An impressive flip, unnoticed by me until just now

Because he so infrequently posts (about one month or so), I tend to forget to check brother Gideon’s own blog, Greenwich Bored and Razed, but I just did, and learn that I missed a $1,000,000 flip of 37 Tower Road in Riverside last August: There was $6.3 sale in April, and another would-be buyer paid that person $7.3 in August.

Lucky (former) owner. The builders didn’t fare so well: they priced their project at $7.995 in 2017, and finally settled for the aforesaid $6.3. But such is life. Flips like this don’t happen often, but in Greenwich, where wealth is unlimited, disappointed buyers do occasionally pay extreme premiums to get what they want (check the link to Gideon’s post for other examples).

. God bless them, says I.

Call me spoiled, but for three million bucks, I want a garage

And a better design. 19 South End Court, Old Greenwich, has been on the market since early 2017, when it began at $3.848 million and has slowly worked its way down to today’s price of $3.295. Nothing at all wrong with the street: easy walk to Old Greenwich village, the school, and the train, but I can see why this particular spec house is meting buyer resistance.

The exterior is, at least to my eye, unappealing. Of the claimed six bedrooms, two are in the basement, which, I hope, rules them out as full-time rooms for children, separate baths or not. Worst of all is the lack of a garage. A carport offers no place to hide bicycles from our persistent bike thieves who regularly visit from Stamford, and nowhere to store the usual accoutrements of suburban life: lawnmower, yard tools, etc. — garages collect junk and unnecessary items, true, but they can also shelter useful items.

Because of the tiny lots in so much of Old Greenwich and their subsequent FAR limitations, carports are increasingly common, even for houses priced in the mid-threes. I personally wouldn’t want such an expensive home if it came with just a carport..

Price cut in Harbor Point, Riverside

4 Highgate Road, now priced at $3.875 million, down from its original April, 2016 price of $4.995. Nice house, and for all my teasing of Harbor Point neighbors for their propensity to sue one another, the development is in fact an attractive neighborhood, with a private beach and even a communal dock.

Located in the AE flood zone, which is discouraging, and the description in the previous listing that it enjoys “seasonal water views” reminds me of the Ogden Nash ditty:

“I think that I will never see,

A billboard lovely as a tree.

In fact, unless the billboards fall,

I’ll never see a tree at all.”

Billboards, leaves; whatever.

I also find this bit a little off-putting: “Approvals & plans for raising roof height to 8+ft adding approx. 950 sq ft of FAR. Can open up back side of roof to add patio doors & outside deck area for water views”. I like the house as is, but this language might suggest to potential buyers that there’s something wrong with the design, and that they’re looking at a major construction project: at nearly $4 million as is, that’s daunting.

I might wait to suggest that possibility until a prospect was actually in the house, and not mention it at all unless an objection to these perceived deficiencies were raised.

How the mighty have fallen

188 Round Hill Road, which sold for $14.650 million in 2006 and put back on the market by the buyer in 2008 for $18 million, has ben reduced today to $8.750.

It sits on eleven acres but the house itself, if not a complete wreck, could use some serious work, both enlarging the existing 5,600 sq.ft. structure and a gut-renovation, so the property has been listed as land, as well as a residence.

The new listing claims that the place has now been “aggressively priced”, but given the decline of Rogues Hill prices, this property may require a step-up to a pit bull’s aggression, rather than the current dachshund’s.

An easy stroll to the round hill golf club, and to walter noel’s house across the street. (come to think of it, this house has been on the market since walter’s and bernie madof’s ponzi scheme EXPLODED — no link to the two events, so far as i know, but an interesting factoid)

Persons of color, Asians and Greeks barred from celebrating Halloween tonight

At least, I assume that’s the logical extension of the past decades of liberals’ wailing about “cultural appropriation”. Halloween is a celebration imported from Ireland, with a version that came over from England. No room for non-whites to participate.

The utter stupidity and ignorance of the liberals on this (and all other issues) has become numbing, but Halloween always brings out the worst of the hysteria. Idiots on college campuses, led by teachers and administrators lead the charge, but their mush-brained pupils follow right along. And the movement has now extended all the way down to kindergarten, where children are warned this yer against wearing super-hero “Black Panther” costumes.

“Cultural appropriation” has become a common term on campuses and is receiving broader meaning with each passing year. In Utah, a high school student was denounced for wearing a Chinese dress to her prom [ form of dress adopted from the Portuguese on Macao - Ed.]. White students wearing hoop earrings or dreadlocks have been denounced, while there have been protests over serving sushi at Oberlin College [and the “traditional Vietnamese sandwich because the baguette wasn’t “authentic. The baguette! Intruduced by the French colonialists], holding yoga classes at the University of Ottawa or having a “Mexican food night” at Clemson University. The reason behind such limitless forms of cultural appropriation is its limitless meaning. Fordham University law professor Susan Scafidi has defined the term as encompassing the “unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols” and more.

(The full article this paragraph was excerpted from can be found at the link above; well recommended)

Let’s not even go here

Depreciation, even in Riverside

19 Stoney Ridge, on a very decent street, sold for $3.450 in 2014, and that buyer placed it back up for sale in 2017 at $3.650. It had to be marked down to $2.650 before it found a buyer, reported today.

I always admire an aggressive price cut

10 Andrews Road (off lower North Street) dropped its price today in one fell swoop from $5.975 million to $4.875. That may not be enough to move it: who knows?, but it’s significant enough to catch buyers’ attention, or it should be.

Sold new in 2008, just as the market was collapsing, for $4.850, the house was resold to the present owners in 2011 at $3.945. They’ve made some major improvements since their purchase, but their original pricing last February at $5.975 proved aspirational, rather than realistic.

Not an architectural style to my taste, and the pond it backs up to can be a turn-off to parents with young children, but Andrews is certainly a convenient location and, judging from the interior photos, there is some serious, very expensive millwork in this house. If you don’t mind driving up to a barn when returning from work, a nice house will await you.

Who new there was such a thing as a zebra cabinet?

Or for that matter, zebra chairs?

Quick Land (?) sale off Cat Rock

19 Dartmouth Road, $1.1 million, accepted offer in mere days, contingent contract in nineteen. 1965 construction, no a/c, with electric heat, I’m guessing that building new is the right option here, and probably will be.

Two-and-a-half acres, though at least part of that area appears to be wetlands.

Looks damp

New twist on the Twinkie defense

Lawyers for terrorist bomber blame Trump, cite “Spinal Tap” as authority.

“Lawyers for a man convicted of a terrorist plot to bomb a Kansas apartment complex are blaming President Trump for stoking their client’s fiery rhetoric about Muslims.

Attorneys for Patrick Stein — who was found guilty of planning to kill Muslim residents of Garden City, Kansas — claimed that Trump’s “brand of rough-and-tumble verbal pummeling” contributed to Stein’s homicidal thoughts.

“The court cannot ignore the circumstances of one of the most rhetorically mold-breaking, violent, awful, hateful and contentious presidential elections in modern history, driven in large measure by the rhetorical China shop bull who is now our president,” the lawyers wrote in a sentencing memo filed on Monday.

The lawyers are asking for a lesser sentence in part due to the argument that Stein was a Trump supporter and the president inflamed Stein’s anti-immigrant hatred — ultimately influencing the man’s attack plans.

“A person normally at a 3 on a scale of political talk might have found themselves at a 7 during the election,” the lawyers wrote.

“A person, like Patrick, who would often be at a 7 during a normal day, might ‘go to 11.’ See SPINAL TAP. That climate should be taken into account when evaluating the rhetoric that formed the basis of the government’s case.”
”

To be fair, this is no different than the main stream media’s simultaneously blaming Trump for the pro-Trump mad bomber down in Florida and the rabid anti-Semite, anti-Trump murderer in Pittsburgh, but it’s certainly another indication of Trump Derangement Syndrome. If (most) polls are to be believed, next Tuesday will see a return of control to the Democrats, but if lightning were to strike and the Republicans keep the House and Senate, oh my, oh my: grab the popcorn, and a helmet.

Missing comments?

A number of readers emailed me yesterday saying they’re having trouble posting or replying to comments. I too noticed a dearth of comments for a period yesterday, but some are coming in now. Are they working again? I’m no problem from this, the administrator end, but that’s not necessarily useful inf.

So if you’d do me a favor, either post a reply or, if that’s still impossible, email me at christopher.fountain@gmail.com and I’ll try to figure out what’s going on.

Thanks

CF