A Contest without a Prize

Greetings!

For those of you who are reading this because you noticed my DC Arts & Crafts game in the September 10th issue of Metro Weekly, here are the answers to the questions I posed in the ad. This was essentially a contest without a prize and just a nice way to get to know a little something about the arts and architecture found here in DC.

1) What era constituted the American Arts & Crafts Movement?

The Arts and Crafts Movement was an international design movement that originated in England and flourished between 1880 and 1910, continuing its influence up to the 1930s. In the United States, the terms American Craftsman, or Craftsman style are often used to denote the style of architecture, interior design, and decorative arts that prevailed roughly between 1910 and 1925.

2) What are three characteristics of an Arts & Crafts-style home?

Exterior characteristics: wide eaves, exposed rafter tails and joists along the roof line, an emphasis on wood and natural materials. Interior characteristics: art glass, built-in cabinetry and wood details such as moulding and in-laid floors.

3) What three galleries are located in or near the DC Atlas District?

Studio H at 408a H Street, NE on the second floor
http://www.studiohdc.com/
City Gallery at 804 H Street, NE
http://www.citygallerydc.com/
Artful Gallery at 1349 Maryland Avenue, NE
http://www.artfulgallery.net/

4) Who was Harry Wardman and what is/was his claim to fame?

Harry Wardman (April 11, 1872–March 18, 1938) was a real estate developer in Washington, D.C. during the early 20th century whose developments included landmark hotels, luxury apartment buildings, and many rowhouses. Wardman built many of the city's rowhouses, especially in the neighborhoods of Columbia Heights, Bloomingdale, Eckington and Brightwood as well as the 1,200-room Wardman Park Hotel (now the site of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel and Conference Center) along Connecticut Avenue in Woodley Park.

5) What 2010 HGTV Design Star contestant calls DC home?

Local designer and St. Croix native Alex Sanchez made his television debut as a contestant on the fifth season of “HGTV Design Star.” While not the ultimate winner, we cheered him on and continue to do so as he beautifies the city, one condo at a time.

6) What local artist’s paintings feature colorful DC landmarks?

Daniel Kessler. You will recognize his work at http://www.kesslerart.com/.

7) Who was first on DC’s go-go music scene?

A handful of bands contributed to the early evolution of this uniquely regional music style of the mid- to late-1970s, but singer-guitarist Chuck Brown is credited with having developed most of the hallmarks of the style. His popular hit, Bustin’ Loose, has recently gone mainstream as the music heard in a television commercial for Chips Ahoy.

8) How drunk was Pierre L’Enfant when he designed DC’s layout?

If you are a recent resident of DC, you probably think he had tee many mar-toonis as he completed the wheels and spokes of our state-named streets, but the grid system is rather simple to navigate once you understand it – just allow a little extra time for driving around the circles several times at first to find the spoke you want.

9) When and where will the next DC Artomatic be held?

We would all love to know the answer to that question. Can anyone in the know chime in?

10) Which DC Realtor® will artfully craft an offer for your next home?

That would be me, naturellement.

Ode to The Washington Blade

Hello everyone! Did you miss me?

Blogging is great fun but very time consuming. Whatever you may have heard about a troubling real estate market, I have not found that to be the case and have been extremely busy this year.

Sadly, this year brought about the demise of The Washington Blade, where I have advertised for more than 10 years. Just before the paper folded, they celebrated their 40th anniversary in business so it was totally unexpected.

My colleagues, Karen Lucey-Guess from Mason-Dixon Funding, Inc. and David Kanstoroom of North American Title and I jointly purshased two ads recently - one for the 40th Anniversary issue and the other for the Best of Gay DC issue. As you can imagine, I count among my clientele some of the very best of Gay DC, so I am reprinting for you here what was my last advertisement in The Blade (with apologies to HGTV). Enjoy!

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Several months ago while my partner and I were trying to Get It Together on a Monday morning after a bit too much Extreme Living over the weekend, we decided that we were tired of being Property Virgins and called Valerie Blake to see if she would help us find our Dream House.

“How can I help you?” asked Valerie. “Well,” I replied, “we were out in Rebecca’s Garden on Sunday planting Red Hot and Green chili peppers and realized that we don’t want to be
Urban Outsiders anymore. We need some New Spaces and are Desperate to Buy before the $8000 tax credit expires on November 30th.

“I’m know of a wonderful place with a Divine Design and Myles of Style that would be a great Bang for Your Buck if you’re willing to invest some Sweat Equity,” replied Valerie. “I’ll e-mail you the virtual tour and then you can call Karen Lucey-Guess to get pre-approved for your loan.”

Well, the place just screamed, “Buy Me!” We didn’t even need to Sleep On It overnight, so my partner called Karen while I e-mailed my sister.

“Dear Genevieve,” I wrote, “We’ve found our new home. It’s a bit of a Designer’s Challenge, but it’s got great Curb Appeal and I’m sure our cousin Carter Can help us find its Hidden Potential.”

“We’re approved!” called my partner from the other room. (Since we had recently found some Cash in the Attic and knew our credit score wasn’t Beyond Repair, Karen had told us, “Don’t Sweat It,” but she also cautioned, “It’s important that you don’t get Over Your Head in debt.” )

If Walls Could Talk, they would tell you that the seller had told his agent, “Get it Sold,” so within a few weeks we were at the settlement table with David Kanstoroom, who did a Double Take when he saw what a great deal we got.

And after months of dealing with Renovation Realities and Gardening by the Yard, we are finally celebrating The Big Reveal of our new home, thanks to Valerie, Karen and David.

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I can't wait to see what the former employees of The Blade have in store next for DC.

The Renovation Dissertation, Part 1

My friend Karen and I still have so much faith in the real estate marketplace that we have recently embarked on a project to bring a 1970’s townhouse-style condo kicking and screaming into the new millennium. I have the real estate knowledge and a handle on what sells in this market, as well as experience in renovating properties all over the country. Karen, a senior mortgage lender with a local firm (klucey@masondixon.com), is both financial and design consultant on the project. We’re gonna have some fun!

Our “flip,” as they say on TLC, is a 4-level building that currently has 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, an outdated kitchen, plain Jane baths, carpet everywhere, an unfinished basement, more than 1500 square feet of finished space, a great location, central air conditioning, huge closets, a fenced yard and gated parking. I hope you will understand that until we close on the deal, I must keep the address to myself.

I am an avid watcher of HGTV and TLC, but Flip That House really makes me cringe. I commend those who are lucky enough to stay on deadline, not overextend their budget and sell the property in a reasonable amount of time. For the others, well, I feel their pain. Yet my main concern is that while people get drawn into renovating properties by the promise of large financial gains, TLC merely adds what the people paid for the house to what they spent in renovations and subtracts the total from the final sales price to arrive at the “profit.” This, I believe, does a real disservice to John and Jane out there in Viewerland, who are sitting on the sofa munching Cheetos and thinking this would be fun.

Where are the costs associated with buying the house? Where are the costs of carrying the mortgage, utilities and, in some cases, condo fees? Where are the costs of selling the house? What about the time involved in researching properties, locating and monitoring suppliers and subcontractors, and even doing your own demolition? Isn’t your time worth something? All these costs play a prominent role in figuring profit. And that figure is only a pre-tax profit, so you haven’t really even reached the bottom line until you pay Federal and State tax on the gross profit you received.

So, by using this Blog as a reality series, complete with photos, descriptions and recommendations for the uninitiated renovator, I have several objectives.

1) To let people who are thinking about renovating live vicariously through Karen’s & my experiences,
2) To point out pitfalls and celebrate successes,
3) To provide a more accurate analysis of the time and money involved in this type of work, and of course
4) To let would-be buyers follow our progress and provide input.

Stay tuned as we march from contract ratification through inspection to settlement and beyond. If all goes as planned, the Open House will be in June.