Sunday, May 17, 2009

It's a matter of tase, I guess....

It's no secret that I love taking virtual tours of real estate listings.
Sometimes it's a great pick-me-up to see that money can't buy style.
Take this listing for example.
The house is in Centerville Virginia and is listed at $1,399,900(that's no typo!)

So far so good, right? A beautiful estate with a grand foyer. Lovely!
But, wait! There's more!





































The kitchen is quite ordinary. Nothing notable about it, really.
The Bathroom is lovely, but the rest of the house looks like the had a check list
of items from a 1980 issue of House Beautiful:

Deer Head - Check
Ugly Floral Furniture - Check
Baby Grand - Check (I'll bet no one plays!)






















































































Ugly Wallpaper boarder - Check
Poofy Curtains from 1990 - Check
Pool Table - Check
A room furnished all in white - check
Mounted Bear - Check! (Is this Sara Palin's Winter home?)





























































Sun Room - Cleche Wicker Furniture


















































And Yo-Ho-Ho! Look at the guest room! I remember seeing layouts featuring nautical themes in the 80's. And the Master Bedroom has so much potential. I could die in a room that size!

I suppose I ought to keep in mind that when a prospective buyer is looking for a home, they want to remodel to suit. And there's plenty of potential to do that with this place.

And I suppose I ought to give kudos to this home owner for not hiring an interior decorator and trying to do it themselves. If I could give advice to the next home owners, it would be, if you are going to try to decorate a house of this scale on your own, look for timeless colour schemes and furnishings. Tuscany is never out of date. Soft colours, heavy hard wood furniture, textural fabrics, thick draperies. It makes me cry when I see a house with this much potential in the hands of someone who fears decor.

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