Huntridge

Huntridge West Neighborhood Association Gets Press Coverage

June 10th, 2009 Categories: Huntridge

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I actually scooped the newspapers when we covered the new “Welcome to” signs that have been installed on Oakey and Franklin by the Huntridge West Neighborhood Association.

The story got picked up by the Downtown View which comes to your mailbox if you don’t subscribe to the Review Journal. If you do, then you get it in your Tuesday Newspaper. There’s  13 different versions of the view, covering different parts of the valley. They’re divided by zipcodes, so the coverage isn’t always totally localized.

The Downtown View and The SE View have always been willing to cover the re-birth of the historic neighborhoods of Las Vegas and we’re very grateful for the coverage. If you’re new to VeryVintageVegas, you can see some of the past coverage that the view has given to historic neighborhoods and Mid Century Modern homes here and here.

Here’s a few clip from “Displaying Huntridge Pride” by Amanda Llewellen

In the early 1940s, the quiet streets on the edge of downtown Las Vegas were beginning to be marked by the emergence of some of the Southwest’s first master-planned communities, including the collection of cottage-like homes that comprised the Huntridge neighborhood.

“We wanted to beautify the entryways to the neighborhood and establish some signage, identifying our history and just where you’re going,” president Lance Kirk said. “It’s about pride. We love living in this historic portion of our city, and we take pride in its charms.”

Again, as I did last week, I want to thank the Huntridge West Neighborhood Association for the their efforts and dedication to preserving the character and charm of the oldest tract developments in Las Vegas.

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Huntridge West Neighborhood Association Installs Welcome Signs

June 1st, 2009 Categories: Huntridge

The Huntridge West Neighborhood Association applied for and received a Neighborhood Block Grant from the City. The money was used to install new landscaping and beautiful “Welcome To Historic Huntridge” signs at the corners of Oakey and 11th and Franklin and 11th.

The new signs are a welcome and exciting addition to the historic neighborhood monuments on St. Louis for the Southridge and Beverly Green Neighborhoods; The Huntridge East and Marycrest monuments on Oakey at 13th; The Alta Drive Monument at Rancho, and the Rancho Manor sign on Shadow Lane.

I can think of a couple of dozen other historic neighborhoods that would benifit greatly by following the lead of Huntridge West.

Lance Kirk and the dedicated members of Huntridge West are to be congratulated not only for getting the signs installed, but because they are so well designed. Take a look at the corner of 11 and Oakey and 11th and Franklin.

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The Huntridge Neighborhood Came With 4×4 Posts Adorned With Cross Members

August 27th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, Las Vegas History, Pillars Posts And Columns

When I first introduced the subject of the pillars and posts and columns of Vintage Vegas, I asked for your help, and NO ONE has responded…YET. I joked that I was looking for interesting designs and clever adaptations, but no 4×4’s.

The huntridge neighborhood however was built with 4×4’s to hold up the carports and porch covers (real 4×4’s at that). But they were adorned with cross hatchings, and designs made out of 1×2’s on one model and 2×4 butresses on the other. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 4×4’s have stood the test of time, but there’s very very few of the original cross pieces that have survived. One of them is shown in the bicentennial banner in the (unfortunately closed) Huntridge Circle Park. The next few pictures are some of the few remaining original columns that I’ve been able to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re the owner or future owner of one of the Huntridge Homes, then I’d love to see you recreate some of the post designs that adorned the front porches. Please feel free to use these remaining originals as a guide.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been studying the post and beam construction of the Huntridge Cottages (or are they bungalows?). Every piece of wood was hand cut. Every nail was driven by a hammer. The walls were hand plastered. The cabinets were stick built on location. The flooring was wood parquet. The bathtubs were square and the surviving tubs are highly sought after today.

 

 

 

 

They were built between 1941 and 1944 to provide fast inexpensive housing the the soldiers and airmen that were being stationed at the new Army Air Station, which was being built out in the desert far to the NW of a little railroad stop called Las Vegas. It’s  now called Nellis AFB. Las Vegas’s population in 1940 was 16,414 according to the census. There were about 900 of them built on both sides of Maryland Parkway and they became the first subdivision in Las Vegas.

 

 

 

 

 

 Here’s the rest of the pictures from the Bicentenniel Banner:

 

Take a moment and click on any of the pictures and you’ll have as much fun as I do looking at them in full screen mode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Meeting Reminders - Huntridge Theatre

August 12th, 2008 Categories: Historic Preservation, Huntridge

The unveiling of the adaptive re-use plan for the HUNTRIDGE THEATRE

Wednesday 8/13 6:30 to 8 pm at the Rainbow’s End Natural Foods on Sahara.

We’d really like as many people as possible to take a look and to weigh in on it.

 

 

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The Biggest Eyesore in Huntridge Gets It’s Lawn Mowed

June 23rd, 2008 Categories: Huntridge

I complain all the time about the bank owned repos that are being neglected. In this instance however, the property at the corner of 10th and Oakey was the biggest eyesore around while it was for sale as a “short sale”.

I complained repeatedly to rapid response – to no avail. However, last week it went back to the bank. It’s not on the market yet, but at least they sent over a crew to clean it up.

I wish all the banks would do that to their properties. It wouldn’t take much to make them more presentable. They’d probably sell at a higher price, and that much sooner if they did.

This particular one might be worth watching because it will make a great rental, as it has a full guesthouse in the back. I’ll keep my eye out for it to come back on the market as an REO.

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Why Inspections Are Important - Especially For Vintage Las Vegas Homes

May 20th, 2008 Categories: Home Repair and Remodel, Huntridge

It’s a standard part of the “Due Diligence” period for a home buyer to get the property inspected. The purchase contract is very explicit that during the due diligence period, the buyer has the opportunity to explore all aspects of the property before making their final decision to go ahead with the purchase.

Beside the opportunity to check things such as the title work, any association documents if there is one, zoning, airplane noise, etc. the Inspection is one of the most important things.

When you hire a professional inspector, they’re going to look at things in the house that aren’t readily visible when we’re out shopping and making the preliminary decision as to which home to buy.

There’s really only FOUR outcomes of the inspection. All four are good for the buyer.

1) A clean bill of health for the property

2) A checklist of minor things that could or should be upgraded, fixed or taken care of someday.

3) An opportunity to renegotiate with the seller when something of significance is found.

4) The inspector finds something so important that the buyer will choose to cancel the transaction instead of being faced with a really big repair.

The transaction that I’m doing right now on a Huntridge home fooled us on the question of electricity. The main service panel in the Huntridge homes had screw in fuses, and only 60 Amp main service. In this home, the main panel was upgraded approximately 5 years ago. From the ground in the back yard, it looked as if things had been taken care of.

All of the plugs and switches were modern looking. But at the inspection, we discovered that none of the plugs are grounded (which is not a terrible thing in itself, but ungrounded plugs shouldn’t have 3 hole outlets).  We also got our first look at the attic space.

Surprise! In between the service panel and the plugs was a mishmosh of old and new. We found old wires  that were spliced to new ones. We found connections without junction boxes, ungrounded old cables spiced into 3 wire new romex, and junction boxes without covers. And the most dangerous, which I don’t have a picture of is splices that didn’t even have caps on them.

The buyer called out an electrician who was horrified at what he saw. There’s so much to straighten out, and once you’re that deep into literally re-wiring the entire home,  permits are required, and the electricity will need to brought up to current code. That means additional plugs in all the walls, separate circuits for the fridge, and a host of other things that normally don’t have to be done to 60 year old homes unless you want to.

I always insist with my buyers that screw in fuse panels be upgraded. It’s the VERY FIRST THING that I did to my 1954 home. Upgrading ALL of the electricity is good to do, but since it often requires opening up the walls it’s usually not done, nor does it HAVE to be. In this case, if the panel upgrade hadn’t involved some very unsafe practices in the attic, then a lot of the new expense could have been saved. We’re currently negotiating with the seller for the cost of the re-wire to be taken off of the price of the home.

The buyer’s key desire is to make the home a showplace of what Huntridge Homes looked like when they were built between 1942 and 1948. But it will have to be a safe home. It’s going to be almost $4000 to straighten out the mess in the attic.

I’ll be telling some other inspection stories later in the week.

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1013 Francis Ave. In The Historic Huntridge Neighborhood Of Vintage Las Vegas

May 11th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, Las Vegas Real Estate News, OUR LISTINGS

We’re pleased to have been chosen as the listing agent for 1013 Francis Ave. We’re starting to see some of the really nice homes in the vintage and historic neighborhoods come on the market.

Now that prices seem to have stabilized, we can actually figure out what a home is worth, and what it will sell for. We’ve taken into account the new dual pane windows, the new roof, the parquet wood floors, the custom concrete countertops, the lovely front and rear landscape, and all of the other factors that we use to gauge value. We’ve priced this at $255,000. and you or someone you know ought to give me a call to see it.

The “non-investor” buyers are buying again, as we’ve mentioned, and the nicest of the homes are starting to sell.

If you’re buying in Vintage Vegas, you have a huge range of homes to choose from. Most of the foreclosures, are pretty beaten up and broken homes. Some of the homes are so–so, and some, like 1013 Francis have been well loved and well taken care of.

 

 

All of the photos are in the gallery of our featured properties, but I wanted to give you a peek into this legally expanded Huntridge home on a corner lot.

I mentioned the “legally expanded” because that’s not one of the most common things we see in the Huntridge homes. They’ve had every sort of room addition, or carport conversion that you can imagine. Some of them, such as 1013 Francis were done with permits, and the new square footage is reflected in the tax records.  Our MLS system requires us now to only use the square footage that shows in the assessor’s records. Appraisers and buyers alike are not giving as much value to non-permitted additions as they once did.

Our new listing really is 1904 square feet, and all the extra space is distributed evenly thru out all of the rooms. The master bedroom is 11×20 and the other two bedrooms are 11×16 and 12×16.

Give me a call. I’d be happy to show you this lovely home, or to help you with any other.

 

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Cleaning Up In The Huntridge and John S. Park Historic Neighborhoods

April 29th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, John S Park Historic Neighborhood

Lance Kirk, The president of Huntridge West Neighborhood Association sent some pictures of the block party THAT AREN’T BLUE.

 

 

 

 

 

The Block Party was a kickoff for the cleanup event that happened on Sunday and Monday.

There was a great response, and I caught some pictures Monday Morning of the City crews that were picking up the mountains of stuff that had been put to the curb.

 

This home on Francis Avenue in Huntridge certainly is the prize winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And speaking of cleaning up, we’re happy to report that the “Welcome To The Historic John S. Park Neighborhood” monument is now graffiti free, thanks to the rapid response team from the City of Las Vegas.

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150 Happy Neighbors Attend Block Party For John S. Park and Huntridge West Neighborhoods

April 27th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, John S Park Historic Neighborhood

Perfect weather, Pleasant Conversation, Kids on skateboards, lots of food, and a camera with a bad setting. The pictures have a blue cast. Unfortunately, I can’t go back and re-shoot the pictures. Maybe next year!

If you’re neighborhood association wants to have an event, the city and county Neighborhood Services departments can help you to  make it happen. Just ASK!

 

 

 

Hot topics of the conversation included how to get CIRCLE PARK open again, weeds, graffiti, and naturally home values.

I repeatedly told people not to worry about the home prices. It only matters the day you’re wanting to sell. Most of the neighbors I spoke to have NO INTENTION OF EVER MOVING, since they love their neighborhood and their homes so much.  I made the point over and over again, that the historic neighborhoods will recover faster, and the improvement momentum will start to pick up speed again, now that the market seems to be creating a bottom.

We met many people for the first time, and were extremely encouraged that they all wanted to get involved and help to do something.

My first suggestion  is that they should go knock on the doors of everyone in a 10 house circle around themselves, and say hello.

Of course, I suggested that they help us by reporting EVERY graffiti tag the moment they see it.

I asked them to attend Planning Commission and City Council meetings when topics come up that affect us, and to attend and volunteer at the neighborhood meetings.

 

 

Young and old, and in between were there, and everyone had a great time.

 The Vintage Vegas Neighborhoods are fun and energetic and devoted to improving the quality of life for all of our neighbors.

 

 

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Spring Fling Block Party And Spring Clean-up For West Huntridge and John S. Park Historic Neighborhoods

April 19th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, John S Park Historic Neighborhood

Join Us For West Huntridge & John S. Park Neighborhood Associations

Spring Fling Block Party & Neighborhood Clean-up

Saturday, April 26
Spring Fling
Block Party
6:00 - 9:00 pm
9th St. at Franklin Ave.
BBQ & drinks provided
side dish/dessert potluck
(bring a dish to share)
kids fun, music and more

Sunday, April 27
Neighborhood Clean-Up
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
the city of las vegas will pick up your
items that are left on the curb in
front of your house on Monday, April 28.
(West Huntridge & John S. Park
Neighborhoods Only)

Please help spread the word with our neighbors and look for flyers on your doorknob and in the mail soon.

I hope to see you all there to help celebrate our downtown neighborhood. This is a great opportunity to get to know one another a bit more. Everyone is welcome to attend.

For more information regarding West Huntridge NA, contact Lance Kirk at westhuntridgena@cox.net or 496-2032.

For more information regarding John S. Park NA, contact Bob Bellis at bobbellis@aol.com or 267-8158.

For more information about the neighborhood clean-up, contact Franklin Simpson at the City of Las Vegas at jsimpson@lasvegasnevada.gov or 229-2231

IS YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZED AND DOING SOMETHING TO MAKE THE NEIGHBORHOODS CLEANER, SAFER AND IMPROVE PROPERTIE VALUES?

Whether you’re in the city or the county, neighborhood services is willing to help you establish one. Give me a call or drop you me an email, and I’ll help send you in the right direction.
  
  

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Volunteers Perform Beautification Project In The Huntridge And Marycrest Historic Neighborhoods Of Las Vegas

April 6th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, Las Vegas Real Estate News, Marycrest

Saturday morning, students from Bishop Gorman High School returned to their schools old neighborhood for some community service. They painted fire hydrants, red no parking zone curbs, painted addresses on the curbs, and cleaned up the pocket park at Maryland Parkway and Oakey.

The City of Las Vegas Neighborhood Services and along with Gorman High School, Transitional Living Communities, and Vista Landscape organized the event.

 

The monument sign for the Historic Huntridge and Marycrest Neighborhoods was installed by the neighborhood associations about 5 years ago, but there’s always been an ongoing dispute over who was responsible for keeping the weeds out of it. It’s looked pretty shabby lately, but now that it’s cleaned up, newly rocked, and weed free, maybe we can get everyone involved in keeping it that way.

 

 

Does Your Las Vegas Neighborhood Need A Beautification Event?

They don’t just happen automatically. They don’t happen at all if there isn’t a neighbor or an association pushing for it, and stepping to the plate to make it happen.

Both the city and the county have neighborhood services departments that will guide you and help you to organize one.

The City of Las Vegas Neighborhood Services can be reached at 229–2330.

The Clark County Neighborhood Services Department can be reached at 455–3777

Would A Little Good Neighbor Effort On Your Part Help To Prop Up The Value Of Your Las Vegas Home?

Even if you don’t want to help plan a beautification event, or to be involved in a neighborhood association, there are still things you can do. Every homeowner I know or meet says they want their home to maintain it’s value.

Probably, there’s an abandoned bank owned property on your street. The bank doesn’t care and doesn’t have the time or the manpower to make it look more attractive. I’ll bet one of your neighbors is going to lose their home soon, and has stopped taking care of it. Maybe it’s a senior who lives nearby who can’t afford to have someone keep up the property. In all of these cases, even a little help from you would go a long way to make keep your own home from falling in in value along with theirs.

If the weeds got “miraculously” pulled or mowed down (hint hint), or the litter got picked up, then they might just sell for a higher price. Each foreclosure in a neighborhood AND EACH PROPERTY WITH A NEGLECTED LANDSCAPE causes every other property to lose even more value. How much would it be worth for you to make the foreclosed home, or your own home or the little old ladies home next door to look better so that the sales prices are better? I think it would be a very profitable hour or three of your time.

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*UPDATE* MOVED TO DOWNTOWN COCKTAIL ROOM! Save The Huntridge Theatre Meeting Planned For March 8th, 5pm

March 5th, 2008 Categories: Historic Preservation, Huntridge, Las Vegas History

THE MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE AT DOWNTOWN COCKTAIL ROOM, 111 S. LAS VEGAS BLVD. JUST SOUTH OF FREMONT ST. EVERYTHING ELSE REMAINS UNCHANGED

Josh Geidel, one of our Huntridge Neighbors seems to have grabbed the bull by the horns and is heading up the Save The Huntridge Committee. He’s called for a meeting, and we know there’s a whole lot of you out there that have never gotten involved with anything. As you’ll see i this post and the next one, there’s plenty of need for new bodies and voices. Josh emailed us this:

Read the rest of this entry »

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Many of the Huntridge Homes Still Have Original Siding Shingles - We’re Looking For Some Replacements

February 29th, 2008 Categories: Historic Preservation, Home Repair and Remodel, Huntridge

One of our regular readers in the Huntridge called. Some of the original siding shingles from her home were ripped off during the big windstorm 2 weeks ago.

Her insurance company wants to tear them all off and stucco her home. Fortunately, she’s one of us, and wants to keep the look of the home as original as possible.

I don’t know a source for them, but I’m willing to bet one of you has a pile of them in the backyard. Or, maybe you’re about to remodel, and instead of throwing them away, they can be saved and put to use again.

These same type shingles were used by one of the prolific 50’s and 60’s  homebuilders in Charleston Heights out at Rainbow and Buffalo. 

If any of you know of a stash of them, please contact me.

There’s a huge amount of misconception about this type of shingle. They were made from a mixture of asbestos and cement.

There’s one of those fancy scientific terms used to describe the fact that they’re generally NOT HARMFUL.

Non-friable asbestos-containing material (ACM) is not regulated because it contains a binder or hardening agent such as cement, asphalt or vinyl. Examples of ACM are asphalt roofing shingles, vinyl asbestos floor tiles and transite siding made with cement. ACM products are still being manufactured today. The danger with this type of material is that it can pose the same hazard as friable asbestos during remodeling, repairs or other construction. Burning ACM also creates friable asbestos.

There have been many scams from unscrupulous contractors where homeowners are misled into believing there is a health danger merely by virtue of the products having been used in their homes. There’s are thousands of buildings in every city that have ACM.  The picture from the left is the floor tile we found under the carpet in my own home.

Among the many articles and resources I found while researching this is from The National Park Service Website.

http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/recentpast/asbestosarticle.htm

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*UPDATE* Las Vegas Sun Article About The Historic Huntridge Theatre In Las Vegas

February 28th, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, Las Vegas History, Las Vegas Real Estate News

We’re inviting comments regarding the Huntridge Theatre here at Very Vintage Vegas. We promise that all comments will be forwarded to the government agencies.

Joe Schoenmann, our favorite downtown reporter for the Sun only misses on one point. We may be “Stunned” but we’re not going to be “SILENT”!

Here’s the article from this morning’s paper. HISTORIC HUNTRIDGE COULD FACE DESTRUCTION

(Susan… are theatre and theater interchangable?)

Also you can read an article from 1/26/2006 that was printed & featured in the Las Vegas Weekly. (love that pub.)  This article deals, obviously not with the current situation, but rather highlights ‘5 Ways To Save The Huntridge’ by Spencer Patterson.  Well worth the read, especially if you missed it when it came out.

Here are a few links on Charles S. Lee that our amazing friend Brian Paco Alvarez researched for us:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Charles_Lee
http://historicfresno.org/bio/lee.htm
http://digital.library.ucla.edu/sclee/
http://cinematreasures.org/architect/71/
Thank you Paco!

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An Adorable Doll House In The Historic Huntridge Neighborhood Of Vintage Las Vegas Is Back On The Market

January 23rd, 2008 Categories: Huntridge, OUR LISTINGS

Unfortunately, we’ve had to put the property at 1037 Yucca back on the market. The good news is that it has a really cool and stylish new kitchen, and has been staged and decorated.  

It’s still sitting on a 13000 sf lot, which is the single biggest lot of any in Huntridge. All the windows are now dual pane, but we’ve kept the price at the same $219,000.

 

 

 

The seller is generously offering to carry a note, assist wtih closing costs,  or to do a lease option and is open to looking at all kinds of creative financing options.

If you know someone who’d be right for this home, give me a call and then tell them about it.

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