I grew up in a great Long Island neighborhood. On Thanksgiving, we walked around the old neighborhood to see what had changed.
When I was a kid I figured that these were “normal” houses, like anyone would have. As an adult, I realize that they’re in fact nice houses — an acre of land! come on! — but they’re still fairly modest houses, particularly from the outside. And I like their simple lines and wood siding.
The developer built two models on this block. There’s “the ranch” (pictured above) and “the colonial”.
My folks bought in the early 70s, when these 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom houses went for about $60k. Now, thirty-plus years later, the same houses sell for about $800k. Most of them have been extensively renovated and landscaped; the neighborhood is much more upscale than it was 20 years ago.
And of course, a few people are buying to tear down.
This guy extended his back yard by trucking in tons of dirt and building a highway-style retaining wall at the back of his lot. So he has a bigger back yard, but his neighbors down the hill have a giant wall in their back yard, instead of woods. And their entire culdesac looks up to the new castle.
There’s only two teardowns so far, so they really stick out.
It’s interesting: when I see a new development with six dozen identical houses, I can’t stand it. Meanwhile, my folks’ 30-year-old neighborhood and my 50-year-old neighborhood were just as cookie-cutter when they were built. Now they’re kind of charming. And when someone replaces one of the original models with something different, it’s ugly. Am I just disagreeable? Will today’s new McNeighborhoods be charming in 30 years?
3 Comments so far
Scott, I think one of the main differences between 50-year old houses and their modern counterparts (aside from how they look) is craftmanship… The variation in quality materials and modes of construction is great, even since 1950… I think this is why older house “feel” charming — there really is more to them… This is even _more_ evident in houses that are 100+ years old (like ours) — even though there are annoyances (like only having one full bathroom), the charm of the place more than makes up for them. And, who knows? In 50 years, due to the newer modes of construction (i.e., build it quickly and cheaply), these newer houses may not even be standing anymore; long replaced by even newer, bigger — and more cheaply built — monstrosities… Utterly charmless, but oh, so functional.
Wow that’s quite an ugly second floor. Stands out even in the world of cheesy construction.
Part of the beauty of the 50 year old development is that when something is well built it ages gracefully and people are able to adapt it to their needs over time. It’s the mature landscaping, the variation in adaptation, and the community feeling that are so charming. The newer houses particularly don’t relate to their community.
I was just painting the closets on the 3rd floor of a friends Victorian. Those closets were decked out with interior door trim, baseboards, crown molding, quarter round and fancy brass door knobs. In other words, more attention than the average new house gets on the facade.
When I saw the first tear-down a cpl of yrs ago I was somewhat floored. I bet the few homeowners on sunken meaow road were pissed when our parent’s ‘you can have whatever home you want as long as it’s the ranch or colonial’ homes went in. I hear the guy in the cul-de-sac is in it for well over $2mil. Here’s to progress I guess.