Look at the price tag on this thing! Seems to me comparable to some of the smaller houses built by the forum members here. I imagine Toronto real estate is plenty high, but that doesn't exactly appear to be a particularly ritzy neighborhood.
What do you think it would cost to build something like that, your labor?
http://www.contemporist.com/2008/10/14/the-12-cassels-house-by-reigo-bauer/ (http://www.contemporist.com/2008/10/14/the-12-cassels-house-by-reigo-bauer/)
I don't see a link. Maybe it's this house?
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3923.msg46161#msg46161
http://www.thelittlehouse.ca/page6.aspx
Doip!
Sorry, fixed.
Quote from: MountainDon on January 23, 2010, 12:59:57 PM
I don't see a link. Maybe it's this house?
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=3923.msg46161#msg46161
http://www.thelittlehouse.ca/page6.aspx
Whoa! :D
That's interesting, but the architecture doesn't do much for me.
Quote from: MountainDon on January 23, 2010, 01:07:48 PM
That's interesting, but the architecture doesn't do much for me.
Matter of tastes, yeah. Build something like that for $50,000?. Whatcha think?
I am not a big fan of that style either. I would be afraid that when I walked in that someone was going to prep me for surgery. ;D
I thought that place looked familiar. Its a 5 min walk from my place! Its in a nice part of Toronto called the Beaches. The real estate market is hot here. It doesn't have parking, so I thinks its worth $500,000 now.
The house seems to fit in well enough. The roofline is similiar to other houses in the area. It has the same set back. since those photos were posted, they have done more work to the landscaping so its consistent with others. I like the outside look here in the City but not for the country.
The lack of roof overhang does look odd and I think overhangs are a good thing for your exterior walls. The owners seem to be having a challenge with blinds on the tall upper triangular windows.
Too modernist for me, I prefer the house to the right.
I'd rather have the one on the right too, as far as appearances go.
Yes, yes! I don't like it either, but what do you think you could build something comparable with similar dimensions for, using your own labor?
Put whatever cosmetic touches on it that you wish! I mean, it's your imaginary project, after all! :D
I'm just curious as to what y'all's ballpark guess would be.
Do it yourself, yeah, I'd say you should be able to come in around $50,000.
The front and back are entirely glass? In Canada? How the hell does something like this pass code? Even the best windows and shades have an R value of what... 5? Even if one side faced south for solar gain, the other side would face north for complete loss. The energy bills alone would make me not want to live there.
Also, I love how they expect $CAD 420,000 to be the average home buyer. The median household income in Canada is 53,000. Most people couldn't qualify for the mortgage.
I'm sorry if this offends someone that really likes this house. Too many drawbacks for me.
Yeah, all glass. Struck me as pretty funny, that they used glass for the whole front and back, then painted over where they didn't want windows.
What struck me was how close the houses are together. My nearest neighbor is over 300 feet away through dense trees. I've grown accustomed to not having people be able to see me, and now that I've grown to enjoying my summertime outside showers, I don't think I'd be able to transition to living in such close proximity to other people.
The neighborhood where I grew up in Winnipeg, Canada was originally built up in 1914. The lots are all platted at 25 feet wide. I forget the depth, but I'm guessing they were about 100 feet deep, front sidewalk to the back fence that separated the property from the back alley. Not much space. Most homes were 1 1/2 or 2 story with a few 2 1/2. The block was about 75 lots long. In that block there were three homes built on double lots. They had been left unbuilt until the 50's. They were rather strange as those three had smallish one story homes built on them at that time. My wife and I bought one of them across the street from the house I grew up in. My parents still lived there at the time. The house was 832 sq ft and sat crosswise on the property. We had a huge backyard compared to all the other homes. It was still small compared to the newer developments.
The narrow lots seemed normal when I was a kid. With that many homes on the street there were loads of kids.
The lots around that house vary. As narrow as 20' to 30'. Depth is 120'. The city blocks are small too. Its in the city and we are 10min drive to downtown. Yes its tight to get to get to the backyards. There is a great variety of house styles unlike the surburbia cookie cutter houses. We love it as everyone sees each other (no, not necessarily being peeping toms) and it starts conversations. Just like living in a small town. We walk to the corner stores.
When I want privacy, I have a 108sf cabin on 5 acres of land out in the country. If I didn't need to work, I'd be living out there.
Regarding the comment about affordability. I hear ya. I've been here for 10 yrs and wouldn't be able to afford the current prices. Our place has tripled in value. That house that started these comments is in the lower 1/3 end of the price range in this neighbourhood.
Rover, now ya got me wonderin' about Toronto. Driven by it a half dozen times at least on my way to somewhere else, but as a destination city I've never been.
If I had all the money I'd spent of cigarettes and booze in Montreal, on the other hand... ;D
I agree with John; it looks like a hospital or clinic.
Who really wants to live in a steril lab with floor to ceiling windows? Maybe a lab rat. ???
I had to laugh where the article says that it is available to anybody and everybody! Really? :o Anybody and everybody can afford a half million dollar house, right?
It reminds me of a house that was built in a small town near us back in the 1950's or '60's. It was on a state highway and everybody called it the glass house because the walls were mostly, if not all, glass. It was just a glass box with a flat roof.
The house is still there, but the current owners have replaced the majority of the glass panels with solid ones. It still looks like a modern house but more liveable. Those who live in glass houses...... :)
These houses always remind me of the Billy Joel album cover.