I love the awnings, if only because houses of this era typically had them–hey, there wasn’t any air conditioning, they had to get creative. This double is simple, but has so much potential. While there have been many restorations elsewhere in Herron-Morton Place, this one has been boarded up for at least a decade. And this is a picture from a year or two ago. It looked much worse last time I passed by.
Here’s my prayer: if someone buys a house like this as a development opportunity, why not give the buyer a year or two to get it fixed up, or start raising the taxes exponentially if there’s no forward motion.
Or: got any better ideas?
Wish to keep up with renovations in Indaianpolis’ “Center Township” inner city…which could be “reborn” like inner city Atlanta if the city committed to a program other than “demolitions”…
I hope your prayers are answered. I like your idea of giving the purchaser of a distressed property some kind of a tax break for a reasonable period of time, while renovations are being made. Such a policy would encourage more people to invest in older homes that have “challenges.” Receiving a tax break might also provide an opportunity for someone who would not otherwise be able to own a home to do so. It could be a “win-win” for both the purchaser and the city.
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A few notes regarding the particular property you’ve pictured here . . . There are a number of two-family homes of this exact same design on Talbott Street between 18th and 22nd Streets. There are also several single-family homes along that same stretch of Talbott that appear to have been built by the same builder (judging by their similar ornamental rock-faced concrete block foundations, bay windows, hip rooflines, and attic dormers).
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All of the doubles similar to this one have been “modernized” in some way or another — with such amenities as aluminum siding, aluminum storm windows, wrought iron porch railings, chain link fences, etc. None of the other properties has awnings, so I do not think awnings were original to the property in the photo. It is certainly understandable that someone would install awnings over west-facing windows in the days before central air conditioning was commonplace, but in my humble opinion the awnings need to go.
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I am not a fan of the aluminum either, in any part. And I should have explained myself better: I love that the awnings (even in an aluminum version) are a reminder of how most all houses used to have them (made of some kind of fabric, though). So, just the reminder makes me smile. Of course awnings weren’t built ON the structure, but it’s perfectly plausible that the owner could have had fabric ones made for it after it was built.