70s Style Ski Chalet: $1

Boy howdy, we are drinking from a fire hose now. One of our local jurisdictions just purchased a house from HUD for $1. Yes, you read that correctly. But before you get geeked and run over to your local HUD office with pockets bulging with dollar bills prepared to make it rain on some bewildered HUD employee, hang back. HUD's dollar house program is only available to government bodies.

I received orders to make an appointment to meet a contractor out at the $1 house to conduct an assessment of the house: demo or rehab; do we want to manage the process or not. Originally, I was going to the house with another staff member more senior to me and I was planning to relax in her shadow. But, as often happens to our overstretched little team, she got pulled in another direction and I was sent out to the house, some 20 miles away from the city center, by myself.

I would usually use my GPS for a trip like this but my GPS had just forsaken me on a trip earlier that day so I leaned on printed directions from Google Maps instead. I lost my bluetooth several months ago and I don't like talking on the phone while driving in unfamiliar areas. But people from work kept calling and every time I'd answer the phone I'd miss another turn. By the time the contractor called, I was totally discombobulated and 15 minutes late. He told me that he was at the house along with an official from the county (what?!) and two police officers (what? what?!!). At that point, I was totally turned around and was clear off Google Maps. He offered to come and meet me. I told him thanks but it would take Jesus to lead me out of these woods. Then I remembered that my faith tells me that G-d inspired man to create GPS, so I fired mine up again with a meek little prayer and lo and behold I was only 2 miles away! I started out again, a ball of frustration and nerves, cursing every driver or pedestrian with the temerity to cross my path. Thirty minutes late, I rolled onto the scene, tense (because I really loathe being late), furious because everyone else found the hidden house but me, and hot because it was 345 degrees outside.

I hopped out of the car all tightly-stretched smiles and apologies and immediately started taking pictures of the wrong house! Oops. The actual house had been abandoned for five years, has snakes in its abandoned pool and has been the subject of escalating neighborhood complaints. That's why the police came out -- to talk to the neighbors and let them know the county is dealing with the property.

We entered expecting to find a crumbling shell, but I immediately fell in love with the house. It was designed to look like a ski chalet and boasts 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a formal dining room, huge living room, family room and playroom.

There are two outside decks and an in-ground concrete swimming pool. The chalet wants a lot of TLC and updating, but its bones appear to be good and it reminds me of the student center in my beloved alma mater.

I have already started brainstorming on how to bring this house back to the market. We have to be careful not to over-renovate it because although it is in a neighborhood of large, generally well-kept houses, the area's home values are severely depressed. Completely rehabbed, we'd probably be pressed to sell this home at $200,000 (I know!), so I am having to tamp down my inner Vern Yip that yearns to cover the entire house in stained concrete and gold leaf, and rehab it to match the market.

I think I might also be able to make my black-wall-loving director happy by painting some interior walls darker colors. The interior space is so large that it could use some richer colors to warm it up. I would also like to bring the Brady Bunch-ski chalet look into the new millennium by covering some of the wood, particularly the banister, with drywall. We could go from this:

to this:









Nice, yes? Too nice?

I'll keep you updated on le chalet as we move along.