Buy New, Vintage or Victorian Home?

[Stearmen]

For those of you having a tough time with your old houses, here are some Victorian homes for sale, that I looked at Sunday. Made circa ought 9! 2009, that is.

 

[vitanola]

For those of you having a tough time with your old houses, here are some Victorian homes for sale, that I looked at Sunday. Made circa ought 9! 2009, that is.

If those houses are Victorian I must be Prince Albert.

 

[Stearmen]

If those houses are Victorian I must be Prince Albert.

So you like the modern cracker boxes? At least these are a million times better looking then the McMansions. You also know that most Victorian houses were plane box's, not the grand Queen Anne's we think of today? I have been looking for a 19th century house for 3 years now, the majority are not even close to this ornate, just basic box or rectangle with doors and windows.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The second picture there looks very much like a "modern take" on the Sears and Roebuck kit houses that are very common in working-class neighborhoods around here. We have one particular street that has about six of them right in a row, built around 1915-20, and even though they've all had a bit of remodeling over the years you can see they started out as identical in every detail.

I think the main difference between then and now would be solidity of construction. Those Sears houses are still standing and still occupied after a century of use. I have serious doubts whether most modern construction, whether plain or ornate, will survive half that long.

Meanwhile, I finally have my sewer back. All my junk is still piled up in the driveway, though, and I probably won't have that or my garage back until Sunday. Would-be car thieves take note, I *am* armed.

 

[sheeplady]

For those of you having a tough time with your old houses, here are some Victorian homes for sale, that I looked at Sunday. Made circa ought 9! 2009, that is.

The problem of these modern houses is that they lack any commonality in their design.

Like the bay window of a victorian? The eave turns of a colonial? The windows of a prairie style? The porch of a craftsman?

You don't have to choose- LETS PUT THEM ALL ON ONE HOUSE!!!

Americans tend to think everything is like a buffet. They pile up one plate with too much stuff and then complain when they have indigestion. Ever wonder why the new houses don't look "right"? This is why. They are a little bit of everything, and they do none of it right.

Each of those house features was designed for a certain way of life and set of beliefs that architectural style represented. For instance, Craftsman porches tend to be deep and low- perfect for areas of the country that have cold winters with wind and hot baking summers. I might add that none of the porches on those modern houses are usable. Try to get two sitting chairs or a mattress out there. Why do you have a porch then? As a "decorative" element?

That's a lot of decorative element to pay taxes on. (Porches are taxed as living space where I live, decks are not.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's what happens when houses are designed by the Boys From Marketing. They're houses, not homes.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The problem of these modern houses is that they lack any commonality in their design.

Like the bay window of a victorian? The eave turns of a colonial? The windows of a prairie style? The porch of a craftsman?

You don't have to choose- LETS PUT THEM ALL ON ONE HOUSE!!!

Americans tend to think everything is like a buffet. They pile up one plate with too much stuff and then complain when they have indigestion. Ever wonder why the new houses don't look "right"? This is why. They are a little bit of everything, and they do none of it right.

Also the ugliness of modern houses can also be attributed to modern building codes which makes little or no allowance for aesthetics. Most of the ornate trim found on older houses could not be built today because the building codes now regard it as a fire hazard.

I might add that none of the porches on those modern houses are usable. Try to get two sitting chairs or a mattress out there. Why do you have a porch then? As a "decorative" element?

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to bother most people because to them home is merely a pit stop: a place to eat, shower and grab a few hours sleep.

 

[sheeplady]

Also the ugliness of modern houses can also be attributed to modern building codes which makes little or no allowance for aesthetics. Most of the ornate trim found on older houses could not be built today because the building codes now regard it as a fire hazard.



Unfortunately that doesn't seem to bother most people because to them home is merely a pit stop: a place to eat, shower and grab a few hours sleep.

I don't think that building code accounts for *that* much of it. Cost might account for some. But I think it's more likely to be just the fact that most Americans have no taste.

 

[Stearmen]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about this home just speaks to me!

 

[vitanola]

That's what happens when houses are designed by the Boys From Marketing. They're houses, not homes.

Perhaps they've simply been learning from Las Vegas.

 

[EmergencyIan]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about this home just speaks to me!

Love it!

- Ian