A tipi might have been a better buy

881 King Street, described in its listing as an "antique" 1952, 925 sq.ft. home and listed for $529,000, has gone to contract after just 77 days. Everyone has to start somewhere for their starter home, I suppose, but this 2 bedroom, 1 bath structure is a pretty depressing place to begin. 

Mind you, if the buyers are handy, they can probably do wonders with the place: nowhere to go but up, and I very well remember Pal Nancy and I doing exactly that with our first two homes. I guess I'm just a bit shocked at how little a half-million dollars goes in Greenwich, even on the Port Chester border. 

The listing describes this as a "retro-bathroom". I'm tempted to call it obsolete

That same listing claims that this is a "just renovated" kitchen. Maybe the wall vent is new?

Riverside sale

219 Riverside Avenue, $2.925 million. A lovely house, owned by good people (or the other way around). I'm sorry to see them leave Riverside. Of note, the house was listed on May 19 and received a full-price offer within a week, so all my cautions regarding waiting too long to list a house notwithstanding, the right price for the right house will still prevail. 

Realtors aren't the only ones who can improve a photograph with PhotoShop

Fake, but accurate

(Oops! Sorry, Holden, posted this before I got around to checking the comments section)

I'd hang 'em high, but I suppose stripping them of their security clearance will do for now

Yes, a security clearance is a "lucrative commodity". 

“While Clapper and Hayden have said their clearance status doesn’t matter, other officials do use their security clearance to perform lucrative consulting work.

The threat of losing their status and, therefore, any employment obtained on the contingency of having a clearance, could have a chilling effort on potential critics.”

Available for counsel? Here's admitted-communist John Brennan, Obama's head of the CIA, the man who oversaw the corruption of FISA: Who, other than Democrats engaged in a continuous effort to hobble and destroy the current administration, would call on him for "help"?

"Donald Trump's press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes & misdemeanors.' It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump's comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???" he tweeted.

Follow up on 199 Valley Road

It has closed at $2,396,500. I wrote about this total renovation project when it went to contract back when it went into contract 90 days after it was listed at $2.675 million. I liked it then, and complemented the renovators on their work. Still like it.

A Shining City Upon a Hill? Hardly

Several readers have commented on the new construction at 232 Valley Road, Cos Cob. I'd figured that its asking price of $3 million would allow plenty of time — years, perhaps — to discuss it, but what the heck, why not start now? 

My first question, I suppose, is why would anyone blast such an inferior building lot out of ledge and then build on it? Just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean that you should, and this project proves it. There's no yard, the precipitous driveway guarantees a treacherous climb in the winter, and certain death for the first child to attempt to ride his bicycle or skateboard down it.

There is no basement, and the first floor has room for a kitchen, dining room and living room, period: the bulk of living space is found on the second floor and in the attic. In short, this is no house for a family, yet the builder crammed in six bedrooms, six baths and two half-baths into its 6,000 sq. ft. Who's going to use all that?

This site might have made sense as a small weekend retreat for  NYC couple, perhaps, even if there's no possibility of a pool, but I know that I'd have a terrible time trying to pitch it to a family with kids, our more usual Greenwich buyers. In fact, I wouldn't try, but perhaps a better agent than I can perform that miracle. 

Let's give that agent a couple of years to work her magic. 

Not what I would describe as an elegant staircase, but others' taste may differ

Vats of boiling oil to repel invaders?

Nothing says elegance with a capital E than  a stunning bedroom like this

Unless, of course, it's an industrial attic

Usually, a celebrity's home commands no more than one owned by a plain ol' schlep

And when it's the former home of a celebrity, even less. (One of) Tommy Hilfiger's homes, this one at 578 Riversville Road, hit the market today at $6.750 million, down quite a bit from the $7.8 the owner paid Mr. Hilfiger in 2005. The current listing notes that the property was "formerly owned by Tommy Hilfiger", but as the million-dollar discount evidences, that doesn't add value.

Two price cuts bring these homes below what the sellers paid for them

105 Shore Rd

Nothing hugely significant, but still: 105 Shore Road, Old Greenwich, which sold new in 2016 for $4.825 million, was dropped today to $4.650. It's always tough to recoup one's cot after such brief ownership, of course.

And 30 Club Road, Riverside. purchased for $6.450 in 2012, has been looking for a buyer for some time now, and today dropped again, to $5.995. Again, I wouldn't use these two houses to prove anything about the market, except to pint out that prices aren't increasing.

One of the nicest homes on lower North Street goes to contract, again

63 North Street, asking $3.095 million, reports a contract. It sold for $2.995 in 2013, and $2.775 in 2012, so it's been actively traded over the past few years, but it has always served as a graceful entry to downtown Greenwich and, thankfully, its various owners have always maintained it beautifully.

Hillary's new pajama look — sure to appeal to young 2020 voters

Hell, she makes Barry (oops! A reader reminds me that it's "Bernie") Sanders look like a spring chicken