It’s been a week since they finished repainting 2523 Steiner. And as a plugged-in tipster notes, they’re back at it today. We doubt any plugged-in person will be too surprised.
As to the home’s floor plan flaws, that’s going to take more than paint. Bonus points to the reader who correctly calls the new new color scheme (note the test patches above).
“This home boasts luxury durable multiple coat exterior paint.”
Color Scheme: Hot Mess?
Put down the paint and step away from the building!
Seriously I think whoever suggested that they were just throwing up whatever colors were free from the city is right.
CLEARLY they are using free paint they picked up somewhere that had enough left over for this project. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AT THIS PLACE?!
What an insane mess.
Hey, if you fail, try and try again. Then try again. And again. Until the recycling center runs out of free cans.
Good thing they stopped mid-point. At least they can claim they’re still “working on getting it perfect”.
You read it here [first]: It will end up be several shades of gray to look like a B&W photograph. Any 2011 designer would do that, especially on boxy structures.
oh darn, and noearch said he liked it.
Maybe Planning was selling its leftover pigment?
http://housingelement2009.sfplanning.org/docs/Housing_Element_PartII_Objectives_and_Policies_DRAFT3.pdf
It was better as sufferin’ succotash.
The multi-colored facade is unusual but it really pops! Clearly for the discerning buyer and not you everyday office drones who are just jealous you cannot own a showpiece like this. The owners must have tapped upon the talents of an extraordinary designer – all of the paint lines create simplicity and elegance, very reminiscent of homes featured in current magazines (such as the recent Sherwin-Williams catalog that showed up at my door today). It looks like a boutique hotel (like the one I saw a kid build at Legoland). This place is right out of Tales of the City because the fog here is usually so bad that you can’t see the front of your home anyway – how very SF! I imagine the owner would be able to make $$$$ by letting movie studios film this place to get that SF feel. How nice to be able to generate income in addition to having such a fantastic place to live! I was not that interested before, but now I am highly considering this house and am excited at its potential!
A.T. the shill,
You forgot you’ll get instant equity the minute you get a professional painter to redo this ugly mess.
Color code: “Orange Fresca”
They’re tring to attract the European investor class by painting it the same color as the Financial Times.
Oh, the humanity! Someone needs to put this poor building out of it’s misery.
A $500 paint job entertaining 20 people on a blog. That’s what I call efficiency.
[Editor’s Note: With respect to your efficiency calculation, call it around ten thousand readers today. No comment on the cost of the paint.]
Absolutely crazy. I assume the painters don’t mind getting paid, but to look at these multiple shades of diarrhe* all day would drive many folks nuts. My suggestion – close your eyes and do your best.
I now love this house.
The new paint scheme must be named Band Aid, because this house is one big boo-boo
good-bye hot dog; hello Pepto-Bismol
White and Gray like the place next door? Would that be so difficult?
Or just plain white … how about white? What could be easier?
Whoever is in charge of this painting project is obviously an idiot.
Note to self: Never ever say to the contractor, “Oh, just go with whatever colors you want.”
Twice.
It’s primer you fools.
Insane! It’s just insane! I drove by it earlier and almost e-mailed the editor, but someone beat me to it..
I say we take up a collection fund for these saps and hire someone who isn’t obviously colorblind. Jeez… Paint it freaking GRAY.. Yes, it’s tired, but you’re trying to SELL it, not make it look like that terrible powdery Halloween candy you threw away when you were a kid.
They also painted the inside. I hope it’s also orange.. or at least chartreuse. Hell, maybe they want it to look like a mango..
Anyway, it doesn’t matter what color they paint it, because the house itself is just ridiculous. It’s unlivable. It’s a tear-down. Price it accordingly and sell it to a developer that doesn’t create interiors based on Dr. Seuss drawings.
Color consultant is needed.
Just in time for Salmon season!
If this is a half-tone primer, then maybe it’s headed toward a dark wine red…
they ought to include painting the brick side pieces too. do the walls in a medium mocha color ( high gloss) , the trim at the roof and the entire bay window in light mocha (medium gloss), and call it a day. And do the front door which I can’t locate but I’m sure is there, do that in a dark racing car green, high gloss. replace those chunky plants with some large lavender plants.
Well…entertaining, isn’t it?? At this point the natural wood would look pretty good!!! Maybe they should strip it and refinish…
Or, paint it Orange Vermillion like the GG Bridge…
On a related note, anyone else notice that the Golden Gate Bridge is primed in silver and finished in orange, and the Bay Bridge is primed in orange and finished in silver? Both never ending paint jobs, just like this place. LOL
Now it really does look like lipstick on a pig.
Get a color consultant first, before you make a mess like this.
I’m really craving spumoni ice cream for some reason.
Is the color really going to make any difference?
I read all the negative comments and went by to take a look.
I thought, “Hey, it can’t be THAT bad.” Okay…it is THAT bad.
Absolutely impossible and incompetent layout. Stairs up. Stairs down. A small bathroom that has three levels. A warren of little rooms. Awkward beams all over the place. And who knows what structural problems there are?
I truly don’t know how anyone could live here…at any price.
COLOR CHALLENGED BANK: PLEASE LISTEN
PAINT THE WOOD AROUND THE WINDOWS BLACK AND THE STUCCO GREY.
YOU ARE WELCOME.
Peaches n’ Cream! Or International O-no-you-didn’t!
Oh wait! “Creamsicle Clusterf*ck!” I am positive that is in the Martha Stewart Collection.
One important thing to keep in mind with this place — strictly speaking it was a remodel of a small, and old, Victorian cottage, so I imagine the original designer(s) were pretty trapped by some existing walls, floor levels etc. From what I remember it was NOT a demo permit to tear down the existing cottage.
And, folks, here is where SF’s laws sometimes go wrong. We won’t let someone tear down an 1877 cute Victorian cottage to re-build, and here you see the results.
@ re guru: Not quite correct. It may have been a remodel of an existing old cottage but a GOOD and talented designer or architect is not “trapped” by existing walls and floor levels. That’s an excuse, not a valid reason.
You may be required to build within the existing envelope, but by adding the appropriate beams and columns and new floor framing, one can design a very functional and livable interior. Spaces can be opened up and floor levels adjusted.
It’s not rocket science. It’s simply good design and good engineering.
@ guru: Apparently, the original designer was also the builder.
From listing: “2523 Steiner has been engineered and designed by Architect/Builder Chris Rose with utmost attention to architectural detail and state-of-the-art finishes.”
I too doubt that the remodel was constrained by interior wall and ceiling configurations. sparky-b has commented that he can lower an entire floor as easily butter his pancakes. Well that’s maybe an exaggeration but radical interior changes are feasible.
Interesting point about the builder. He’s responsible for another better loved SocketSite darling, this one in St. Francis Woods : https://socketsite.com/archives/2009/02/mi_casa_esmuy_sweet_and_large_299_santa_paula_avenue.html
please do NOT paint the bricks.
I thought I laid out 2-3 good options in the last thread, and stick by them.
as I said then:
=====
I THINK this place could be salvaged. three options.
-Simply paint the roofline and all the yellow a cream-color that is similar in color and tone to the stucco below.
or better yet:
-use the same color and tone of the cream stucco on the roof line. Then go 1-2 tones lighter or darker(darker prob better) and use that to paint the yellow stuff. This way the protuberant window section will “pop” without causing an explosion.
-if you want more visual interest don’t use the cream on the protuberant section, use a different color like brown… but that will be much more difficult to pull off. (as we see here).
Posted by: ex SF-er at April 6, 2011 6:58 AM
paint the whole thing black and i’ll put in an offer.
I can find no evidence on the California Architects Board website that Chris Rose is a licensed architect.
And if you are NOT licensed one may NOT use the term “architect”.
Would someone else like to verify this info?
What is feasible for a remodel depends on the price you paid. If you pay the entire after-the-remodel-value when you buy an unremodeled place, it doesn’t leave much left over for beams, floor lowering etc.
But people do it all the time. Then they have to take every short cut imaginable. Good engineering costs $$ and people sometimes seem unwilling to recognize that.
The real estate profession’s “I know a guy…” attitude only encourages it. Every time your realtor makes a suggestion like that, one should laugh out loud in his or her face.
Take any cost your realtor states and then multiply it by a thousand. Or get a bid, and NEVER from the guy the realtor recommends, whose every word will have one purpose: to save the sale.
Wells Fargo REO department repaints all of their for sale homes in “Thousand Island dressing vomit”…it is quite a popular color at your local Kelly Moore store.
From the original MLS description:
“This property exterior is being freshly painted.”
Indeed it is.
@tipster: You’re absolutely right.
People who cut costs at the beginning inevitably get burnt in the end. Never fails. And yes, I think the real estate profession “uses” clients in this way over and over.
Not all of them, but a lot of them.
And in this corner wearing the Orange and Peach trunks…
will you guys bail me out if I go there at midnight tonight to repaint this? I would call my act humanitarian relief but…others might not agree.
noearch: My experience with City Planning is that if you are doing a remodel, especially of a cute Victorian cottage, you are NOT necessarily free to just do as you wish. My projects have often been constrained by needing to keep existing walls, setbacks, roof lines and heights, etc etc.
So, once again, your arrogance and lack of knowledge shows through.
Clearly the original developer didn’t want to fight for years for a demo permit that they probably never would have gotten.
Instead, they worked with the laws that were in place, and the building they were required to “keep” a certain percentage of, and this is the result.
You see similar botched results at 2404 Broadway — a supposed “remodel” that cost in excess of $22 million, and was “required” to keep 30% of the original building, including the facade.
The owner thumbed his nose at City Planning and essentially tore down the house anyway. The sad part about this is that it could have been a fantastic modern design — instead we are all stuck looking at modern materials pasted over the original window pattern.
I’m in favor of preservation. I’m also in favor of good, new design. But let’s stop fooling ourselves and ending up with these bizarre hybrids that, technically meet the letter of the law but have no chance to succeed.
You can read about Chris Rose on his website:
http://rosearchitecture.com/
Interesting to see a number of typos there.
noearch at10:20 AM I have verified the license of a D. Christopher Rose.
Yes, he is licensed under the name of D. Christopher Rose, not Christopher Rose as noted on his business website.
@ re guru.Sorry, but my comments were neither arrogant in nature nor lacking knowledge.
If you read back carefully what I said my comments were restricted to “you may be required to build within the existing envelope”.
The Planning Dept. does maintain jurisdiction over changes to the “exterior envelope” with regard to additions/reductions to the footprint, window placement and type and other significant architectural changes, including materials, trim elements, etc.
From my experience on many projects they are NOT involved in the INTERIOR changes to a building, thus allowing the architect to open up a floor plan or adjust level changes to make the project more livable and functional. The Building Dept. certainly plays a role in those interior structural changes.
On Rose’s website there are more pictures of 2523 Steiner, and some of the weird steps are visible.
No painters there today…perhaps the guys walked-off the job in protest?
^^^ I’d think they’re just taking some time to mull over the color choices from the swatches.
I am SO tempted to post a note on the front door:
“Just paint the damn thing grey and white, like the house next door. Stop torturing this poor house.”
Or they’re trying to remember whether it’s “down the road” or “across the street.”
Those new color choices are just GREAT “Mr. Property Owner!” Go right ahead…Paint & Repaint(and Re-repaint???!!!) and destroy conventional ideas of beauty and taste! Strike up the band!!!…”I-lost-my-mind…In-San-Fran-Cisco…”