Welcome to the neighborhood!
The deal is done. The money is in the bank (finally!). We're extremely satisfied with the profit we made on 9 months of hard work. And the boys seem extremely satisfied with their new home.
The first thing we did this morning? Well okay, after paying off our credit card debts...
I haven't had a brand spanking new car since 1988 and I'm utterly enchanted. "Look honey! Everything WORKS!"
After endless back and forth hemming and hawing, this is the one we finally agreed on. She's a beaute and she's ours and she's in my driveway right now. Excuse me, I have to go fondle her again... she doesn't seem to mind.
As Seen on TV!
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The Travel Channel was here all morning. We've agree to participate in a show called "Vacation Home Search" which is part of their "Fantasy Living" series. I've never seen but it sounds exactly like House Hunters. The show features three different homes and the buyers hem and haw over each one, finally making an offer on one of the houses. Think Goldielocks and the Three Bears... "This one's too small! This one's too big! This one's JUST right!"
This particular episode is, of course, Palm Springs and Mid-Century Modern vacation homes.
The crew was extremely nice and neat and complimentary. Today they filmed all of the "cut away" shots. Tomorrow morning they'll begin filming with the buyers and agent etc.
The show doesn't air for 2 months or so, but when I know the date, I'll post it here.
Before/After
Or what we did on our summer vacation (winter and spring too..)
Some before and after pics of the project.
Open Houses
After some serious Queer Eye action Friday night - Saturday and Sunday was time to let the girl fly. The open house started at 11:00 and by 11:01 there were 5 cars out front. I was blown away by the turn out (both days) all day long. There was a constant flow of people. How do I know this? While I was not over at the property, I did pull a total Gladys Kravitz from our house. We joked that I should have something like this to be able to let the agent showing the house know who we did/did not want as neighbors.
We had a number of folks linger, and I mean linger, they were there for 40 mins easily. A few friends swung through to kick the tires. All in all we had incredibly positive feedback and response to the house. There was only one negative thing we heard...
We need to put in a peephole.
So now we wait for offers. Fingers, toes and anything else ya got - keep 'em crossed!
The Time Has Come
Notice anything different about the front yard this morning?
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It's been a long road and I have many progress pictures to share, I've just not had the time to put them together. Perhaps I'll do that on Saturday and Sunday when we have our first Open Houses! Eek!
The End is in Sight
We're getting down to the wire now. Almost everything is in place. We're waiting on the bathroom vanities and the kitchen countertops. Everything else is punch list stuff... paint touch ups, polish the floors, staging, etc.
We were hoping (again) to have it ready to put on the market before we go on vacation in two weeks. And we probably could, there's not much left to do. But we've decided to wait until we get back so that we can be here when the offers start pouring in (::grin::).
Last time we sold a house when we were on vacation, the faxes and phone calls almost put us over the edge. We'd rather enjoy our time off rather than nail bite and worry. So, we'll list it when we get back.
Doors
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We replaced all the interior doors (6 of them) with double glass laminate wood doors. They are all hung, primed and painted. It's a great look.
Sliders
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The new found welder of my dreams (Stone) has been helping us out with a few things. last week we disassembled the aluminum sliders and replaced the wheels and buffed the frames. They look brand new. I no longer throw my back out trying to open the damn door, it glides like a dream. As someone mentioned to us, a sticky slider can break a deal faster than termites. Replacing the wheels is not difficult, but locating the parts can be tough. You have to make sure you get an exact match, or some modification will be required.
The missus has also been tackling the closet door sliders. This is one, if not THE, last of the "ick" jobs.
Windows
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Now that all of the major dust producing jobs are out of the way, we've started cleaning windows. As anyone with hard water will know, years of built up water spots and cloudiness are a pain to deal with. And sometimes replacing the glass is your only option. We used "Simple Solution" a product developed locally by a plumber who is also a basement chemist. This stuff works miracles.
The windows are so clean now they look like art hanging on the walls.
Homestretch (sorta)
Things are starting to come together. The floors are in, the tile in both baths is finished. The tub has been refinished. Kitchen cabinets are on order and should be here in two weeks. Pretty much all that is left is to install the kitchen cabinets, appliances and countertops, bathroom vanities, shower door, and lighting. I know that sounds like a lot, but considering how much we've done, is seems like not a lot to us. The patio is getting sand blasted next week. We're on the homestretch.
We had a party this weekend and opened up the house for all our Mod Com friends to kick the tires and tell us what's right and what's wrong. We got so much positive feedback ... it was really affirming. Plus we have someone chomping at the bit to make an offer. It's pretty damn exciting. Onward to the pics...
Floors
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As we were scrambling to get ready for the party, the floor tile finally showed up and the installers arrived on thursday. We were going to install it ourselves as VCT is about as simple as flooring gets but we are quickly running out of time for us to be working on a learning curve. So we hired installers. What took them a day and a half would have taken us a week I'm betting. The tile is commercial VCT AZRock Thru Quartz - white with a black fleck. They look amazing! The place feels about 10 times bigger now that there is a solid surface over the concrete (and not a bunch of tools and materials piled everywhere). Many thanks to l'Horizon who kindly loaned us some furniture while the hotel is undergoing renovations this summer.
Crunch Time
I don't have any pictures to post but I did want give a quick update on our progress.
We are now entering what my friend William calls "The Domino Phase" wherein each action we take now hinges upon another action... The cabinets can't go in until the floors are in. The floors can't go in until the tub is resurfaced. The tub can't be resurface until the tile is finished. The tile... sigh.
The master bath is finally finished and looks amazing. Better than I had hoped. The guest shower is where we hit our latest snag. After the wrong tile being shipped fiasco that held us up for a week, someone screwed up and we ended up short on the quarter rounds so now we wait for that tile to arrive.
In the meantime, stuff is stacking up over there. All the appliances arrived last week. The flooring is there (about 50 boxes) and it's getting a little difficult to move around. We were going to order the cabinets but we don't have anywhere to put then except outside. Oh yeah, and I'm picking up a bunch of furniture for staging tomorrow. I have no idea where the hell we're going to put it all... Yikes!
Did I mention the 10 new doors aren't here yet either? They were supposed to come in last week. I've had to reschedule the door guy who's incredible hard to get. I just hope and pray that everyone doesn't show up on the same day. That would be a friggin nightmare.
Delays are to be expect on a project of this size, especially when we are acting as our own general contractors, but I had so hoped that by June we would be putting the finishing touches on the joint and sticking a sign in the yard. It's still doable but we have to kick ass and everything has to go perfectly in the next two weeks. That would be a miracle.
I'll try and get some pics. We are having a little summer kick-off shindig here next Saturday night (we had optimistically thought the house would be done by then - Ha). We'll be spiffing the place up as best we can so that we can have both homes open.
So here's the schedule for this week:
Monday: Pick up U-Haul and furniture. Finish painting. Plumber.
Tuesday: Tile setter and trip to IKEA (order kitchen cabinets)
Wed: Tub Resurfacing. Empty house for floors.
Thurs and maybe Fri: Floors go in.
Saturday: Party!
Sunday: Collapse
Somewhere in there the doors should arrive. The fun never ends! This week is going to be crazy... pray for me ;)
A Painting We Will Go...
This past 2 weeks has been all about the interior painting. New drywall prep, patching, sanding, sanding and more sanding, priming and finally painting. Once upon a time I used to paint houses for a living so I was fully mentally prepared for this job - except I don't have a CREW so it's taken me 4 times as long to get the job done flying solo. I do loves me my airless sprayer though. Owning as opposed to renting a sprayer in this instance has been a total lifesaver. Well worth the investment. Onward to the pics!
Guest Rooms - Done!
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Both guest rooms are painted and waiting for floors and doors. We're upgrading all the interior doors to opaque glass laminates. While extremely expensive - it's one of those details that will take this home to the next level. Doors are on order and should arrive in about 2 weeks.
Here Kitty Kitty
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Here's another round of "Find the Cat" - this one's easy...
So long old friend
Before I get into our progress, I would like us all to have a moment of silence as we mourn the loss of The Box.
[silence]
This box has seen us through 3 major remodels and has taken a lickin' but kept on tickin'. Alas, it's life is now complete. Because I can't work without music, I'll be making a trip to Rocky's Pawn Shop today to get a replacement (hey, I don't care if someone hocked their boom box for crack money - that's their problem.)
Progress Update
Since the last update:
Drywall Hanging: completed
Drywall Tape, Mud and Sand: partially completed
Interior Painting Prep: Almost finished!
New block wall: completed, but not to my liking
Pick tile setter: completed
Order bathroom tile: completed
On the job list for next week.
Finish drywall prep. Prime and paint interior. Install bathroom tile. Order flooring.
Tool Time!
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Oh yeah... My very own airless sprayer. This puppy is gonna kick ass!
Meanwhile back at the ranch...
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We made a few additions to our own home recently. New yellow umbrella and an 8x8 rug out on the patio. And my new Tiki by the front door. He aint the prettiest tiki but he was only $20 and I bought it off a guy who had him in the back of his pick up. Besides, he makes me smile :)
We also have the galvanized metal for the arbor cover in the garage - I'm just waiting to find time and a not-too windy day to put it up.
Now comes the fun part!
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Most of the grunt work has been done and things are starting to come together. Exterior painting is almost finished - we're waiting on a few new exterior doors. Landscaping is all but complete. Drywall is starting to go up and we're finally picking cabinets and surfaces. Once the drywall is up, we'll paint the interior. Woot. As the Missus says - time for the pretty things.
Since the last update:
Exterior painting: completed (almost)
Kitchen framing: completed
New kitchen door: completed
Fencing: completed
Side Patio: completed
New glass installation: partially completed
Drywall: partially completed
Pick floor tile: completed
Pick shower surfaces: completed
New block wall to hide pool equipment: partially completed
On the job list for this week: finish drywall - tape and mud, install new choo choo lounge door, install new glass in living room, pick a tile setter for bathrooms, finish interior painting prep, finish block wall.
Surfaces
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We had planned to do both bathrooms in glass mosaic (which is all the rage these days around here) but instead we are going to go for the minimalist spa look. White ceramic with aquamarine glass accents.
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Just a note - These glass tiles cost a pretty penny. The sheets of mosaics are $12.70 a sq. ft. and the individual 3x3 aquamarine tiles are $3 each.
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The floors are going to done in VCT (vinyl tile) instead of a more traditional ceramic tile. Two reasons for this decision...
First, if a potential buyer doesn't like the ceramic tile - they will turn on their heal and walk out in a heartbeat. It's a huge expense to tear out and replace an entire floor. With vinyl, it will be totally livable and they can choose to install the tile of their choice if they want to - or not. I've seen several applications of the VCT in these tract homes and it really works well.
Secondly, cost. Our cost. A new ceramic tile floor (wall to wall) would cost us roughly $6 sq. ft. installed by professional tile setters. The VCT is going to be about $2 sq. ft. Big difference.
Of course, we've not ordered any of this yet and reserved the right to change our minds :)
Great Stuff
This stuff really lives up to its name. It's great!
But here's a tip from me to you...
When using this product, ALWAYS follow the "wear gloves" directions. If you choose to ignore this directive and you happen to get the stuff on your hands, not only does it act as the worlds strongest dirt magnet, but because there is no solvent that will remove it, you will have wait for it to eventually wear off. This may take several days.
Most importantly, if you're an idiot like me who doesn't follow directions and you happen to get the stuff on your hands - whatever you do - don't WIPE YOUR NOSE.
You won't be able to go out in public for a week.
a full houselog update will come this weekend
Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming
Yup, back to business, back to work. While the family was here, we slowed down a bit, but not much. But now it's back to kicking ass.
Since the last update:
Replumb gas and water: completed
New shower pan: completed
Pool: completed
Picked paint colors for exterior
Roof resurface: partially completed
Side patio: partially completed
Ordered new doors and new glass
On the job list for this week: install new doors and new glass, exterior painting and drywall/cement board hanging - woot! We're starting to get to the really fun part where we'll once again see some more dramatic changes.
Progress!
Things are moving ahead. We now have subcontractors over there so we've been trying to stay out of their way as much as possible - the house isn't that big after all. Next up for yours truly will be some drywall hanging and patching, tiling the bathrooms, ordering kitchen cabinets and vanities, paint and finally floors! We're still on schedule to finish by the end of April.
An interesting development in the market around here. Prices are going through the frickin' roof! The exact same house as this one right here just went on the market for over $550K!!! Granted, it's meticulously redone - perfect in every way. They must have put over $150K into it - but DAMN! If they get anything close to that you can bet your bippy that the missus and I will be doing an extra special version of the happy dance!
I know I know - get to the pictures...
Awning Be-Gone
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Thanks to my good friend John for joining the campaign to eradicate evil ugly aluminum awnings! They must be stopped!
Interior Prep
The endless caulking continues... That's the living room ceiling. Even after 2 rounds of TSPing you can still see the nicotine (or god knows what substance) up there. At least the caulk and (hopefully!) the paint will stick.
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A word about trim... These homes lend themselves to the "sans trim" treatment. When we did the house we currently live in, we removed all of the trim and floated out the doorways and baseboards. The end product is clean, modern and perfect for a mid-century upgrade. It's not hard work, but it is time consuming. In the end, it looks great!
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Progress
As the majority of demolition work winds down, progress photos are not quite as dramatic - but nonetheless we're still working our tails off over there. We're now at the point where we begin to prep for painting, installation of floors - ordering cabinetry, plumber comes soon etc. Here then are this past weeks photo's.
Floors
Carpets were pulled a few weeks ago and now we're working on getting the glue up so we can lay the new flooring. We've also gotten most of the old linoleum up. Just this little bit left. It's hard and slow work. I've been procrastinating
Walls and Ceilings
As I think I mentioned before, this house was so covered in grease, grime and nicotine it was beyond disgusting. The missus has spent the better portion of the past week TSPing all of the walls and ceilings. If we didn't clean them, the paint wouldn't stick. TSP is nasty stuff, it can really burn your skin - so if you use it, be careful! Wear heavy duty gloves and goggles.
The ceilings in these homes are tongue and groove boards which expand and contract over time. If not sealed properly they tend to have large gaps and look unfinished. When we renovated our current home, we sealed them all up with caulk and they look fantastic. So begins that chore.
BEFORE TSP and CAULKING
AFTER TSP and CAULKING
Watch out! The missus is wicked with a caulk gun!
That's it for this week!
Gar-bage - Round 2
Second dumpster is full and ready to go. We'll get a new one tomorrow. Take a good look at that old crumbly asphault driveway. It goes bye-bye on Wednesday.
Mouse a.k.a. The Crack Whore
Okay, for those of you new to the class, the former occupants of this house were drug dealers. I have no idea what these people did to our cat, but she's completely different over here. For the past 2 years we've considered her to be the attitudinal aloof cat. You can't touch her, much less pick her up. She never makes a peep and is rarely ever seen. In general - she hates people.
Sooo, the other night, the missus and I are finishing up some work here and who strolls up? Mouse. And she's a chatter box, all rubbing up on our legs, letting us hold her, pet her. She's purring fer pete's sake. I think she's a crack whore!
Time to play another round of "Find the Cat" but this time it's a bit more challenging...
Day Five
Before I get to news of the renovation, first I have to share the bittersweet farewell to our massive pine tree in front of our house. It was sadly beyond healing and needed to come down. Losing the tree completely changes the front of our place. In fact, I'm not all that sad to see it go. I'm just sad for the tree. I'm sensitive that way...
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But at least we have plenty of firewood to get us through next winter! (pat yourself on the back if you find the cat...)
In renovation news: We enlisted the help of "Uh-oh, Him" today. I have to say we kicked some ass. We finished filling the dumpster to it's most compact and fullest, yet left a little room to sneak in the last minute things on Monday before they drop a new 20yarder and haul this one off.
We finished pulling all of the carpets, clearing out the train room (which I'm now dubbing the Rat Pack Choo Choo Lounge. Guess what we're going to make that room... yup, a hipsters palace... I can't wait!
Then to finish off the day, we pulled all three swamp coolers (or as they should be called Legionnaires Breeding Facilities). On our final cooler Mr. Harvard himself came up with an ingenious solution to preventing the cooler from smashing into the sliding glass door once I removed the last screw. The process is hard to describe but lets just say much wooting was done and I actually got a gay man to high-five me.
Our many thanks to "Uh oh" for all his hard work today. You're so butch! And to the missus who also kicked ass on removing the lovely mirrored tiles in the living room, getting all the quotes lined up for next week, hammering out the landscaping plans and for making the best goddamn tuna fish sandwich I've ever had! You're the best!
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a cocktail and a couch with my name on it. I'll be lucky if I get three sips before I fall asleep. Big Saturday night folks - watch out!
Day Two
The 20 yard dumpster is almost full and we haven't even started the real demo yet. It's all junk that was left behind by the previous owner/tenants. And there's so much more junk, so much more. We haven't hit the train room yet.
Two big suprises yesterday: we need to run a new gas line (there's a leak under the slab) and after the rains the other night, we discovered there's a serious leak in the roof of the train room - better to know now rather than later.
The beast is finally gone. Here I am using my favorite powertool ever - my Milwaukee Sawzall®.
Day One...
Of actual work. The dumpster's not here yet, which makes getting right down to business a tad difficult. But the Missus finished taking out all of the drop ceilings and removing doors, pulling all of the 10,000 nails in the walls and removing switchplates. I stripped the film off the clerestory windows and pulled back the carpet to see what we had to deal with underneath. Much de-cobbing and general job planning. We also began dismantling the behemoth teal entertainment center (c. 1981) in the living room. The missus figured out where they hid the drugs... inside a vent in one of the guest rooms.
Window Film
My day started with stripping off the window film on the clerestorys in front. So many people put this stuff up to help cut down on the heat but it's the ugliest crap you've ever seen. Think really bad DIY auto tinting.
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Time to get cracking
We officially own the house now! WooHoo! Upon further investigation, it's still totally nasty, but totally doable.
The dumpster arrives tomorrow but we've already begun tearing some stuff out. The Missus spent most of yesterday pulling the drop ceilings out of the kitchen and baths. Not too many surprises hidden up there, but we definitely will need to run a new hot water line. The whole reason for the drop ceiling was to conceal the exposed pipes they ran last time. What a hack job. Looks like Jim Bob had his brother in-law (who wants to be a plumber) do it.
I went ahead and pulled a few things out of the master bath and started pulling up the carpets. Unfortunately, they're glued down.
The heirs came and took a large chuck of the train set before we closed - not much is left there at all. Now I don't feel so bad. Pics coming tonight!
Meiselman Primer and Floor Plan
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What is a tract home?
The term tract refers to a large parcel of land. A builder would buy large parcels and using a single floorplan, he would then alter the orientation of the house on the site or change the front elevation of the home slightly and build small communities. These homes were very popular and affordable in mid-century America. But a few names stand above the crowd and shine as beacons for "California Mass Market Modernism" in the 1950's.
Eichler
Alexander
Meiselman
What characterizes a Meisleman Home?
(pronounced "MY-zill-min")
Like the more well known Alexander Homes of Palm Springs and the Eichler Homes of Los Angeles and Northern California, a Meiselman Home epitomizes the mid-century tract home revolution. It's indoor/outdoor desert friendly design was on the cutting edge of mass-market modern movement. Indeed they were sleek and modern with crisp clean lines, butterfly roofs and soaring clerestory windows. They were built using Post and Beam construction with tongue and groove ceilings and generous amounts of architecturaly sculpted concrete block. There were walls of glass that look out onto an oversized pool and the homes themselves are situated on 1/4 acre lots. They were also quite technologically advanced for thier time with forced air heating and central air conditioning, an amenity that suddenly offered year round enjoyment of the desert. And the best part? They were cheap. Initial sales price for the "entry level model" was around $18,500 in 1959.
Most of these homes were not year round residences however, they were weekend party bungalows for Hollywood hipsters.
Alexander and Meiselman Homes are often confused because they are so similar in appearance and they are interspersed with one another, primarily on the Northend of Palm Springs. But there are two distinct differences between the homes.
A) Alexanders have the kitchen on one end often integrated into the living room in one large open space. Meiselmans always have a galley kitchen off the living room.
B) Alexanders have all three bedrooms in a row on one side of the house. Meiselmans always have a separation of bedrooms, with the two guest rooms on one end and the master suite on the other end of the house.
Who is this Meiselman character anyway?
First a word about The Alexander Construction Company...
The Alexander Construction story is well known here. It has been told time and time again. Father and Son (George and Bob) built a thriving construction business in post-war Los Angeles. Seeing the successes of other builders (mainly Eichler) who were building new concept "tract homes", they decided to bring the idea to the desert.
Designed by Palmer and Krisel, AIA, the homes were a perfect fit for desert. The Alexanders built over 2500 homes in Palm Springs alone from 1955-1965, when tragically, the entire family, save the daughter, were killed in a plane crash. They are legends around these parts.
Little is known about Jack Meiselman. I've asked everyone I've ever met down here what they know, the answer is not much. I have however cobbled together a few details worth mentioning.
I've learned that Jack Meiselman, a local builder, worked with Bob Alexander in a joint venture on a number of the Alexander Construction homes. At some point there was a falling out between the two men, rumor has it that finances were involved, and Jack Meiselman decided to get out of the deal. Seeing a lucrative opportunity in these new tract homes, they were selling like hot cakes after all, he and his brother Bernie Meiselman would follow wherever Alexander was buying land, then they would buy the adjacent parcels. Old school parasites. He came up with a "Modified Alexander" layout and built roughly 350 tract homes sprinkled amongst the Alexander Homes.
I met Bill Krisel (architect for Bob Alexander's homes) a few years ago and asked him what he knew about Jack Meiselman. His face turned flush and a wave of anger washed through him. I believe his exact words were "Jack Meiselman was a cheap hack who stole our plans and built a poor imitation using inferior materials and unskilled labor! That's all I have to say about him." And with that he turned on his heel and walked away from me.
Alrighty then. While I will admit that Jack Meiselman's methods were unscrupulous at best, I have to disagree with Mr. Krisel on a few points. First, a Meiselman Home is no more cheaply built than the equivalent Alexander. While not exactly death traps, they all used the cheapest materials available. Secondly, I actually prefer the Meiselman layout to the Alexanders. Meiselman introduced a nice separation of space by configuring the guest rooms on the opposite side of the house from the Master. Perhaps Mr. Krisel wishes he had come up with the idea himself?
And finally, Alexander and Meiselman were both in this game for the money. To make money on these homes you had to do 3 things; Buy the land cheap, use cheap labor, and build with cheap materials. Plain and simple. To pretend otherwise is absurd. What happened in the process is that they defined affordable desert modernism and carved out a unique niche of modern homes in the late 50's.
An interesting bit of trivia: There are four streets in a row off Via Esquela that are named after these characters. They are as follows; Berne (Bernie Meiselman), Jacques (Jack Meiselman), George (George Alexander) and finally Roberto (Robert Alexander). I have yet to find out which streets were named first...
The designs of these homes are still as strong today as they were 50 years ago. Witness the incredible resurgence of mid-century mania here in Palm Springs in the last 6 years. Still somewhat affordable by California standards, the smaller homes are still selling anywhere from $200-$400K depending on condition.
Many of these homes fell into great disrepair during the 80's and 90's. Hard times hit Palm Springs and the economic downturn actually turned out to be a blessing for preservation. People could not afford to tear the old houses down. So they stood and rotted away. With the the dot com boom and the resurgence of interest in all things mid-century, these petrified jewels became hot tickets. People started buying them in the late 90's for a song ($20-$120K) and fixing them up. Some fixed up properly, some are complete travesties. A mid-century tract home was never meant to be remodeled in the Spanish Revival style. Or worse, the Victor Mature house with it's hideous mansard roof. Most of them however, have been treated with the respect they deserve.
A word about preservation.
While I am a strong advocate of accurate period restoration and preservation, sometimes it's just not possible with these homes. In an effort to integrate mid- 20th century into the 21st century, choices need to be made. You need a dishwasher, you need insulation, you need modern conveniences. Therefore "restoration" is not possible. These homes are not one of a kind architectural masterpieces like the Kaufman house or Maslon house. But they do represent a very important period for Palm Springs. With that said, it's vital to keep the integrity of the house intact, but also offer a little wiggle room to make them livable by today's standards.
That's our story, and we're sticking to it!