Why update? It would be cheaper to put a Chevy 409 SS in the driveway and buy some skinny ties and a lava lamp.

Hey you! Hands off my 409!

{{!gwi}}
Cool!

I like it! Full-on baby boom retro. JFK is king. Marilyn's cooing. Elvis is still in the house.

But in an upper income neighbourhood as bland as bland can be, where adolescent dreams have long been surrendered for golf club memberships and an SUV and a Merc in the driveway. Bound to be a big seller!

You want upscale?

The Jag is rad but the chebby would be mucho bueno out here in the west...lowered, candy apple red, lights in the wheel wells, dingle balls abounding with red,white, and green stripes for the upholstery. Dont forget the hydraulics kickin' it from high rise to low rider! Bounce dat mudda down the 405!

Where I'm from you could get shot for trashing a 409.

"Where I'm from you could get shot for trashing a 409."

Deservingly so! Anyone that takes a classic of any make or model and turns it into a la bamba ought to be strung up!:-)

An upward pointing Jag snuggling up to a legs-akimbo lassie spreading open her fur coat. Talk about subliminal advertising.

Thanks gang for all the helpful design suggestions!

Still, I soldier on. Similar house reno/addition. Any thoughts?

park the 409 in the drive.
have fun with the house!
I saw a house nearby that is almost exactly like yours.
I wonder if the floor plan is similar? They sold to a
couple from Texas,
Congrats on the new fixer upper.

Thanks!

I've just come across a stash of old slides of my family and me in our then brand new 1958 suburban home. Two-tone green asbestos siding--to match the two-tone green '53 Buick Roadmaster in the drive. Mom in her sleeveless A-Line. Dad in a Mad Men suit. It's so wonderfully retro!

Unfortunately, now we're 20 miles north of the downtown hipsters who would "get it."

It looks like a nice brick Colonial ... work on the interior to get the plumbing and kitchen into great shape.

I'd get big of the terrible porch and do a better one, more suited to the Federal style it's trying to ape. And I'd paint the brick. I love brick, but NOT orange.

Right on the porch. It's so terrible it may have been a later "improvement", as were the execrable "shutters". The brick is redder than the pic registers.

The biggest problem I see is in the roofline. First, the lack of space between the roof and the upper floor windows. Traditional Georgians, as in the pic below, have a generous spacing there, often filled with elaborate cornicework. Secondly, the angle is too shallow to support dormers.

I was thinking maybe adding EIFS stucco, thus obtaining the benefit of insulation. There's probably a nominal R12 fiberglass in the walls; there's nothing at all in the finished basement.

Still, I think the proportions of my fixer-upper are off for a Georgian style home.

After moving in and investing $1,200 on new elevation plans, I'm taking the easy way out: total demolition. I guess we're moving soon!