Sunday, April 1, 2007

Mid Beacon Hill

OK, finally, here are some shots of the houses around my neighborhood, Mid Beacon Hill. They're mostly modest older homes, some of which have been well-maintained but have fallen victim to questionable aesthetic decisions by different homeowners over the years. And there's too much chain-link fence (which I sometimes refer to as "CLF") for my taste. But there are some well-kept yards, so that's nice. Anyway, you're about to see for yourself.

FYI -- My own house isn't included because we're actively trying (weeds were pulled and ancient concrete was sledgehammered this weekend). We've planted lots and lots of things, and now we need to plan out some hardscaping. We're working on the front of our house this year, I promise.

Lots of photos and a few comments follow.

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The lovely woman who lives here does a lovely job keeping up her flowers.

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Here's a vertigo-inducing shot of her planting bed.

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I like the way these trees are sculpted.

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This house almost burned down last August. Nine fire trucks came.

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Looks like the remodel/rebuild is almost done.

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I love the huge flat-topped boulders in this yard.

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What a coincidence that so many VW bus owners park on this street!

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I like that pine.

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They have one of those garden-hose-coiler-uppers. We need to figure out what to do with our garden hose.

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I have more pictures, but they all look like what you've just seen. This is my little neighborhood. It's not very exciting, and there are too few eccentrics. Next time I'll walk down toward the supposedly haunted old Comet Lodge Cemetery.

7 comments:

chuck b. said...

What's up with all the CLF--is it to keep the pit bulls from straying? If I had CLF, I would totally electrify it. Electric fence, motherfucker! Watch out!

JvA said...

God. I don't know. I know of one neighbor who extended his CLF because he got a puppy. That can't be everyone's story, though, can it?

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for that fascinating tour. The CLF must give people a sense of security... Not everybody can be a great athlete and not everybody can be a great aesthete. The fun in bad taste is imagining all the possibilities. Consider yourself lucky to be a pioneer, because it won't be too many years before Beacon Hill gentrifies like the rest of Seattle.

JvA said...

Seriously! I noticed a for sale sign in front of a dingy '70s house a couple blocks away from here, and I wondered if they dared ask for more than $400K for it. Turns out they want $589K. Ballsy!

Love how they left the parking cone in the primary shot.

http://windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=17608430

And, seriously, I really shouldn't be passing too harsh a judgment on any of my neighbors when we have a freaking heat pump on display in the front yard. We will soon build a screen to conceal it, I promise you.

JvA said...

Also, I have to say, I didn't know it was legal to pave your front yard and turn it into a driveway. Classy!

http://windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=17608430

(So much for not judging...)

chrismealy said...

"Easy access to downtown and China town." And for that they get 3%. Sheesh.

lisa said...

Wow! I can't believe the price of that house! Call me a naieve' midwesterner, but around here, you'd pay maybe $80K for that place! As for the concrete...maybe the kids can rollerskate it? Heh...low maintenance gone awry.