Old House tear downs- so sad!

Parent Cafe
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<p>So, today is our 28th Wedding Anniversary.
No big celebration, just a lovely dinner out at our favorite little Italian restaurant.
Son (in grad school) promises that in 2 years for our 30th he’ll magically be able to pull together a big party for us.<br>
We appreciate the thought but aren’t holding our breath!</p>

<p>So, DH suggested that he drive me around our county to garage and estate sales.
He knows I love bargain hunting but am inept finding the places in unknown neighborhoods.
It was so nice being chauffered (sp) around…DH just waited in the van which was fine.</p>

<p>The very sad part (to me) was that SEVERAL of the estate sales were imminent tear downs.
Grand old Victorian homes, in obvious disrepair, but looked to have good bones. One had the Wedding picture of the owners still displayed on the LR wall, looked to be from the 1920s.
Horrible old kitchens, purple shag carpet but also huge front porches, fireplaces, built in china cabinets, etc etc. Some had developer signs out front touting the soon to be grand new construction. Sigh.</p>

<p>I’m probably just sentimental on my anniversary. Here in northern NJ it seems that any available plot of land in suburbia is being taken over by the McMansions.
As an old house lover (and owner), just seems a waste.</p>

<p>Well, thanks for letting me vent. Anyone else seeing this in their neck of the woods?</p>

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<p>In my neighborhood- whole blocks of affordable single family housing was torn down- and condos put up- that aren’t selling.
My neighbor however- first added four dormers to his house that was formerly a rental & which he apparently * needed* to be able to live there by himself.
But now they have torn the front off too- who knows what they are going to end up with.</p>

<p>It was a newer house than ours ( 1920’s- ours is 1900), but from the basement supports- ours is better built.</p>

<p>People have been tearing down things for a while- we have friends who live on view lots & * their* neighbors tore down a house that about 15 years ago was worth $700K ( and was fine) to build another closer to the cliff.
how big of a house do people need?</p>

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<p>How big indeed?</p>

<p>We would love to find an affordable smaller house in our area as we move toward retirement. Our current house is far from large but the yard is a pain to maintain or pay to maintain. It is just hard to find such a thing in our town.</p>

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<p>BTW Happy anniversary- ours is coming up too- just like me - twenty nine.
;)</p>

<p>I took out all my sod a couple years ago- now the plantings are growing in ( if I stop moving them)
My H gives me a big hug, everytime he hears a mower start up.</p>

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<p>First of all congratulation…to you and your husband in your 28th Wedding Anniversary." </p>

<p>Many years ago…I was so upest to know that in a historic town, in a place that I know,…there was a Victorian house admired by anyone that could see…one day, a next day, it was demolished to the atonishment and rage of many…The worse was that months later a Kmart was built in its place.</p>

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<p>Greenery-
That’s exactly it…I am sure that the lovely Victorian I visited today will be flattened sometime this summer…I may have to alter my usual route to avoid witnessing it!
And thanks also, we are continually shocked at how the years have gone by…too much fun to feel the passage of time (mostly!).</p>

<p>Happy anniversary, emeraldkity! You have us by a year it seems. Enjoy!</p>

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<p>Hey musicmom, happy anniversary! Today is my anniversary too - 32 years. H and D and I took my aunt out for lunch, then over to my dad’s where her SIL and grandson were installing a new A/C. She’s in a nursing home and turns 85 tomorrow.</p>

<p>They’re tearing down old K-Marts around here.</p>

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<p>Well, old K-Marts NEED to be torn down, don’t they? :)</p>

<p>Happy 32 to you, Tree!</p>

<p>BTW, my DH and I met on May 18th…1980…when Mt St Helens erupted.
Wed two years later on May 22. May is surely a pretty month, at least for us.</p>

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<p>We were camping on Camano Island when st helens erupted-- we had no idea what all the airplanes were doing- although there is an air station nearby.</p>

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<p>We had the chance to visit St Helen’s around 1988.
DH’s sister and her family lived in Beaverton at the time.</p>

<p>It was like nothing I had ever seen before, absolutely desolate and eerie.</p>

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<p>In the town where I live, lots and lots and lots of teardowns. Some of them are no great loss – a 30-year-old ranch house, anyone? – but others are tragic.</p>

<p>The only good thing about a teardown is that the seller doesn’t have to do anything to tart up the house before putting it on the market, since no one cares what it looks like.</p>

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<p>Our neighborhood has also been tearing down, not only single family bungalows ( and housing which was built during the '40s for soldiers & workers in the local shipyards) but landmarks and long standing businesses to put up condos- ( & which are vacant lots for months and months).
[SLIDESHOW:</a> Dozens watch as Sunset Bowl is demolished | Ballard News-Tribune](<a href=“http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2010/01/20/news/slideshow-dozens-watch-sunset-bowl-demolished]SLIDESHOW:”>http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2010/01/20/news/slideshow-dozens-watch-sunset-bowl-demolished)</p>

<p>When we moved here almost 26 years ago, it was a blue collar neighborhood, complete with a bowling alley, hardware stores, and lots of diner type restaurants for the swing shift set.
This was declared a landmark- but it has still been torn down-
[Ballard</a> Denny’s site spared from demolition: It’s a landmark](<a href=“http://www.seattlepi.com/local/352083_ballard21.html]Ballard”>http://www.seattlepi.com/local/352083_ballard21.html)</p>

<p>But some of us are very stubborn- Edith Macefield will be remembered as putting her desire to remain in her home, over money.
[Edith</a> Macefield, 1921-2008: Ballard woman held her ground as change closed in around her](<a href=“http://www.seattlepi.com/local/367335_obitmacefield18.html]Edith”>http://www.seattlepi.com/local/367335_obitmacefield18.html)</p>

<p>What is puzzling is- even when the condos aren’t selling ( one recent " deluxe" building tried to sell- then called them rentals and recently had to lower prices by 1/3 to 1/2 in an attempt to create interest.), that new ones are still being planned and built.</p>

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<p>How was a building declared a landmark able to be torn down?
Was it a formal process that named it a landmark? At least around here that’s not happening (yet).</p>

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<p>I think that the owner/developed lobbied the preservation board to reverse their decision.
Otherwise it couldnt’ have been torn down.</p>

<p>It actually wasn’t as much of a loss as the bowling alley.

</p>

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<p>There was a show about a Chicago area woman who did auctions of parts of old homes slated for demo. Many of the homes were larger and in great neighborhoods. Very sad. But some great bargains on beautiful old woodwork, fixtures, flooring, kitchens, doors, etc. You had to remove it that day or maybe the next day at most so it was only for the very handy.</p>

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<p>This is a pretty cool series

[Burn to Shine](<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_to_Shine_(DVD_series"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_to_Shine_(DVD_series&lt;/a&gt;))
I have the Seattle DVD.</p>

<p>We also have lots of places to get salvaged stuff in Seattle- reStore, second use- Earthwise… I want to find some old fir flooring to do my kitchen.</p>

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<p>Yes, we also have some good salvage stores here.
My favorite is one run by Habitat for Humanity…ReStore.</p>

<p>At least the pieces of the old homes can be saved.</p>

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<p>Happy anniversary. I love older homes too, but they require a ton of money to update in many cases. Who will buy the new homes? The market for new homes is pretty terrible around here.</p>