Historic St. Paul home can't escape the foreclosure crisis

My dream house. If I could I would buy it in a heartbeat and fix it up. I've always wanted to own a home like that. Not one of those cookie cutter homes that have no character and history in them. This is a beautiful home and I hope it finds somebody that will value it and take good care of it.

That place is so beautiful!

I remember visiting that house in the 50's when my great grandmother Julia lived there. There was a huge bearskin rug that I would stretch out on. I hope someone has the funds and desire to preserve this treasure....

Too bad it's on the East Side.

What a beautiful home! Much better than the ostentatious homes built today.

Nice dream, hard reality. Over two years ago I bought a historic run down, filled with debris (like $15,000 worth) former state armory in northwestern Minnesota. After pumping over $50,000 into it, such as a totally new roof, I'm finacially spent. To make matters worse, as most brave preservationists know all too well, the city in which this building stands, could care less about me or the most historic building in their county. The motto, dream yes, but if it goes beyond that, make sure your pockets are deep enough.

The inside is beautiful, but Ive worked on older houses like this..can you say "money pit"?

Heike wrote:

My dream house. If I could I would buy it in a heartbeat and fix it up. I've always wanted to own a home like that. Not one of those cookie cutter homes that have no character and history in them. This is a beautiful home and I hope it finds somebody that will value it and take good care of it.

Then why do you live in Lakeville?

I am sorry to say that the people should elect Art people, historians or people who are proud of their ancestors .The governments spend billions to corrupt others in foreign countries ,and forget what their fathers built ,to be proud reminding them.

Because the house is on the National Register you would probably have to jump through so many hoops for the "city preservation nazi's" before you could work on it. Probably not such a good investment unless you have a lot of time and a lot of disposable income.

I hope it has an alarm system, The fallout from these abandoned homes is low life thieves, not only copper but architectural elements as well. There is an incredible house at 31st and Portland in Minneapolis that has been ravaged, mantles taken, stain glass windows pried out etc. The Realtors should be very diligent about locking it up, and checking on it often.

City preservationists are not "nazi's", you know that.

Why on earth would you give out the home address in your article? With all the theft, and vandalism occurring in empty homes, giving out the address is like an open invitation to criminals. What were you thinking?

It serves no purpose to give out the address. If you want to advertise for a buyer then post the sellers agent information!!!!

wbigs wrote:

The inside is beautiful, but Ive worked on older houses like this..can you say "money pit"?

Not necessarily. I'm in the second historic home that my wife and I fixed up. The thing is, you need to plan the improvements carefully. Do the structural and mechanical things first and don't worry about restoring anything cosmetic until those are done. Be prepared to study up on codes and home improvement skills, you'll save yourself a ton of money. Be patient, you will not get it all done in a year or even 5 but gradually, you'll have less and less "urgent" tasks and have more free time. Remember, much of restoring an older home is playing catch up on maintenance that was not done for many years. And for those who think a new home is a lot less work...remember even these grand old houses were new once and if you neglect maintenance on even the newer homes, you'll be leaving a pile of work for someone else in the future.

wbigs wrote:

The inside is beautiful, but Ive worked on older houses like this..can you say "money pit"?

"Money Pit" is a gross understatement! When I restored a few muscle cars, the project ALWAYS cost over double what I estimated. When I did a down-to-the-studs rehab of an old house, that project also came in over double what I envisioned.

In both kinds of projects, there is a "domino effect," where taking more steps than planned is easily justified -- "as long as I've gone this far." It starts out innocently enough: as long as I am replacing the front windows, I might as well replace the side windows with some that match. As long as I am installing central AC, I might as well install return ductwork for the bedrooms. As long as I am boring the engine block, I might as well get that lumpier camshaft. As long as I've got that racing camshaft, I need to go to a high-stall torque convertor. As long as the walls are torn out anyway, I might as well hard-wire for datacom network and cable TV. As long as I am rewiring anyway, why not exceed code and put 7 circuits in the kitchen instead of 3? As long as I need to re-trim, might as well toss the old ranch mouldings and get 6" oak. The list is endless!

This dynamic applies to rather handy folk doing it themselves -- just add a contractor or restoration shop and watch the dollars become cubic, faster than you can earn or borrow them. I have seen this play out with mine own eyes!

kokonelli wrote:

Why on earth would you give out the home address in your article? With all the theft, and vandalism occurring in empty homes, giving out the address is like an open invitation to criminals. What were you thinking?
It serves no purpose to give out the address. If you want to advertise for a buyer then post the sellers agent information!!!!

Unless they broadcast the story on Gangsta Rap stations, the house should be safe. I doubt the copper thief's read many newspapers.

What a nice house.......in a crappy neighborhood. Location, location, location.

That is such a beautiful house inside and out, too bad it has gone vacant like so many others. I hope somebody can buy it and save it. I don't understand if it is on the National Register of Historic Homes why they cannot take care of it. Does it need to have a private owner? I hope it will not be torn down.

How bad could a neighborhood be??
Im not from the twin cities but what are the "bad" parts of town(s)

Gustav wrote:

<quoted text>
Unless they broadcast the story on Gangsta Rap stations, the house should be safe. I doubt the copper thief's read many newspapers.
What a nice house.......in a crappy neighborhood. Location, location, location.

HA! Copper thieves aren't interested in lead pipes, nor crusty old galvanized. What makes you think there is even 1 inch of copper in that old house?

Lee in Bismarck wrote:

How bad could a neighborhood be??
Im not from the twin cities but what are the "bad" parts of town(s)

In my opinion each neighborhood has it's little pockets of good and bad. I guess though it depends on who you talk to. In my neighborhood, I've seen both, in that it changes fast. There is a lot of rental mixed in with people who own and live in their homes. I live in a rental, but my landlord lives upstairs. There are a few owner occupied rental places here.