Posted on July 4th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Holidays, Just for Fun, Photo Flash
A magnificent aerial display. The sky went from dark as midnight to bright as high noon in a split second with an incredible explosion that rocked the airwaves and sent thousands of light fibers flying from the explosion’s center core. Then secondary explosions erupted with ivory colored filaments expanding…turning to flame red…and back again to bright ivory in every direction. An incredible light show……courtesy of Mother Nature?
Was it convincing for even a moment or two? By now it must be clear how my imagination runs with things. When I snapped the shot of this flower and saw the resulting photo afterwards, I thought it looked a lot like a commercial sized aerial fireworks shell exploding in the air. So, I’ve been saving it for today. When I showed it to someone else, their first reaction was they thought it looked like a colored sparkler. So, possibly I might have been on the right wavelength?
Well, this is the day where a huge proportion of us will travel this evening to view fireworks in large public gatherings. Or maybe you will orchestrate your own private display, or watch the neighbors light show from a lawn chair in your own front yard. But even if you miss an aerial show, wherever you are, chances are high that you won’t be able to escape at least the soft muffled POP of a few firecrackers in the distance at least at some point today. It’s the Fourth of July. Time for backyard barbecues, spirited gatherings with friends and family, and yes…fireworks. While we share in celebration of other major holidays with people in other parts of the world, this is one that we celebrate just by ourselves…as Americans. So hoist up the Stars and Stripes…and let the celebration begin.
Posted on July 3rd, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Historic Homes / Buildings, Holidays, Public Buildings & Sites
Thousands upon thousands of people have tread past this scene at one time or another without giving it any thought…including me probably on a few occasions. It looks like just a bunch of old looking guys, politicians perhaps?…and soldiers. But on this day I focused on it for some reason and became intrigued by this bronze relief that is set into the wall flanking the stairs on the east entrance to the Old State House building. I’m told this is a representation of Governor Morton, who was the governor of Indiana during the Civil War in the 1860′s, addressing the troops from Indiana. At first I was drawn to the intricate details and features which really are quite remarkable…especially when you consider how old this is. But then I got to thinking that this must have been a very important event to some back then. Something so important, so pivotal, that they wanted to immortalize the moment, saving it for future citizens to consider. So, I guess I’ve fallen into their scheme.
So I got to thinking…the Civil War was the most tumultuous of times in our history as a country. What could be more traumatic for a nation than people fighting their fellow countrymen. Hard for me to imagine something like that now, but that’s what was happening then. They wanted us to remember the importance of that time in our history. So the bronze relief that adorns the state house has completed it’s mission on me at least on this occasion.
Then it dawned on me, especially as it is July 3rd…the only thing that could be equal or possibly even more traumatic as a nation would be fighting your fellow countrymen from England for independence beginning in 1776. We live today in a world shaped by wars that others have fought before us. We do so without much thought to those that have given their lives so that we could live ours. We set off a few firecrackers, light some sparklers and shoot off a roman candle or two in celebration, but the reason why we do it falls by the wayside. And that’s OK usually. I’m sure they would want us to be enjoying ourselves and having the freedom to live how we want, including choosing what we want to remember.
Posted on July 2nd, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Historic Homes / Buildings
I was just thinking for a moment. I was wondering what it would feel like to have actually lived in a home like this. It’s beyond my comprehension really the kind of lifestyle that would be. If someone said “Congratulations…you are the 10 millionth visitor to the museum, and you win the Grand Prize…an all expense paid stay in this house for a month”. What a blast that would be though to move in for a little while. Besides roaming around and kicking your feet up any of the 22 rooms inside…and strolling around the 26 acres of gardens and pathways around it…imagine the baseball game you could have with a group of your friends, or practicing your iron shots on the front lawn.
As if you didn’t know already…this is Oldfields Mansion, the previous home of J.K. Lilly, which is adjacent to the Indianapolis Museum of Art on west 38th Street. Nice place huh?
Posted on July 1st, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Photo Flash
This “platter” was being display by one of the artists at the Talbot Street Art Fair a few weeks ago. It was sitting on a shelf with some other things that you can see parts of here. I don’t know…the design caught my eye and I just liked the photo afterwards. It has nothing to do with real estate or the Indianapolis community per se, so I struggled with the idea of posting it. But I got to thinking, why not. IHB is a space similar in many ways to a room. But instead of furnishings or accessories, it’s defined and decorated with ideas and images. Each post is a window on something that I feel is worth showing or talking about. It’s kind of like putting another picture on the wall in the room. Helps to jazz up the place a bit don’t you think?
Hmmm…a room with windows? That does kind of sound like real estate after all.
Posted on June 30th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: For Home Buyers, For Home Sellers, Real Estate Perspective
When I search the records of our local real estate board MIBOR to look for information about sold properties this year, the results say that there have been 10,131 homes or condominium transactions that have closed this year to date since January 1st in the greater metropolitan Indianapolis area (Marion County plus the other 8 counties that surround it). While that number is possibly surprising to some in and of itself, the really interesting stat to me is the average number days on market reported for these properties. That number, according to the records, say that on average, it took 96 days on market (DOM) for these homes to sell after they were listed. That sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Wow…96 days? Actually it sounds like the market is red hot. Just put your home on the market and it will be sold in about 3 months.
The goofy thing though about that DOM number is it doesn’t take into account that the property may have been listed 1, 2, or maybe 3 or more times before. It could have been on the market for a year or two. I have seen reports given to Sellers and Buyers by other agents that don’t drill any deeper into the real marketing history than the last time a home was listed. Sellers use that number to compare with other similar homes, to try to get a feel for how long they can expect their home to be on the market before selling so they can make plans. Buyers use it to try to gauge how motivated or negotiable a Seller might be. If the home has been on the market a long time then maybe they might be willing to take less. Who knows though, maybe the Seller has already dropped the price 3 times. You have to look deeper to find that out.
I always explore and offer entire marketing history of a property if a client needs real numbers to use for comparitive purposes. It just makes sense to know the truth rather than using fairytale numbers.
Posted on June 29th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Architecture & Design, Downtown, Public Buildings & Sites
Ever had a need to use any of the services in any of the departments located in the Indiana State Government Center? The complex is located between the old State House and White River State Park on the north side of Washington Street. Since Indianapolis is the seat of our state government, we have all the official departments and bureaus at our fingertips. I had a need to visit the BMV there recently which prompted this photo. This was taken about 11:00am there…and the place was humming. There are several entrances off of this corridor. People coming and going like you wouldn’t believe. When I saw this straight shot down the veranda though I just had to have it. I liked the angles and shadows. So I waited..and waited..and waited…and finally for one split second there was no one there.
I’m not sure an architect would call this a veranda? There might be a different term for it on a large building. But if something like this were on a home I would call it a veranda. That’s a feature though that very few homes have now days. Verandas are a very close cousin to porches, and a fine line between the two sometimes. A lot of the older homes especially that were built before air conditioning was invented, have verandas…or full-length porches. It was so hot inside sometimes in the summer, people sat outside where it was cooler, shaded by the veranda roof, with a chance to catch a stray breeze or two. Probably why in those days people actually talked to their neighbors more as they walked down the street. Now people jump on Facebook or Twitter to communicate. Maybe they should bring verandas back on homes? Face to face is always better. Some of us would say “that sounds great” but still have our laptops or Blackberry on the veranda with us too. And, picture this Government Center veranda with a bunch of Adirondack chairs and rockers. Everyone could get their business done inside and then sit a while, talk and get to know each other.
Posted on June 28th, 2009 by Richard. Categories: Architecture & Design, Historic Homes / Buildings
I just wanted to post this photo because I like it so much and felt like passing it on. I sometimes see an old home just brimming with character and feel like taking a piece of it with me…using my camera. This doorway is fabulous. This is not just a doorway and doors to me but more like a piece of artwork. A finely crafted wood sculpture. The fact that they are functional too is even more impressive. This is the doorway to the Benjamin Harrison home on north Delaware. I wrote a post with a photo about it not to long ago on Flag Day.
Quite a few people have come and gone through these portals for over a hundred twenty-five years. Just looking at this, I bet there’s only one thing that has changed and not original. One thing here that the earliest visitors may not have used. The doorbell button. That had to be an addition at some point. I’m not going to fault them for that though. Anyway…hope you enjoy.
