Last March, this all was an empty lot. The owner’s home at 1648 Vassar had been destroyed by an electrical fire. Given a budget restricted by the insurance company’s payout, Scott Strasser and Dave Guthrie thought they’d build a replacement clad in untreated cedar.
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Construction on the 1,700-sq.-ft. project began last March; Strasser says he plans to be done by February. A carport with a rusted-steel roof and a bright-orange steel spiral staircase still have to go in. Strasser describes the Shaker-like house in University Place as a “reaction against the white modern box,” saying it’s what the “quaint and cozy neighborhood” in the area straddling U.S. 59 seemed to be asking for. More details and more photos to come.
- Previously on Swamplot: Wood and Fruit in Place, the Tree House Is Ready for Its Photo Shoot, Weekend Preview: A View from South to North in Southgate
Photos: Allyn West
13 Comments
Sounds about right for Vassar, which has always been a little unusual.
I cant wait to see how it turns out. Down the street from the best High Scchool in town and round the corner from the black hole, cool place to live.
Strasser describes the Shaker-like house in University Place as a “reaction against the white modern box,” He certainly created enough of them.
I truly loathe untreated cedar.
Well he won’t have a moth problem.
Within a few years the house will look like an old wood fence.
Untreated? Like just bare wood cut straight from the tree and nailed to the house? Not exactly planning for longevity, is he?
I am SO thankful this is not next to my house! It will not only look like hell in 2 years, but it is not that attractive NOW!
Some people just try way to hard.
“… then I’ll huff! … and I’ll puff! … and I’ll blooooow your house down!”
Untreated cedar, that should gain a nice patina in about 3 weeks.
A nice contrapoint to the highway. The wood is nice and will remain so in the future, while in my humble opinion 95% of all new residential constructions in that area look “inattractive” from the moment they were erected (e.g., the recently finished white boxes on Hazard next to Fleming park).
Preparing for the next fire?
Your food pallets doing double duty. Now just needs the pallet yard furniture and futon.