This Modern Life

In the new-world-order of keeping only what you need/use and only what fits perfectly into your life, we've a few more things for sale… hopefully they'll be perfect in your life.

1: Eames chair bases
2: Wassily chair

Mary is presently standing guard — protecting us from the ferocious Miss/Mr. Jingles. Anyone loose a cute, but skittish cat?

I finished staining and waxing the prototype credenza/media console, but the finish is a bit too dark for our room. While it's a beautiful, highly grained black, we'll need a warmer wood piece…

So… anyone want to buy a credenza? 

Not sure how this evaded the MCM radar, but worthy if a look-see is the Mid-Century Modernist… a blog about all things Eames-y. Interestingly enough, it’s put on by fellow Bay-Area designer/writer Stephen Coles of Typographica (and others). If you learn something new every day, this is my one thing for today. G’night.

Casie likes the new vermicomposter and the worms — all of whom are named "Stan" — seem to be happy (and multiplying).

These are red-wigglers — the best for vermicomposting. They’ll eat
anything that was once living — paper, coffee grounds, veggies,
flowers, sawdust… some even say a telephone book… and the worm-poop
is good for the garden.

Previously, we had a single black bin, but we got this one at the local Elephant Pharmacy and gave the old one (and 1/2 the worms… of 1/2 the Stans) to our neighbors Kyle and Sarah. If an adult is having this much fun, some 4th graders would be lovin’ it for sure. Locally, you can get your worms from "the worm dude" (search for it on Craigslist — he travels from farmers market to market) or you can find them online…

… and sometimes driving the truck all over the place gets boring. That’s why hauling electrical conduit in the Bug can be fun…

Our neighbor’s house at 4125 Phoenix was in short-sale for the longest time… unfortunately, the bank did not accept the above-asking offer and the house will sell at auction. Yikes!

Thursday, July 31st
10am
Martinez Courthouse (Steps)

For more information about the house, contact the (old) agent.

Hopefully, an enthusiast might be able to make this house into something special, but if it sells at auction to a developer or flipper, who knows what will happen.

So… if you know someone looking for an Eichler in "not-horrible" shape, let them know…

One of the nice things about our location in Concord is that we live 5 minutes from the BART station where there's plenty of free parking and a 45-minute (to the minute) ride to the New Montgomery station near where we work. Even better, the BART station is 2 blocks from Todos Santos Plaza — creating almost a "transit village": offices, transport, retail (restaurants, grocery stores), movie theater, living (new condos) all within a 6 block radius (there's even a police station).

Coming home from work, Casie and I decided to walk from BART over to Todos Santos Plaza for some sushi forgetting on Thursday evening, there's free music and a Farmer's Market in the park…

Holy cow! we had no idea there would be so many people smiling and enjoying the Aloha of the Island dancers and band on stage. It was amazing. People (and kids) of all different ages, backgrounds, and stations in life just kind of chillin'…or buying strawberries.

It was neat to be there and definitely gave a "this is why we moved here" vibe to the day.

Our friends, Brendan and Thom at Semigood have recently been picked up by LA-design/interior gurus FordBrady. I’ve known Brendan since the time when I didn’t give him a job on my design team because he was too good (really, it’s true) and since then, he’s proved me right.

Some good stuff here: American made (by hand) from sustainably forested hardwoods and produced with minimal shipping (unlike some folks who take American hardwoods ship it overseas for manufacture and ship it back as bulky furniture pieces). Presently, it’s made (again, by hand) in Seattle where Thom is keeping the shop, so for us west-coast folks, they’re almost local.

In conjunction with the FordBrady connection, they’ve introduced a new line called Rian with a mid-century flair… worth checking out.

We had a chance to take a look at 4125 Phoenix… a house that’s sadly in a short-sale (the step before foreclosure) so it’s a unique opportunity. Unlike many short-sales, the owner actually is taking care of the house (and had been). Honestly, if we were shopping today, we’d be submitting an offer. Offers are still being accepted and reviewd by the bank, but current offers are at or over the asking price, so low-balls are not an option. Obviously, we’re interested in getting a fan of Eichler homes in there. You can contact the agents (Nancy and Sue) for more information…

Some facts:
— one car garage floor plan (4BR, 2BA) like this one.
— covered atrium… done tastefully, though.
— tar and gravel roof
— one wall-unit AC in the MBR
— swamp-cooler in the den (could/should be converted to an AC unit easily).

The good:
— mostly original… or able to return to something very close
— currently very livable
— easy to return to an "Eichler-eque" vision with new finishes
— windows/sliding doors are original
— beautiful Japanese Elm and Eucalyptus in the back yard
— interesting built in hot-tub (or personal pool).

The bad(ish):
— radiant heat is not working
— the paneling has been painted over
— the decor makes the house look less-original than it is

Some thoughts:
— Honestly, the bad list is not bad… most are things you’d swap out anyway or would find on a 40 year old Eichler… paint, surfaces, etc. and while the decor is making the house look less than ideal, again… a fresh coat of paint can do wonders.
— I’d put one of these in each room — and one of these where the swamp cooler is… while we LOVE our minisplit system, there are already holes cut in the wall here. Plus, these also provide heat. I’d not spend the money to fix the radiant heat (unless it’s easy and cheap) and install AC/heaters in each room for more targeted heating/cooling and instead spend the money on a new foam roof that will hold the good temps inside and keep the bad temps out.
— the most egregious thing is the decor and finishes which can be swapped out easily. For instance, a new IKEA kitchen with all new appliances will clock in at about $10K to refresh the kitchen. New tile in the logia and new carpet throughout would clock in at under $5K… and while not specific estimates, all in all simply an illustration that things can be brought back for reasonable sums.

Obviously, in a real estate slump, it’s dangerous to say anything is under-priced, but looking at the condition of the house and the comp-sales, this could be a real-deal for someone…

Some photos: