Nice house, reasonable price.

414 Stanwich Road cut its price today to $2.195 million — it started at $2.395. I liked this house way back in 2006, when the previous owners put it up for sale for $2.6695. The price was ridiculous: dated kitchen and bath, window a/c units, and so forth, but it had a nice, rambling feel to it, and its separate in-law wing added to its attractiveness. What it needed was a total re-do, and that's what the current owners have done after buying the place for $1.550 million in 2013. All new mechanicals, redone kitchen, and so forth. Hell, they even added "the mirror".

I'm certainly not advising other agents' client what to bid, but if you could snag this near or under $2, I think you'd do well: it sold in 2003, unimproved, for $2.1 million. (In fact, even at this price it looks attractive, but you might as well try to push it a bit lower).

No guarantees, but if your agent's a hard bargainer, I'll bet you can get the mirror throw into the deal

Sam Bridge to Jr. League's president and her husband: "Pound mulch".

Junior League's GREENWItch Debra McLaughlin gets stoked for her next assault on her neighbor

After a number of delays, Jr. League president Debra McLaughlin and hubby Michael's complaint against Sam Bridge Nursery has been scheduled for the P&Z's October 17th meeting.

The Mclaughlin's, who lived for years on Birch Lane, deliberately moved across the street, next door to the Bridge's nursery, and built a new house. Like Captain Renault, they were shocked, shocked!  to discover that there was noise coming from that operation during business hours, and have subsequently waged war against it, demanding that the town shut it down.

[T]he Bridges said they have moved recycling to the southern side of the property, planted more evergreens in the buffer zone, changed backup alarms on machinery, reworked their parking lot, stopped restocking via forklift on Saturdays, and made other changes to reduce noise. 

“I greatly appreciate these positive steps in balancing the needs of the business with the needs of the adjacent homeowners,” McLaughlin said in an email to neighbors, Sam Bridge III and town Planning Director Katie DeLuca. “These measures are good examples of the kinds of reasonable protections that conscientious businesses should implement when making a request for an expansion in a residential neighborhood.” 

A Bridge family Facebook post states they attempted to reach McLaughlin’s attorney to see if the proposed amendment would be suitable for him and his family, but received no response.

McLaughlin has asked that the measures the Bridge family has taken to decrease noise production be included either in the nursery’s special exemption or in the revised code, “because a future owner of the nursery property might not be as considerate of the adjacent property owners.” 

Sam Bridge III said he would not agree to the inclusion.

“We have always been respectful of our neighbors and will continue to be in the future,” he said in an email reply to McLaughlin’s email. “We have gone above and beyond to make Michael happy. In 61 years at this location Michael is the only one to have ever had a problem with how we operate our business.

“We do not support adding additional language to the code (or our special exception),” he wrote. “Language that is meant only to handicap ours and other commercial nursery operations just to appease a single person.”

If not quite the match for its all-time classic, "Headless Body found in Topless Bar", it's not bad

From FWIW's NY correspondant, this cover from today's NY Post: "Weiner stuck in the Pokey".

Love it, even if he (possibly) won't.

Flood zone effect?

One Minerva Place: a strong argument for summary execution of architechts

One Minerva Place, Old Greenwich, was built in 2001, and its last sale, to the present owner, occurred in 2006, when it sold for $3.850 million. It's been back on the market since 2015, when it started off at $4.295, a price that's been steadily reduced as the days and months and years go past. Today, it was marked down to $2.995.

While its exterior is butt-ugly, the house is pretty nice inside, so what gives? How can a house in Old Greenwich, in a great neighborhood, lose a million dollars in value in eleven years? My guess is that, because it's in the AE flood zone and was built in 2001, it no longer meets the minimum elevation requirements for that zone, so it's options for renovation and expansion are restricted, probably down to zero.

That may not be so; there may be other reasons for its failure to sell, but the flood zone restrictions seem to me to be the most likely explanation. If so, then thank Town Planner Katie Blankley, and you buyers out there, thank me: I warned you about this colossal loss of value imposed on Old Greenwich owners long ago. 

UPDATE: I'm informed that the house is flood zone compliant, which simply raise the original question: how can a house in this are drop $1 million from its 2006 price?

Florida Woman, meet Florida Man

Next up was going to be her bi-plane

Florida woman attempts to run over lover, ex-boyfriend of her daughter, for exposing their affair.

Davis was angry at the man because he told her daughter about them having an affair. Davis said he ruined her relationship with her daughter.

 [O]n the day of the incident, Davis drove to the ex-boyfriend's house in Palm Beach Gardens and allegedly threw eggs at the residence and his cars.

When cops arrived, she was driving in circles in the front yard trying to hit him with her Mercedes-Benz. The man told police that he was almost run over multiple times. He also said he was no longer dating Davis' daughter.

Davis allegedly said she wanted the man to die.

Reclaim your attic

cutural exchange: Louis Van Leeuwen embraced by Vladimir Putin

Greenwich has finally repealed its idiotic requirement that attics be unusable, and my friend Louis, "Luigi" Van Leeuwen has started a mini-business to help homeowners reclaim that space.

The new venture ... Greenwich Attic represents a collaboration between Cormac Byrne of architectural firm Jones Byrne Margeotes Partners, which has offices in Greenwich and Stamford, and Louis Van Leeuwen, who runs several businesses including Greenwich Construction and kitchen and cabinetry showroom Curry & Kingston. 

For about 15 years, home builders in Greenwich have erected large wooden trusses in attics because of a 2002 rule meant to “curtail the building of McMansions,” according to Van Leeuwen. The trusses acted as a work-around of the regulation and ensured the attic space wasn’t usable for homeowners. 

Opponents of the regulation have argued, among other things, that it didn’t have its intended effect on homes’ appearances. 

“It didn’t curtail the bulk,” Van Leeuwen said. “And the firemen hated it because the trusses are mostly made from cheap pine that burn more quickly and with more intensity in addition to making it hard to navigate the roof. It was a safety issue.” 

Following months of lengthy hearings, the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission changed the rule, which went into effect in August. 

Although these excerpts from Greenwich Time's "article" make it clear that the paper is merely reprinting a press release, I can personally vouch for Lou's custom built homes and his personal integrity (I have to, or he won't take me fishing on his boat). But this regulation has always provoked me, because it served absolutely no purpose. The whole idea behind our town's floor area ratio was to reduce streetscape "bulk", and rendering attics unusable did nothing to accomplish that: a house remained exactly the same height, but its owners were forbidden to use the space in the attic. What business is it of anyone how much of the interior of his house a homeowner uses?

In any event, the regulation's been changed, and unlike most renovations that depreciate over time, like bathrooms and kitchens, adding living space should add value to your house and yield a positive return on your investment. And even if you just reclaim it as storage space, rather than add to your living area, you'll at least be  getting more use from the house you paid for. 

I'd look into it.

(Another) price cut in the Stanwich elephant graveyard

"The Jewel of Greenwich"

398 Stanwich Road, cut to $4.450 million. It sold new for $5.5 million when it was new in 2004, tried for $6.385 in 2008, after improvements, but eventually sold to these owners in 2010 for $5.695. They, in turn, have been attempting to sell it since 2012 (as I recall, the owner was an oil trader, and got transferred back out of the country after he'd just barely settled in). Opening price then was $5.695 and, as we see, today it's down to $4.5. My advice to the relocation company that's saddled with this place is, keep going.

The latest agent's purple prose is pretty entertaining, however, even if the house itself is not:

Welcome to the jewel of Greenwich, a stately Georgian Colonial Manor sprawled across 2 stunning manicured acres, and graced with gorgeous lake views. Upon entering a double-height reception hall of this 9000+ square foot home, and the eye is immediately drawn to the exquisite details that simply radiate sophistication. (She forgot to mention the old graveyard in the front yard: that's always been a bit of a showstopper.)

This is not an entirely terrible house: it's a Jordan Saper creation, which speaks to high quality, but that also means a Saper design, with room dimensions included, and Saper homes haven't held up well in the resale market. Note that 398 Stanwich is located exactly across from the entrance to Rock Maple Road: 75 Rock Maple sold last week for $5.695 million. That's obviously more than 398's current price, but it's just about what 398 was originally priced at.

No contest.

75 Rock maple road

More back country hammering

74 Upper Cross Road has sold for $7.5 million. Owners paid $13.5 for it in 2012, and before that, pre-renovations, it sold for $10 million in 2000.

if you had a hammer, you'd hammer in the morning, you'd hammer in the evening, all over my land ....

Headline of the day: "Good riddance to the thong! After decades of discomfort, women have finally cracked."

Well I wouldn't wear it, but it'd be fun to watch

99% of women say they will no longer wear thongs.

I try, but this is better than I've managed to come up with today. 

. My question for the ladies is, what were you thinking?! Not that we didn't appreciate it.

Oh well, all good things come to their end.

One man of courage

•  
• Former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva stands alone during Nation Anthem while the rest of his Steelers playmates cower in the locker room.
•  
• "Alejandro Villanueva" — clearly a white-privileged, racist pig who hasn't "woke". 

• Villaneuva played in college at West Point Military Academy before going on to become an Army Ranger. He served three tours in Afghanistan and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014, before later joining the Steelers.