House Hunter is now nine months old, so it’s time for our third-quarter report.
As in previous months, this House Hunter has traveled north, south and west in the Chicago area and made a first foray into northern Indiana in search of new housing communities. The aim is to review residences–condos, single-family homes and town homes in Chicago and the suburbs–in the same unbiased, though subjective, way other critics review books, movies, restaurants, public buildings and more.
During these recent months, I’ve been puzzled by pedestal sinks, troubled by the ongoing emphasis on garages and their boring doors, delighted with meeting buyers who are scared/happy/excited about the homes they’ve just bought and, yes, depressed at hearing from readers who’ve had builders renege on delivery date promises.
Now, one at a time:
About those pedestal sinks, the type with the bowl sitting atop a slender column or base. “What’s the point?” asks transplanted New Yorker Myra Albert, who bought a Lake View condo with a pedestal sink in one of its two bathrooms.
“Where do you put the extra rolls of toilet paper, the soap, the cleaning supplies?” she asks, referring to all the stuff that you don’t want to run out of especially in the bathroom that’s used as your guests’ powder room.
I’ve wondered the same thing and sales agents I query blithely say, “It’s fashionable,” or “That’s what buyers want.” I certainly wonder if they do want them–and if they continue to want them after they get them. Me? I go for every inch of storage space I can get.
On garage doors: Regular readers already know my feelings about garages–especially the three-bay type–that project out front and dominate the home’s design. I’ve heard all the pro arguments about cost, easy access, smaller shoveling area and other arguments from colleagues, builders and readers. They–the garage doors, not the readers etc.–still depress me, which is why I applaud any effort to keep them out of the front yard. Though it’s not really a fetching sight, the lineup of more than a dozen garages used by residents of Grafton Place in Tinley Park are behind the four-story condos. Where they belong.
One of the joys of checking out so many residential communities is unexpectedly bumping into an owner-to-be who’s just signed a contract, or better yet, is back for yet another look at the very condo or home that he, she or they will be moving into. The pleasure of such a spontaneous meeting with people who have found the right location or the right price or the particular space that has everything (or even nearly everything) they want is exhilarating and I want to celebrate with them.
On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum is hearing from buyers who are living in hotels or with relatives while they wait for their places to be built; they’ve either sold their home or relocated from another area or their rental lease is up and the home that was promised six months ago, even a year ago, isn’t yet ready for a move-in. What to do, they ask.
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During the last three months, I’ve been amazed at the variety of ways to get from one floor to the next one as well as the multiple ways to draw attention to ceilings. I’ve been baffled by decor that attempts to turn a ranch or condo into a mansion, surprised that more builders don’t offer or inform potential owners about the possibilities of customizing homes to accommodate the disabled.
The dominance of some grand-entrance stairways–sometimes practically jutting into the front door–continues to amuse me while some of the more practical and innovative ways of providing for a front and back stairway or a split stairway reinforce my reverence for design that is pleasing to the eye and that works.
The variety in ceiling treatments is also intriguing: Not only are they vaulted or cathedral-styled, they are raised and squared off, painted in different hues, with names like tray or volume or who-knows. Some agents call them all “unusual” or say, “and, notice the unusual ceiling.”
On the matter of decor, I will say that I have seen more large and awful fake floral arrangements, more three-foot or curlicued metal candleholders and–this is so sad–only two models (both in the city) with non-fussy, contemporary decor and furniture in colors that won’t drive you crazy in six months. Overwrought window treatments (draperies) are among the worst offenders.
And, again only in two instances, has a sales rep pointed out possibilities for making a residence accessible for people with disabilities. Shorewood builder Kipling Homes, for example, showed changes that had been made in one of its floor plans to make the home a pleasure for a person in a wheelchair. Some doors were widened, a super-sized shower replaced a tub with shower, steps removed–all finished handsomely and discretely. Downsizers and retirees may want to consider such possibilities well before they really need them.
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Address comments to Genevieve Buck, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611 or you may e-mail her at [email protected].