The House on the Hill

I wrote about the big white monolith that sits behind my house and thought I would expand on it just a bit. 

This was a google earth photo that was taken when my neighbor still lived in the house.  You will notice some shrubs in front of the house and it would have been when her lawn was mostly grass. 

With just a couple of inexpensive changes they could have altered the appearance of the front of the house that would have cost much less than the 3 coats of paint it took to cover it.

Imagine what a difference putting siding in the front gable, down to the weird roof line (you would still have to trim the porthole window which is in the bonus room) and painting it a color found in the brick, replacing the wrought iron banister with a wooden one and adding thin shutters to just the outside of the two windows under the gable would look. Easy, inexpensive big change, and the house would look welcoming.

This is the house today, You can see the ruts in the ground cover, which has very little grass, but a lot of weeds.

Also compare the roof from the before picture to the now photo. Those are not shadows on the left side of the roof

To me the house looks like a jail or a fortress

First let me explain that I live in a pretty desirable neighborhood. It is not one of the fancy streets with gates and HOA's. It is not a neighborhood with the biggest or newest houses. In fact part of the 'hood was built in the 60's then the newer section opened up in the late 80's. 

My house is in the newer section, though our previous home was just a few blocks away in the older one, so I am very, very familiar with the area.  Mom's house was just 2 minutes away, and I was tromping through here when I was a kid, blazing trails through "the woods" which is where my current home is now located,

What makes this neighborhood specifically desired is that it is located on the edge of two suburban cities, located directly off an artery road between the two. It has all the benefits of a bedroom community, while being close to excellent shopping, restaurants and entertainment, and access to the interstate.  

Our burb does not offer school buses as an option, but this neighborhood is an easy drive to all the schools. (I am not going to lie, though. Traffic is a beast every morning and afternoon at drop off and pick up time) This neighborhood is filled with kids and thankfully there are always carpools for parents to hook up with.

Additionally we have a neighborhood "events coordinator ". She is a young mom who organizes get- togethers for the entire neighborhood that are held in one of the cul de sacs on the newer end of the subdivision. (The newer area has only one entrance and the side streets are all a series of cul de sac's so there is no worry about cars and safety) It is wonderful because it affords everyone of all ages the opportunity to get to know each other. Word has gotten out that this is a fun and friendly neighborhood.

Now that you know the generalities of the area let me talk specifics. My house is the first house (the only house) on the right as you turn into our section. I live on a corner lot and my house faces the road as you turn in. When you go beyond my house you have to take either a right or left and if you turn right the next house is the one I am talking about. The entire back of my house faces the side of the white monolith (which swill be referred to as the WM from here on out). I am not actively watching the flip, but if I am in my kitchen or den (where I spent the most time) or in any bedroom upstairs, I can't help but see what is going on.

We knew the house would be bought and flipped eventually. Over 2 years ago the previous owner, a  very kind woman in her mid 70's, developed some issues that resulted in a need for an immediate relocation. I will not go into any specifics about her, but non of the neighbors were surprised. After she left and it was obvious she would not be returning, we thought one of her adult children might occupy the home. As time went on and nothing happened, the house sat unoccupied, with no heat on in the winter and no air on in the summer.  Not good for an extremely humid climate. I can only imagine the mold and mildew that was in the house.

When the grass grew taller and taller then the weeds took over and grew taller still, at first a few of the neighbors would attack it, just to keep the overgrowth down. Finally her son in Chicago arranged to have it at least mowed every other week, which was wonderful. Meanwhile the siblings were at odds with each other about what to do with the house to secure their mother's future.

I had not been inside the house in a few years but my wonderful neighbor on the other side of her was in regularly for whatever emergency of the day she was having. She noticed the hoarding tendencies had worsened. So things were deteriorating before she left and did not improve over the next couple of years.

Fast forward to 2 1/2 years later the totally neglected houses sold to some flippers, who have been working from 9 each morning until 10 at night. Every. Single. Day since August.  I am not sure what all has been done but I do know they are on their 5th construction debris container, which is a metal container the width of a semi and is about 20 feet long.  I assume they had to tear our all the sheetrock and I know they tore out all the bathroom fixtures because for a couple of days  every time I walked by the den window I would see toilets and vanities sitting in the driveway. 

I am just guessing but having a crew there full time for 2 months with the amount of debris they removed from the house, they have to be in for well over 100k.  I figure the push is on to get this show ready because as I type this before 8 a.m. they are at it already.   I hear trash being thrown in the container and hear very loud music. It will be better once I close the house up and turn on the a/c for the day.

I imagine  the flippers originally thought they could get this done in a month, sold, and walk away with the cash. Now that we are past two months, there has been some yelling in the afternoons when they come to check on the house. I think they see profits dwindling as the carrying cost each month is money out of their pockets. 

Other than noise and vehicles pulling in and out of the driveway (lots and lots of vehicles) and the fact that this put an end to my daily lap swimming, it has not bothered me.  I am amazed at everything they ripped out and painted over and how often they have changed the paint color in the interior. I was also kind of amazed that they bought new garage doors in this really nice espresso color, then painted them white to match the rest of WM. The contrast actually looked much nicer. But I guess they wanted them to match the now painted white light fixtures on either side of the garage doors. Which also matches the dryer vent and the oven exhaust. I hope whoever buys this home likes to paint, because this sucker is going to require a lot of it. 

I am pretty sure once I get to see the inside (and when they have an open house I will go see it) I will find it is all gray and white. I am guessing there will be subway tiles somewhere, quartz or marble countertops, a farmhouse sink and hardwood floors. (I hope they just sanded and refinished the originals. Because of allergies, the entire house minus the kitchen and baths were hardwood, but with their penchant for tearing things out the floors may have been ripped out and tossed.)

The house was already an open concept but did have a separate dining room. They may or may not have ripped out that wall. It will be fun to see.

Hopefully they still have a little bit of money left in the budget for some landscaping because the WM currently has none. They tied a rope around everything in front of the house to their truck and ripped it out. They were very lucky. We had a friend whose yard man did the same and it broke the natural gas line, then was ignited by a spark from his tractor and the entire house pretty much exploded. 

I hope WM  sells quickly and hope we will have some good neighbors, because the rest of mine are great! The house has 4 bedrooms and would make a really nice family home, especially for teens, because the property is not great for young kids. The front yard is a steep downhill slope  and the back yard is just about as steep going uphill. There is a small space in the back of the house when the yard was graded for the house build where some sort of small patio could be built, or a swing set could be set up, but that is about it for any potential play area. 

I also hope someone will tell whoever buys it that the privacy windows in the sunroom that are supposed to keep anyone from seeing in don't, and never have worked, especially at night if the lights are on. 

Addendum: We have lived in this house for over 20 years and WM's roof is the same one that has been on as long as we have been here. I hope the potential owners check that out closely. I would not want to move in and have to immediately replace a roof.