Stop Building Houses that Look Like Chipotles

There is a disturbing trend sweeping the nation, and it’s building houses that look like Chipotles. For some reason (profits), developers are knocking down perfectly lovely homes to build giant white boxes that strongly resemble Chipotles. Some neighborhoods have gone through the long and painful process of historical preservation, which saves homes from being knocked down by developers, and people with overall bad taste. Unfortunately, the problem with historical preservation is that getting it is, as said before, a long and painful process that is near impossible. Plus, once in place you have to deal with a dreaded neighborhood council. And everyone knows that more often than not a neighborhood council is filled with the most grumpy, finicky, and nosey people living (or usually just barely living).

So what can be done to solve this epidemic? If I had all the money in the world, or just a steady monthly income, then I would fulfill my dream of restoring, renovating, and then selling homes to anyone who’s not a developer. I believe in restoring homes and neighborhoods to their former glory, and I genuinely feel like it’s my calling (don’t @ me, this is my life goal). Sadly, this life goal is a ways away (surprise this is a GoFundMe for my dreams), so all I can really do right now is rant about it here.

I suppose that the more cost effective investment is to build a giant white box devoid of any personality. Construction is far cheaper when there is a total of zero detail work in a house. I’m sure the word “streamlined” is thrown around quite a bit durning the design phase. These new construction homes have only straight lines, take up the entirety of whatever lot they are built on, are priced about 1 million dollars over any other house in the neighborhood, and bare a striking resemblance to every Chipotle. The architecture is clean and contemporary, with enough bedrooms for a budding young family, and room in front for two luxury SUVs. The finishes are sleek and streamlined, grey is used for anything and everything, and there’s plenty of frosted glass featured.

Contrary to what developers believe, there is a way to restore and renovate homes to suit our modern way of living without completely bulldozing them. It is possible to keep beautiful historic details and still make a space open and bright, keep the integrity of a neighborhood in tact while modernizing, and let history and personality shine while appealing to buyers. Let’s take a look at a few homes for sale all located in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles. A couple of these homes are beautifully renovated while keeping their historic charm, and the others, are well…Chipotles. Let me know what you think in the comments, and share this post if you agree (honestly if you don’t agree, I don’t want to know you).