Weird Houses, etc.
Weird Houses, etc.
We built our current house in 2010 (well, really 2009-10). I have always loved the look of dry stacked stone, so that's what I went for. We used natural stone. The masons were amazing - they just found all the right pieces to stack. They did use mortar, but then used a small stick to scrape out the mortar from the edges so it looks dry stacked. I was in awe watching the men. These were just rock piled in barrels and they put them together like a puzzle and were incredibly fast.
Here's a back corner, but our whole house is stone except for the garage mass.
Here's a back corner, but our whole house is stone except for the garage mass.
Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain
Weird Houses, etc.
Lovely!
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
- bill_g
- Posts: 6393
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:52 pm
- Location: Portland OR
- Occupation: Retired (kind of)
- Verified: ✅ Checked Republic ✓ ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
Weird Houses, etc.
That's very nice rolo. Something to be proud of. Great looking.
Weird Houses, etc.
Beautiful!
We live in a truly weird house. It was originally a store. Well, first it was a fruit stand, then it was a store.
We’ve tried to make changes so it looks more like a home and less like a strip mall. We’re putting a garage on the main level, and we took out the storefront windows and replaced them with double hung. The columns in front had these trading-post diagonal braces, and we took out all those columns and replaced them with fewer, larger square columns.
We live in a truly weird house. It was originally a store. Well, first it was a fruit stand, then it was a store.
We’ve tried to make changes so it looks more like a home and less like a strip mall. We’re putting a garage on the main level, and we took out the storefront windows and replaced them with double hung. The columns in front had these trading-post diagonal braces, and we took out all those columns and replaced them with fewer, larger square columns.
► Show Spoiler
"Hey! We left this England place because it was bogus, and if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too!" -- Thomas Jefferson
- northland10
- Posts: 6273
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:47 pm
- Location: Northeast Illinois
- Occupation: Organist/Choir Director/Fundraising Data Analyst
- Verified: ✅ I'm me.
Weird Houses, etc.
That is wonderfulRolodex wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 7:02 pm We built our current house in 2010 (well, really 2009-10). I have always loved the look of dry stacked stone, so that's what I went for. We used natural stone. The masons were amazing - they just found all the right pieces to stack. They did use mortar, but then used a small stick to scrape out the mortar from the edges so it looks dry stacked. I was in awe watching the men. These were just rock piled in barrels and they put them together like a puzzle and were incredibly fast.
Here's a back corner, but our whole house is stone except for the garage mass.
backcorner.jpg
101010 ![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
- pipistrelle
- Posts: 7634
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:27 am
Weird Houses, etc.
The apartments in my building have an outlet above the bathroom sinks. It may seem unsafe but it's convenient...sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 4:19 pm But the electrical outlet directly above the sink is a nice touch
Weird Houses, etc.
As long as it has a GFI, it’s OK, I thinkpipistrelle wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 9:46 pmThe apartments in my building have an outlet above the bathroom sinks. It may seem unsafe but it's convenient...sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 4:19 pm But the electrical outlet directly above the sink is a nice touch
"Hey! We left this England place because it was bogus, and if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too!" -- Thomas Jefferson
- bill_g
- Posts: 6393
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:52 pm
- Location: Portland OR
- Occupation: Retired (kind of)
- Verified: ✅ Checked Republic ✓ ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
Weird Houses, etc.
I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Portland, especially close in Portland where there are some steep hills, people build homes that run down the cliff. At the street level, it looks like a modern 1500sf ranch style home with double garage. No big deal.Maybenaut wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 8:48 pm Beautiful!
We live in a truly weird house. It was originally a store. Well, first it was a fruit stand, then it was a store.
We’ve tried to make changes so it looks more like a home and less like a strip mall. We’re putting a garage on the main level, and we took out the storefront windows and replaced them with double hung. The columns in front had these trading-post diagonal braces, and we took out all those columns and replaced them with fewer, larger square columns.
► Show Spoiler
Then you step inside and find out it's four stories, all of them stacked on several steel beams that are hammered into the bedrock. Lots of glass on the view side. Two or more floors have cantelever patios with waist high handrails to prevent you from tipping into the 50ft gorge below, and probably into someone elses backyard.
There's a house up there shaped like a 1950's space ship, or like the Seattle Space needle crashed into the side of this mountain. This semi-circular building juts out over open air. The bottom level has the living room with a clear glass floor. Designed and built by an architect of course.
The roads wind like serpents up there. Some of the homes have short wooden or conrete bridges to connect the house to the dirt. They look like driveways at first. Then you realize they have air for a front yard, and their Audi is suspended in space. There are trees everywhere masking the edges.
The neighborhoods are almost magical. Every house is custom. No overall look is trying to be achieved. There will be a tiny fairy tale stone house next to a craftsman next to a square varnished wood and concrete modern home. Someone built a plantation style home. Someone else wanted a fake church with pointy spires and stained glass. It was one of our favorite summertime drives.
Point being - Portland has houses that look just like yours that hug that hill, but give a spectacular view.
Weird Houses, etc.
Our house is three stories. There’s an upstairs with shed dormers on the back. The main floor, and a basement that runs about half the length of the house.
"Hey! We left this England place because it was bogus, and if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too!" -- Thomas Jefferson
Weird Houses, etc.
GFCI’s instructions generally specify that they be tested every month. For the one used regularly close to the sink it will be more important.Maybenaut wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 10:17 pmAs long as it has a working GFI, it’s OK, I thinkpipistrelle wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 9:46 pmThe apartments in my building have an outlet above the bathroom sinks. It may seem unsafe but it's convenient...sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Sat May 18, 2024 4:19 pm But the electrical outlet directly above the sink is a nice touch
- Shizzle Popped
- Posts: 5198
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:53 pm
- Location: South of Circle City
- Verified: ✅
Weird Houses, etc.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/150- ... /?mmlb=g,0
I don't know where to begin. The "design" looks like something a fourth grader would come up with and is the result of a series of bad choices. Originally built in 2003 and resold in 2013 and 2022. The inside doesn't look like it was ever finished and if it was it's all been stripped out. It doesn't even look like the electrical rough in has been completed. There has to be a story behind this place. Follow the link the see the rest but it's a real head-scratcher.
I don't know where to begin. The "design" looks like something a fourth grader would come up with and is the result of a series of bad choices. Originally built in 2003 and resold in 2013 and 2022. The inside doesn't look like it was ever finished and if it was it's all been stripped out. It doesn't even look like the electrical rough in has been completed. There has to be a story behind this place. Follow the link the see the rest but it's a real head-scratcher.
"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."
John Adams
John Adams
- bill_g
- Posts: 6393
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:52 pm
- Location: Portland OR
- Occupation: Retired (kind of)
- Verified: ✅ Checked Republic ✓ ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
Weird Houses, etc.
A clear example of too many cooks and not enough kitchen.
- roadscholar
- Posts: 798
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:17 am
- Location: Baltimore
- Occupation: Renaissance Mechanic
- Contact:
Weird Houses, etc.
Maybe they're adherents of the "Brutalist" style in architecture?
If not, they captured it accidentally.
![I'm Thinking :think:](./images/smilies/think.gif)
Is ugly really the new beautiful? In the same process as the music of the Sex Pistols displacing that of the Beatles?
The bitterest truth is more wholesome than the sweetest lie.
- sugar magnolia
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:54 pm
Weird Houses, etc.
Six bedrooms and a 1 car garage with no driveway?
- northland10
- Posts: 6273
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:47 pm
- Location: Northeast Illinois
- Occupation: Organist/Choir Director/Fundraising Data Analyst
- Verified: ✅ I'm me.
Weird Houses, etc.
The "3rd" floor bedroom patio doors need at sign that says "step down."
A little spackle and duct tape ought to be able to fix the missing deck.
101010 ![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
- pipistrelle
- Posts: 7634
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:27 am
Weird Houses, etc.
Description says 4 attached spaces. If you can find them.
Also says no heating or cooling.
- pipistrelle
- Posts: 7634
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:27 am
Weird Houses, etc.
Is that in a photo or the floor plans? I want to take a look.northland10 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2024 1:30 pmThe "3rd" floor bedroom patio doors need at sign that says "step down."
A little spackle and duct tape ought to be able to fix the missing deck.
- northland10
- Posts: 6273
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:47 pm
- Location: Northeast Illinois
- Occupation: Organist/Choir Director/Fundraising Data Analyst
- Verified: ✅ I'm me.
Weird Houses, etc.
There is a photo of the back of the house. The 2nd floor which is the lowest level in back also has patio doors. The 3rd floor master bedroom has the doors with the slight dip on your first step.
101010 ![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
Weird Houses, etc.
That Garage door looks like it could be 15 feet tall. Are they parking a Truck in there?
Hic sunt dracones
- northland10
- Posts: 6273
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:47 pm
- Location: Northeast Illinois
- Occupation: Organist/Choir Director/Fundraising Data Analyst
- Verified: ✅ I'm me.
Weird Houses, etc.
Apparently, some past owner had a dump truck parked there, or rented it out for a dump truck.
101010 ![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
![Towel :towel:](./images/smilies/f_towel.gif)
- MN-Skeptic
- Posts: 3714
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:03 pm
- Location: Twin Cities
Weird Houses, etc.
Honest to God, that's a tear-down. It's been sitting empty for 21 years. If you have the kind of money to complete the house, you aren't going to spend it on this house. You'll start from scratch with your own vision.
Tim Walz’ Golden Rule: Mind your own damn business!
- pipistrelle
- Posts: 7634
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:27 am
Weird Houses, etc.
I was thinking if I had the money I’d rip it it down and not build a tortured McMansion.MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2024 2:45 pm Honest to God, that's a tear-down. It's been sitting empty for 21 years. If you have the kind of money to complete the house, you aren't going to spend it on this house. You'll start from scratch with your own vision.
- Shizzle Popped
- Posts: 5198
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:53 pm
- Location: South of Circle City
- Verified: ✅
Weird Houses, etc.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Nhn- ... 54790_zpid
Prepper Cabin? This thing is WAAAAY off the grid. There don't appear to be any windows on the first floor at all and there are two shipping containers on the approach to the house. This place gives me the creeps. The construction is very obviously substandard and if it doesn't currently leak from several places it will before long.
"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."
John Adams
John Adams
- RTH10260
- Posts: 16325
- Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:16 am
- Location: Switzerland, near the Alps
- Verified: ✔️ Eurobot
Weird Houses, etc.
This one would be to my liking. The container sheds possibly held the tools during construction, now may also be a garage for ATVs and snowmobiles. As-is a bit of an eyesore, but some paint will do the job. Or put up some boards to hide the metal structure, include some slanted roofing, also good for solar panles.Shizzle Popped wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2024 4:35 pm
da5eef353a8f8ae791821f01162939e5-uncropped_scaled_within_1536_1152.webp
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Nhn- ... 54790_zpid
Prepper Cabin? This thing is WAAAAY off the grid. There don't appear to be any windows on the first floor at all and there are two shipping containers on the approach to the house. This place gives me the creeps. The construction is very obviously substandard and if it doesn't currently leak from several places it will before long.