Annual Antique Sale a Sucess

Comfortable 'Non rainy" weather, brought out people to attend the annual Woodruff Place Flea Market and we therefore had a good turnout for our annual antique sale. It was allot of work lugging things in and out for the two day sale (we worked on the Cincinnati house on Sunday) and I could have easily brought out more merchandise. We offered a variety of merchandise antique furniture, art and estate jewelry.

Of course I am looking forward to the day when we can get some shop space and get open in Cincinnati and I need to redouble my efforts to locate the right building for our purposes.

Historic Houses: Real Estate Market, Curb Appeal

Today is certainly a tough real estate market. While areas like Cincinnati are largely unaffected, nearby cities like Indianapolis, have had "Dead Markets' for the last 24 months. It is not at all unusual for a house over 250K to sit on the market for 2 yrs or more for buyer. There aren't a lot of 'second tier' home buyers right now. Those moving "up" from their first of second home or empty nester moving to a smaller home with great amenities. At the higher end, million dollar plus homes, there is 70 month supply.

After months of slowdown it looks like historic real estate is on the move once again in Indy. The foreclosure 'glut' is gone and we are getting back to a normal inventory of homes in our price range A home near ours in Lockerbie just sold for over 700K. People seem to be getting over condos and are looking for real homes with real yards to buy once again. It is still a very competitive market and people are looking for quality restoration and luxury amenities at a great price.

Most people. believe it or not, decide on a house in the first 15-30 seconds as they walk up to it. "Curb Appeal" is your first and maybe only chance to make an impression. Your front door says much about the 'experience' of a home. Your front porch is more than your porch is is a welcome sign to the interior. Many shop via the Internet and if your realtor is lacking in photo skills you may want to have friend who is a photo buff take your pictures so you get professional results.

Our house here in Indy was built in 1915 and is in the Craftsman style. the home has had a top to bottom professional restoration and has been featured on HGTV "Rate my space" as a "Inspiration home" for one of there makeovers. Priced at 259,900 out house is competitively prices with homes with less features priced 100-150K more. We have priced it a a good pricepoint an it far exceeds other homes in eth neighborhood in terms of amentites for the price. We expect we may actually find a buyer this summer as people test the waters again. We could have had it sold several times but is was always a 'subject to" sale meaning subject to the buyer selling their home. With a spike in sales we hope to attract a buyer who is looking to move up from their starter home who wants to be downtown minutes from work, shopping and nightlife. Yet wants to live in a real neighborhood.

So the last few days we have been sprucing up the landscaping, nothing major just minor weeding and of course we replanted all our flower boxes. Flower boxes add a great touch to a home and can set it apart from others. You want to invoke a feeling of well kept home and flower boxes add that extra special touch that may set your home apart from the dozens of others in your neighborhood. One thing we advise it to always go for low maintenance landscaping. Not all people are gardeners and you want to plant things that will come up every year in your yard and not require much maintenance.

Many Urban Homes now have what is known as the "No Lawn Look" the entire lot is planted with flowers and mulched beds and this gives the home buyer the ability to spend their free time actually enjoying their weekend rather than spend hours cutting grass, pulling dandelions and such. This type of yard is more "Green friendly" as the plants take less water than a lawn does

Your back yard should be just as inviting as the front. Urban dwellers love a 'retreat' at the end of busy work day and we hope our rear yard with a generous deck, hot tub, pergola, awning and fire pit will attract a buyer who really wants to vacation at home.

In a future blog we will talk about Interior staging your home to sell

Extreme Home Makeover comes to Indy and why I am not excited

Well the Extreme Home makeover folks are in Indy and I'm not really excited. I guess the only fortunate part of it is that they are tearing down a house that historically has no value. That's a good thing. The bad thing is that the house will be worthless in the neighborhood they are building it in and they will "saddle' the family with a home that they will never get any "real Money" out of should they need to ever sell. A property tax bill of 3-4000.00 or more a year not to mention the fact that the neighborhood is a war zone and homeowners insurance will cost them a mint if they can even afford it. Also do not forget the IRS tax to pay on all of this .

For what will be spent building the house, the man hours involved, and for those of you who care about such things, "the carbon footprint" of this project. (You should see the Rows of luxury RV's that the staff and crew have parked near the site), Extreme Home Makeover could have gone to the burbs bought 20-30 foreclosures in a great, low crime, neighborhood and relocated the entire neighborhood that is frankly one of the few parts of town most people will drive out of their way to avoid.

For all their "Good Intentions" it is amazing how many recipients of this " good will" have had to file bankruptcy do the upkeep and maintenance costs.

I know this isn't a populist viewpoint, but I have to think there is a better way of helping people other than parading them on TV so the viewers can "feel good". Interestng that they dont followup on what REALLY happens to teh recipients of this generousity.

An article about the "downside" of "Winning" a makeover:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/07/two-more-extrem.html

Winter Wonderland?

Those who know me well know I hate cold weather. There are just so many things I'd rather be doing than stuck inside. So today will consists of more doorknob restoration, maybe take a crack at a Newel Post I plan on using on the Knox Hill project .

We awoke to 10 inches of snow this morning and should have 12-13 inches by noon when this ends here at the Indy house, I read that Cincinnati got ice and snow and is having power outages. Here its just wet snow and lots of it. Schools are closed, most businesses are closed or delayed. Greg wisely decided to wait until after the rush hour to go into work and we first had to shovel the jeep out 2WD not 4WD so at best he will have challenging drive. Traffic is doing "maybe" 25 mph on the interstate system here. Our street is plowed since it is near a school. While parking in the carriage house is nice. the reality is that it is near impossible to get out as the alleys are not plowed so street parking makes more sense.

The good news is this ends around noon followed by sunshine. Maybe this will be the one and only major snowfall of the year? For those of you that enjoy the quiet beauty of winter some photos I took this morning

Ah "Pre-Spring"

Greg and I have decided that it is officially "Pre-Spring". Not being fans of cold weather we refer to the period between the first snow and the first 70 degree day as "Pre Spring" as it is decidedly less depressing that referring to this as winter!

We did manage to put up our tree this year, though with our Indy house for sale we decided to not go over-the-top this year in yuletide decoration. Although I think our Realtor would agree that there is little chance of selling a quarter of a million dollar plus house in the middle of winter much less in the throws of an economic recession.

As usual I get my "decorate our house for the holiday party" client requests and I have decided to not accept any new clients this year for our services. I have six client's homes to do over the next two weeks. It always struck me as odd that people pay other people to come in and decorate their homes for the holidays but if you are looking for a "period Victorain look" for your holiday party , well you either have to know what you are doing or pay for it.

As I said this year we just put up the tree and a few things here and there, just enough for our Christmas party and dinner. I shot these photos last night, the house looked all warm and cozy. To think after totally restoring this one, what are we doing? Working on another in Cincinnati so we can repeat the process all over again!

Ah "Pre Spring" I am already planning where the gardens, walkways, gazebo and ponds will go at the new house.

Our Monday Night Tradition

One of the few things I will miss about Indianapolis is our Monday nights at Metro located on mass Avenue in the Mass Ave cultural district of Indy. We have been going there on Mondays to see Dave Lowe who plays keyboard, since his first night performing there. Dave has gotten the "old house bug" and is working on two homes on the East Side. In addition to hearing Dave, a lot of local talent usually stops by including two regular performer Ray Davidson and Vernie Johns.

Ray plays at a couple of other venues around town and Vernie sings at several venues as well. She has a CD out called "Vernie with a V" and if you like jazz it is definitly a Cd worth owning.

Hill Place Tour

I had the good fortune to be invited yeaterday to an open house of Hill Place, here in Indianapolis. the owners have been working long and hard on the home and one can see the result of all that hard work. Hill place is on the National Register and was built by John Fitch Hill and his wife Sarah who was the great niece of Daniel Boone in 1853. The home originally sat on 220 acres but today is surrounded by smaller homes and cottages built in the late 1880's. Once "out in the country" it now sits within view of the Indianapolis business district skyline as the city grew.

The home is 6000 square feet and the owners have done a remarkable job of restoring the interiors to period victorian.

Day at the Canal

I took some time the other day for a walk on the canal. For those of you visiting Indianpolis, or if you have lived here for years I highly recomend it. The Canal along with White River State Park and the Indianpolis Zoo can make for a great day or a great weekend of entertainment. There are several museums along the canal and of course the park and a variety of fountains and public art.

National Night Out Tuesday Night

Neighborhood organizations, block clubs and Crime watch groups will be celebrating National night out with a variety of activites. Our local neighborhood is one of several hundred ornganizations celebrating tommorow night. We will have our local Police stopping by as well as people in city governmentand the crime watch program. We are also block off the street for a block party with food and music.

Re-Urbanization-Will Suburbia die?

There was an intersting article I read in the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121642866373567057.html?mod=yhoofront
That talked about the end of "White Flight" to urban neighborhoods. For the first time in decades cities black populations are losing ground. In fact I know my own neighborhood here in Indianapolis looks little like it did 10 years ago when I first started restoring here. The unfortunate thing is it lost its diversity somewhat, my last neighborhood meeting looks more like a country club that a neighborhood meeting with Volvo wagons and Mercedes SUV's in the lot, the major topic was how much everyones property taxes went up. It"s odd I still remember us being the only white people on our block and I know how Everett our neighbor must feel because he is our only black person on the block now.

Change can be good, our neighborhood is certainly safer but frankly its a little boring now! I so want to get back to a diverse neighborhood!

A busy Week

I've been away from the blog for several days but Ive been involved in some pressing neighborhood issues up here that have consumed large chunks of my time. Should be back on an even keel next week.

City Land Banks: Time for Cincinnati?

Indianapolis has just started a land bank http://www.indylandbank.com/ . The city is making available unsold tax sale properties to the public. Basically the City of Indianapolis seeks to acquire abandoned, tax delinquent, and other problem properties, hold and maintain them temporarily, and make them available to non-profit or for-profit developers. Through this effort the City of Indianapolis will return troubled properties to productive and economically viable use, eliminate public safety hot spots, and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.

Several cities have these types of land banks, so we pose the question, Why not Cincinnati? At present, in OTR almost everything is "given" to 3CDC or a "preffered developer", why not open up the process to more people? I like the Indy program as it gets property back on the tax roles, my only criticism is that there is no restrictive covenant that permits must be pulled within a certain period of time. I think were Cincinnati to do this, that they could "correct" what I see as a deficiency, maybe 3CDC could be persuaded to 'divest" some of the properties they hold into a land bank?

Computer glitches

After a storm blew through Wednesday My primary server went through major hiccups requiring lots of reloads and reinstalls, So in the meantime I am on a backup computer as I "correct" everything I have to do on my primary server. Posts will be intermittent for the next few days, while I effect repairs.

Restoration resources: Victorian Homes CD

New Victorian Architecture CD

As some of you know I routinely produce custom coffee table books for Victorian home owners documenting their restoration or as marketing tools when they sell their homes. We also do CD presentations with photos , and professional narration for realtors to use as well.

After a little prodding, I have finally released a new CD product. A Victorian Architecture CD. This photo CD features Victorian architecture from several American Cities and neighborhoods that you may have never known existed. Site of Interest include St Joseph Missouri, Burlington Iowa, Indianapolis IN, Louisville Kentucky, Cincinnati Ohio, Charleston SC, and New Orleans (a rare view pre Katrina! Many of these homes are now lost forever.

Architectural styles include: Italianates, Second Empire, French Chateauesque, Gothic revival, Folk Victorian, Moorish Revival, Queen Ann. This is a collection of several hundred homes.

The CD is geared towards the Victorian homeowner who is looking for reference material for their restoration. Or for Old house enthusiasts and for architecture student who need reference material. Because of the work I do I have been fortunate to travel extensively and cover many neighborhoods not well known and off the radar of the normal tourist. CD's are 15.00/3.50 shipping and discounts are vailale on quantity purchases for schools and preservation groups. They are available on our Ebay site. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZgad417 and on our blujay site
http://victorianantiquities.blujay.com/

A portion of the proceeds will go to historic preservation efforts.

Creative solutions for Traffic and neighborhood development

I wanted to talk a little bit about how one neighborhood dealt with traffic issues and with cooperation with the city were able to take a bad situation and change it for the better. The Cottage Home neighborhood is a small neighborhood just east of the Indaianapolis downtown. The area is home to an outstanding collection of Victorian era shotgun cottages and small homes built between the 1860's and 1900. Industrialization had crept to areas north and south and one of the streets which is relatively narrow to start with became a major "shortcut" for many workers in the industrial areas around it. This traffic really affected the quality of life.

An old bridge that went over a small creek that runs through the neighborhood, needed replacement. The neighorhood met with the city to discuss options on the traffic issues. A decision was made to close that section to vehicular traffic and put in its place a foot bridge with a turn around on the south side. Several Unbuildable lots were converted to green space that would allow access to the creek area and the turnaround is big enough that at some future date a fountain or art installation could take place in the center.

The property values have increased in the area and several vacant lots are now up for redevleopment for new single family houses. The neighborhood is close to a major bike trail and this project now creates an extension of the trail so to speak and draws people into the neighborhood. This is an example of how neighborhood groups and the city came up with a creative solution to solve a traffic issue.

Architectural Terra Cotta

Terra cotta is a ceramic based building material that was very popular from the late 19th century until the 1930s. This material was largely used on commercial buildings but you often find it in residential applications. This material can be glazed to match brick and limestone in color and often on commercial buildings is glazed. There are large concentration of buildings with terra cotta detail in Louisville Kentucky where it was popular on the many late victorian Mansions on 3rd and 4 th street in Old Louisville. Becasue it was in an urban environment prone to exposure to air pollution and chemicals often it will be deteriorated. The National Trust has a preservation brief on its maintenance and preservation. http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief07.htm

The 1st example in the photograph is on Mass avenue in Indianapolis on a commercial building and is the colored glazed variety. The home is the Wentz Mansion in Louisville I used to live in and has elaborate detailing on the tower, windows and doorway.

Indianapolis: Lockerbie

Lockerbie is a wonderful downtown historic neighborhood. Some pictures taken Saturday:

FESTIVAL WEEKEND in INDY

This is definitely the kick off weekend for events in Indianapolis! Indy Jazz Fest is this weekend at Military Park . The Italian street festival is this weekend. The Indy Pride Parade on Mass Avenue Saturday, followed by the Indy Pride Festival at University Park. The Talbot Street Art Festival is this Weekend, Juneteenth at the Childrens Museum, Family Arts Series: Indianapolis Children's Choir at White River State Park.

If you can't find something to do this weekend you arent even trying!!!

RATE MY SPACE: Airtimes

As if you haven't hear enough about this house, I recieved communication from the producers that the episode in which our home was featured as a design inspiration will be aired this month. The premier episode for this new show is the 15th, our home will be aired on the following dates: June 26, 2008 9:00 PM ET/PT, June 27, 2008 1:00 AM ET/PT, July 19, 2008 11:00 PM ET/PT, July 20, 2008 3:00 AM ET/PT, July 26, 2008 5:30 PM ET/PT.

The show host Angelo Surmelis makes over the homes of people who are "designed challenged" based on ideas of "inspiration homes" which recieved high marks on the website Rate My Space.http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com/SNC/Main.aspx?pguid=6db6be3f-1720-4ba3-a081-999042c09b6b

Antiques at the Willows a sucess

In spite of a rainy Friday the 3rd Annual "Antiques at the Willows" Tag Sale was a sucess! We sold a bunch of stuff we didnt need but I still have a carriage house full of stuff we will have to move to Cincinnati however!