It doesn’t matter what you do, there will always be someone who finds fault in it. Over the last few days, our house has become the topic of a heated discussion on our local neighborhood association page.
Our neighbors have posted comments such as:
“They let something like this crap of a looking house on 4th street go up? Way to keep it historical city of NO.”
“Like, I don’t want to insult new neighbors. BUT GROSS”
“It’s such an eye sore”
“It’s hideous. Glad it’s not in my regular view”
“Hideous!!! I personally would rather walk past empty lots than look at nasty s*** like this.”
And my personal favorite, which actually made me laugh:
“If you’re gonna build something- historical or modern- at the very least follow one simple rule: do not make it ugly as ass smear. You had one rule to follow! One rule and you broke it.”
There were also plenty of comments on the other side of the spectrum:
“Variety is the spice of life”
“This house is a great example of how contemporary design can compliment historic structures, rather than try to mimic historic details. I love it.”
“Maintain and appreciate our historic buildings, and open up to accept and love tasteful contemporary additions that are true to its time and place like this one.”
And some that could be described as the definition of “NIMBY”:
“It’s not the design. It’s a beautiful house BUT it does not belong in a neighborhood that is a declared a historic district.”
“I would LOVE for you to design a house for me [in another city]. Just not here. Not in this neighborhood.”
I can’t say that I’m that surprised by the reaction to the house. The subject of modern vs. historic has been hotly debated all over the world, and our historic neighborhood is acutely sensitive to the topic. Personally, I agree wholeheartedly with one of the commenters: “The model for keeping a healthy and progressive neighborhood not only involves maintaining and celebrating our existing structures to the highest and best use, but also building new construction in proportion and scale that reflects the built environment, not mimics it.”
The greatest challenge of keeping this blog, and really of the entire process of building this house, was working up the courage to move past my own vulnerability and uncertainty, and put myself out there to build something that I love, and also to share the experience with others. In the end, you can either be judged because you created something, or ignored because you did nothing at all. I choose the former.
So now that that’s off my chest, here’s an update on the construction progress:
The crew started painting the exterior siding last week. They started with a primer that was 75% of the final color before applying a second coat. They also created some odd patterns as they worked around the house, perhaps struggling to reach certain places.
On the inside, the walls have been primed and are ready for the final coat.
The tile for the bathroom floors and shower surround has all been delivered and should be installed next week. It’s exciting to see the interior finishes starting to go in, although this portion of the construction moves at a much slower pace and with less velocity as the initial framing and rough construction. I’m trying to stay patient and finding solace in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt:
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.
Positively 4th Street 