this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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Terrible Estate Agent Photos

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Terrible photos listed by estate agents/realtors that are so bad they’re funny.

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[–] vinceman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Everytime I start to really disagree with things like heritage zoning I see something like this.

[–] MethodicalSpark@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

This has been floating around the internet for some time.

The funny part is that heritage zoning is the reason the addition looks the way it does. The upper floor was inaccessible and stairs needed to be added. Local regulations state that any additions must be visually distinct from the original structure so this monstrosity was the result.

Look up Caldwell Tower in Scotland for more information.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Why the fuck would additions need to be visually distinct?

[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Here is the episode of The Restoration Man that documented the project - they go into the planning side of this in-depth because it's really a head-scratcher. The owner tried many times to get planning for more subtle alternations but they kept getting knocked back because it has to be distinctive enough that it's clear what is the old building and what are the new additions. What you see is the result of that messy process.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That's dumb as fuck, literally even if it was brick you'd be able to tell from the weathering of the original stone. NIMBYs are fucking idiots.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 months ago

if it's so important that we must be able to tell when it was built, just fucking carve the date into each brick lmao

[–] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Maybe to not be misleading about what is original and what is new

[–] Steve@startrek.website 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I cant understand why that would be a bad thing

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Maybe, in case the next renovation is due, you know for sure which parts are to be preserved and which can be removed. However, some craftsman or architect doing that should be able to tell the difference between modern boards and windows and ancient ones without relying on the help of white plastics or baby blue paint.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think you could tell when it goes from stone to plastic.

[–] SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago

I work in stone conservation and for the body that dictates these regulations, even if it was built out of stone it would be required to be visually distinct. The only exception is if it were reinstatement of an original feature that had been demolished or decayed to the point that it had to be removed and fully rebuilt. In that case every effort should be made to source the stone from the same quarry, and the same mortar mix should be used.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Why on earth white plastic windows and baby blue paint?

[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Budgeting? White PVC windows are cheapest, you pay extra for colors.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I know.

However, if you own a cultural heritage building, the c.h. office has a lot of saying about each and every modification done, especially on the outside, so I doubt it's due to financial issues.

[–] Gutek8134@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Looks like something from Monty Python and Holy Grail

[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I remember when this hit the news and do hope it's been redone since.

edit: no updates on the Scottish Castle Association since 2012 and TripAdvisor photos show it unchanged other than some weathering.

edit2: Here is the episode of The Restoration Man that focused on the tower and it explains the planning process that led to this monstrosity.

[–] Kethal@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

It would have been nice if they pointed out which part was renovated so I didn't need to scour the picture to find it.

[–] ElCanut@jlai.lu 2 points 5 months ago

Sorry, I will write a detailed alt next time

[–] Jahuffine@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

I need a useless red circle to find it

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Gentrification is getting out of hand.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Where the President of the HOA lives

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

I was thinking: whichever 'lord' owns the tower - that's where his mother-in-law lives.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 5 months ago

UK server, OK. Fine. But OP has never been to Pennsylvania in the US. Most houses over a hundred years old look like this: you can see the generations that have lived in it. First it's stone and mortar; then there's a wood addition ca. the early 1900s; then there's a more modern addition ca. the 50's or later. There's one property that was briefly famous as it came up in Zillow that had 5 clearly distinctive styles and technologies worth of additions on it; it's like every generation added another room with whatever was in style at the time. I can't find a picture, but it was hideous.

I don't know if it's common all along the mid-Atlantic, but it is super common in Pennsylvania.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Everyone laughing at the repairs to your tower until the Mongol hordes return - and theirs still aren’t done because they were waiting to source the right Welsh stone.

[–] isyasad@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

People are such perfectionists when it comes to buildings. I love this image; the patchwork aesthetic needs less hate. Yeah it looks silly, but why should it look serious? I wouldn't be upset if a building built today were to have an awkward attachment added in 500 years that was built to the design standards of that time period.
Somebody showed me recently the rebuild of the Augusteum building of the University of Leipzig which had a hyper-modern redesign like 180 years after it was first built (look it up, it's pretty cool). And the building in this post is like a lower-effort, more earnest version of that idea. Is it bad real estate? Sure. But it's good architecture. "Authenticity" be damned.

[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net -1 points 5 months ago

This comment made me partially re-evaluate my opinion of this building

[–] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] ElCanut@jlai.lu 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)
[–] TheWonderfool@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

No worries, I hate it enough for both

[–] cerement@slrpnk.net -1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

only plus I can see is that the renovation is visibly distinguishable – they’re not trying to pass it off as a “restoration” …

[–] thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 months ago

Another comment ITT claims that that's exactly why they did it this way-- Regulations say it must have that property.

[–] tjsauce@lemmy.world -1 points 5 months ago

Looks weird, but if they added a 3rd aesthetic, like Japanese wooden housing, or Russian brutalism, then we'd be talking.