Bay Area Home Styles: Spotlight on the Victorian

A Victorian home in the city of Alameda.

This is the second installment in a series of bimonthly posts about architecture styles, each dedicated to a popular home type that can be found in the Bay Area.

Ah, the beautiful, stately Victorian home. A Victorian home actually refers to a style born during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), though it transcends that exact time frame.
The Victorian home combined elements of Gothic architecture with French, Italian, and Tudor details. Victorian homes are typically on the larger size (two to three stories) and feature wood or stone exteriors. Victorian homes are usually asymmetrical, featuring ornate trim, scalloped shingles, and steep rooflines.
Victorians are often called “dollhouses” or “gingerbread houses.” Many Victorians are painted numerous colors, highlighting architectural artistic details in all of their glory. Some Victorian variations include the Queen Anne, the Second Empire, the Shingle- style, and the Stick-style.
Inside the home you’ll typically find smallish rooms and equally small closets if the structure has not been extensively remodeled. Ornate details such as wainscoting, picture rails, buttresses, and decorative ceilings are common features, and fireplaces are ubiquitous. Traditionally, the interior of a Victorian home was stuffed to the gills with furniture and covered in wallpaper.
At one time, there were approximately 50,000 Victorian homes in San Francisco, but it is said that nearly 75 percent of them were damaged during the 1906 earthquake and the fires that followed.
Without a doubt the most famous Victorian homes in the Bay Area are San Francisco’s Painted Ladies. This row of iconic, colorful homes adjacent to Alamo Square Park was featured in the beginning shots of the popular TV show “Full House,” and tourists from all over the world make it a point to stop and take photos of the homes. If you are interested in learning more about the Victorians of San Francisco, you can take a San Francisco Historical Walking Tour.
Another Bay Area Victorian of note is San Jose’s Winchester Mystery House, which was once the residence of Sarah Winchester, widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester. The home was in a constant state of construction from 1884 until Sarah Winchester’s death in 1922.
The house has 160 rooms and is filled with secret passageways and winding stairways, supposedly built to confuse ghosts and spirits. The Winchester Mystery House is now a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is open to the public, and tours are available.
In the East Bay, according to Alameda Magazine, “It’s said there are more Victorian-style homes in Alameda, based on our population, than anywhere else in the country.” And though that statement may or may not be factually correct, there are approximately 3,000 Victorian homes on the island city.
Living in a historic home isn’t for everyone. Of course, due to their age, Victorians need special care and attention. You can learn more about Victorian homes on the HGTV website. This Victorian Homes website has a wealth of content about this architecture style, including restoration information, decorating ideas, and a photo gallery. And this The Old House Guy article follows the restoration of a Victorian home in New Jersey, complete with before-and-after photos.
Interested in a Victorian home? Make sure to speak to your real estate professional about the features you deem important. Together, you can find your dream “dollhouse.”

(Photo: Flickr/David Brossard)

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/bay-area-homes-spotlight-on-the-victorian/

Real Estate Roundup: Bay Area Sellers Net Largest Profits in the Country

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious.

HOME SELLERS IN 4 BAY AREA COUNTIES ENJOYING HUGE PROFIT MARGINS
Bay Area homeowners who have been wavering about putting their properties on the market may want to take a serious look at the numbers from one recent industry report.

According to RealtyTrac’s most recent U.S. Home Sales Report, October sellers in Alameda County realized a 75 percent profit gain since the time they purchased their home, the most in the U.S. Santa Clara County sellers enjoyed the nation’s second-largest profit margin, at 61 percent, followed by San Mateo County at 58 percent. The company notes that Contra Costa County home sellers also did quite well, pulling in profits of 48 percent.

Across the country, the average home seller took in a profit of 16 percent since the time of purchase, the most since December 2007, just before the country plunged into the Great Recession. RealtyTrac says that more than one-third of major U.S. real estate markets have reached historic price highs at some point in 2015.

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LOCAL TECHIES PULLING IN BIG-TIME BANK
The average Bay Area tech worker earned three to five times the national wage last year, boosting purchasing power in one of the nation’s most expensive real estate markets.

SFGate reports that the average tech worker in San Mateo County took home $240,633 in 2014, the highest in the nation. Techies earned $211,874 in Santa Clara County, $176,275 in San Francisco County, and $121,747 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Nationwide, the average wage was $51,364 in 2014,

But as the article points out, those numbers can appear artificially high given that they include money from sources such as severance pay and stock options. For instance, San Mateo County’s average wage was actually down 23 percent from 2013 when it was skewed by a $3.3 billion stock-option gain by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

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BAY AREA RENTS CREEP HIGHER IN NOVEMBER
Rent prices that won’t stop rising continue to squeeze tenants in San Francisco and Oakland, although those in San Jose got a bit of momentary relief last month.

In its November National Rent Report, Zumper puts the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit in San Francisco at $3,670, up 1.4 percent from October and the highest in the U.S. for many months running. Across the Bay in Oakland, one-bedroom rental costs rose 3.8 percent month over month to $2,160, the fifth highest in the country. On a yearly basis, rents were up by 13.7 percent in Oakland and 8.9 percent in San Francisco.

In San Jose, the nation’s fourth most expensive rental market, prices dropped 4.0 percent from October to $2,180 but were up by 14.7 percent on an annual basis.

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PANTONE TO HOME DESIGNERS: JUST RELAX
Home design and décor trends will get a serious dose of mellow over the next few years if color authority Pantone has anything to say it about.

As it has done every year since 2000, the company announced its annual color of the year, but this time, it chose a pair: Serenity (a baby blue) and Rose Quartz (a light pink). In a press release, Pantone said that the shades are intended to “embody a mindset of tranquility and inner peace” and act as “an antidote to the stress of modern day lives … that psychologically fulfill the yearning for reassurance and security.”

Pantone offers multiple suggestions for how to use this chilled-out duo in interior design: rugs, upholstery, tableware, and decorative home accessories.

(Photo: Flickr/401(K) 2012)

Article and images sourced from http://blog.pacificunion.com/real-estate-roundup-bay-area-sellers-netting-largest-profits-in-the-country/