Frank Schulte-Ladbeck

As I am driving across town to a job, I slide the CD for “Forever Changes” by Love into the player. For those of us who fancied ourselves musicians at one point or another, Love is the band to enjoy and contemplate. “Forever Changes” is referred to as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. The complexity and beauty was devastating to us.

Arthur Lee, who died last year, released the album just before the summer of love was about to kick into high gear in '67. The lyrics have oft been misunderstood as a drug influenced trip through Los Angeles, while the music was of sweeping proportions. In reality, Lee was becoming reclusive at a time when his fame was growing, but even in his seclusion, he found his home, which sat on a hillside overlooking the city, invaded by those wanting to be in on the new hippie scene. The album is a love song to his adopted city, with thoughts about his withdrawal from it as well as the evening news. He was pondering the fate of the individual in the ever changing, growing city. Musically, the album takes you through a tour of all of the cultures in Los Angeles. He paints a vivid portrait of the town.

Could I write such a love song to my adopted town? My car is being splattered by mud being thrown up from the street, as I drive further east. I see newly built communities that will not be completed till later in the year, and at every street corner, there is another homeless person asking for a helping hand. Lee saw the blight and desperation of his own community, but still he loved it. After finishing the job, I drive back through downtown to see the new construction. I think about the evolution of the neighborhoods for the betterment of those living there, so I do feel that I can love it. If I do not love it, I cannot contribute to its growth. I will not be able to make this a vibrant place to live.

At home, I read through an article detailing the new urbanist dream of making the home a sanctuary away from the city beyond it walls. The idea that all of our focus, our lives, our dramas will play out inside four walls is disheartening to me. Why should our dream be to retreat from our neighbors? Lee eventually found his way back to his neighbors after his dark night of the soul. I place my daughter in the stroller for a walk. I stop by the elderly couple one street up to say hello. I talk to the woman who walks her dog around the same hour as I take my stroll about the ways our community is discussing to make our homes safer. I contemplate with the man reworking his garden on the best spot for a sun loving plant, when he has so much shade. I check in on the single woman who has left her garage open all day (we have had thefts from open garages).

Alright, so a psychedelic album is not where you would expect a contemplation on real estate. However, maybe you could give it a listen yourself to see how you may consider your relationship with the community around you.

I have a fondness for movie theaters. I used to work in one when I was younger. I particularly like the old Art Deco theaters, which really carry you away. I go to the Bookstop on West Alabama street, since you can still see a few elements of the old theater. I joke about the ghost with Whole Food employees at the old Bellaire theater location. (All older movie theaters have a ghost story, but at the Bellaire there was a light that we could never explain- maybe it had something to do with the bar in the lobby). I have movie posters around the house, and more rolled up in tubes. I even made a sculpture out of old seventies film reels in my backyard. All of this leads up to the fact that I am witnessing the destruction of a megaplex close to home.

I never went to this location, since it did not have the best reputation; however, when I saw it being demolished I was shocked. If memory serves, it is around ten years old. Ten years and it is gone. We inspectors are a nosy bunch. I saw that the gate was open, so I pulled in. I walked up to two men on the demolition crew. With my most authoritative voice, I said “professional real estate inspector” hoping that it would buy me an in. From their stares,I gathered that it did not. Now, I should say that my involvement with theaters is a bit deeper than I had let on above. I have overseen the multi-million dollar remodel of one location (as well as smaller remodels), and I have helped with the construction of some other megaplexes. I know from experience that equipment is left in the building when the demo crew arrives. Yes, they confirmed popcorn poppers and other such items were still in there. What a waste I thought. Looking around I saw the pieces of the building crumbling about. I asked if they were going to salvage this mess. Some they replied. All of that metal, sheetrock, EIFS, and other material that will just be going to the dump made me pensive. It could be reused.

Later that day, I was driving through a neighborhood that is undergoing a change. Houses are being torn down, so new larger models can be put up. It is the way of real estate. I remembered a fact about that homes in Japan have a life expectancy of fifteen years. I e-mailed my friend in Japan, and she responded that she sees a lot of construction, but she did not realize that was the case. She could only offer me the fact that her family home has been around for longer than that. I wonder what is done to these homes that have been taken down. I am sure the news would not be good. I just finished reading an article that a home in Chicago has received a LEEDs certification, since they recycled the home that was demolished. Well, there is one home saved, out of how many though.

Someone asked me awhile back how they could make their property more “green”. Don't tear it down, I replied. I went on to explain that if you are going to replace items on your home with more energy efficient units or with green materials, you should do your best to have the old products reused or recycled. I think that is the greenest thing that we can do.

Dear, I am going down to Ikea to order the house. Pick the nice Scandinavian one, Bob. There all nice Scandinavian ones he grumbles. You know the one I mean. The beige two story. Be sure to get all of the extras for the garden. Well, of course I am going to buy everything for the garden; all I was asking about is the shed. Should we have a shed or use the garage? Of course we need the shed. Honestly, you men do not know how to shop. Do I need to come with you? Sorry, dear, I didn't hear you. I am going out the front door.

When he returns, he announces the flat pack is in the mail. We have to wait six to eight weeks dear. Are we going to put it together? Well, I am pretty handy. So we are hiring a builder then.

I was looking back over some plans from Archigram's designs for pre-fabricated homes in the sixties. They were innovative designs meant to create well designed homes for the masses. I almost think that with today's CAD-CAM technology, it would be easy to make some of their designs practical, although maybe not desired. The dream for the pre-fab home has always been to produce really good affordable housing. Many architects have taken up this cause in different ways. Looking back at some of the Bauhaus designs for worker homes can make you wonder what they were thinking. Beautiful lines with no appeal to how someone will live there lives.

The magazine Dwell has sponsored a contest the past few years to encourage the development of pre-fab homes. Over the course of the year, you can follow the progress of the home. With the end of the construction, Dwell and the homeowners open up the homes to the public view, and this has become quite an event. Dwell's reporting is good, dealing with the positives as well as process pints that need to be improved. Architects, manufacturers, and builders in the United States have risen to the challenge, and the results are stunning works. The biggest problems are tied together: developing a building process that works more smoothly, and the cost. Currently, most pre-fab homes are costing around $260 per square foot, which is not really an affordable home. I have seen the price go up, but not many below that figure. When the building process is improved, the cost should come down to a more affordable range.

Enter Ikea. Ikea has teamed up with a Swedish builder to produce flat-pack homes. It has been reported that the homes come equipped with Ikea's cabinets and furnishings for the interior and exterior. The homes are called BoKlok which means LifeSmart. They are very Scandinavian in design, so they may not appeal to everyone. Ikea has now started offering these homes in the U.K. The positive side of this is that with such a major force behind this style of house, prices should come down. In fact, Ikea's price is really good. The negative aspect of Ikea's involvement is how they will be selling the home. They want to maintain strict control over the homes, so you can only obtain them through one seller. If you wish to sell the home, apparently you will have to agree to go through that seller (this was according to one report, but I have not found that yet on the company site).

You may be thinking Ikea, so I could build it myself. You will still need a builder. I wait to see how these homes will be accepted in the U.S., but maybe this will be kick that we need to really develop this idea further.

It has been a long day, and now I am sitting back reflecting upon the work of the day. I do not carry a camera to take pictures of the homes that I inspect for reasons of my own, but today I should have. I would have taken a nice picture of corn swaying in the breeze.

Last year, an inspector from another city in Texas showed me a photograph of corn growing out of a gutter. I had a good laugh, but I never really thought that I would see this plant in a gutter. I have seen many things growing or making their home in a gutter. My favorite was the small tree with roots going down the drain pipe. Shortly after seeing the corn photograph, I saw a single stalk of corn growing in a gutter. I thought it might be a little joke from the universe to let me know that strange things are not so strange. Today, the universe wanted to remind me that it can happen again. A row of corn growing in a gutter on a two story house.

When I was going over the report with my client, I told him that I had good news and bad news. Good news: in six to eight weeks the harvest will be in; the first on your block with corn. Bad news: your gutters need to be cleaned out, which will ruin the harvest. He laughed, but he wanted to know why it was important to keep the gutters clean. He felt it would be a hassle to go up there to clean them out.

True many homes do not have gutters, but I do like to recommend them. I should write that I really want people to consider a plan to have the water flow away from the building. In Houston, we refer to our soil as gumbo soil, but a better name is expansive clay soil. As the clay absorbs water, it helps to move the foundation. As the soil dries, the foundation moves again. We no longer have a drought in Texas. It ended last year, but I suspect that our usual weather of dry periods and wet ones will give our soil a chance to move about. Water and moisture also play their part in damaging our light frame constructed homes. Wood frame homes could last up to two hundred years, according to studies, when they are well built to withstand moisture penetration.

Gutters are a great way to move the rain water from your roof off your property. It would be great if you could save the water for later use through rain barrels, but if you are not in Texas, I would suggest checking your local laws. For example, it is illegal in Colorado to collect rain water. There are systems to prevent the foliage from collecting in your gutter, and most do it yourself means are easy to install, and they do no need much maintenance. I would suggest a little planning with the downspouts. One builder placed the downspout for the front roof directly on the front entry way walk. It worked, but what would happen to someone walking to the front door in the rain?

The downspouts need to direct the water away from the foundation, either by a splash guard or tube. Look to see that the grading around your home moves the water away. Leave the corn for the vegetable plot.

Where's the bathroom he asked. By the front door, I reply. He turns and smiles, You can tell it is only my second time in this home. I have been scampering around this house for the past three hours, so I know its layout. In reality, I have investigated a few homes from this builder with the same layout, so it is almost like an old friend now. The front window will always have that crack in the wall above it because of the weight bearing down on the studs from above. You would think that the builder or architect would take note a change that little defect, but I always find it.

I like to consider the layout of homes. Where will the inhabitants walk? How will the rooms be used. Would moving the closet create a better room? I do not share these thoughts with my clients. I think of the elements of Palladio's designs, and why his homes were so imitated. High ceilings with well proportioned rooms are part of their charm. Proportions have been shown to be how we determine beauty. However, the thought about use in these homes gives them an appropriateness.

I know that architects for these subdivisions cannot come to sight the home on each lot, but I think that they could give some more thought to how the homes are used and situated to their neighbors. In one home, the laundry room was just off of the entry hall about thirty feet away from the stairs. The bedrooms were upstairs. There was an odd little room upstairs, which might have made a good laundry area. It had a small window, and it really was not big enough for many uses. Maybe it was intended as a home office. I wonder why the entry area was chosen for the laundry? Opening the door, I could have my first sight be dirty linens and clothes, a welcome experience. I have seen laundry rooms on the second floor or in the bedroom area on the first, and I thought this was a clever design.

In another home, the window for one bedroom looks directly into the bedroom of the neighbor's home about ten feet away. A closet was along the back wall, where a window would look upon the back garden. Children today would be more likely to communicate through their computer than their windows. A teen might not want to be seen by the person next door.

Some plans leave safety behind to make the customer happy. Entertainment rooms with no windows are placed into homes to satisfy demand. What happens with a fire outside the door? It would be wiser to educate than to give in to a clients demands. An argument between a contractor in Georgia and myself ensued when I suggested that building codes have been developed to make homes safer and sounder, so they should be followed. He argued that since there is no problem just after construction, and it is what the customer wants, I should not complain. I pointed out the reasoning for the code, and that I could take him to a home to show him the result of not building right. This caused him to walk away, convinced that he was right.

I wonder how this one home will sell. The owner wanted to evoke a style that was popular here in Texas one hundred years ago. The rooms were attached on the interior sometimes, but an external balcony was used to go from room to room most often. They included the balcony for two rooms, but not in the spirit of the design of the original. Access to the rooms was by walking through the different rooms on the interior only. I felt uncomfortable walking through a room with a sleeping teenage son to go to an office.

I imagine that contractors who work on remodeling will continue to have work. This is a nice expense for homeowners. Look at your home; how is it designed?