Butchered modern homes in Truro, Annandale VA (Springfield, West Springfield: for sale, real estate)

[sixtus]

How come people in a neighborhood that advertise their houses as modern, even mid century modern butcher the initial modern archtectural style and turn it into some weird mix of no style in particular.
I know so many new families looking to buy in that neighborhood only to be turned off by either previous owners' stylistically inappropriate additions, interior design choices, transitional style updates. What propels people to install huge crown molding or wainscoting into a modern home, or flippers to put down shiny ebony flooring with white shaker kitchen cabinets, etc?

There aren't many modern neighborhoods in Nova, to begin with, and the ones that have a good school district such as Truro, are even harder to find. There are currently at least 5 or 6 houses for sale there and every single one of them has been butchered inside or outside. Or have updates that completely clash with the original style. Needless to say, they are all way overpriced.

[Hal Roach]

Consider this angle...it was a lot cheaper per sf, to retain some of the old house, as opposed to bulldozing and starting over. The old homes lacked enough bathrooms for today's taste..and many were anything but open concept, which I think is still desired by many. About 80% of those carport conversions look like Shiite and that was without changing the footprint of the house. And then the footprint limits the size of the addition footprint. Did you consider West Springfield, Orange Hunt....not nearly the butchering of 22150/22151 or Annandale?

[Pub-911]

When was Truro ever considered a paragon of architectural excellence?

And whether an owner or developer, it is often more cost-effective these days to bulldoze and rebuild than to try to do a renovation. This is part of why in-fill is so popular.

[dpiccolo]

I may take some of the comments personally, since well... I live in Truro .

Originally Posted by sixtus

There aren't many modern neighborhoods in Nova, to begin with, and the ones that have a good school district such as Truro, are even harder to find. There are currently at least 5 or 6 houses for sale there and every single one of them has been butchered inside or outside. Or have updates that completely clash with the original style. Needless to say, they are all way overpriced.

I find it hard to believe that houses have been butchered outside since the architectural committee of the HOA is fairly strict. I won't discuss what's been done inside the houses since that's pretty personal.

Originally Posted by Pub-911

When was Truro ever considered a paragon of architectural excellence?

And whether an owner or developer, it is often more cost-effective these days to bulldoze and rebuild than to try to do a renovation. This is part of why in-fill is so popular.

Truro may not be a paragon of architectural excellence, but it's a neighborhood that has kept its character and that has a well-defined style. You will not find a in-fill house (McMansions) in this neighborhood like many others.

Also, and this is just a personal observation, I believe Truro has something that many neighborhoods in the area lack. Truro has a big heart! There's a strong sense of community that you cannot find in many other neighborhoods or areas.

[Pub-911]

I think it's wonderful that you live only in Truro, but know whether and what sort of "heart" all these other neighborhoods have.

[leighland]

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/counties/fairfax/longterm/wwlive/truro.htm]washingtonpost.com: Truro: Modern Look Belies Old-Fashioned Feel[/url]


1993 article;

-Modern Look Belies Old-Fashioned Feel

-Homes in Truro, which usually are situated on about a third of an acre, sell for $235,000 to $325,000.

I'm guessing Raymondale is within Truro borders?

[Flamingo13]

Just throwing this out here - you can remodel the inside of a home to your heart's content - the outside will depend on issues such as HOA, neighbors, etc.

[dpiccolo]

Originally Posted by Pub-911

I think it's wonderful that you live only in Truro, but know whether and what sort of "heart" all these other neighborhoods have.

You are correct that I only live in Truro, I can't afford more than one property in NoVa with the current real estate prices. And that was a gross generalization too. That being said in the less than two years I've only lived in Truro, I've never felt more welcome than in any of other neighborhood I lived before, being in this area or in other states. Heck!, during the first week we were in our new house I put like 5 extra pounds from all the cookies our neighbors brought in!

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

Just throwing this out here - you can remodel the inside of a home to your heart's content - the outside will depend on issues such as HOA, neighbors, etc.

Like Flamingo said!! and that's the interesting part of this whole thread, Sixtus mentioned that the houses have been butchered inside or outside. I don't believe that much has changed on the outside of any property since they were originally built, and this HOA (for the better or for the worse) is also very strict trying to maintain the neighborhood close to the original style. I wonder which house(s) he/she was looking into.

[sixtus]

Outside changes - e.g. gutters. I have seen houses with original built in type gutter system that sit in the soffits but most have put ugly gutters on outer part of the roof. Colonial style front doors. Extensions that clash with the overall look.

Yes, inside can be changed. But my question is more that, why on earth would one want to put transitional, traditional, etc. design into a modern home. The sole attraction of these modern looking homes for a future buyer is that it is modern in and out. I don't want to pay 700,000 for a "updated" kitchen, when that kitchen has some shiny dark flooring or intricately carved cabinets that belong to a cottage home or updates like huge crown molding, heavy drapes on oversized curtain rods, large wooden built ins, etc. Updated bathrooms that have one pattern tile on the floor, another on the wall and some 3rd one just as an accent. Basically it seems that a house that has not been updated since they were built look much better that the ones that have gone through several owners and their "updates" .

Sorry for the rant. I am sure there are owners that know what mcm really means and looks like and keep their homes authentic.

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by sixtus

Outside changes - e.g. gutters. I have seen houses with original built in type gutter system that sit in the soffits but most have put ugly gutters on outer part of the roof. Colonial style front doors. Extensions that clash with the overall look.

Yes, inside can be changed. But my question is more that, why on earth would one want to put transitional, traditional, etc. design into a modern home. The sole attraction of these modern looking homes for a future buyer is that it is modern in and out. I don't want to pay 700,000 for a "updated" kitchen, when that kitchen has some shiny dark flooring or intricately carved cabinets that belong to a cottage home or updates like huge crown molding, heavy drapes on oversized curtain rods, large wooden built ins, etc. Updated bathrooms that have one pattern tile on the floor, another on the wall and some 3rd one just as an accent. Basically it seems that a house that has not been updated since they were built look much better that the ones that have gone through several owners and their "updates" .

Sorry for the rant. I am sure there are owners that know what mcm really means and looks like and keep their homes authentic.

You've raised a really good question that I have wondered about too. Here are a few possibilities:

1) Many people may not know much about architecture here. They don't know what "fits" with mid-century modern or even contemporary modern design. So it doesn't occur to them that elements are disparate.

2) They bought the house for reasons other than the architecture (e.g., location, schools, space, yard relative to price at the time of purchase), so they aren't concerned about the incongruities. The houses have more than the "sole attraction" you mention to some buyers. In fact, they may not like the 1960s-70s modern style at all but the house was a good deal, so they want to add the "touches" that they like.

3) They may be thinking about what prospective buyers may want, because people are more transient here than in some other cities, and they may have to sell in a few years. So they go with the more "conservative" or "broadly appealing" stuff like Shaker cabinets and dark, stained floors, that everyone on HGTV wants. Buyers in general here have architecturally very conservative tastes, so maybe this is smart, even though it's sad in other ways.

A related question that I had was why younger buyers like Logan Circle-style rental apartments that have sophisticated and modern interiors (not mid-century, but contemporary modern) and IMHO beautiful, but then when they are ready to buy, they somehow get psychologically transported to a faux version of 1920 or 1940 and want the carved cabinets, crown molding, heavy curtains, Craftsman or Colonial everything, etc.

I'm not knocking anyone's taste here--just wondering as OP is about the disparities and apparent inconsistencies.