The Minneapolis Real Estate Blog: May 2008

This weeks highlighted historic home is located at 476 Summit Avenue in St. Paul.

Built between 1883-1885, the home was designed by Clarence Johnston for Chauncey Griggs. As you can tell, it is surrounded by large trees, making it very difficult to get a good shot of the home. It is built in the Richardson Romanesque style, a very popular style at the time, at a cost of $35,000.

Returning to St. Paul after fighting in the Civil War, Griggs established a coal and lumber business with James J. Hill, then with R. W. Johnson, and finally with Addison G. Foster. His neighbor at 490 Summit Avenue, Mr. Foster, also had his home designed by Clarence Johnston.

Early photographs were taken of the home around 1888, and a very famous one from 1895 because of the children in the forefront, giving a good representation of period dress. The photos show the original look of the home, before some additions were made. The most notable change to the home is the removal of the front gable around 1940, being replaced by a huge skylight to give more light for its current owners, the St. Paul Gallery and School of Arts. The front porch that wrapped around the home has also been removed, making way for a ramp.

The current owners bought the home in 1982 and have been making many renovations to the home, bringing it back to its original splendor. You can imagine that over the years, many different types of interior design have graced the walls, so it is only understandable what a monumental task it is to restore the home. In 2004, the home was featured in the Summit Hill House Tour.

Some of the home features include "Grand hallways, twelve-foot ceilings on the first floor, majestic fireplaces, and a sweeping 26-foot high staircase... A unique carving of a cockfight adorns the fireplace in the music room and the dining room's white marble mantle is decorated with a geometric serpentine inlay (a symbol of endless happiness) ".

One feature some may not like is the reported haunted house events. Seems the home is surrounded by stories at reported here.

No one likes the government telling them how their home should look, but when it comes to historic homes, many neighbors applaud when the government intervenes. For decades, historic areas have been establishing committees to be watch dogs of historic districts. Here in Minnesota, they are called Historic Preservation Commissions. In other states they are called Architectural Review Boards.

In Florida, where we renovated a 110 year old Queen Anne Victorian, we had to go up in front of a tribunal called the Architectural Review Board. Let's just say, if the home is historic, than any renovations have to keep in the spirit of the home. They are ten times more strict than any commission here in the Twin Cities. Take for instance the 22 original wood windows in the home. Here in the Twin Cities, people can replace their homes with vinyl windows. In Florida, vinyl is not an option. The only thing we could do was replace with wood windows, which by the way, you cannot find at Lowe's. We had to have Pella windows custom make all the windows, especially the 9' floor to ceiling windows. Needless to say, they were not cheap.

Historic Preservation Commissions are a good thing. They allow for some or alot of design control, but how far their reach stretches, depends on the details in the local ordinances. Those that make the laws determine how "historic" a home must remain. Many times, the judgements passed by the HPC can be non-binding, with final approval given by the city. Other times the HPC holds the final say. It all depends on where you live and the local ordinances.

What has been your experience when going up against local historic boards?

To learn more about local commissions, visit the following websites:

Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission

Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission

Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission

A street easily overlooked in Saint Paul is Irvine Avenue. It is located "below" Summit Avenue, and you can look up to see the back sides of the most expensive historic homes on Summit. A few great finds are some of the remaining carriage houses of these massive homes.. Some have been saved and converted to single family residences or condo units, but others, like the fantastic ruins pictured above are slowing decaying away.

This old carriage house sits behind 332 Summit Avenue...you can see what it used to look like, as of 1950, from this photo. It is a protected historic structure so any future plan to restore or demolish the building would have to meet Preservation Committee approval.

...is to use natural light as much as possible. Now I know this might seem elementary, but how often do you take a shot outside and not think about the lighting? How often do you forget about that big bright disk in the sky and use it against you?

Sun behind a Cloud                                                Full Sun

I am sure you can see the difference a cloud can make. I took this shot at 2 pm. The sun is starting to creep around the side of the church, so shadows are already beginning to shade the facade. Taking a photo in the morning, since the Cathedral faces east, would have been a better idea.

So when you go out to photograph your listing, make sure to think about the time of day and which way the house faces. Houses that face east should be shot in the morning and those that face west should be shot in the afternoon. I have even gone out to a house once at 10 am, then again at 3 pm, to get good pictures of the home. It does mean extra work, but that's what you are getting paid for, right?

One my favorite mediums to take photos with is my little black and white setting on my camera.

Sure you can go into photoshop and turn color photos into black and white, but I think you get a better result when you take the photos out in the field in B&W. You can instantly see how the shadows and grey areas fall in the photo and then tweak your camera position or subject matter.

The coming rain storm was great to capture.

My last photo post talked about close up pictures of flowers, but you might consider close up shots of plants as well.

I captured this wild fern as it was beginning to unfurl. I took me about 10 tries to get the lighting right and the photo into focus. It was a cloud covered day so direct natural light was very limited.

During my nature hike, I found this large egg with some great spots on it....perfect for a black and white photo. Try and use the Macro feature on your camera...represented by the little flower icon.

This weeks feature is not of a home, but of a historic building called Woodland Terrace in St. Paul.

Located on Dayton Avenue, the row house was built in 1889, supposedly by B.J. Buechner. They were renovated in the 1980s and updated with new mechanicals, etc. The building really is amazing once you get a closer look. The patterned brickwork and small stone carvings throughout, including the arched entry ways, really make the building "pop". At first glance, the buildings look Richardson Romanesque because of the stone work, but when you look at the gables, balcony design, windows, and roof line, Queen Anne Victorian screams out at you.




There is currently one unit for sale through Coldwell Banker for $645,000. To give you an idea on size, the four level unit has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and around 2700 square feet. Many people compare these units to those found in New England Brownstone row houses.

Hmmm, I just noticed I have an even 90,000 points. What are the odds that you would hit an even number like that. With the way the points are calculated, I cannot even imagine how rare this must be. I also cannot believe I have been on Active Rain this long. It just seems like yesterday that I started blogging and had no clue what I was doing. Seventeen months later, here I still am, clicking away.

There are people who were blogging years before I even knew the thing existed. If you have been on Active Rain awhile, then you know who they are. Where will I be in the next year? Where will you be? Will you still be typing away here on AR?

The last few weeks I have taken a step back from blogging. One reason is that I have been really busy with buyers, and the other is that I am just enjoying time with the kids. Like John Lennon says, life is what happens while you're making other plans. I have found that sometimes blogging can consume me, and I forget to look up from the computer. The other day my son was trying to get my attention, and I was so busy blogging that I didn't hear him.

When I finally felt him tugging my arm, I realized that, much like a video game consumes our children, so has blogging consumed parts of my life. At that moment, I realized that maybe I should take a step back and make sure I am not missing life as it happens. I decided to make a plan for my blogging.

My new goal is to only blog when my children are asleep. That means I will mostly be blogging at night, like right now. Have you thought about how blogging effects those around you?  Do you no longer talk to your spouse because your head is buried in a laptop?  I realized both I and my husband would have our heads in laptops at the same time. Now I make sure to close them and take time with ourselves.

We live in a world where technology surrounds us. It has become so much a part of our daily routine that we forget life with out it. Yesterday I stepped away from the TV, computer, and phone, and went for a long walk with my family. I even took photographs of nature after a spring rain. What fun it was to be free. When was the last time you were free?

...right after a spring rain.

If you want to get some great shots of flowers or foliage with water droplets, then head out with your camera after a rain. Yesterday we had a light spring rain with a slight chill in the air. I decided to bundle up in my rain boots and rain coat and try to get some shots like the pros.

Spring is just happening in Minnesota, very late for the season, but there are still some great early flowers to photograph. The first flower I came upon was the Brunerra Hosta at the right. It blooms dainty little purple-blue flowers.

Or how about capturing a tulip right before the petals open up. The tulip here was able to hold lots of water for me....must have known I was coming. 

The purple flower to the right had this one drop that was slowly sliding down the petal. Luckily I showed up in time to capture it before if fell to the ground a few minutes later.

Don't forget to take pictures of the foliage, too!

Remember, when thinking of what to photograph, make sure to remember the things most people do not take photos of, or better yet, times of the day when to go out and experiment.

Hint: If your seller has a fantastic garden, why not take some photos of the flowers, and highlight them in your marketing!

 A few weeks ago, I was contacted about representing a family who had recently lost their loved one to suicide. The death occurred in the home, and as you can imagine, the family is extremely upset. Currently they are taking steps to clean the room in which the death occurred, removing drywall, painting, etc. Thankfully, the insurance company is covering the cost to repair.

We do not know if the home will have to go through probate yet, so the listing of the home is on hold.

My question is, should the suicide be disclosed to any buyers that show interest in the home, once it is listed? Each state has different disclosure laws. Here is how Minnesota addresses the issue:

• the law says that all material facts pertaining to the physical condition of the home must be disclosed
• the law says that it is not a material fact that some with HIV or AIDS lived there, was the site of a suicide, accidental death, natural death, or perceived paranormal activity. 
• HOWEVER, the law also says that if a real estate licensee is aware of any material fact about the property that might adversely affect the use or enjoyment of the home, then those facts must be disclosed to prospective buyers

Can you see the Catch 22 I am in by state law.

I don't have to disclose the suicide because it is not a material fact, but I have to disclose anything that might affect the enjoyment of the home. Putting myself in the buyer's shoes, I don't think it would bother me if a suicide occurred in the home, but it could affect someone's enjoyment of the home if they became haunted by the fact someone died in a specific room.

The choice to not disclose the death could be "overturned" by any neighbors who feel it is their obligation to inform prospects about what happened. Stories can even be embellished and the truth lost by those who do not know the facts.

I am sure most buyers would like to know the history of the home, no matter how hard a subject it is.

What would you do in this case? Or, have any of you been put in this situation and how did you address the issue? Any helpful advice is greatly appreciated!