I lived over 30 years in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. Though it’s not a place I choose to live now, Queens will always have a special place in my heart. Even now, five years after moving away from New York, I still visit often and keep up by reading Queens blogs.

When I was growing up, the trend was to buy up houses and knock them down to be replaced by apartment buildings and multiple family houses. My area of Queens was the city’s melting pot and more families moved in each month. I couldn’t believe it when developers turned the Colonial next door to my grandmother’s house into a four family home and built a three family apartment building in the driveway.

The house with the arrow is the house I grew up in, my grandmother’s house. The house with two dots was built into the driveway of the white house to the left of it. And to the left of that, with two dots on the roof, is the two family house where I rented an apartment for 15 years.

Now there’s a different trend. Charming old homes are being torn down to be replaced by McMansions. Since space is limited many of the structures are rather narrow, like this:

And this:

Here’s my problem with McMansions. I understand when homeowners want to build on or increase their curb appeal. I don’t even mind McMansions so much. They can’t hold a candle to my mother’s 119 year old Victorian but some of them have charm in a mass-produced cookie cutter sort of way.

Queens is one of “The Boroughs.” Many of us chose to live in the boroughs because it was cheaper than the Manhattan where a one room studio averages about $2500 per month and apartments sell for millions.

With developers tearing down affordable 3 and 4 bedroom homes and building huge, and I mean huge, multi-million dollar homes, only the rich will be able to afford to live in Queens anymore.

Certainly the average Joe couldn’t afford this home:

Or this one:

And especially not this one:

Goodbye Queens. I’m so glad I grew up in the 70’s when all the families on 50th Avenue knew each other and the houses warm, comfortable and quaint.

Please visit Deborah Ng’s other blogs: Freelance Writing Jobs, Simply Thrifty and Celebrity Cowboy.

[Images via Queebs Reborn: For Better or For Worse.]

Post from: Blisstree

Queens McMansions: Making Life Less Affordable in ‘The Boroughs’

Talia Mana, an Offbeat Homes reader sent me pictures of one of her previous homes located in Whangarei New Zealand. Talia has since sold it but had a hard time doing so. Seemingly folks thought it was a little too wacky — I actually think it’s very approachable. But then, I see a lot of wacky homes.

Here’s a view of the front; notice the rocks incorporated into the outer wall — I love that look. You get rocks that provide a natural look, but it’s not overwhelmingly rock made.

If I had to guess, I’d say the roof helped to throw buyers for a loop. People are still catching on to the idea of green garden roofs. According to Talia, one buyer came back five times but couldn’t get his wife to agree to the purchase.

Regarding the house, Talia says, “Everything was built from eco friendly materials. No paint was used only stains and washes without harmful chemicals… The earth roof and grasses purpose is eco friendly absorption of rain to prevent waste water problems and insulation.“

Cool. As noted often, we love a good eco-friendly home here at Offbeat.

Something neat about this home is the landscaping. When Talia lived here the plot was 45 acres. So you don’t want to be the one doing the landscaping but it is nice to look at.

And another full view of the home with some of the landscaping.

The pictures above are a bit scratchy but you get the idea — really nice layout on the land. Although this house is in New Zealand, it reminds me of a lot of the architecture you see in New Mexico. Two very different cultures but still with likewise designs.

The home was designed by an architect who worked with Hundertwasser. Hundertwasser was a well-known artist / architect who really deserves his own post so we’ll stop the discussion now — but it’s an interesting and good selling point for this particular home.

Do you want to have your home be the star of Offbeat for a day? What about that oddball doghouse you built or that wacky shed. If you’ve got an offbeat structure I’d love to see it and so would other readers. Send that structure to jennifer.chait (at) b5media.com

Many thanks to Talia Mana for sending me the very first reader offbeat home. If you’d like to learn more about Talia, outside of the fab home she owned you can visit her at The Centre for Emotional Well-Being or at New Zealand Reality TV Updates & Gossip.

Post from: Blisstree

Reader Home #1: New Zealand Retreat