what do you want, a tilt up contractor grade beige house with a giant 3 car garage out front??? Don't hate on a significant building with actual style.

I grew up on Queen Anne, and the idea that this fits in to the area at all (even as something that fits into a "new" context of neighborhood) is just as stupid as the comment posted by AD on 9-9-08 suggesting that "a giant 3 car garage out front" would be seen as some sort of an improvement by the neighborhood. It's like a cancer standing alone. The old Love Israel house fit better in the neighborhood than this squared off version of the blob. But then again this is Seattle, and they'll let anyone build whatever they want (thanks Mayor McCheese) as long as they can throw enough money around. And as for the crack about QA being "white" made by the insulting author of the story, so what? Like everwhere else in Seattle people with money moved in, built as cheap and as big as possible without real oversight (the planning comission here is an unregulated joke in the back pocket of anyone with enough money), sold as high as the "Market" would allow(i.e. the canyoning of Broadway North, Belltown, etc.) without adding substance to the neighborhood. Just ugly facades that usually have to be replaced or repaired in 4-7 years because of how cheap they're made. But the builders don't care. They got their money and are gone or protected from dealing with the shoddy construction. The people I knew living there growing up have mostly all moved away because it's too damn expensive for families to live there too. Loose the families and the community as a living healthy being ends. What's left? Isolated solo, lonely things. Like that house.

The AIA jury blew it in its praise and the community reaction is overblown. The building is a white box. That's not style - that's just not bothering to fill in the blank page. It's not a risk. It's lazy. It's not offensive -- it's boring. It doesn't break up monotony, it compounds it. It's not bold and new -- it's a plain white box and that idea has been done to death.

It's amazing how many people constantly preach about how we should be open minded and accepting of things we may not necessarily agree with or may not understand... until it hits home. Ahh the hypocracy of a supposedly "liberal" city. At least that homes breaks up the sameness/oneness of the street. I'm not saying I would necessarily like a whole street of similar homes, nor am I necessarily saying I find it particularly attractive. But diversity is the unofficial mantra of this city and that home certainly can be considered "diverse" and yet, somehow it's not welcome (once again, oh the hypocracy). Diversity of architecture is what keeps a street from being boring. It shows that people w/ different tastes or lifestyles CAN coexist and function in a community while still maintaining individuality and personal expression (I don't really want to go into the argument of whether this particular home is personal expression or not... I'm just trying to say how, in general, a house that sticks out like a sore thumb is usually in some way a statement or reflection of those who live in it). Besides, even if you don't like it, doesn't seeing it then help reaffirm the beauty of the rest of the neighborhood? You know how they say one doesn't realize how good something is until they've had a taste of something bad (again, I don't necessarily think of it as "bad", just trying to give an example)?