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@livefrommyroom
I got these two messages on Twitter today. Exceeded my daily limit. Wild I think that’s it. I’m done with the site. Crazy to see them run it into the ground, but that’s how it goes I guess. Tumblr is temporary again until figure out something better.
The McMansion Hell Yearbook: 1973
Howdy, folks! I come to you with a special salve to soothe the ache of social isolation and general societal turmoil: a particularly cursed house. Our 1973 house comes to us from Jackson County, Michigan, and, frankly, if you put the term “1973″ into an ugly house generator, this is most certainly what would come out:
What we have here is a classic “Mansard” style house, named for exaggerated form of the type of roof (the mansard), a variation of hipped roof characterized by a steep slope punctured by dormer windows extending into or forming another story. This subgenre of house was popular in the 1960s and 70s, especially so in the Pacific Northwest and in vacation towns around the country. This lovely estate is currently on the market for around $800,000, and boasts a remarkable 6 bedrooms and 5.5 baths.
Lawyer Foyer
This house is what is colloquially referred to as a “time capsule” house in that it literally has not been touched since 1973, the year it was built. There are several interesting 70s motifs here, including the wallpaper and carpeting. We have an early example of a fully-formed “lawyer foyer” - a full two-story entryway featuring a curved or otherwise showy staircase and a chandelier that can be seen from the outside via a transom window larger than the door above which it sits. The furnishings are original; note the intricate, heavy front door featuring Orientalist motifs that were particularly popular in the 1970s. That being said, it’s ugly.
Dining Room?
During the 1970s, Colonial Revival furnishings and architectural motifs were especially popular due to the influence of the American Bicentennial, which was apparently a huge deal. In general, there was a lot of brown furniture that was very heavy because people wanted to buy one piece of furniture that would last until they died. This was because Ikea was not yet a thing. (In all seriousness, there is a great Collector’s Weekly article about this.)
Kitchen
Honestly, this is probably one of the better kitchens on this website, and it’s interesting to see such a modern-styled decor in a house that, despite its contemporary exterior is otherwise rife with traditionalist decor.
Wet Bar
As far as McMansion wine bars go, at least this one somewhat approaches a weird architectural metaphor for, like, deconstructivist philosophy or something else people in graduate school study.
Master Bedroom
One has to applaud the photographer for their artistic decision to make every room in this house look as cursed as possible. Also: apparently the sunroom later on in this post is what’s behind the bed, which is very, very strange.
Master Bathroom
My question is: how is this room simultaneously grey, brown, and beige all at the same time. Scholars around the world are baffled.
Sunroom (behind bed for some reason)
I don’t know what one does in a space like this? It’s behind the wall of the master bedroom, so it’s not a public-facing space. There are no plants or books or other activities. There is just brown furniture, weighing heavy on my isolation-addled brain.
Basement Bar
Ok, so these folks really enjoyed drinking. We all used to laugh at people who had bars in their house but now that all the bars are closed, who is laughing now?? (It’s me, I’m still laughing.)
That does it for the interior - now, our favorite part:
Rear Exterior
Personally, as ugly as elements of this house are, I definitely see it as one of the most fascinating to ever end up on this blog. I kind of have a soft spot for houses like this, simply because they are so strange. Anyways, speaking of strange architecture, stay tuned for another installment of the Brutalism Post coming soon! Stay safe and be well!
I know that these are economically uncertain times, but many creators including myself depend on Patreon for most of their income, so if you have a minimum of $12/year to spare and are into bonus content, then do I have some good news for you:
If you like this post, and want to see more like it, consider supporting me on Patreon!
There is a whole new slate of Patreon rewards, including: good house of the month, an exclusive Discord server, monthly livestreams, a reading group, free merch at certain tiers and more!
Not into recurring donations but still want to show support? Consider the tip jar!
Or, Check out the McMansion Hell Store! Proceeds from the store help protect great buildings from the wrecking ball.
Yeah, pretty accurate. With a hint of my wife’s playlist. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sqDwLFUJE/?igshid=x457neytysj6
Digital twins make urban planning a lot less messy
READ MORE…
New York City’s $35 billion nightlife economy
The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in New York City recently commissioned this report on the city’s nightlife economy. The study was completed by Econsult Solutions, the North Highland Company, and Urbane Development. (Full disclosure: I was a teaching assistant for the President of Econsult while at Penn.)
Here’s what they found:
The total economic impact of this industry is the sum of its direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts, as well as the ancillary spending impacts that are adjacent to nightlife activity. In 2016 (the most recent year where standardized datasets were available), the nightlife industry supported 299,000 jobs with $13.1 billion in employee compensation and $35.1 billion in economic output. This economic impact also yielded $697 million in tax revenue for New York City.
They also found that, between 2011 and 2016, the nightlife industry has outpaced the city’s overall economy. Nightlife establishments grew by a 2% annual growth rate. Jobs in the nightlife industry grew by a 5% annual growth rate. And nightlife wages have been rising by 8% annually – about double the average for the city.
I am a firm believer in the value of the nighttime economy. So I’m happy to see more people paying attention to it as of late. For the full report, click here.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Sunday market on Jefferson Street (@Maxwell) in the Jewish ghetto, 1905, Chicago
In the first photo, Jefferson looks impassable to street traffic.
Chicagoans rummage through what remains of their city, October 1871, Chicago. The fire burned October 8th through the 10th, 1871.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, my favorite post-fire photos are those with people in them. I can only imagine what they were faced with - though, history tells us they wasted no-time rebuilding the city; almost immediately after the last ember went out.
View more here: http://calumet412.com/post/131287752516/there-exists-copious-amounts-of-photos-from-the
Cook County Courthouse and City Hall, Randolph and LaSalle, 1895, Chicago
Built 1885, demolished 1905-1908.
Too heavy and an awkward design caused this monstrosity to be demolished in 1905 after sinking 6 inches, which caused a gas-line to rupture, blowing the roof off.
A MAP of CHICAGO Incorporated as a Town August 5 1833.
Street Artist Transforms Ordinary Public Places Into Funny Installations
michael-pederson miguel-marquez
Looking SE on Milwaukee from Western, 1908, Chicago.
All of these buildings are now gone, save the building with the Cremo Cigars sign which still stands. It’s the one to the right of the taller building.
City Tree
Look closely.
Definitely at least 27
LOL!
The Great Recession only paused suburbanization
According to newly released US census data for 2010-2017 – which Brookings analyzed here – the “back to the city” movement appears to have peaked in 2012. (This is something that we’ve looked at before on the blog.)
Here is a graph from Brookings showing the annual growth rate for urban and suburban counties. Note how growth in the “urban core” peaked in 2012 and how growth in both the “emerging suburb” and “exurb” have increased since then.
The other finings from Brookings are that growth has slowed in large metropolitan areas (small metro areas and non metro areas, on the other hand are up) and that people are continuing to move from the Snow Belt to the Sun Belt.
If you look at population gains and losses from 2016-2017 for the 100 largest US metro areas, the only Snow Belt gainers within the top 20 are New York (15th), Columbus (19th), and Boston (20th). Dallas, a Sun Belt city, was first with a gain of 146,000 people.
So what’s going on? The narrative is that soon as the US economy and housing market recovered from the Great Recession of 2008, the trend lines simply reverted back to business as usual: sun and sprawl.
California State Senator wants to mandate denser and taller zoning near transit
California State Senator, Scott Wiener, introduced 3 new bills at the beginning of this year intended to address the statewide housing shortage and continue the pivot from a housing-last agenda to a housing-first agenda.
Here is a summary of the 3 bills:
These three bills (1) mandate denser and taller zoning near transit; (2) create a more data-driven and less political Regional Housing Needs Assessment process (RHNA provides local communities with numerical housing goals) and require communities to address past RHNA shortfalls; and (3) make it easier to build farmworker housing while maintaining strong worker protections.
And here is a bit more information about the first one:
SB 827 creates density and height zoning minimums near transit. Under SB 827, parcels within a half-mile of high-connectivity transit hub — like BART, Muni, Caltrain, and LA Metro stations — will be required to have no density maximums (such as single family home mandates), no parking minimums, and a minimum height limit of between 45 and 85 feet, depending on various factors, such as whether the parcel is on a larger corridor and whether it is immediately adjacent to the station. A local ordinance can increase that height but not go below it. SB 827 allows for many more smaller apartment buildings, described as the “missing middle” between high-rise steel construction and single family homes.
The belief is that transit-oriented sites in the state of California have the potential to accommodate up to 3 million additional housing units.
Fewer barriers to creating new housing. More data. And less politics. You can read more about Wiener’s 2018 housing package over on Medium.
