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One Man's Castle

Isn't it just magnificent? Wouldn't you want to live next door to it, watching the value of your own house slide down the real estate money pole like the Time Square ball on New Year's Eve? Me either. I drive by this "house" every day as I taking my daughter to school. It grows and grows as the owner comes across various building materials at auctions and rummage sales and scrap yards.

This guy likes his house. He likes it so much that just several weeks ago when the town met to discuss how to deal with the wart on our otherwise pleasant environment, he defended his creative achievement. He didn't actually attend the meeting, but he spoke to the councilman in charge while thumbing his nose and scratching his ass.

The neighbors have tried every option and are now wondering about safety concerns. When the wind blows, stuff is starting to fall off, they say. But that hasn't been documented, and legally, the town is paralyzed. It's not like the homeowner has viscous dogs running loose or illegal immigrants in the basement or rusty cars in the yard. They could fight those things. What they can't fight is the subjective nature of aesthetics.

One man's castle...

There may be hope, though. Yesterday as I was driving to the school, I stopped at the stop sign catty corner to the hairy mole and witnessed actual licensed construction workers standing by their van, looking up at the three levels of Dr. Seuss structure and scratching their chins. I could spend an entire day listing the many ideas and questions that could have been swirling around in their heads.

Comments

dive said…
An Architect writes:
Hey! I won an award for that!

And if the "guy" was thumbing his nose and scratching his butt at the same time, I suspect that's woman in male drag. Men can't multitask that well.
9:05 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
I knew dive would appreciate this one Robyn. I like posts like this as well. It gives us a good look into the neighborhoods of the world.
Hey what’s that…house doing there????

There is some show on HGTV that highlights crazy homes maybe this one would qualify.

Thanks for sharing Robyn
1:48 PM
Sassy Sundry said…
This makes me grateful for zoning.
2:45 PM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
hmm well i'm sure if pieces were falling off it and it was in UK then HEALTH & SAFETY dun dun dur would soon see it off. Try that.
6:19 PM
Ms Mac said…
May I recommend the Aussie movie The Castle which is a really heart warming tale of a bloke who sounds a bit like he could be your local Darryl Kerrigan.

He may be nothing like Darryl Kerrigan but it's a good movie nevertheless.
6:35 PM
Old Knudsen said…
Instead lets think about the freedom of his country that lets him build such a hoose, isn't it great?
3:05 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Oh Happy K, i'm not sure i can get used to this. You're seeing good in everything!
4:27 AM
dive said…
Robyn, something scary is happening over at the Old Man's place.
If you or Rich are responsible, please stop it now.
It's frightening me.
7:02 AM
Scout said…
Dive, it certainly looks like he was multitasking whil ehe was building.

Rich, HGTV is around here all the time for historical houses--maybe we should send them down this street on their next visit.

Sassy, amazingly, this is in a zoned area, but there isn't much that can be done.

Lynn, I suspect people will start sneaking over at night and pulling things off just to get some outside help.

Ms Mac, never heard of it, but I'll look.

Happy Knudson, I'm not sure what to make of the "happy" part, but you're right. He's free, and I applaud him for being so individualistic--let's just hope no one employs Eminent Domain.
7:22 AM
Gina said…
Where I live, he wouldn't be allowed to modify his property in any way without some committee. Sometimes I chafe under the restrictions, but I look at that and feel better.
11:12 AM
Anonymous said…
Not to overturn the well-designed cart of uniformly shiny red and gold apples, I have to say, I like it. [Although, as a former town resident, I can't place it in my mind. Maybe it's a new transformation in the past couple of years?] One person's eyesore is another's work of art and more people will remember it than any old covenant community track house. Call me an anarchist.
11:47 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Dive, you think ROBYN might be involved in the disappearance of Old K??

... it's always the quiet ones...
7:01 AM
DearestDragonfly said…
Whoa...I'm counting my blessings!
7:13 PM
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