So apparently, there are still some people who still don’t get it. Sigh.
So, you might be asking, what’s wrong with a white house? Ah, look closely, at first glance the house looks white, but, those are actually styrofoam panels… You know what that means right?
YAY! STUCCO IS COMING!
I only hope that when it’s done, it looks as crappy as this example a block north on Windermere.
We really need to get something in the planning guidelines to prevent this kind of “renovation”. Those who do this are butchers, ruining the aesthetic feel of the neighbourhood. They should be forced out of Walkerville, and exiled to Walker & the 401.
Thanks to both Steven Hargreaves and my Mom for the heads up.
Talk about a boil on the bum! Absolutely! This house ruins the neighbourhood!
I drove past it yesterday too… And the first skim coat is now up, and they’re installing the “blocks” on the corners…. Yikes!
Andrew, can we find out who the builder/renovation company is that is allowing such ugly renovations? Perhaps you can have a spin-off website exposing these companies and home-owners for their ugly renovations and maybe then less people would be willing to do this. (sort of like holding hairdressers accountable for mullets). Such a shame, this house had so much potential. Also, can a homeowner be stopped or fined from building something that does not fit into the neighborhood?
Do we have a possible 2010 I.M. Lost Windsor “calendar contest” winner in the makings here?
My dad’s friend said to me…..you should stucco your old home?
I said HELL NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it’s fricken ugly and it’s a cheaper way to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEVER! but thanks for posting Andrew! It breaks my heart when i see older beautiful homes turn ugly afetr 100 yrs later!
My dad’s friend said to me…..you should stucco your old home?
I said HELL NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it’s fricken ugly and it’s a cheaper way to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEVER! but thanks for posting Andrew! It breaks my heart when i see older beautiful homes turn ugly after 100 yrs later!
Atrocities like this dot most Toronto neighbourhoods — even the wealthy ones (who if don’t at least know better, can afford better) — so Windsor may take some solace in that it isn’t alone.
My gosh! When does the madness end?
I presume that the house was originally brick?
Stucco today is like the horrible insul-brick of the late 60’s or 70’s. I even compare it to the horrible aluminum siding and aluminum awnings of the 50’s. But at least that stuff who be removed with little harm. This crap destroys the outside of a house.
If people want stucco then move to the damn burbs!
The real fun with stucco will start around 5 years from the completion of this ugly, tacky project. The stucco will start to crack and separate and what looks ugly now will look digusting then. Want proof…Look at the Party Store on Walker Road. All of the stucko is separating and cracking and the details are falling off. Not money well spent. The other problem with it is that it traps moisture and condensation between the foam and the original structure. Not good. Hopefully when the time comes this stuff can be easily removed and new owners can restore the building to it’s intended glory. I’m afraid though that this sort of crap might be the death blow to these homes. Once they start to look ratty they will cause further decay of the hood. Neighbours have to get more gutsy. This is a perfect moment for neighbourhood intervention. These owners have to know and understand that what they are doing is not only wrong on a number of levels; it is simply not wanted by the neighbours and community. At least this way the owners will get the hint that their popularity amongst neighbours will be non-existent.
We had the brick restored on our rental property on Giles and it looks like new over 5 years later. It was expensive but worth it. I see a cottage industry of brick restorers un-doing these stucco jobs one day.
Was the previous facade brick or clapboard? I don’t see a before pic.
Ack! And those diamonds…barf. Can’t wait to see what the “white house” turns into.
It looks like clapboard. Look at the right side of the house where the stair case would be. That make it even more of a mess as M.O.M states the trapped moisture will do that house in quickly.
If they just painted the last one a light limestone gray, it might look decent, but the colour scheme they chose looks really silly in that neighbourhood. I wonder if that’s the residence of a birthday clown, like the one that goes around riverside during festival day with big shoes and fuscia afro wig. What is her name? Sally the Clown? This must be the home of Sally the Clown. It might even be her clown school. Maybe, I’ll toss a few pennies on her porch so she can buy some gray paint.
Every time I walk past that house on the last picture I facepalm, it’s almost an eyesore in this area. They should’ve bought a cookiecutter house in South Windsor
Disgusting.
I have seen some nice stucco work, If it is on the right style of home. Stucco is suited for Mediterranean, Spanish mission and some French country style houses. It does not fit in a nieghbourhood line with Edwardian style homes. The owner of the house in the shown in the last picture had no concern for fitting in with the neighbourhood. This is a poor attempt to convert a nice old home into a cheap Italianate wanta-be. I nicely designed façade with the mixture of some thing glue on stone would make these homes look more attractive then this hacked together stucco work. Some of this stucco work I see downtown just looks cheap and ghetto like, This is a real quick and dated fix for trying to give these building a new look.
I also see crappy stucco jobs out in the suburbs and the county like this too. I have traveled around Ontario and I don’t see a many of these crappy, cheap stucco jobs like I do in Windsor and Essex County
I hope that in 10-15 years from now people will look back at when these buildings were renovated and realize homes look and dated. Maybe at that point people will decide to restore these buildings and homes to their former Glory.
I hope someone does the nice neighborly thing and prints this page of blog out and sticks it in the homeowner’s mailbox. At least the owners will know that everyone else in the city knows that they are now the douchebags of the street.