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Not Selling? How Can That Be?
Dec. 11th, 2009 12:35 amHere's a snarky post at Curbed L.A. that reflects on the slump in California real estate values. The house that is its subject is quite a piece of work. It's hard to believe that somebody out there with six million bucks and change burning a hole in their trust fund hasn't snapped it up. I mean, three years ago it would have been gone in a thrombosis heartbeat, wouldn't it? But it only came on the market two years ago, after the market began to collapse, and it has languished ever since. How sad that such a prize should go so long unclaimed!
This listing of the house at the real estate web site Redfin gives more information about the building and its neighborhood, including data on how much comparable houses have sold for recently. True, the comparables do not favor the asking price, but this house is, by its seller's own admission, unique! How can the far lower prices garnered by houses of similar size in the same neighborhood be of any significance when this house is truly without peer?
You have never seen anything like this before, proclaims the seller's own web site, and it's true! This property is indeed "...so UNIQUE that there is no known architectural classification for its style." I have been unable to think of a name for the style myself, though I have pondered long, believing as I do that such an edifice deserves a terse yet faithfully descriptive term. Cosmopolitan Provincial? ConTemporary Echclectic? Glam, Slam, Thank You Ma'am? I've considered and discarded each of these as being hopelessly inadequate to the task. But perhaps it is futile to attempt to give a mere architectural appellation to a house that has, oh wonder, "...the MOTIFS OF ETERNITY AND INFINITY in its interior and exterior...."
However, on perusing the photographs of it, I do see one glaring fault in the design, and it may be this which has prevented the house from finding a willing buyer. The kitchen counter-tops are of white tile! Had the seller hired a knowledgeable real estate agent, rather than attempting to market the house sans the aid of a professional, said professional's advise would doubtlessly have been to slap some nice granite on those puppies. I think that, should this be done, the house would be sold by the end of the week. High-end, solid-surface counter-tops are a must in today's tough market!
By the way, one of the commenters at the L.A. Curbed post says that the seller of the house is this lady. Do read some of her poems. I think they reveal a great deal about the mind behind this remarkable dwelling. Perhaps one of my readers, having devoured a few of these verses, will be inspired to purchase the "Little Castle" with some of the money they've made from blogging. Not a few of you, I believe, have permanent LJ accounts and, if you lack ready cash due to the stresses and strains of the current economy, you could easily borrow a few million against so valuable an asset. I'd buy the place myself but, dude, how could I possibly leave Paradise? Or go to Glendale? Especially with, you know, all the restraining orders?
This listing of the house at the real estate web site Redfin gives more information about the building and its neighborhood, including data on how much comparable houses have sold for recently. True, the comparables do not favor the asking price, but this house is, by its seller's own admission, unique! How can the far lower prices garnered by houses of similar size in the same neighborhood be of any significance when this house is truly without peer?
You have never seen anything like this before, proclaims the seller's own web site, and it's true! This property is indeed "...so UNIQUE that there is no known architectural classification for its style." I have been unable to think of a name for the style myself, though I have pondered long, believing as I do that such an edifice deserves a terse yet faithfully descriptive term. Cosmopolitan Provincial? ConTemporary Echclectic? Glam, Slam, Thank You Ma'am? I've considered and discarded each of these as being hopelessly inadequate to the task. But perhaps it is futile to attempt to give a mere architectural appellation to a house that has, oh wonder, "...the MOTIFS OF ETERNITY AND INFINITY in its interior and exterior...."
However, on perusing the photographs of it, I do see one glaring fault in the design, and it may be this which has prevented the house from finding a willing buyer. The kitchen counter-tops are of white tile! Had the seller hired a knowledgeable real estate agent, rather than attempting to market the house sans the aid of a professional, said professional's advise would doubtlessly have been to slap some nice granite on those puppies. I think that, should this be done, the house would be sold by the end of the week. High-end, solid-surface counter-tops are a must in today's tough market!
By the way, one of the commenters at the L.A. Curbed post says that the seller of the house is this lady. Do read some of her poems. I think they reveal a great deal about the mind behind this remarkable dwelling. Perhaps one of my readers, having devoured a few of these verses, will be inspired to purchase the "Little Castle" with some of the money they've made from blogging. Not a few of you, I believe, have permanent LJ accounts and, if you lack ready cash due to the stresses and strains of the current economy, you could easily borrow a few million against so valuable an asset. I'd buy the place myself but, dude, how could I possibly leave Paradise? Or go to Glendale? Especially with, you know, all the restraining orders?
