Today's glorified real estate ad on sfgate.com belongs to the address 848 Southampton Drive, Palo Alto, California. With an asking price of $4.59 million at approximately 4,700 square feet, (roughly $976 per square foot) they have designed themselves into a box that leaves a select few with bank accounts still large enough to even consider living there. Its contemporary, boxy exterior is warmed up with the addition of rich wood siding and a lush lawn, unfortunately the warmth stops there. The interior appears to be a cold, monochromatic shell of hard lines and concrete. There is no life to the large rooms. What happened to the warm wooden wrap of the exteriors? Where are the brilliant punches of color such as that from the green lawn? Just for the record, three orange toiletry bottles or one area rug do not count. I don't understand why so many designers still feel that contemporary and modern interiors have to be so stark and void of color and personality. I figure, if I were to spend $4.5 million on a home I'd want to see me everywhere in that place. I'd love to hear what others think.
2 comments:
I agree with you on this one, it's so very cold. The architect and designer have taken contemporary straight lines to such an extreme I have a hard time imagining how the house could be redecorated to feel more warm on the inside. Of course, if you can afford to drop over $4 million on a house, perhaps you can afford a complete rennovation on the inside.
I completely agree! They could have injected warmth somehow, and I think that includes texture and color most definitely. Good call.
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