Honoring the Past

One common question when looking for a new home, whether it will be move-in ready, a remodel, or new construction is, “What makes THIS lot, a good lot?”  The answer can be quite personal.  In this case, my client is an early riser and watches the sun rise every morning.  He is only interested in a home where the backyard faces east!  So, when it came to looking for a spot for a new home, that was the main criteria.  Other key points were privacy in the back or open lands, a spot large enough for 7 bedrooms to house a blended family of 7, and enough space for a pool. He found his perfect area, with lots located on a golf course.  He contacted several homeowners in the area to see if anyone was interested in selling.  As luck would have it, there was a house that was currently prepping for an estate sale including the property.  My clients were able to get the house and lot for a nice price and proceeded with the sale.

So, why did we tear down this house? 

 
When the property was purchased the intent was always to save the house and do a massive remodel and add on. However, after careful consideration and scrutiny of the home, it was decided the house was not salvageable. The house was built in the 70’s with very low ceilings.  The ceiling on the lower level was not even 8 ft.  My clients have sons that are over 6ft tall, they could barely fit down there!  Structurally, it was impossible to raise the ceilings. We went through the pros and cons of the tear down and realized that there was not much worth saving, but we did salvage a few light fixtures, a blue bathtub, and the original house numbers.  The new house is designed with the original house in mind to honor the past and the house now gone. 

It is always a tough decision to tear down a house, but we can do our best to honor the past and move forward to the future.  WE’ll be keeping you updated on this project as it progresses, so keep an eye out for new posts.