Parkwyn Village ~ McCartney Residence for Sale

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue May 17, 2011 11:32 am

It's one thing to painstakingly disassemble a house made of wood, held together with brass screws, (it almost seems as if Wright could have imagined a place like the Pope house being moved...) transporting it to a new location and reassembling it on a new foundation. It's quite another to picture that being done with a concrete block house. It seems inconceivable.

I really don't understand why a community like Parkwyn Village would not command the attention of architecture lovers all over the world. (Those zillow prices are not unlike those to be found in Oskaloosa...)

The house must stay where it is and be preserved...

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:48 pm

peterm wrote:

It seems inconceivable.

It is. The 1960's and 1990's re-locations of Pope and the 2000's relocation of Gordon all entailed abandoning the masonry and slabs of the earlier location....the same is being contemplated with Bachman-Wilson. Considering 85% of the original fabric of McCartney is masonry and slab, a move seems all but impossible.

I agree the Parkwyn Village context is an important part of the house's history/relevance. Why this house languishes on the market is a mystery...the neighborhood was quite nice when I visited in 1999, and the distance to the town proper was short.

jhealy · Post by **jhealy** » Tue May 17, 2011 8:19 pm

peterm - It's those zillow prices that are part of the "problem" - those combined with the asking price. If we assume that the zillow prices are somewhat accurate, the fair market value of the house, from a lender's perspective, is about $150,000. That means a lender will make a loan for about $120,000 (80%). I don't think many, if any, lenders are going to be willing to take on the risk of underwriting an increased value for the "Wright" premium. If a buyer gets a loan for $120,000, s/he will need to bring $130,000 (52% down payment) in cash to the closing to purchase a $250,000 house (assuming the house sells for $250,000). Thus, not only do you need a buyer who is a fan of Wright's work, but also someone who has a good chuck of cash. Given the recent economic collapse and current state of the economy, those will excess cash are harder to find.

This is even a larger hurdle for the Laurent house, given its even higher asking price.

Jay

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue May 17, 2011 8:31 pm

Absolutely...

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:08 pm

If I was willing to live in the midwest I would give $250k cash for that house in a heartbeat. If it was in California it would cost a good deal more and would probably be beyond my means. And so it goes...

Don Leach

classic form · Post by **classic form** » Thu May 19, 2011 4:04 am

Willing to live in the Mid-west (Michigan)...try it, you might like it:) For all the reasons not to live here there are many reasons to live here.
I'll only list three:
The beach, the beach and the beach.
Or, if the midwest happens to be Iowa:
The corn, the corn and the corn. (I kid peterm, I kid).

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Thu May 19, 2011 10:09 am

No problem...

The location of Kalamazoo near the lake, plus McCartney's place within the larger Usonian community, does make it seem a little more appealing than the corn fields of Iowa.

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Thu May 19, 2011 11:29 am

My apologies to midwesterners. I should have said, "if I could live in the midwest". We have been westerners (central California) since the 1890's and from Wisconsin since the 1820's (New england before that). Our families and property are here and moving elsewhere is not an option.
I lived in Ohio for a few years as preteen and in Kansas and Nebraska for several years when I was in SAC.
We vacation there often (Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland/Oberlin, Pittsburgh/Falling Water, Taliesin, Omaha/Lincoln, Syracuse/Rochester and New England as well), so we are well aware of the good qualities of those areas. There are still several midwestern and eastern places on our "bucket list".

Don Leach

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Thu May 19, 2011 12:07 pm

And what California resident does not find themselves longing for an afternoon rain shower by the end of August? The long dry summers can drive me crazy (and did I mention smog?...)

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Thu May 19, 2011 12:22 pm

peterm,
In my post above, I was going to mention that my most vivid childhood memory of Ohio is of running and splashing in the street gutters during a soft, warm summer rain.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Thu May 19, 2011 2:44 pm

I was born in Akron. And I recall doing the same thing as a kid, Don -- on the East Coast . . .

Summer in San Francisco is sometimes indistinguishable from winter here; thanks be that we don't get snow or frost !

SDR

jhealy · Post by **jhealy** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:55 pm

What if someone was to take McCartney and return it to its first version (1 bedroom), with the idea being that by removing the later additions and using the materials from those additions (concrete block, wood, windows, fixtures etc.), one might be able to have a complete, original version 1, or as close to it as may be possible, if that is possible at all.

My question is, what would that be called? Restoration, Rehabilitation, Renovation, Reconstruction? I've seen several Chatters use those terms in different ways, but I thought the hypothetical above was interesting and might bring about different views.

Jay

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:53 am

I think the problem here is not the initial cost of the house, its the amount of time, money and energy it would cost to restore it. Undoing the subsequent additions would be unfortunate, as this is one of the rare instances where Wright was able to "grow" a house in a way that appears to be planned from the start (unlike Rosenbaum). It really is a fabulous house, and would be a great place to live if someone were to take on the project. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of individuals willing to buy the house at that price (which I believe is cheap) and then invest another 250-300k, resulting in over 1/2 million in a neighborhood where similar (non-wright) homes are on the market for 150k. It needs a person with a "long view" on owning Wright homes and the real estate market.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:03 pm

What did I miss? Why does the house need $250,000-300,000 in restoration?

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 9:49 am

Ok, you're right, I tend to estimate based upon what it would take for a complete restoration, and in this case it may not be true. A buyer could basically move in "as is" and over time take on the repairs needed to fix the house properly. It should be pointed out, however, that the roof needs some structural improvements. The master bath is non-existent (at least when I saw it a year ago) and the master bedroom does not have radiant heating, as it formerly served as a carport. The exterior woodwork needs TLC as well. Again, its a great house, and a wonderful example of Wright's ability to successful add to his own design.