There’s a crack team of construction professionals readying this brand-new single-story on Prince St. in Timbergrove Manor for some lucky new owner. And looky here, out of the closet: Workers are bending over . . . uh, forwards to make sure the hardwood floorboards are aligned perfectly, deep in a pantry corner recess. It’s a view of the “Open Entertainers Floor Plan” touted in the listing. Maybe this space has been transformed into a kitchen by now, but isn’t it a whole lot more fun to see an action shot of the transformation in process?
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But clearly, this 4-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,420-sq.-ft. home has to have more going for it than a little carpenter’s cleavage. Otherwise, the $495,000 listing wouldn’t have been switched to “pending” way back at the beginning of August, right?
A little explanation comes by way of a listing photo caption: ” TO LATE FOR THIS ONE, BUT CALL FOR BUILDERS OTHER AREA PROJECTS.”
- 1123 Prince St. [HAR]
The humor used to be a bit more sophisticated here.
Right? Crack humor is so gauche. Won’t someone please think of the children?
Seriously though, I’m boggled by the bland exteriors happening in Timbergrove new construction. So much midcentury charm to draw from and this looks like an elevation out of those 1,001 floorplan books you can buy at Lowes or wherever. Welcome to the neighborhood, McBlandersons!
Kudos to whoever’s building that modern beauty on Grovewood, though. *swoon every time I run past it*
When will this mania for entertaining in your kitchen cease?
On crack or not, just thank them for not bulldozing it.
Couldn’t agree more Chef, thank you.
City Cottage is selling these like hotcakes in Timbergrove Manor. At least they are not building two story boxes right up to the property line. I don’t see how they are making any money at this price point; they must have 220-240K in land/demo costs and are building 2400sf new construction. Personally, I wish they would put a few hours design time into a more modern ranch design. But this beats the alternative.
having been Prince Street for over 25 years, a great improvement over the trailer park and the gate company
RE: the Blandersons
What they want is roof valleys and dormers, tricky eave-end returns, mouldings wherever possible…
because it looks substantial.
$500K for THAT? Looks like it was designed by a high school drafting class using off-the-shelf Home Depot sale items.
I’m always concerned when I see plumbers attempting carpentry.
On crack or not, just thank them for not bulldozing it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Am I missing something? They DID bulldoze it. This piece of junk is brand new. Right?
You might think they are junk, Bernard, but they are selling like hotcakes. Every last one of those City Cottage houses are sale pending before they are done with construction. and, honestly, they are better than the demolished structures, which were 60 year old 1200-1400 sq ft 2-1 or 3-1 ranch styles. We love our little 2-1, but it really could use more closets, another bathroom, another bedroom, and modern infrastructure. The City Cottage designs are pretty mundane, but they get snapped up in a hurry. I just can’t see paying $500k for a house. That’s almost $800 per month in property taxes alone.
@Bernard: yes, they bulldozed a slightly smaller ranch that could easily have been enlarged & upgraded.
People aren’t just paying for the house, They’re paying for the ample room and the very friendly and walkable, (we have sidewalks!) neighborhood of Timbergrove. You can’t beat the value for your money this close inside the loop.
Phil, the original house was about half the size of the new one, so you can’t really say that it was slightly smaller. And, it had had the garage converted to living space, so parking and storage were an issue.
The Timbergrove houses East of TC Jester are not particularly well built, and they don’t really lend themselves to expansion. The slabs are undersized as well, so building up is very difficult. I would love to update and add to our house, but by the time everything is done, we could almost build a modern house with more room, better infrastructure, and lower operating costs. And that’s after adding something that will really be just a tacked on space that’s not well integrated.
Tear downs make a lot of sense under those conditions.
“The only sure cure for plumber’s crack is overalls.” – Former Mayoral Candidate Ralph the Plumber.
@Ross: Having added on to my Timbergrove home east of TC Jester, I can say that they are built so much more solidly than anything new. I took my 2-1 and added a master suite with the help of a great architect and the result is a 2100 sq ft 3-2-2 that has character and style. The “Ranch” is very adaptable.
The houses that are destined to be bulldozed are ones where there has been poor maintenance or absolutely no updates to infrastructure over the years. Unfortunately, many elderly folks can’t afford to keep up with repairs and this makes their houses ripe for wrecking.
I do have to give credit to City Cottages that they are building appropriately scaled houses in the neighborhood that look like they belong. So much better than the giant Spanish or French style ones that loom over their neighbors and stick out like a sore thumb.
Don’t get me wrong, I love our little house for what it is, possibly the best 2BR design around. However, our floor plan doesn’t lend itself to expansion, and while the house is decently assembled, it’s just not a modern structure. And, whoever installed the siding went cheap and used masonite as the under layer instead of cedar shakes. That doesn’t fill me with hope for what lies underneath. We will see in the next year or so when I replace the siding.
I do think City Cottage has done a good job of building houses that fit the area, even if the floor plans are uninspired.We could do a lot worse. At least most of the bigger houses seem to go in on Turnpike, where they actually fit in reasonably well.