On the market for: $1,195,000
Welcome to Real Estate lust. In my free time I search the country’s real estate listings, thanks to services like trulia and craigslist, imagining what it would be like to own these homes. A loft in Brooklyn? A modern prefab in an Oklahoma forest? A mid-century modern outside of Austin? A Victorian in San Francisco?
Right now my husband, son and I live in an apartment in San Francisco, so let’s start there.
We live in the Glen Park area, and we love it. It reminds me of Cambridge, MA or smaller neighborhoods in Brooklyn because of the way it’s still the city, yet it’s not downtown. It’s got hip restaurants, culture, parks, friendly families, and public transportation to the big bustling city. It’s not the suburbs, yet you get to live in your own home, not in an apartment.
I’ve been browsing the Glen Park/Noe Valley real estate listings for a few weeks now. The basic criteria:
- minimum 3 bedrooms
- single family home
The unwritten rules:
- High ceilings
- Wood floors
- An actual nice kitchen renovation (or a hopelessly horrible kitchen with a price which reflects the cost of a remodel). If the kitchen is redone, I probably won’t like it. Most look like Home Depot renovations, some sort of off-the-shelf generic redo which is supposed to appeal to everyone but actually just sucks.
- A yard.
- Bonus: a hot tub! The weather in SF is perfect for it, and it would be a great break at night after our son goes to sleep.
- A large wall in the living room for our projector (we don’t own a TV).
- I like to see a combination of vintage/antique and modern. Old windows that have the look of an old factory, brick, detailed molding and wide pine floors mixed with high ceilings, clean lines, white paint, large open spaces, and slate-floored bathrooms. Beautiful. Again, beware of the Home Depot version of this which makes a home look like it came from the pages of a Pottery Barn Catalog.
And the result? My latest real estate lust goes to: 48 Whitney St, SF CA
PROS:
The kitchen renovation is great. Although it’s not my most favorite redo I’ve ever seen (I’ll post some pictures of those soon) but the lines of the cabinets, the glass doors, and the ceiling light are all great. I like the old stove too. I’d repaint in a bright green to make the tiles seem a bit more modern. I also love the wood floors and the great old window in the eating area.
Damn that’s a big yard! And I love brick patios! No hot tub, but certainly room for one.
The guest room/office space with bathroom which has its own entrance is great. We own our own business so it would be perfect for being nearby while also not ‘working at home’.
I love the beams in the bedrooms on the second floor.
CONS:
Only a half bath on the second floor. Would need to add at least a standing shower stall.
The tile in the downstairs bathroom leaves something to be desired.
The wall dividing the ‘reading room’ from the living room is a bit of a shame, although it could probably be opened up without too much problems.
Take a look for yourself. If you buy it, let me know so I can be jealous. LINKS:
The Zephyr Real Estate Listing
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I’ve got a lot of pent up real estate lust, so stay tuned for posts about an antique beauty in Austin, a tiny single family loft-alternative in Nashville, a converted carriage house in Fort Greene (Brooklyn), a mid-c modern in Northern Cali, contemporary (think Dwell) new developments in the middle of nowhere, and a cute cottage on Long Island. Oh and I plan to do reviews of the real estate section of the NY Times. Sometimes I think they put ugly homes in the ‘what you get for…X million’ section simply to make us all feel better. Till next time…
Tags: homes that require striking gold/a career in finance, urban living
