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Grand Old Beach House, Built 1933, To Be Replaced by Modern Homes
Temperatures have been unseasonably high the last couple of weeks in my neck of the woods–global warming I suppose–and I have been contemplating a day trip to the beach when I get caught up with work. While I was thinking about the beach, it occurred to me that I never read anything about old beach houses. I read about the restoration and preservation of old houses around the country side, in small towns and large cities, but I’ve never seen anything about old house preservation at the beach, until today.
Save the Old Beach House
I happened upon a blog that a Ms. Reitz posted concerning an old beach house her parents purchased in Newport Beach, California. It was built in 1933 and appears to be everything you might want an old house at the beach to be. Unfortunately, the reason the old house was purchased was to tear it down and construct two new beach houses on the lot. Evidently, that happens a lot with old beach houses: Maybe that’s why I never read about their restoration.
Ms. Reitz is an old house enthusiast, and from the way she describes the beach house, it is obvious she is smitten with it, but her father doesn’t quite see it that way. He offered to let her move it to another lot, but she doesn’t have the resources for an undertaking of that magnitude. He doesn’t plan to tear it down for another six months, so perhaps he will come around to her way of thinking.
I read about a family in New York who purchased an old beach house and after using it for several years decided to tear it down and build a modern home on the lot. When I look at the pictures of that new beach house and compare it to the old beach house Ms. Reitz described in her blog, I can’t imagine someone preferring a modern home over the old house at Newport Beach. The new home appears to be cold and uninviting, whereas the old beach house looks warm, comfortable, and full of character–but maybe that’s just through my eyes.
First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit Extension Passed by House of Representatives
I recently wrote a blog post about my frustration with the inaction on the motion to extend the time period for the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit, and evidently the House was concerned about irritating me further! They passed the measure today with a vote of 409-5. The Senate still needs to vote on it, but it’s expected to pass and the new deadline for closing on a qualifying home will be September 30.
