Tudor Revival Revisited

During our house hunting campaign, I posted about this Magnolia neighborhood house.

Although we loved the house, we ultimately bought this house.

The Magnolia Tudor sold pretty quickly (it was in a prime location), and I didn't really give it much thought after we decided it was not right for us.

Just for fun, I was poking around the CBBAIN real estate website the other day.  The Magnolia Tudor is back on the market.  It looks like this, now.

 The house has been painted, and the awning has been 

removed, and the landscape has been tidied up a bit.

All new listing photos courtesy CBBAIN website.

The formerly 10,000 square foot lot has been divided into two lots, and the the Tudor has undergone some major cleaning, and some minor renovating.

 The the view of the expansive side yard has now 
been replaced by a fence. Much needed southern 
light will now be lost, in addition to the lost view.

The Tudor is now listed for about the same price as before.  It's kind of sad that the wonderful lot has been cut in half.

Especially since the best views of the Sound were from the other half of the lot -- but I'm sure the flipper will make a tidy little profit for their efforts.

 The big yard made it a perfect place for families and pets and gardens.  

It's just so sad to see another nice neighborhood getting hacked up

-- the condos and developers and investors have pretty much 

eaten their way across Queen Anne Hill, and are beginning to work 

their way across Magnolia -- they're like Stephen King's Langoliers....

I'm really not opposed to flippers and investors coming and in a fixing up a house to make a profit.  That's just capitalism, and capitalism is what makes the world go 'round.  It just makes me sad that great family neighborhoods are getting being hacked up and sacrificed in the process.  I guess I should just be grateful that the little Tudor wasn't scraped....

image source: Denver Demolition Inc.

On a brighter note, the little Tudor cleaned up really nicely inside. Remember these pictures of the postage-stamp sized  kitchen?

Well, it's still postage-stamp sized, but new appliances, back splash, counter tops, and a wide angle lens have gone a long way toward making it look (if not function) much, much better.

The living room just needed to be cleaned up and painted.

The vanity and tub were replaced in the main level bathroom, and tile was added half-way up the wall. New sconces were also added.

I'm always amazed by the square feet a wide angle 

lens adds to a space! I've really got to get 

one -- it's much less expensive than adding on.

I'm glad the flippers left the cool medicine cabinets in place.  

I'm not crazy about the pedestal sink -- it's very attractive, but 

doesn't offer much storage for the house's only main level 

bathroom.  Pedestal sinks are great for powder rooms, or when 

there is an alternative landing area and alternative storage, 

but the eventual buyers of this home will find that 

their pretty new sink doesn't function very well when 

they're trying to get ready for work in the morning (or trying 

to put away some clean towels). Pedestal sinks are a favorite 

of builders and flippers, because they pack a lot of 

visual punch, but typically cost less than buying a separate 

sink, vanity, and counter top. It's not about creating the best 

space for beauty and function when you're flipping a house.  It's 

about creating the least expensive space that still looks great.

Over all, I think the flippers did a great job on both the interior and the exterior of the home.  They left most of the really cool original details in place.  I might have painted out the exterior window frames in a darker color, for better curb appeal, and wouldn't have done the pedestal sink in the bathroom, but over all they gave the house just what it needed -- a good scrubbing and a coat of paint.  The kitchen is still only marginally functional, but it's better than it was. I'm sad that they split the lot, but at least they didn't build a high rise on it!

You can see the original post about this Tudor Revival house here.

Beach Paths

I've been thinking about beach paths, lately.  On a recent visit to the shore, to meet up with our structural engineer, my husband and dog stumbled upon this path.

 Ahhh, wonderful, level, wide path.  Our neighbors can 

pleasantly meander their way down to the water....

This is our neighbor's path. They just live two houses over, but we had never noticed the path -- even from our upstairs windows -- as the tall dune grass does such a great job of hiding things.

We can't even see our neighbor's path!

Now, our own path is very overgrown.  It's about nine inches wide (at most), and has some gopher holes and branches lying across, that are all nicely camouflaged by the dune grass.

 No pleasant meandering here!  One must be ever 

watchful, lest a piece of driftwood or gopher hole reach 

out and grab you, and lay you low...

So, walking the two hundred feet from our back door to the beach can be just a little tricky -- and has resulted in more than a few face-plants.  The dune grass does a good job of breaking your fall, so that you only end up with a twisted ankle and a bruised ego, but still....  I suggested to my husband that we mow a path, and fill any holes, and remove any debris.  He was skeptical.  After all, the two hundred foot wide strip of dunes between our house and the beach is technically owned by the city....

Then he found our neighbor's path.

And he found this along their path!

Since this is just an accumulation of items that wash up 

on the beach, it's not technically littering, or vandalism, 

right?  It's simply re-arranging.  A few days ago, I took 

a friend who was visiting from Colorado out to this spot.  

We had a front row seat for a spectacular sunset, and she 

was able to get some great pictures to take home to her family.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this from my own 

little sitting area on my own little (improved) beach path!

And because every path looks the same from the beach.....

... we've noticed some property owners do this...

source unknown (if this is your picture, please 

let me know, so I can give you proper credit)

...to mark where their own path begins.  Which leads me down a more philosophical road, thinking about all those landmark events in our lives that mark the beginnings of new directions....  Do you have a few of those?

B is for Bathrooms

Well, we have our own little revival going on at House Revivals.  Remember that partially gutted beach house we bought?

We're expecting the permit for the renovations to be approved very soon.  As is pretty clear from the pictures, the bathrooms were in need of a complete remodel.

We bought the house from a house flipper/contractor who had big plans, but ran out of time or energy or money or something.  He had already removed most of the fixtures and cabinets and some of the drywall from the home, when he decided he coudn't finish the job.

So, we are the proud new owners of a house with two gutted bathrooms and a gutted laundry room.

And now we have some decisions to make.  The space planning has already been done.  The master bath will keep the same layout, since it is functional, and would be expensive to change.  Plus, we need to be careful not to allow this remodel to become more than a "fifty percent" remodel.

The family bath is being moved to the laundry room, and the formerly huge laundry room is shrinking considerably.  The former family bath will become a study.  Now begins the hard fun part -- choosing finishes.

I truly do love this part of design work.  Most interior designers will tell you that only a small part of our jobs is spent picking out finishes.  I love it, but it is soooo hard.  There are just so many beautiful choices out there.

It's much easier to guide a client in their choices than to make the choices for your own life!  

I do know one thing.  Those flagstone floors are GONE.  I wasn't sure if I would be living with them, or not, when I drew the concepts shown above.  But they are gone.  Gone, gone, gone.  And I am gleeful.  So many new options for finishes and colors have now opened up!  Now, I am looking for inspiration.


I am loving this...

Synthesis Inc.

and this...

Funny that this bathroom is proportioned and laid out almost identically to ours!  Of course, I'd take these classic finishes over the pink tile and rugged flagstone of our bathroom in a heartbeat!  Having the right finishes makes such a difference.

This is a more traditional bathroom from the same designers.

Photographer Lisa Romerein, source

 And what's not to love about this master bathroom from the Coastal Living Dream House?  This house is actually not too far from our house.  I love this bathroom.  It's so relaxed, but still elegant.  I don't like everything about this bathroom, and how it functions (that's for another post), but I do love the finishes.

So, you can see that we have some choices to make.

C is for Under Construction (or how to add some tabs)

 source

We are under construction at House Revivals, but here is a sneak peak of the final reveal.

I realized, when I was having a hard time navigating and finding old articles on my own blog, that I needed to do some serious renovating!  This is definitely a work in progress, and won't happen all at once, but I like the direction it's going.

Be sure to check out the new Blogger tabs and pages.  It used to be, that to create tabbed pages, you needed to create a new post and link it to a tab (lots of bloggers just used a text gadget to create their tabs/ links).  Now, Blogger lets you create static pages.  If you want to try this for your own blog, click on "design" in the upper right of your Blogger bar (or click on "design" from your dashboard).  Now, click "add a gadget".   Choose the "pages" gadget.  You will be given the option of changing the name of your "home" tab -- I kept the name "home".  Save the gadget.  Now you should have a tab bar, but it will only have one tab.  You can  have up to ten tabs.

 Adding tabs is like adding on to your house -- you might be 

satisfied with your "home", just the the way it is, or you may 

want several additions! It's all a matter of personal taste.

To create a new tab, just click on "new post", either in your dashboard, or on the blogger bar on the upper right of your blog. The familiar composing box will open up, but you won't use that one to create a page.  Instead, click on "edit pages".  Next click on "new page".  A new composing box should pop up.  Now, you can type your text, or add photos or links or whatever you want.  How about a tab for thrift store finds?  Or one for craft projects?  Or Salsa dancing tips?  Favorite recipes?  You can do anything you want -- your blog, your rules!

This post is being linked to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  

A is for a Modern Designer

One of the most influential modern designers was a Finnish architect by the name of Alvar Aalto.  Often thought of as the "Father of Modernism", his media included architecture textiles, glassware, and furniture.

A brief bio of Alvar Aalto can be found at Famous Architects.

You are probably familiar with many of his furniture pieces, even if you don't consider yourself a modern design aficionado. Many of his pieces are classics, and still in production today.

Alvar Aalto Armchair, image source and additional info

 Lounge Chair 43 by Alvar Aalto is still in production by Artek.

 Aalto's Lounge Chair has proven to be a timeless classic of modern design.

A few more Alvar Aalto classics.

 The iconic Savoy vase -- it's not just for flowers anymore!

Aalto and his wife were very comfortable juxtaposing rustic pieces with streamlined, modern pieces.  Their home, shown above, courtesy Apartment Therapy.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief tour into the designs of Alvar Aalto!  This post is being linked to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.

Thinking about the Garage

Well, I'm back.  Thanks for your patience as I took the time needed to throw the "wedding of the century" and close on the "most complicated real estate transaction in history".  I suppose I could say "the wedding went off without a hitch", but actually the "hitching" was the most important part!   I'll share more about the wedding later.  Today, the house is on my mind.  Or, more specifically, the garage....

We're in that "budget meets reality" phase of the planning, soooo,  the garage I really want is not the garage I'm really going to get.  I want this garage....

but, alas, our local wind load and earthquake codes require lots of long expanses of sheathed wall.  My engineer tells me this design just won't work -- unless we have very expensive steel supports custom fabricated for the wall with the garage doors....

My contractor, a really sweet guy with very little aesthetic sense, thinks the garage should look like this.

I think this option looks kind of sad and naked, and not very welcoming.  The contractor says I will save money by not putting in the new doors and deck above the garage door.  He also thinks I will regret having the maintenance of another deck.  True enough, but I think "curb appeal" adds value, and lack of "curb appeal" subtracts value.  Plus, this is a beach town, and there is a beautiful bay view from this side of the house.  Wouldn't it be nice for guests to just throw open the doors in the morning and enjoy the breeze, the sound of seagulls, and the spectacular view?

The structural engineer says this is the best option (well, actually, she didn't weigh in on the balcony issue).

She feels we need a straight expanse of wall next to the garage door, so the house won't blow over in a storm.  That wall expanse would be sheathed in 3/4 inch plywood, to keep the house square and rigid in the worst wind. It's hard to argue with reasoning like that.  But I just don't like this -- it looks top heavy and unbalanced.  I can't help it.  I'm a designer, and designers are always looking for a better solution.

So, the structural engineer suggested building a "dummy wall" under the cantilevered bump-out to address the "top-heavy" issue.

Much better -- not top-heavy anymore, but still unbalanced.  Plus, it just seemed sort of silly.  Essentially, the space between the rigid structural wall and the bumped out wall would just be dead space.  Kind of a waste. Then the solution came.  Not from the oh so creative designer.  Oh, no.  It came from a most unexpected source. The One who admits to having No Aesthetic.  The Software Engineer.  The love of my life.  My husband. He, being the practical guy that he is, suggested turning that dead space into a tool shed!  Accessible from outside.  A place for shovels and rakes and such.  Brilliant.

This solution addresses budget (no need for extra steel), safety (our house won't fall over in a storm because we will still have rigid wall sheathing), aesthetics (the tool shed doors help create a sense of balance), and it actually adds function with the creation of a tool shed!

Of course, all designers know that research is important, so I had my realtors weigh in on the subject.  My biggest concern was that the home would be devalued by not having a second garage door.  The realtors agreed that two garage doors would be ideal, but did not think we would see a return on investment if we added the second door, especially since the garage already parks two cars tandem, with lots of room to the side for "toys".

For those of you who are new to my blog, you can learn more about the beach house project here.

Just a Note

I just wanted to send out a quick note to all my followers.  I'm taking a break from blogging for a couple of weeks, as we prepare for the wedding of the century, and prepare to close on the most complicated real estate transaction in history.  Okay, maybe these are slight exaggerations, but you get the idea, right? 

For now, I must spend my time drawing house plans and gluing millions of silk flowers onto paper lanterns and ping pong balls.  See you all on the other side!  (and hopefully, I will have some tutorials for these wedding decorations, too)