New listing in Mead Point

After paying $8 million for 21 Windrose Place in 2005, the owner has rented it out for the past six years, and has now decided to sell it. Asking $6.750 million.

It's not to my taste (and it has an indoor pool), but Mead Point's my favorite gated community, and there aren't that many homes available here, so someone's bound to go for it.

(Unlike many lots in Mead Point, this one sits on the full two-acres mandated by zoning, so it could be scraped and replaced — pricey, though.)

New price today, but I still don't think it's a bargain

11 Mayfair, off Pecksland (and Riversville), has a new agent and a new price: $14.9 million, a considerable drop from its 2016 price of $22 million. A 1930 home designed by Alden Twachtman, who designed a number of houses on Pecksland, and sits on 13 acres, but the Twachtman style is definitely out of favor with today's buyers (I think they're great, but I'm not a buyer). 

(Almost) 12,000 sq. ft., it was the weekend retreat for a Goldman Sachs executive, and I suppose he could afford its $100,000 + annual tax bill, but I wonder whether his heirs are as happy as he was to pay those taxes and maintenance costs: judging from this price, I guess they are, but they may grow tired of those bills over the next few years.

what a library

and callipygian, too

New listing today, and I think it's a bargain

18 Interlaken Road, $1.695 million. Toured it last week, and I really liked it. For this price, a whole lot of house on a beautiful 2-acre lot (a bit of which is under the pond in the rear, but that's a quibble. 

It's going to need some modernization, including new kitchen cabinets, and the bathrooms, while updated not all that long ago, could probably stand a do-over, but the house is perfectly livable as is, and at $1.695, someone in the under-$2 range, mid-country, will do very well here.

Interlaken is the last road off Taconic before the Merritt, but this house is on the southern side of the road, and noise is, to my ears, negligible. A no-brainer, in my opinion, but of course, your's may differ.

Estate sale, it's been priced to sell — for once, that's a true statement. 

Chez Fountaine goes to contract

9 William Street in Riverside, new construction, $4.495 million, 67 days. Various family members toured this replacement of the homestead, with differing reactions, but it's a great little street, and life on Ole's creek is idyllic. 

Ironic reference to the traditional fireplace

Who needs cabinets when the modern family doesn't cook?

As eos points out, you'll need a pogo stick to retrieve wine bottles from this unit

Nope: no idea what this is supposed to be

Pending in Riverside

I can't remember whether I mentioned 57 Willomere Circle, $6.495 million, when out reported as under contract last week, but it's now pending. To my mind, it's probably the finest waterfront lot in Willowmere, and though the house is a nice, `1928 home, I'm guessing that the real value of the place is in the land.

Just 19 days on the market, which shows that the market for waterfront continues unabated.

Stanwich Contract

414 Stanwich Road, asking $1.995 millions, after 408 days on market. I've always liked this house, and even its starting price last year of $2.395 didn't strike me as so absurd as to drive off buyers, but I suppose it did. It's got a quirky layout, admittedly, but the renovation performed by these owners was top notch, and I'd expected it to sell more quickly than it did.

The Hitler meme

Mccain is/was Hitler, according to the Left. But then, have they ever not compared a Republic as Hitler?

Instapunit reminds of the answer: No.

MAY 13, 2018

HEY, REMEMBER IN 2008, WHEN MCCAIN WAS HITLER?  Madonna Compares John McCain To Hitler At Tour Opener.

And from DailyKos: “What are the differences between McCain, Stalin, and Hitler? Well, there are none when comparing these three men except for the fact that history has already been written about Hitler and Stalin.” *

Just a reminder for the have-you-no-decency crowd. Remember, every Republican president, or presidential candidate, is Hitler, but then later gets transformed into a revered elder statesman for purposes of unfavorable comparisons to whoever the newest GOP Hitler is.

* Here's the rest of the quote from that Daily Kos link:

The number of the Beast, 666, is a concept from the book of revelation that briefly identifies the anti-christ, and what it will do to mankind. The first 6 was Stalin, he killed millions of people in Russia. He also has 6 letters in his last name. The second 6 was Hitler, and everyone knows what he did with the Jews. He also has 6 letters in his last name. The last 6, is running for president of the United States. He has the intention of sparking World War III. He also has 6 letters in his last name. What do these men have in common? They all served in the military at some point, and their ego made them feel superior to everyone else.  The Bible has forewarned us about the danger of the number 666, and McCain is a risk that we cannot take.

And of course

Cops threaten to kill their dogs if marijuana is legalized

There are good arguments to be made for and against legalizing dope and narcotics in general, but this isn't one of them.

If Illinois legalizes recreational marijuana by ballot measure this November, police may have to "put down" many of the 275 K-9 dogs trained to recognize narcotic substances across the state. Police organizations oppose legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and some marijuana advocates have condemned them for dangling canine death as a political tool.

Police agencies invest thousands of dollars and months of training to teach dogs to sniff out and alert officers to the presence of various illegal narcotics, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs. These dogs, affectionately known as K-9 units, are very specialized, and police insist that it would be "cruel" to retrain them.

If the state legalizes marijuana, "the biggest thing for law enforcement is, you're going to have to replace all of your dogs," Macon County Sheriff Howard Buffett told The Pantagraph. His private foundation paid $2.2 million in 2016 to support K-9 units in 33 Illinois counties. "So to me, it's a giant step forward for drug dealers, and it's a giant step backwards for law enforcements and the residents of the community."

States that have already legalized marijuana have taken various approaches to the K-9 issue. Officers in Washington state have attempted to retrain their animals to ignore marijuana, and trained new police dogs to smell all narcotics besides pot. In other states, agencies have kept pot-sniffing dogs and continued to search for large amounts of the drug not allowed under the law.

Chad Larner, training director of the K-9 Training Academy in Macon County, told The Pantagraph that retraining dogs would amount to "extreme abuse." K-9s are rewarded for successfully identifying the presence of narcotics, and they continue to train regularly with their handlers for a suggested minimum of 16 hours per month. Larner insisted that there is no guarantee the dogs could be broken of their original training.

"We do not want to subject innocent citizens or motorists who travel through Illinois ... to unlawful search and seizures," the director explained. He estimated there are about 275 certified narcotic-detecting K-9s in the state, and that most of them are dual-purpose, trained to find drugs and to track and apprehend suspects and missing persons.

Assistant Police Chief Steve Petrilli of the Normal Police Department told The Pantagraph it would be impossible to teach the dogs to ignore odors they have been trained for years to recognize. Replacing all the dogs would cost millions.

Tragically, Larner said many K-9s are trained not to be social. They have been trained for these specific purposes, and so if marijuana were to be legalized, a large number of police dogs would have to be euthanized.

Criminals aren't the only morons wandering the planet.

They know their Westchester market, I guess

19 Baliwick Road is reported as pending, $2.875 million. It sold for $2.025 in 2009, down a bit from its 2007 price of $3.495, and I thought that the selling price was close-to-reasonable. This price? Only if someone is desperate to escape Westchester,.

Oh dear

My oh my

Good lord

Friends don't let friends build new kitchens in tear-downs

642 Lake Avenue was listed as a land sale back in 2015, audaciously priced at $4.995 million before dropping to $3.499 by 2026. Undaunted, the owners redid the kitchen last year and cast it afloat on the waters this spring at $4.9, and today dropped it to$4.650.

Land is land: 2 acres in this neighborhood is probably worth $2, $2.5, tops, and a new Bosch dishwasher isn't really going to change that equation.  Isn't there someone who will intervene?