Honestly this article will probably sell the house, haha.
I read it this morning and thought the same thing. Somebody in the neighborhood knows somebody in the WaPost. Pretty smart really.
There are a ton of McMansions in our 'hood and most of them are pretty fugly. And they really take up too much of the lot space. The original houses are nothing too special, but they are from the 50s so decently built. Our house is a pretty good example I think of renovating the inside, but not tearing it down or adding on a story like some houses. There is one across the street from us that looks like they just cut off the roof and added a story. It's so ugly.
Post by Velar Fricative on Dec 22, 2015 8:47:35 GMT -5
White kitchens = McMansions? Dammit, I was hoping to redo our kitchen someday and make it white. I figured the only color I needed to stay away from was cherry!
I'll agree on the open floor plan thing. What's so wrong about well-placed walls? How am I supposed to hide the chaos going on in the kitchen?
So much this. I hate kitchens that are completely open to the main living area. I don't want the messy kitchen visible all the time. Also, doesn't the rest of the area smell like food frequently.
OMG, are those taxes legit? We pay 1/2 that, and our house cost... about 7% of this list price. LOL
That house is amazing.
haha, I was wondering about this too. Except we actually pay more than that on our little house
Maybe the taxes haven't been updated yet and are still tied to the value of the house before it was renovated?
Those taxes are probably right, or not too far off. Our taxes are pretty reasonable in the DC Metro area, especially compared to Long Island where my in-laws live! My 1500-ish sq. foot house not including basement in the same county costs about $5k in property taxes.
Post by marriedfilingjoint on Dec 22, 2015 9:12:21 GMT -5
See, I'm fine with a house that's modern on the inside, especially an open kitchen. My biggest complaint with our 1940s house was the kitchen with 4 walls. Entertaining was rough, people would try to hang out in the kitchen with me while I finished up the meal prep but there was just no room. I love that our new house has an open kitchen/dining/living space because we are always eating. And there wasn't a damn thing charming about our closets that were the size of broom closets or the fact that there was one original bathroom.
Post by fortnightlily on Dec 22, 2015 9:32:02 GMT -5
Yeah, it's one thing to say you prefer a closed kitchen or a less neutral color palette, but trust me when I say that the majority of homes built in the DC suburbs in the 40s, 50s, and 60s have little-to-no charm to preserve.
I am so sick of every single house now being white and gray. It's going to be so dated in a few years, in addition to how boring and unoriginal it is now.
*snerk* this is how I'm doing my kitchen. Haters gonna hate.
Post by cookiemdough on Dec 22, 2015 9:58:17 GMT -5
What colors were people previously using? Growing up people either had white walls or wood paneling or a horrible wallpaper trim. So I am not understanding neutral colors looking dated?
What colors were people previously using? Growing up people either had white walls or wood paneling or a horrible wallpaper trim. So I am not understanding neutral colors looking dated?
Yeah, I feel like neutrality is better strategy for selling and long term maintenance anyway. Let people introduce color and personality with their furnishings and decor. I bet the right staging would change some minds.
Post by gibbinator on Dec 22, 2015 10:07:13 GMT -5
December is a pretty slow month for real estate. I wouldn't be too concerned about it just yet. Hopefully they find a buyer soon. I hate it when developers cut down all the trees.
Post by RoxMonster on Dec 22, 2015 10:26:16 GMT -5
I like the house and agree that staging it may also help sell it.
I live nowhere near any McMansions in our city, so this isn't really something even on my radar, but I do agree that the huge, hulking mansions are not my style (and totally impractical, as our family is just two of us!)
I am so sick of every single house now being white and gray. It's going to be so dated in a few years, in addition to how boring and unoriginal it is now.
Painting is a helluva lot easier to take care of than popcorn ceilings and wallpaper though.
I would like to add that the inside is lovely and I would move there in a heartbeat. My dream kitchen is white. But the whole article was about people bemoaning the loss of their neighborhood to newer homes and what did they do? Turn that lovely home into something you could find anywhere in any new home in any suburbsvile America, McMansion row, or to a lesser extent, generic tract home. Which was hilarious given the tenor if the article.
I would like to add that the inside is lovely and I would move there in a heartbeat. My dream kitchen is white. But the whole article was about people bemoaning the loss of their neighborhood to newer homes and what did they do? Turn that lovely home into something you could find anywhere in any new home in any suburbsvile America, McMansion row, or to a lesser extent, generic tract home. Which was hilarious given the tenor if the article.
Yeah, I found the article pretty unflattering to both the owners and the developers. But I definitely think the impetus was all about curb appeal and trees, because that's all that 'affects' the rest of the street.
Post by curbsideprophet on Dec 22, 2015 10:50:02 GMT -5
I think they were trying to appeal to current buyers with the inside without too much change to the outside. I can understand why neighbors would be most concerned with how the outside looks.
I would expect other houses in the area to have a mix of no garage, one car and two car but I don't know for sure. So I don't think a one car is that weird.
I would not be overly concerned given the time of year. If it is still on the market this time next year then I could understand the concern.
I have not compared to other current listings but I lived in Bethesda in 2005 and a townhouse cost 500k, so the price does not seem completely unreasonable.
I did not notice the taxes but I would assume they are based on the previous sale price/value and do not include the upgrades yet.
This is just down the street, built by the company mentioned in the article.
Given this, I can understand why the neighbors wanted to avoid something like this next door.
That has 8,000 sq ft and is priced at $2.3 million. Like I said I think they are trying to charge premium pricing based on it not being a teardown. I think they need to price it more reasonably. They have a smaller market of people that will make sacrifices of some conveniences for charm, even smaller than that is the people that will pay that price for it. It really makes me think the initial $2.5 they were charging before they lowered the price was based on some weed-induced haze or the ego of the person who overestimated the worth of the redesign.
White kitchens = McMansions? Dammit, I was hoping to redo our kitchen someday and make it white. I figured the only color I needed to stay away from was cherry!
It goes in cycles. My 1940s-era kitchen is white. My grandmother's 1950s kitchen was white. White is popular now. It might not be the go-to in the future, but it's always classic, and regardless of the hot trend (oak in the 90s, dark mahogany/cherry in the 00s), it's never going to look bad. It can really brighten up a kitchen and make it look bigger.
If you couldn't tell, I plan to have a white kitchen in the future, just a different one than I have now! Also, my house was built in the 20s, so I think white cabinets and either a soapstone or butcher block counter would be in keeping with the era of the house. Well, or marble, but my house isn't that high-end.
I personally really like the kitchen in this house, with the exception of the fact that it's so open. At least there are other living spaces (looks like a formal living room, probably formal dining) that are closed off. I can't stand the new houses where the "dining room" is delineated by just 1 or 2 columns. That's not a formal room!
I'll agree on the open floor plan thing. What's so wrong about well-placed walls? How am I supposed to hide the chaos going on in the kitchen?
So much this. I hate kitchens that are completely open to the main living area. I don't want the messy kitchen visible all the time. Also, doesn't the rest of the area smell like food frequently.
I'm here. We live in a small 1945 house and when we renovated the kitchen we kept ALL OF THE WALLS. There is a small pass through to the dining area but I love being able to basically hide the prep area when we sit down to eat.
Post by penguingrrl on Dec 22, 2015 14:50:31 GMT -5
I had no idea people considered closed kitchens desirable! I'm in a 1949 cape and we need to redo the original kitchen in the next few years (it was not high quality in 1949). One of the things I can't wait for the most when we do that is that we're removing the annoying wall between the kitchen and living room. I'm so tried of either being separated from my guests or having too many people crammed into my tiny kitchen to be able to work. I can't wait until I can cook while chatting with everyone.
And I'm going from a white kitchen to a... white kitchen lol! I don't think it will look particularly dated since it never was out of style.
I had no idea people considered closed kitchens desirable! I'm in a 1949 cape and we need to redo the original kitchen in the next few years (it was not high quality in 1949). One of the things I can't wait for the most when we do that is that we're removing the annoying wall between the kitchen and living room. I'm so tried of either being separated from my guests or having too many people crammed into my tiny kitchen to be able to work. I can't wait until I can cook while chatting with everyone.
And I'm going from a white kitchen to a... white kitchen lol! I don't think it will look particularly dated since it never was out of style.
When we were looking to buy our house a few years ago, our agent got to know that my mantra was "I like rooms to have jobs." I don't want one giant ass room staged for different functions. A living room is a living ROOM, a dining room a dining ROOM, etc. Part of it is being authentic to the age of the house - so if it were a 1960s MCM ranch, I'd welcome a more authentic open concept.
I had no idea people considered closed kitchens desirable! I'm in a 1949 cape and we need to redo the original kitchen in the next few years (it was not high quality in 1949). One of the things I can't wait for the most when we do that is that we're removing the annoying wall between the kitchen and living room. I'm so tried of either being separated from my guests or having too many people crammed into my tiny kitchen to be able to work. I can't wait until I can cook while chatting with everyone.
And I'm going from a white kitchen to a... white kitchen lol! I don't think it will look particularly dated since it never was out of style.
I have no interest in a closed kitchen, but I do think this design might be a little too open. Ours is around the corner from the living room. I can still see the TV while cleaning up, but my dirty dishes aren't on display for everyone.
I had no idea people considered closed kitchens desirable! I'm in a 1949 cape and we need to redo the original kitchen in the next few years (it was not high quality in 1949). One of the things I can't wait for the most when we do that is that we're removing the annoying wall between the kitchen and living room. I'm so tried of either being separated from my guests or having too many people crammed into my tiny kitchen to be able to work. I can't wait until I can cook while chatting with everyone.
And I'm going from a white kitchen to a... white kitchen lol! I don't think it will look particularly dated since it never was out of style.
When we were looking to buy our house a few years ago, our agent got to know that my mantra was "I like rooms to have jobs." I don't want one giant ass room staged for different functions. A living room is a living ROOM, a dining room a dining ROOM, etc. Part of it is being authentic to the age of the house - so if it were a 1960s MCM ranch, I'd welcome a more authentic open concept.
That makes sense. I might feel differently if my kitchen was bigger or I had fewer people over regularly. Right now I have two fairly small rooms (13x13 I believe) and a large close-knit family. So combining them so we can all be together without sitting on each other's laps is appealing. If it was an overall bigger space I might appreciate some separation.
I had no idea people considered closed kitchens desirable! I'm in a 1949 cape and we need to redo the original kitchen in the next few years (it was not high quality in 1949). One of the things I can't wait for the most when we do that is that we're removing the annoying wall between the kitchen and living room. I'm so tried of either being separated from my guests or having too many people crammed into my tiny kitchen to be able to work. I can't wait until I can cook while chatting with everyone.
And I'm going from a white kitchen to a... white kitchen lol! I don't think it will look particularly dated since it never was out of style.
I have no interest in a closed kitchen, but I do think this design might be a little too open. Ours is around the corner from the living room. I can still see the TV while cleaning up, but my dirty dishes aren't on display for everyone.
That makes sense. My problem is feeling too cramped to work if my guests are in the kitchen with me or feeling completely left out if they're in the living room.