Real Estate Sampler: A Deal in Mount Dora

Today's real estate sampler features a charming 1880's home in historic downtown Mount Dora, Florida. The home sold last year (a great short-sale deal at $269,000), however I feel it is still worth sharing regardless because...well...just look at it. 

The palette is certainly not for everyone, though I do love a turquoise exterior when it works, as evidenced by my favorite home of the seven that we have owned/renovated.  

While I'm impressed with the last owner's fearless use of bold color, I do find the wall color to clash terribly with the kitchen, which is quite suburban-bland and out of character with the style of the home. 

Suggested kitchen fix for the new owner: a couple of coats of white paint on the cabinets and soapstone  countertops would make it quite lovely. 

More photos and information available here.

I want this house!!!

Now you know I love mid-century modern architecture, but this may just be my favorite house ever. Seriously. AND it's in a small town in Georgia at the foot of a mountain, only 30 minutes from where I live now. I know what you're thinking: "cute cottage, nice yard, but what's so special about this house?"
My jaw dropped when I saw the interior pics. Just look at those original (refinished) tongue and groove walls and ceilings. I love how the walls have vertical wainscotting painted white. And those plantation shutters, that arch between the two rooms, the original mantel, tons of windows, pretty wood floors, oh my...
Although the house only has 1,088 square feet, the rooms seem large and airy. Just look how bright the rooms are, even with all of that wood.
Although, those ceilings fans would have to go (such a minor issue). I'm curious what the kitchen looks like, as there weren't any pics of it on the MLS listing. No matter really, I'd cook on a hotplate and do dishes in a tub if it meant living here.
The house sits on a nice large lot, and although it hasn't really been landscaped, it's already quite pretty.
Can you imagine this cutie surrounded by a cottage garden?
And it's only $80,500. Yes, that's right. Won't one of you buy it, please? I can't bear the thought of it going to a stranger. MLS info here.

Real Estate Sampler: Great Deals in Cool Places

March's Real Estate Sampler features great deals on city, small town, and country homes, all in move-in condition. First up is a modern flat in downtown Billings, Montana, found via Realtor.com. This 1 Bedroom/1 Bath flat has 987 square feet and was built in 2005. The flat is offered with all appliances, including washer & dryer. $114,900.
Looking to relocate to the Blue Ridge Mountains? This 1955 Ranch home in the charming small city of Tazewell, Virginia is absolutely neat as a pin and priced at only $59,900. The home is a 3 Bedroom/1 Bath and has 936 square feet and includes a large kitchen that is open to the living area. There are beautiful hardwood floors throughout the living area and bedrooms and ceramic tile in the kitchen. The home has fresh paint inside and out, newer doors, and newer light fixtures. Virtual tour of the home and more pictures here.


This little cottage in Otter Creek, Florida is full of charming details, including original tongue and groove wood walls, ceilings, and hardwood floors, 5 panel doors (including pocket doors), antique light fixtures, and a footed tub. 2 Bedrooms/2 Baths with 1128 square feet on a large 1/2 acre lot. Otter Creek is quite rural, however is only about a 20 minutes drive from Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast and 40 minutes to Gainesville. Located within an hour drive of several of Florida's most beautiful state parks, this area is an outdoor adventurer's dream. Found via Realtor.com. $95,000.

Real Estate Sampler (Part II)

Today's real estate sampler features a small California mid-century modern dream home, a pristine brick Victorian mansion in Missouri at an unbelievably low price, and an unusual 70's modern fixer in a small coastal town in northern Maine.

First up is a 1953 Cliff May Rancho in Long Beach. 3 Bedrooms/1.75 Bathrooms with 1,361 sq. ft. With a backyard oasis like this (and views of it from almost every room), I would never want to leave home. Priced at $595,000. During the boom a few years ago, I imagine this home would have been worth about 1.2 million.

SoCal Modern

House #2 is a pristine Victorian mansion in Nevada Missouri, built in 1882. From the listing: "This Victorian gem was built around 1882 by "Dutch" Wachtel. The exterior is brick with wood gingerbread trim. Window lintels and sills are stone. The front doors have ruby red glass inserts that are highly unusual, they allow you to see out but not in. The interior wood trim is the original pine. Pine was the rare wood in this area where oak and hickory were common trees. The home features large stone sills at the interior doorways on the first floor. 

Previous owners have done extensive and careful renovation. The mechanical systems, included but not limited to the follow have been updated: wiring, central heat and air, plumbing, and hot water heater. The roof has been reshingled with architectural shingles. The interior has all of the orignal details: transoms (with opening hardware), the original door hinges and knobs; all of the original wood trim and woodwork (which is in excellent condition). Home is in immediate move in condition."

Priced at $124,900. I think this home sold or the listing expired in the past few days, because I can't find it on eBay anymore. Still worth posting because it's crazy that in some parts of the country you can still own a Victorian mansion for this price.

This 1971 modern home in Calais, Maine has great bones, and I'm itching to get my hands on it for renovation. Built in 1971, this 3/2 has 1600 sf, an ocean view, an indoor pool, a fireplace in the kitchen, and some great modern elements (though currently they're well-hidden by some really tacky decor). $235,000.

realtor.com

It's fun to dream...

Real Estate Sampler (Part I)

In this cruddy economy, my husband and I have had to shift our focus from whole-house renovations of our own to working multiple projects in various arenas. From my husband's restaurant renovation work to my Etsy shop, call it diversifying to maintain self-employment in hopes that eventually we can get back to our dream business. But man oh man, do I miss real estate. The thrill of searching for that perfect fixer, the design and renovation process, the anxiety/high of sales contract negotiations. Add to that my daydreaming of living in many different places. To feed my hunger for houses, I'm a design blog junkie, and frequently lose myself for hours in real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Sellmodern, BobVila, etc. This cold spell has me longing for warmer days and happy outdoor spaces, which is the basis for the first two dreamy home listings that I'm sharing. Both of these were found on Realtor.com.

First up is a charming 1940 Mediterranean style home in Hollywood, Florida. This house has so much potential, it just needs a little cosmetic sprucing up. I would live in that backyard. Seriously, I could see myself pitching a tent and camping out there. $399,000.


House #2 is a 1909 Arts and Crafts style Sears Kit House in Belfast, Maine. The modern addition is definitely not in keeping with the character of the house, but the rest of the house's original charm has been maintained. Sited on Penobscot Bay, with views of Belfast Harbor. Just look at the way the porch openings frame the view. Happy sigh... And it can be yours for only $1.2 mil


I'm considering making this weekly or bi-weekly series, what do you think?

Dreamier than Don & Betty Draper's Home...

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to join the throngs of treasure hunters to attend an estate sale in this lovely traditional mid-century mansion. The home is located in Riverview, one of Chattanooga's most prestigious historic neighborhoods. I have never seen anything like this: the mansion was built in 1955 and is remarkably like a time capsule of the era. Aside from some older antiques, a couple of high-end trendy preppy 1970's items, and a swanky record collection that extended into the 1960's, it was as if every furnishing, houseware, and accessory in the house was purchased when the house was built in 1955. Please forgive the not-so-great pictures. For some reason the drapes were drawn in most of the rooms, and of course most photos were rushed as it was tough to capture the grandeur of this home with all of these people milling about.
The master bath. Note the Old Spice aftershave and cologne. This was just one of 4 1/2 baths - all of which were just as fabulous as this one. Each was wallpapered, extensively tiled in the most awesome 50's patterns, and had a mod Formica vanity like this one. Color combinations included gray/yellow, pink/gray, peach/brown, and a really unique olive/blue. Every bathroom sink and tub was a different color.
This wallpaper is so cool, and I'm digging the gray bathtub. Everything was in perfect condition, as if it had just been installed yesterday.
Sorry about the stuff on the beds. Because this was an estate sale, there was stuff strewn everywhere. Check out the table/lamp. Sweet butterfly wallpaper. These beds were marked down to $300 on the second day. A total deal!
Curved mauve metal kitchen cabinets. The corners had great built-in lazy susans. Ugly 70's linoleum (other than the newer carpet, I think this was the only update to the house since it was built).
1956 casual dining set. The table folds in the middle. Built-ins on both sides of this room.
More twin beds. This house had 4 pairs of twin beds. Some of them had sweet little matching desk and dresser pairs as well.
The coolest medicine cabinet ever.
One of many great 50's fixtures. Unfortunately, none of them were for sale. Note the wallpaper on the ceiling. Real wood paneling, not that ugly fake stuff.
I'm usually not a fan of wallpaper like this, but in this house every detail was just perfect. Birds and butterflies, and flowers...
Now we enter the swanky basement. The tongue and groove wall paneling is rich walnut. The pool table was just to the left of this.
The bar! The metal lemon tree on the wall was well made, heavy and just too cool. Unfortunately becuase it was attached to the wall, they would not sell it. One day I will find another one of these and design a room around it.
Fantastic bird cage light fixture. Again, not for sale.
Dig this sofa! Another deal - marked down to $475 the second day, but I had no money or a place to put it.
A closet and a strange little room the The Boy called "the iterrogation room", heh. It had chocolate brown linoleum squares on the floor, painted concrete block walls (for soundproofing?), and one of those huge old fancy tape recorders. Hmmmm...
Sweet side porch.
A little more about the house: 5800 square feet on 3.3 acres. Winter views of the river. Supposedly it has 6 bedrooms, but there must have been at least 15 rooms (not including the bathrooms). Available for $1,150,000 - a good price for anything in this neighborhood, especially with the enormous plot of land. Sadly, someone will probably buy it and remodel from top to bottom. Please keep at least a few of those bathrooms and the walnut paneling?! We're going to stalk this house once it is sold to see if they remodel. I'd love to make nice with the construction workers and have first dibs at the stuff they pull out of this place.

Never have I had more fun at an estate sale. It has nothing to do with the fact that this is a mansion, but more that the house was so warm and inviting and SO original. I wish I had known these people and attended fun cocktail parties and bridge parties and teas at their house. The swanky basement & fabulous record collection, the closet full of hundreds of photography items: cameras, movie cameras, lighting, meters, and projectors. The library of medical texts, novels, gardening, and history books. Those sweet twin bedrooms. Le sigh...

All photos taken by me except: #1 & #2 from Chattanooga MLS and #6,7,8,17 from Estate Sales