are being torn down and replaced with these type houses. The one going up next to me is TEN FEET off the property line (which is the minimum). Our yards are pretty big though, so it's not all house on the lot. But really, for $1MM I'd want more privacy and not have every window on one side of the house look down into someone's back yard.

I think the house is lovely.

[forreals]

What an amazing home!

[lg28]

I love the house. I would buy it if priced appropriately for the market.

ETA - I don't know if it's priced well or not. Just saying if I was looking there I would go for it.

[womet]

I love that house. But if I were paying $2M for a home, I would want a 2 car garage.

[elleblue]

That house is perfect and just what I'd want if I had that budget and was looking in that area. Some of the finishes are nms but those things can be changed. 

Eta: one car garage is a bit of a bummer

[wawa]

I know 3 1/2 months is more than average for that market these days, but I'm LOLing that one season somehow makes this house an albatross around their suitably chastened necks.

come the fuck on. Let it sit vacant for a year and *then* you may point and laugh from your 20 ft foyer in your hideous soulless McMansion.

[karinothing]

They should pull and relist in spring. I bet it sells the. The 2 garage thing sucks, but there are 2 million dollar houses here without garages so I don't see that being too much of a deal breaker.

[epphd]

My SIL and family live about 4 blocks from there, in cape that she and her husband updated. They have the same complaints for sure. So when the house across the street went up for sale - they bought it and moved my MIL in.

Best investment ever.

And this, verbatim.

I know 3 1/2 months is more than average for that market these days, but I'm LOLing that one season somehow makes this house an albatross around their suitably chastened necks.

come the fuck on. Let it sit vacant for a year and *then* you may point and laugh from your 20 ft foyer in your hideous soulless McMansion.

[epphd]

Honestly this article will probably sell the house, haha.

[wawa]

Dec 21, 2015 14:25:44 GMT -5 epphd said:

Honestly this article will probably sell the house, haha.

this occurred to me as well.  And then I started to wonder if perhaps one of those three current owners dropped a word in an ear at the post...

[Velar Fricative]

Dec 21, 2015 14:52:30 GMT -5 @cookiemonster03 said:

I think it's beautiful.

I also think if I could afford a $2M property, I could afford for someone to come dig out my car when it snows. So yeah, I'll live with the 1 car garage.

Yes!

Although, I think my perspective is just weird anyway. We don't have even have a garage in our house. It wasn't something we prioritized during our house search. I'm sure it's one of those things that once you have one, you really can't go back to not having one (or two, or whatever the number was).

[sfy]

I love it...but I'm not the target audience.

As of now, this is a classic case study of MYOB.

[karinothing]

My local is discussing this and everyone thinks the house is ugly and should be torn down. People here are crazy

[womet]

Dec 21, 2015 14:28:09 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

couldnt you add a second garage?

It looks like the garage is really close to the property line. So adding it would be more complicated. But I'm sure someone could figure it out.

[josieposy]

If I had $2 million, I'd buy it.

[fortnightlily]

Dec 21, 2015 15:05:40 GMT -5 karinothing said:

My local is discussing this and everyone thinks the house is ugly and should be torn down. People here are crazy

What, really?  In what world is that house ugly?  Is this on DCNestRefugees?  I don't see the thread.

[karinothing]

Dec 21, 2015 15:12:39 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Dec 21, 2015 15:05:40 GMT -5 karinothing said:

My local is discussing this and everyone thinks the house is ugly and should be torn down. People here are crazy

What, really?  In what world is that house ugly?  Is this on DCNestRefugees?  I don't see the thread.

No dcum, I mean the people there are buying 2 million dollar houses so I guess they know what they want? Although I think the board has a lot of people who hate everything

[froggy76]

It's beautiful. And there are mature trees! You know the developer would have cut them all down.