Would you tear this historic mansion down to build a Mcmansion? Broyhill mansion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely would. It's not to my taste at all, and I'd want to gut every single room.

Why would you not, then, simply buy a different house? It’s not really my style either but I can see it being amazing with the right decor and a few changes here and there.

Because if it's a big lot, in a location I like, they don't come up that often, and the way things are going, the next opportunity may be considerably more expensive. And despite the wailing on this thread, the house is in crappy shape and there's a good chance it's getting torn down no matter who buys it. Why not me?

[Anonymous]

Jont big af. I personally like it tho 👀

[Anonymous]

I think the new owners wanted to subdivide all along but probably zoning disallows it. They are playing the missing middle card to try and push it through. And frankly we need more mixed housing stock.

BUT This would not really be ‘missing middle’ housing. It would probably end up beingluxury townhouses. Which the neighbors being outraged over is silly. New owners claiming to be altruists I don’t buy. Maybe if they donated it to a halfway house…

[Anonymous]

I lived a few blocks from there in the 1960s, it was a strange conversation piece back then. There was another big old house on a hill that has been tastefully redone now https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4619-27th-St-N-Arlington-VA-22207/12061054_zpid/
they could have done the same with the Broyhill house.

[Anonymous]

Thank god for actual historic districts

[Anonymous]

It’s a house no one wanted so people crying about it being historic? give me a break. No one cared when it was for sale and no one will remember it when it’s torn down. Not everything old is worth keeping

and if I owned the house? I would do whatever it you took to either sell to a developer or build a small multi family building there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So sad that the idiots are wrecking this beautiful place https://www.arlnow.com/2023/04/03/broyhill-mansion-demolition-kicks-off-with-owners-fending-off-vigilante-neighborhood-preservationists/?fbclid=IwAR0C1fRlSDXn7pz-ObMhppNwQ-6AiJ4hJbeAYhW3J02YinMvh0OaW84ahCA.

Sad are busybodies who worry about what people richer than them do with their money. You probably don't even live anywhere near this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, fine, so the site is not suitable for MM housing. If the owners just plan to build a new mcmansion, why are the neighbors protesting? I'm confused as to why the demolition of an old house to build something new has become newsworthy. Calling a site historic when it is not makes it seem as though the neighbors are not acting in good faith.

The neighbors saw the notice of demolition posted soon after closing, asked the owner what they were planning to build, owner was evasive and this raised the ire of the neighbors to speak out against MM housing — then owner ran to papers and cried racism.

Honestly, if my neighbor decides to rent out their house as a group home, I might express my displeasure to them even though it is legal. This is a similar effect.
I think they historic nonsense came about when the owner would not answer directly. If they were doing a SFH, they would have waited on demolition until plans approved in case they wanted to use a variance from existing property. But they always planned to subdivide, which is what the neighbors figured out from demo on day one.

I'd tell me new neighbors to p*ss off. They aren't entitled to a morning wave, let alone an explanation of my plans with my property. If they wanted to control the home and land, they should have bought it themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank god for actual historic districts

If this were a historic district this house would have never been built. Certainly wouldn't have been protected by any historic designation.

[Anonymous]

Yes when someone posted on here months ago that it was for sale o said it would be torn down. There’s nothing worth saving about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, fine, so the site is not suitable for MM housing. If the owners just plan to build a new mcmansion, why are the neighbors protesting? I'm confused as to why the demolition of an old house to build something new has become newsworthy. Calling a site historic when it is not makes it seem as though the neighbors are not acting in good faith.

The neighbors saw the notice of demolition posted soon after closing, asked the owner what they were planning to build, owner was evasive and this raised the ire of the neighbors to speak out against MM housing — then owner ran to papers and cried racism.

Honestly, if my neighbor decides to rent out their house as a group home, I might express my displeasure to them even though it is legal. This is a similar effect.
I think they historic nonsense came about when the owner would not answer directly. If they were doing a SFH, they would have waited on demolition until plans approved in case they wanted to use a variance from existing property. But they always planned to subdivide, which is what the neighbors figured out from demo on day one.

I'd tell me new neighbors to p*ss off. They aren't entitled to a morning wave, let alone an explanation of my plans with my property. If they wanted to control the home and land, they should have bought it themselves.

Agree 100% and I am a neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Since when does being a neighbor entitle you to demand someone sink at least a million dollars cash into a full gut reno of some insignificant 70 year old mansion? That house wasn't worth saving. Needed way too much work and still would have been meh in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank god for actual historic districts

If you want to save neighborhoods filled with 1950s house, it’s too late.

[Anonymous]

Fake complaints by self-serving neighbors. The neighbors likely don’t really give a sh*t about the old house, they just don’t want to deal with 18-24 months of new build construction and heavy duty vehicles and laborers’ pickup trucks.