Charles Pennington has the distinction of being the first brave soul to use the Show Us Your Home feature on this site. Actually, as magnificent as this beauty is, perhaps I’d be more precise to describe Mr. Pennington as being “proud” rather than “brave.”

You can see many more photos of Mr. Pennington’s Florida house, and read his comments here.

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Have you ever looked at an historic house and thought “I can’t even imagine how to fix that”?

I’ve seen a lot of these homes, and talked to the owners, and heard how much trouble it’s been to restore windows, especially — without making them look modern — without detracting from the home’s historic charm.

And what do you do if you want to be historically appropriate, while still being responsibly green? Can old meet new without clashing?

I’ve seen it done, beautifully, using Pella’s Doors and Windows. Pella’s Architect Series promises “Architectural flexibility for any project -

from historic renovation to contemporary new construction. The real beauty is the creative freedom to choose from virtually endless design options including unique shapes and sizes, unlimited exterior colors, standard and custom grille patterns and our new collection of woods – Mahogany, Alder, Douglas Fir and Pine.

Their windows and doors come with the following benefits for you and your home:

Energy Efficiency— most Architect Series® products with energy-saving, argon-filled, Low-E insulating glass meet ENERGY STAR® requirements.
Easy To Clean — sash moves toward the center of the frame a full 4”, wider than most competitors’ standard casements, making it a breeze to clean exterior glass from inside your home.
Low Maintenance — Pella’s EnduraClad® exteriors are beautifully durable, resist fading, chalking and corrosion to stay looking great for years to come. The wood interior may be painted or stained to match any décor.
Superior Aesthetics and Operation — Pella’s integrated crank with fold-away handle won’t interfere with window treatments and is standard on all casements. Stainless steel operating hardware resists rust and corrosion ensuring years of dependable performance.
Extra Tight Seal — Pella’s patented SureLock® system reaches out to lift and pull the sash tight against the weatherstripping to form a tight seal.

But what they can not emphasize enough is how beautiful this line is!

Pella doors and windows are carried locally by Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores. Pella also has its own store in Mesa at Baseline and Dobson.

Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing

Maizy loves F.Q. Story, and so do I.

There are so many things to love about Phoenix’s Historic Districts, which are filled with Distinctive Phoenix Homes. And, since this weblog is dedicated to Distinctive Phoenix, be sure to keep coming back, because we’ll be writing about those homes.

I am particularly fond of the F.Q. Story district. This was the first district designated as “historic” in Phoenix, as result of neighbors stirred to action by the ugly slash that the I-10 made through their picturesque neighborhood. F.Q. Story has large yards and charming old homes, going back to 1921. But one more thing that makes me partial to F.Q. Story is all of the animal lovers who live there. It is so sweet to walk down Culver St. and run into one after another beloved dog being walked by his proud person.

I would like to introduce you to one of those wonderful dogs, Maizy, as a way of introducing you to Maizy’s home on Willetta.

Maizy lives in a tastefully updated 1938 Spanish Revival home at 1118 W Willetta St.

Arches are essential to Spanish Revival architect, of course. But I’m always delighted by the clever and unique ways different Spanish Revival homes in Distinctive Phoenix express their arches. The arch between Maizy’s living room and dining room is an unusual stair-stepped arch.

S.F. “Jerry” Cook III and Tina Skinner have written an inspired book, including more than 500 period photographs that explore the Spanish Revival movement of the early 20th Century in their book, Spanish Revival Architecture

There is more, so much more to this picture-perfect home, where modern comforts are gracefully introduced to antiquity. Browse the many photos of 1118 West Willetta Street to see for yourself why this home was a recent recipient of the FQ Vision Award, and featured on the neighborhood’s home tour. See how Maizy’s people have their high-end stainless steel refrigerator talking to the antique Wedgewood stove. The living room with coved ceiling, hardwood floors and a wood burning fireplace is elegantly appointed with new plantation shutters and surround sound stereo. These are just examples, as you will see. Be sure not to miss the virtual tour link on this page.

The home is currently listed by Nathalie Hotong of RE/MAX Excalibur for $399,000. Don’t worry, Maizy will be moving to another lovely F.Q. Story home.

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Did you catch Phil Gordon’s letter to the editor on Friday’s online issue of the Philadelphia Daily News? The article begins by citing claims that had apparently run in an earlier issue:

IN A SHORT article accompanying your report that Phoenix had surpassed Philadelphia as the nation’s fifth largest city, Phoenix was described as lacking cultural history, having water problems, being unfriendly to gays and lesbians and, in order to grow, “cheating” by “swallowing up its suburbs.”

Then the Mayor goes on to shred this ignorant stereotype point by point. Like

The cultural history of Phoenix is long and rich. The Hohokams flourished here dating back to the 3rd century B.C. and developed an extensive irrigation system that made (and makes) the desert habitable. Modern political leaders like Sens. Carl Hayden and Barry Goldwater continued being good stewards of our water needs by envisioning and funding the Central Arizona Project Canal.

Thanks to them and to so many other state and local leaders, we have a safe and assured water supply. Phoenix water regularly wins accolades for being both clean and healthy.

And

Tempe, Scottsdale and Glendale are also prospering. Phoenix hasn’t “swallowed” a square inch of any of them. We grow because 5,000 new residents move to Phoenix every month. That’s 60,000 every year and 600,000 between 10-year census reports. We don’t gerrymander people in. We pick them up at the airport.

They come to Phoenix because the sun shines 350 days a year; our cost of living is favorable; we invest in our own community and rely on citizen involvement to move our community forward. Our council/manager form of government is responsive, stable and free of scandal.

Opportunities are abundant – Phoenix is a job machine. As a city, Phoenix creates more jobs every year than 45 states. We are building an economy on education, science and research, and we’re doing it quickly.

You should read his entire letter, because there’s more… I get so tired of people who don’t know better trying to hang the backwater town label on Phoenix, comparing us unfavorably with the cities that developed before the automobile. We’re a new city, unlike Boston or New York or Philadelphia or San Francisco or Seattle. Phoenix developed after the organic growth of the old U.S. cities resulted in zoning laws. Phoenix is a western city, where land seemed abundant — in infinite supply, when Phoenix was young, but the ocean-cities were already mature. A single county in a western state is almost the size of New England! Rather than depicting Phoenix’s growth as avarice, the author of that article, had he bothered to learn about Phoenix at all, might have realized that our vastness comes, simply, from having so much land! But obviously that isn’t what the census was measuring when it recognized Phoenix as having overtaken Philadelphia in size. The census was talking about population. The fact that size of yard per capita in Phoenix is significantly larger is yet another bonus of living here… another reason for people to move here!

Phoenix is a vibrant city, without natural disasters or bitterly cold weather. It’s a business-friendly city. Employers like to bring their businesses here, and people can get jobs here, live where the sun shines year round… and have large yards! We should stop worrying that we’re not like Philadelphia, or New York, or Seattle, or San Francisco. Let’s love what makes us Phoenix, because with their moving vans, people from all over the world are demonstrating that Phoenix is a place worthy of calling home.

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