Historical Properties

Hey Dave -

Great post and topic.  How intriguing that a judge actually intervened because she was stripping out fixtures in the property.  Even more interesting is that it appears that she was the rightful owner to at least the light fixture that she pulled. It sounds as if the house may have been in the family for some time (Unless she installed her grandmother's light fixture?) in which case she may have been using that house like a bank card. Sad.

And if her loans were equity pulled to cover the cost of the custom cabinets, well then perhaps the judge does have a right to stop her...

I know that once a property is designated historic by the National Historic Society or local governments, it is difficult to go through the proper chanels to upgrade or change anything about the house.  For this and other factors, I find that some historically registered houses don't necessarily mean an increased value in comparison to their neighboring homes around here.

See you around (here)!

I love historic homes! And I live in one.  Although it is only recognized by a private organization, it still has clout among those who fancy modern architecture and are familiar with the architect who built my home.  Here in my neck of the woods of SO Cal, historic homes can command about 15 - 20% or more over market value, however, can be more challenging to appraise if there is excessive deferred maintenance and one is trying to sell/buy, as it is tougher to recoup repair costs on historic homes.  And altho the private organization makes no requirements/restrictions on remodeling/rebuilding, nor offers any tax shelters or benefits, there is sufficient pressure from neighbors and the organization to "keep the integrity" of the home and it often attracts those who want to preserve it anyway without the hassels of the city.  

There are significant challenges to appraising historic homes:  1) finding one built by the same architect - which could be out of the neighborhood boundaries in another city or state and accrue significant travel time and market analysis, 2) it may or not be in an HPOZ - Historic Preservation Overaly Zone with stiff restrictions and penalty's for preservation, 3) The Mills Act - which provides financial benefits and is renewable every 10 years, is transferable and renogotiable, and can affect the overall tax value - which is a nightmare to assess.....just to name a few.

As for the lady who was selling off her things - it is really sad that it is coming down to this.  Altho the government may have the right to step in, due to the historic nature of the property as it boarders on vandalism when there are tax programs that give money and aid to preservation, it seems to me she was trying to leave the property "damaged" as if to say "if she couldn't have the house, nobody could" similar to REO rentals with tenants being evicted and vandalizing everything.

Just my $0.02

Sara - you can find some info on the Altadena Heritage Society

which is the private organization that recognized the architecture of Gregory Ain - a modern architect.  Other write ups about Gregory Ain and our block of homes can be found at this web site which is a small write up -scroll down to "Altadena."

Here is a link of what we did at the end of our remodel to our home back in 2003.  It was a lot of work, but worth it.  Believe it or not we are still working on it, and getting ready for round 2 - adding a pool and a guest house/office!  Here is a link of what our place looked like BEFORE the remodel

Gregory Ain had several post war developments here in So Cal in the late 1940'and early 50's, here in Altadena, and in Mar Vista, closer to the ocean.  The original plan was to have our several blocks here in Altadena, however, being post war, lumbar and building supplies were at a premium and since architects in those days basically built their own structures with their apprentices, not all the houses were built, and the site was consistently being raided and vandalized for wood and building supplies.  Even our roof was not not completed and side boards of trucks were used to finish the roof with no support beams!   There is a book about Gregory Ain  Architec- Theture of Gregory Ain.  There is another book - Moderism Rediscovered - page 037 which features our block and the architect, gregory Ain, when it was being built in 1947 - 48.

David - My apologies... Jeremy and I are hijacking your post with our own semi-parallel agendas! :-)

There are some cool interior shots of the stone house I thought I'd share (after admitting to the hijack):

Jeremy... So you rent out your house for movies and stills?  Sounds like that could be very very interesting...  ;-)

Wouldn't you know... chokecherry came up... do'h!

David - yes, my apologies as well, didn't mean to take over your post! And if this is(definately) going in a different direction than you intended, we can make our own post or email privately!

Beautiful Interiors!  I love the whole craftsman style with built ins, old squeaky hardwood floors, etc..... and the wainscoting in the bathroom.  Very nice!  there are several area here in LA where the craftsman style homes are protected.... not just because of who built them - Greene and Greene, etc, or their age, but becuase of how they are built.  With  PUDS growing so fast, there is little creativity (quality-?) with building residential homes anymore unless you have enough money to hire an architect and build what you want.

Yes, we rent the house out for commercials, movies, stills etc.  It pays good - helps with the improvement costs.  We have had commercials for Hallmark - the card company, Nissan, Corian Countertops, Kay Jewelers, and a few others.  As fun as it is and the money is good, it is a HUGE invasion while working from home myself, and while the cleanup crew is decent, we have had some broken/chipped furniture, wall marks/scuffs etc.  They pay for major repairs, but it still reaks havoc on the house!

We have historic neighborhoods here which have tax advantages associated with them, but I think all the historic homes are owned by various museums, cities, etc.

Yes, it is probably harder to judge historic value. I never sold a home in a historic district so I wouldn't know.