I like weird houses, but this might be a little too weird

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 05/02/2017 at 11:55 • Filed to: None

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My wife and I are in that “we want to buy a house but can’t afford the house we want” stage right now. We just renewed the lease on our townhouse for another year, but I’ve been keeping my eye out anyway. I love mid-century and contemporary style houses. But sometimes they don’t make sense.

The subdivision in Maryland where I grew up was very standard looking early/mid-80s colonial-style suburbia. It was built in 1984. There are a few different models of house in the neighborhood, but for more variety the builder made them in mirror images of each other. My parents’ house is an L shape with the garage on the left, but there are other houses just like it with the garage on the right.

The next subdivision over, it was built in 1977, and was all these contemporaries with drab colored painted wood siding and the typical weird contemporary vaulted ceilings and big windows. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for sale right now.

Well, this one’s brick, but you get the idea. Big sloping roofs, vaulted ceilings, lots of windows, skylights, etc. Well, it’s wood around back.

I always thought that subdivision’s houses were way cooler than mine, and since then, I’ve been drawn to houses in this style, or the earlier mid-century modern. There’s something about the vaguely futuristic architecture in a wooded setting that I love.

Here in Madison, there are a halfway decent number of houses like it, including !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

There’s a lot to like about the house here in Madison, even if it is painted a drab green that blends in with the trees surrounding it, and could use some updating in general. But look at all the windows!

Those windows help make the open-to-multiple levels, vaulted ceilings, airy vibe that I am a huge fan of.

The dining room is fantastic, although I can’t help but feel like its location in relation to the other informal dining area is a little redundant, since they’re literally right around the corner from each other.

Oh and then there’s yet another table in the screen porch between them.

“Which table shall we sit at this morning, dear?”

But that’s not the weirdest part. Check out the first floor master bedroom.

That’s right, there’s no bathroom door, and there’s a huge chunk of wall missing between the bedroom and bathroom. Yes, it makes for open airiness, but what about when you have to poop and your spouse is sleeping?

Both of these rooms have their own skylights and vaulted ceilings! Why do they need to have a big not-wall between them, and no door?

There are two closets, both located in this bathroom. Maybe there’s some other part of the bathroom where the toilet and shower are that’s closed off and not part of this closet/sink area? Can’t tell from the pictures.

One of the two upstairs bedrooms has one little window, so to get more windows, it has some sort of opening to the hall where there are many windows. This may or may not be a window itself.

This may or may not be useful for parents trying to spy on their kids. Just go in the hall and push aside the blinds! They won’t be doing any funny business in there with a big hole in the wall going out to the hall.

Also, who staged this place? So many desks!

In spite of the quirks, this is exactly the sort of house that I dig, and would be perfect with some updates to make it a more current, and maybe redo the upstairs to make the floor plan make some sense.

This style of houses are weird by their nature but the trick is finding one that has just the right level of weird without being all oddball in an un-functional way.

The search continues. Since, you know, I’m not buying a house for at least another year anyway.

Chariotoflove > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:06

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I love this house! I’d like to change the kitchen cabinets, and I’d probably put in a door to the bathroom fairly quickly, but I could be happy there. I like the sideboard in the dining room.

Sir Halffast > Chariotoflove 05/02/2017 at 12:11

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Agreed. And it needs hardwood instead of tile (very 80s), but it’s sort of great. Also, those ferns and lilies of the valley have got to go. Especially if you have pets.

Textured Soy Protein > Chariotoflove 05/02/2017 at 12:11

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Overall I like it a lot. I’d like to lose the carpet in the living room but then that creates the issue of what to do with the presumably-original tile in the kitchen/dining area that’s also around the fireplace. I kinda like that tile but I doubt you’d be able to find more of it and don’t want tile floor in a living room anyway.

Basically any house like this if it hasn’t been fully renovated yet will require some work to make it make sense but I’m ok with that.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:12

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but what about when you have to poop and your spouse is sleeping?

Just try to keep the screaming to a minimum.

smobgirl > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:15

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My parents bathroom was like that growing up. They had a pocket door that closed off the area with the toilet and bath tub.

Chariotoflove > Sir Halffast 05/02/2017 at 12:15

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As long as it’s not hardwood in the kitchen. That looks great, but doesn’t resist how hard I use my kitchens. Also, all the beige-ish carpet must go.

The ferns can go, but only if you clear out the yard to let in light so you can put in other landscaping. Otherwise, you end up with bare ground and too much erosion.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:15

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Regarding the master bathroom--install barn style sliders. Problem solved.

for Michigan > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:15

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I want that house.

Textured Soy Protein > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 05/02/2017 at 12:18

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There’s still the open wall up above though...

Chariotoflove > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:18

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I like wood to replace the carpet, except the kitchen needs tile. You might be able to find pretty close to that tile such that you can leave it where you like it in the kitchen and bath. Mostly though, it wouldn’t take too much to make it acceptable to move in, and then you could work on things slowly over the years to bring it to your ideal. That’s what we’ve been doing with ours.

Sir Halffast > Chariotoflove 05/02/2017 at 12:19

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Yeah, agreed on the kitchen. The tile’s just dated. That’s all. The Lilies of the Valley though - those are highly poisonous if ingested, particularly by children or cats. Dogs too, but they’re just less likely to chew on it.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:20

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That’s open too? oh...

Is the toilet one of those “room within a room” setups, or can it be changed to something like that?

adamftw > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:22

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Barf. I hate contemporaries. My place has the wood siding on half of it you pointed out on the second house. It’s called board and batten.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:22

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That kitchen is looks fantastic, but that induction range need be swapped out for a gas range ASAP.

Chariotoflove > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 05/02/2017 at 12:23

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You’d think by my age I’d have outgrown poop jokes, but nope, still laughed.

Textured Soy Protein > adamftw 05/02/2017 at 12:25

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They’re definitely a love-or-hate proposition. I’m not a huge fan of the outsides with the drab colors and looking sort of like bunkers, but I love the openness on the inside.

Chariotoflove > Sir Halffast 05/02/2017 at 12:25

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You’d need to keep horses like we did. That way you have a manure pile in back of the barn, and the dogs can get their fiber that way. That and horse hoof shavings when the ferrier comes. That’s like catnip for dogs.

Roadster Man > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:30

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I love these oddball houses. That open-air pooper definitely means this was custom construction... For a couple who were very “open” with each other.... Or something.

My old neighborhood had a modern-style flat-roofed house that was sided in slabs of stained wood. We called it the “Criss-craft house” because it looked like a big Criss-Craft boat. It was simply beautiful! But it was tough to maintain so the next owners put on vinyl siding...

I actually currently rent an A-Frame house. It’s like I come home to a ski house every day!

Textured Soy Protein > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 05/02/2017 at 12:34

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There aren’t any pictures of the master toilet, shower or tub. So who knows? If you look at this picture of the front of the house, that skylight is the one over the bathroom, and there’s what looks to be a little chimney for the exhaust fan.

If you look at this picture, you can see there’s a wall within the bathroom that’s not the same as the bedroom, which is probably the exterior wall of the house.

That section looks to be the same place as the exhaust fan chimney. Maybe the toilet’s in there?

Another theory is, if you see there’s these two closet doors in this picture, maybe one of them is to a toilet room?

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:38

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I’m not a fan. We rented a contemporary with a vaulted ceiling and clerestory windows in the living room. Every other wall had large panes of glass, all of it single-pane. That place was hot as hell in the summer. I’m thankful it wasn’t our house. We would have spent a fortune just upgrading all the windows. As it was, our electric bills were outrageous and we could never keep the house comfortably cool.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Sir Halffast 05/02/2017 at 12:40

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I’m seeing a ton of Hostas but no Lilly of the Valley here...

Sir Halffast > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 05/02/2017 at 12:42

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Is that what those are? Maybe so. In that case, hostas are fine.

Textured Soy Protein > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/02/2017 at 12:50

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Well, now I know what those windows are called, so thanks!

You do have a good point about the windows affecting the electric bill. One thought I had was installing remote controlled motorized shades on the skylights and clerestories. Partly for energy efficiency and partly because my wife likes to be able to control the light levels in a room. But also worth taking the age and tech of the windows themselves into account.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > adamftw 05/02/2017 at 12:52

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I find that people get “simple”, “clean” and “plain” mixed up. Just stripping a regular house of all detail doesn’t work. You’ve got to add some details back, just in different ways to different areas.

These are awful. Just a bunch of brown boxes.

This I like.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:52

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You with me?

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:54

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I did notice the reflection of a door in the mirror, but I think you’re right... just a closet.

Meh.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:55

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I have been looking at houses too and I feel you on the too weird part. Some houses look great on the outside and once you click through on Trulia or Zillow the interior layout is just plain weird. I saw a house with the gaping hole between the master bedroom and bathroom and had the same though as you. Also I don’t know if it’s just in the Bay Area but some folks are not helping themselves by taking pictures of interior where they look like screen captures from horror movies.

diplodicus > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 12:56

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I found this stuff the other day http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/building-window-solutions-us/ I’m waiting on someone from their distributors to come out and quote me for work. It doesn’t look like they technically sell it to consumers but there must be someone who offers a similar product.

adamftw > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 05/02/2017 at 12:59

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I’m picking up what you’re putting down

Sovande > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 13:01

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I like it. I also don’t know that I am overly concerned with the overall outside presentation of where I live since I can’t see it from the inside where I will be doing the actual living. The interior shots scream 1984, from the track lighting to the light wood trim. That tile floor would have to go, however.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 13:01

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If you want to get really fancy, check into powered window films.

http://www.smarttint.com/

TheRealBicycleBuck > diplodicus 05/02/2017 at 13:02

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Even fancier. http://www.smarttint.com/

Textured Soy Protein > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 05/02/2017 at 13:06

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Sure. Those are more current interpretations of mid-century than contemporary. Maybe mid-century revival is the correct term? I’m not an architecture expert.

Both mid-century and contemporary have the big windows, but at least here in Madison the vaulted ceilings and clerestory windows are more common with the contemporaries. I think the mid-century ones look better but most of the mid-century houses here have more closed-in floorplans. This is a good example of an un-renovated one. For the most part around here the mid-century style died out after the 60s and there aren’t any mid-century revivals unless you build from scratch.

Textured Soy Protein > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 05/02/2017 at 13:08

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Generally I prefer the open layout. The only rooms I want to be closed-off rooms are bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. But sometimes that openness can breed weirdness if it’s not entirely well thought out.

Textured Soy Protein > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 05/02/2017 at 13:09

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I really think the toilet might be in a separate nook on the other side of the wall from the night stand to the left of the bed as you’re facing it.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 13:10

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looks cool but garage is too small

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 13:11

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Could be. That would explain why the open section of wall doesn’t go the whole way across.

Textured Soy Protein > Sovande 05/02/2017 at 13:12

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I’m not too concerned with finishes like that. It’s likely that the interiors of houses like this will require updating. I’m more focused on the architecture and then things like cabinets and flooring can always be updated.

Sovande > Textured Soy Protein 05/02/2017 at 13:17

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I agree wholeheartedly. The tile is just one of the things that jumped out at me. I also don’t think the wood trim is a detractor, it’s simply a feature that further dates (and not in a negative way) the time period in which the house was built. It’s a cool place, reminds me of when I was a kid and used to visit friends houses and think how modern everything seemed.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Textured Soy Protein 05/03/2017 at 15:22

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Cool place. Reminds me a lot of the house I grew up in, the place where my parents still live. Built in 1980, it has a lot of similarities to this particular house. It was a model 123, and a friend of mine down the street lived in a model 123R, with the ‘R’ meaning reversed. On every visit over there I would go downstairs and turned into the laundry room when I meant to go into the bathroom since they were on opposite sides of the hallway. Every. Single. Time.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein 05/03/2017 at 20:40

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I’ll take that house any day of the week. It’s major flaw is the “2-car” garage setup from a single wide bay that looks too narrow for two modern cars.

Textured Soy Protein > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 05/03/2017 at 20:53

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I’m choosing to believe the door looks small because there garage is big. I may not be correct, but hey, I can believe.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein 05/03/2017 at 20:58

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I wish you two luck in your house-hunting. If my wife and I have kids here soon, I’ll most likely be house-hunting again.

Textured Soy Protein > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 05/15/2017 at 12:32

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Update on this house: I drove by it to scout it out, just for kicks, since it will be long since sold by the time I’m in the market. It’s in a very nice neighborhood tucked away in a part of town where you wouldn’t expect there to be a nice neighborhood, and is very, very close to a not-very-nice neighborhood. It’s also on the main road through this neighborhood. Not a big thoroughfare but a decent amount of traffic. My wife and I loved the little neighborhood it’s in but there’s too much dodgy stuff nearby.

If you see over on the left where there’s Grandview Blvd and it turns into Post Rd, the house is right after it changes into Post Rd. There are about 5 blocks of really nice 70s-era houses, not all contemporary style, but many of them. Most of them appear to be on 1/2 acre or larger lots. Great mature trees and just a super nice neighborhood. The problem is is these two pockets of yellow & orange on the crime heat map are really dodgy areas and only a few blocks away. If you go another exit down the highway it’s extremely dodgy.

We’re still at least a year away from buying but we’re focusing on a different part of town, where the nice neighborhoods aren’t islands of niceness bordered by dodgyness.