The Home Crowd

Home news for the Home Crowd
Subscribe

Home in England with ocean view for £1 ($1.50 to us Yanks)

July 08, 2008 By: Home Category: In The News

A British couple recently found out their coastline home was only valued at £1 when trying to use the property as collateral for a business loan.  The reason why?  The coastline and cliffs at the rear of their property has receded from 500 yards to 65 over the past 20 years.

Cliffside home appraises at £1

They had assumed their home was worth around £80,000 but the loan was refused after a NatWest valuer decided it was virtually worthless due to ‘chronic coastal erosion’.

Seems like by my math, they’ve got another few good years with a beautiful view, at which point I’m fully interested in buying the property for 3 dollars, U.S., so long as they toss in that riding mower…

Full article at This is London



Toronto’s smallest house

July 04, 2008 By: Home Category: Home Lifestyle, On the Market

I see from time to time these quirky stories of world’s smallest house. This one, in Toronto, however, I see pop up the most.

Toronto smallest house

Estimated at around 300 square feet and roughly 6 feet wide at the interior, the home is on the market for somewhere between 170-180K. Seems like alot for something that looks as if it started off as a shed for the brick home on the right there.

Toronto\'s smallest house

On the plus side, now you’ve got a reason not to go all out with a giant plasma tv, as it may not fit on the wall. Behind that wall is the bathroom, kitchen, and at the rear is the bedroom. The bedroom sports a murphy bed which couldn’t possibly fit any tighter.

Toronto\'s smallest house

Seems tight… Don’t suppose a young married couple in a starter home could get along with sleeping in bunk beds? Perhaps these from a previous post?

Anyhow, also found on youtube was this news clip of the home when it was previously up for sale in 1993. The bathroom looks to be the trickiest part as taking a seat on the commode would be like trying to fit in your old high school desk with that sink positioned where it is.

More pics here at Joeydevilla.com

Similar pics here at TeamSugar.com, as well as a floor plan at the bottom of the article.



Happy Independence Day!

July 04, 2008 By: Home Category: Landscaping/Yards

Independence Day House

And who’s showing more patriotism than this guy!  According to NBC San Diego, Eastlake resident Steve Pfeiffer, who works for the Navy, has 762 flags in the front yard, and another 270 in the Backyard.  Wow!

Not to be un-patriotic at all, but if this were also a ‘Where’s Waldo’ scene, I’d never spot the little guy in his red and white striped shirt.  -  Link to slideshow

Happy 4th of July!  And join me in praying that fireworks tonight won’t set fire to any more of California…



LED lighting around the home

July 03, 2008 By: Home Category: Energy Efficient (Green), Lighting

LED bed lighting

Sometimes, I sit here and think “Ya know, I’d spend more time under the bed if not for the fact that it’s so hard to read any sort of books or magazines under there…”

Actually this image and the rest of the images of various furniture backlit by LED lighting here at Lifehacker are kind of enticing. If nothing else but for the fact that tomorrow I could drop by target or any other various electronic store and pick up a LED rope light strand. I spotted this one at amazon for about 60 bucks for 50 feet.

The smaller projects shown in the article use much less and manage to ‘pimp’ their furniture with roughly 20 linear feet of LED rope lights.

“Why don’t more people put lights under their beds?” you ask?  Well, fires quite simply.  Trying to light up the underside of your bed with traditional incandescent lights can be quite hot and dangerous when near combustibles.  And if you’re hooking up Fluorescent tube lights under your bed or desk, then you’re up for the hall of fame of geekdom.  LED lights are not nearly as hot, but instead warm to the touch, and while these may resemble your Christmas light knot-ball in the garage, they’re actually more dependable and much more energy efficient.



New homeowners get foreclosure treatment

July 03, 2008 By: Home Category: Housing Market, In The News

From The Consumerist -

Bobo and Joy Dickson bought a house had been headed for foreclosure, but JP Morgan Chase apparently didn’t get the message that the former owners had moved out and the new owners were in residence. So, naturally, they hired a firm to drill the Dickson’s locks and take everything they owned

Wow, that’s terrible. I mean.. these people have heard of memos right?  Maybe an email or two?  I get that it’s probably in the best interest of asset companies to sneak in while you’re out to avoid confrontation, but ouch!  Lawyers are involved, so I imagine they’ll go from foreclosing on a home to virtually giving it away to a family whose possessions and photo albums they’ve just trashed.

How could you go wrong after that?  Why ,they’ll call him Bobo the Triumphant, or Bobo the Great!  It’s a cheap shot I know, but I’ve spent the last 3 days moving HQ from sunny Orange County to sunny San Diego and my compassion is still packed away in the garage somewhere.



3D Perspective Wall Painting

June 22, 2008 By: Home Category: Interior Design

Took a look over at Freshome today and saw their article on 3D wall painting, or Trompe l’oiel as otherwise commonly referred.  And I throw the term ‘commonly’ around loosely as you don’t see this painting technique around very often.

perspective wall painting

As you can imagine, there’s no paint rollers involved, outside of a base coat, then it’s up to a skilled artist to project a mural in perspective and give a faux depth to your space.  From what I remember from my art history classes, this type of perspective in art and geometry came about in the renaissance.

renaissance perspective

Now just imagine that up in your living room.  Actually I prefer the harbor scene to the shoeless joe’s checking out that woman’s medieval manicure.  What other uses could you have for trompe l’oiel (perspective mural art) in your home?

  • Entertainment value - by allowing new guest to try to enter your painted loggia and tromp face-first into the wall in the great tradition of sliding screen doors and glass doors cleaned too well….Thump!
  • Home Security - Just opposite your living room windows, you paint in a sleeping rottweiller.  The potential burglar may know it’s just a painting, but may lack the balls to find out for sure.
  • Fantasy Land - Have an artist draw in your future retirement… Golf, those big blocky black sunglass things and just about as many trips to the bathroom as to the hometown buffet.  Not sure what benefit this has, you may just stay in the workforce another decade though.

Ron Hazelton has a great vid of an artist who has decorated his home in Trompe l’oiel.  Check it out, I think his 1 inch thick grandfather clock is pretty impressive. - Link