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| Features |
Estates of Grace
Eryn Brown
06/01/2004
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George Siekkinen, the senior architect at the National Trust in
Washington, D.C., tells of a young couple with children who purchased a
“glorious house, an 18th-century home in Maryland, with gorgeous,
original-paneled rooms. But the interior wasn’t that big. The kitchen needed
rebuilding, and it only had one bath.” To balance the mandates of preservation
restrictions with the needs of a modern family, Siekkinen continues, the couple
soon realized they might have to convert several out-buildings into living
space, while maintaining the main structure as something of a museum piece.
Time, sweat and money would have eventually made the house a home, but the
family decided instead to move to another, more contemporary house. Indeed,
preservation restrictions may circumscribe our ability to change a house in any
material way, which in turn may affect its resale value. “You have to do due
diligence, check out the restrictions, and see if you can live with them,”
Siekkinen recommends.
Even with modern homes, the architecturally correct
decision may be the one that provides the least comfort. Crosby Doe, a partner
at Mossler, Deasy & Doe Realtors in Beverly Hills, says the firm’s newest
listing, a $6 million Neutra in Bel Air, offers sweeping views of Los Angeles
and massive glass walls that slide open to reveal the lush hills surrounding it.
But the house also has excruciatingly tiny bedrooms and built-in plywood
furniture—details any true Neutra devotee would be loath to change. Doe is
hoping to find a buyer who appreciates the Neutra touches as they are—one,
perhaps, like LaFetra, who has been immersed in renovating a Schindler home for
nearly two years.
LaFetra’s work has actually made his dwelling smaller: He
tore out several additions the previous owners had built, decreasing the size of
the house by about one-sixth, to 1,600 square feet. The changes he made to the
house’s kitchen would no doubt baffle most observers. “They had granite,”
LaFetra says, showing off a digital photograph of the old kitchen, with its
sleek, black stone countertops and brushed aluminum appliances. “It’s all
linoleum now,” he grins. “And it’s beautiful.”
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