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The house I grew up in mostly (in the 1980s/90s) when built in the early 1920s. When we moved in to it in 1985 it was more or less in its original state, save for some 70s era wallpaper, lights and kitchen appliances. One of the bathrooms was untouched from the 20s and it still had several of its old light fixtures, which were kept in place.
We repainted/wallpapered then but otherwise what was there we lived with for about 15 years when we decided to gut and redo the kitchen (though the floor plan was kept the same); only the aging cabinets were replaced. What I liked about the kitchen was it was not "open" to the rest of the living area---and probably couldn't have been due to the fact a very large chimney went behind the interior wall. The quality of construction was solid, well beyond what you could get today in the average new home.
Sadly, the young couple who bought it in 2005 butchered it within a year. I was told by a former neighbors that essentially it looked like any McMansion being built nearby---they tore out old tiling, wood paneling in some places, replaced the windows with plain plastic ones---on and on. Mind you the house was still in excellent condition...It lost much of its character, with a 6-foot high vinyl fence around the back yard to boot (nobody in the neighborhood put up fences like that). They even cut off the walkways to the 3 neighboring houses....
Looks like a modest, pleasant home to me. Could use a little sprucing up, but nothing like white trash. Doesn't look any better or worse than half the neighborhoods in my town.
I sure hope PLMOKN never see's a real white trash place.
I suppose that is possible and it could be street sweeping day and there is no parking allowed. But still, come on, parking on the lawn?
This house by the way is in West Hills, CA. Even in winter, maintained lawns are thick and green.
Was this during a drought? Some take the useful step of not wasting water on a lawn then. My fil tells me that most of socal hasn't even had an inch of rain this year. People shouldn't be wasting water on lawns.
When I lived in socal, and we were in drought, the lawn was just allowed to die.
Yes, and most of those people are over 80 years old.
Ah yes, to be 80 and healthy enough to be living in one's own home. We should all be so lucky. Even if the home has "dated" appliances and has not been renovated to replace the pink bathrooms fixtures. Ah yes, to be 80 and living in a paid for house, with a paid for stack of firewood awaiting winter, a paid for car in the driveway, and a small army of grandkids who's college educations have been paid for. Yep, it can wonderful what can be accomplished if one has priorities and a bit of good luck.
Yes, and most of those people are over 80 years old.
I don't see *anything* wrong with the photos you posted. In fact the kitchen at the very top of the group of pics is gorgeous! I'd love to have it. My kitchen is much more outdated (and cluttered) than this one.
I don't see *anything* wrong with the photos you posted. In fact the kitchen at the very top of the group of pics is gorgeous! I'd love to have it. My kitchen is much more outdated (and cluttered) than this one.
20yrsinBranson
I think plmokn is showing before and after photos of a (his?) house. It looks like the same living room and kitchen and you can tell that the first pic is an updated original kitchen by the funky, half covered by the original countertop, dishwasher, and then the off centered hood above the range.
Since I am his exact age and grew up in a ranch house in CA, that pic of the birthday party could have been mine, the boys all look exactly like my friends of the time.
As far as original houses I'm all for it. Finishes and fixtures do age though and sometimes things do have to be replaced, but much of the time perfectly good or at least repairable stuff is ripped out just to satisfy some wife's itch to have to have something "in style".
Some houses of that era are worth keeping as is and some are NOT. My in-laws house is for sale in Sacramento and was a typical tract house that was thrown up as fast as they could build them in the late '50s. It was cheap then and is cheap now. The only redeeming factor is the huge lot and the solid oak floors that have been refinished. The washer is in the kitchen, no dishwasher ( I was the dishwasher!) and panel ray heater in the hallway and swamp cooler. I wouldn't want to live there but yet it is amazing what it appraised for.
On the other hand, my parents home had solid oak floors, parquet flooring in the den, Birch paneling, Heatalator fireplace, and good kitchen cabinets and counters. It was built by them in 1950. The only problem is that it is a ghetto now and I wouldn't want to live there again.
I certainly agree that even among older housing there is quite a bit that is not worth saving and some was built sub-par for the time. But I guess what many would say is that the average house of 60 or 70 years ago was built with somewhat better materials than today in terms of sturdiness and quality.
Here where I live in Charleston, SC there is a pretty large housing stock dating to the 1950s and 60s...also quite a bit which was built during WW II which originally was intended for military housing....some of it is rock solid and much of it is quite flimsy, depending on the neighborhood and reason why it was built. Same goes with housing from the 1800s as well---some very solid and some is so-so, for what it is.
There are areas near downtown that were throw up in the late 50s, mostly ranch style houses that now at 50 to 55 years old are in poor shape and are starting to be bulldozed or rebuilt....partly it is cheaper than doing major reworking of a place when it does not meet today's lifestyles for the average person and some is just due to condition due to the climate here which is very humid and wet. More than 90% are built on slabs are low crawl spaces/piers; full basements are very rare here. Its cheaper to rebuild in those cases.
Then you have the more solid ones that more times seem to be saved and rehabbed--ones that are larger and have more space/better layout.
Then you have the WW II era housing, some of which is being rehabbed, some is being neglected/demolished---much seems to be fairly well built but again, small size rooms and layouts that sometimes just are not what people want now...and it can be very hard/expensive to reconfigure that---or add on when the house has serious problems (one friend bought one, built in 1943---the sills were rotting he found later, but he had them repaired). Becuase a lot where built at once, a lot of shortcuts were taken typically----same as you'll find today with tract housing. Basically, I think houses where one was built singularly you have a better chance of care being taken during construction than when built en-mass, at any time.
Car parked on the lawn (I don't need to write anything more. Car parked on lawn is first class ticket to white trash)
American flag displayed in a white trash way
Lawn looks like crap
Tacky christmas decorations
Something (car, boat?) in driveway with a cover on it (another white trash badge of honor)
Storage shed behind the garage built by someone who charged the owner two six packs for labor.
Oil stains in street in front of the house.
Next question?
Exactly.
Not that there's anything wrong with it but it is what it is.
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