Foreclosure & Vacancy:
April 2008
Bank Sale:
listed in September 2008 at $86K
Windows Busted—House Rotting:
April 2009
Update 04/15/09
Less than a week later. Not satisfied with their original smashing work, vandals/kids have been by again to inflict more damage. The swiftness of the decay is stunning. With more foreclosures just hitting the courts, evidence like this suggests it’s going to be a rough summer. These vacants won’t last more that a day without being trashed.
Nearby Houses:
None yet photographed. Please take a picture if you see one.
This doesn’t look so bad to me, if it were tackled as a labor of love. As with most abandoned properties, the cost of “professional” repair could quickly get out of hand.
I am assuming that the “tilt” is the angle of the camera and not the house. The siding appears salvagable and the roof looks good. There is no missing trim or fretwork, that style of house never had any.
I am troubled that it has been converted to multi unit (I am assuming that from the fire escapes, I didn’t see any electrical meters to count). If it was converted on the quick and dirty, the cost of rectifying it and bringing it up to code could represent a large expense without any tangible economic gain. If it is still steam heat, heat on the upper stories could be sparse.
Can’t say I think much of the parking arrangement. But, with a lot size of nearly 8,000 feet and a relatively small foot print, a better system should be workable.
A further note the Home Depot, set up, door plugged into a larger opening probably says something about all other modifications done to the house. It probably originally had a transom over the door. Etched glass panels were also common. Architectural style of the time required equal heights of the door opening and windows.
I kind of like this house – it’s ugly as boxes are but still intact for the period. From what I could (barely) see in the broken windows, the first floor looks fairly open.
The economic impact and financial benefit you speak of though—like so many of these houses, is the real issue. No way for $80K+. Too many fixes and updates. Every system inside and out needs care. Siding, windows, doors, paint, floors, heating. Most likely electrical and plumbing. There’s probably two cramped and poorly rendered bathrooms. A scuzzy kitchen with “fit for a rental” appliances.
Gotta like that hanging back door in the rear too. The lot’s worse Faust, a strange concrete slab where maybe and outbuilding used to be. Who knows.
The house sits on a grade. A weird grade on all corners to be exact. That and the wide angle lens make up the tilt. Unless you’re referring to the bottom right detailed picture – I did muck up the horizontal in post there.
I’ve got an email into the listing relator to see if she’s got anything to say for the property.
Yeah, you’re right about the half-assed updating (again, like so many of the rentals in the city, especially the ones that end up here).
The side “windows” around the front door aren’t even windows. They’re plexiglass, poorly placed even.
I don’t understand what you mean about parking Faust. There seems to be a fairly large poured slab to the left of the front of the house, off Friendship, if memory serves me correct.
Can you expand?
The side “windows” around the front door aren’t even windows. They’re plexiglass, poorly placed even.
Without doubt they were “punched out” over the years. In many urban neighborhoods, even Beacon Hill, the side light glass is replaced with Lexan. This is similar to plexiglass, but is actually bullet proof. Naturally the window frame has to be “toughened”.
Stump Blankenship
says: April 13, 2009 at 12:29 pm I don’t understand what you mean about parking Faust. There seems to be a fairly large poured slab to the left of the front of the house, off Friendship, if memory serves me correct.
After my comment I took the “walk around” on the street map. There is more than I thought, but appears designed for single family use, i.e. two cars, side by side, at the rear of the drive. Not bad for the original use. I would guess there was originally a two car garage. Multi units, you’ve got to think two cars per unit, would require “stacking” the cars. “in line” parking is often seen in dense urban areas, but it is not an “elegant solution”. This has to be given a lot of thought in a “knock down” situation, or where units are to be added. I can’t quote the Providence Zoning Code, but almost all modern codes require two spaces per unit. That has to be provided in order to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy (”CO”). Naturally, there is a variance procedure. That means more money, time and begging.
I went by here on Friday after I saw this. Had the camera, but no point in taking a picture, place still trashed, just moreso. More glass missing, more holes in the interior walls. Just letting the breeze blow in.
I am troubled by a lot of the news articles I see. Apparently a lot of “stimulus” money for older cities is targeted toward “tear down”, “slum clearance” or whatever the current manifestation is. Although they talk of replacing it with parks, it is the old buildings which give cities texture. Big contract, tear down, jobs are more comfortable for government. The job is “predictable” and the expected outcome certain.
The whole idea of swarms of “uncontrollable” people doing their own renovation is unmanagable and “uncomfortable” to them.