Cornerspotted: Green Lake Way & Ravenna Boulevard
Yesterday, we asked you to guess where this 1963 Seattle spot that's become a traffic snarl is located today. Fnarf was the first to nail it correctly: E. Green Lake Way and Ravenna Boulevard.
Images: Seattle Municipal Archives, Google Maps
Not sure why that that lane of NE Ravenna was closed in 1963 but it's certainly open today, one of four roads and six lanes that connect here at the northeastern edge of Green Lake. They've shifted things a bit to make room for a couple new roads in the mix since then. And of course, Greenlake Cycle Shop is now Gregg's Cycle. Some things never change, some only change slightly.
· All Cornerspotter coverage [CS]
· All Cornerspotter coverage [CS]
At Last, Tesla Unveils its $3K Batteries for Powering the Home
All photos via The Verge
Tesla, the company so far famous for electric cars, is trying to conquer much, much more. Last night, CEO Elon Musk finally lifted the curtains off Tesla Energy, its long-anticipated battery system for powering homes, businesses, and potentially public utilities. The product aimed at average homeowners is the Powerwall, a shield-like pack that measures three feet by four feet in size and six inches thick, and can be hung indoors or outdoors. Targeting solar energy adopters, Powerwall stores electricity generated from solar panels during the day and saves it up for use at night and as a backup supply.
This Week in Strange, Weird & Terrible Seattle Real Estate Listing Photos
As the weekend approaches, let's take a look around the Seattle real estate listings to find some examples of the strange, the weird and just the plain terrible. (Come across one we missed? let us know…)
This is a relevant photo to purchasing a home...how?
Demetriou Mansion on Mercer Island Back & Asking $10.8M
Listed back in April 2013 for $10.9M, this Vassos Demetriou mansion was de-listed in 2014 after no takers stepped up to take it off the hands of concessions mogul Jerry Burtenshaw and his wife Angelina. Now it's back on the market with the slightest of price-chops, asking $10.88M. Custom built in 1997, the 9,790 sf house sits on a 0.9 acre-lot and boasts 178 feet of waterfront as well as top-of-the-line luxury throughout. There's five bedrooms and they all come en suite. The listing calls shouts to the rooftops about walls of windows that reach to the rooftops. Tucked behind a gated entry and featuring an updated security system, it's the luxury hideaway any eccentric Seattle millionaire could easily call home. That spa out back with a view of Seattle's skyline in the distance was made for soaking in while smoking a cigar and thumbing $100 bills. Surely there's a tech startup CEO out there eyeballing this place right now. According to the listing, they're not able to "put this home in superior presentation order yet," hence the skimpy photos. But we found some inside looks from 2013 so you can see more than what the listing shows.
Shoreline Estate With Olmstead Gardens Asking $5.68M
With the rental market what it is in Seattle, we're often looking at places to rent for $1,700/month. Well this Shoreline 5-BR is a bit like that, except that $1,700/month is the HOA dues that you're on the hook for after paying $5.68M. Built in 1931, this 8,010 sf Colonial Revival sits on 3.24 acres of beautiful grounds that include restored Olmsted gardens. This is a serious manor house. You don't just get a kitchen, you get a granite kitchen with butler's pantry and breakfast room. There's a sunroom, of course, as well as two porches and two garages big enough for all eight of your cars. Those grounds also come with multiple water features and a woodland garden with waterfalls. Last sold for $1.9M back in 1994, they're looking for just a little bit more than that for all of this now.
Gordon Varey's Leschi Midcentury on Market for $1.29M
Gordon Varey worked his way up from United States Army Corps of Engineers to private practice to University of Washington professor to eventually becoming Dean of UW's College of Architecture and Urban Planning from 1982 to 1992. He considered the University's Rome Center at Palazzo Pio one of his crowning achievements but the mid-century Northwest modern home at 3438 E Superior St. ain't all that shabby either. Varey's 1965 urban treehouse has hit the market for $1.295M. The current owner has turned it into a live-in, art show-house with the home itself being part of the attraction. The home's original paneling and trim is still there, though restored to it's original finish. Restorations aside, the lower-level still looks like a 60's hangout. Up top, enjoy pocket views of the Sound from the elevated back deck.
Seattle Restauranteur Linda Derschang Lists $1.7M 'Old House'
Linda's Tavern. Smith. King's Hardware. Oddfellows. Those are just some of the Seattle restaurants, music clubs and watering holes that Linda Derschang has had a hand in. The queen of Seattle nightlife has built a local empire that in turn led to her purchasing a 1927 Interlaken Park 4-BR around 2007. Now she's selling her "old house" for $1.695M. Derschang told City Arts that she "was envisioning it as this house that someone inherited from a distant uncle, and there was already furniture there and then the punk rockers moved in and put their spin on it."The big metal "KISS" sign that greets you when you enter the front door speaks to that. Outside, a patio and expansive terraced yard might not be punk but they are pretty. Inside, exposed beams, leaded glass windows and arched entryways remain from the original architectural style while the decor makes the house very much Derschang's own. One of those things will be staying and the other, well, that's gonna be up to you.
Award-Winning Wendell Lovett Home Corners the Market
Modern to the point where it veers into abstraction, this AIA Honor Award-winning Wendell Lovett home in Kirkland recently hit the market for $898K. First, we have to talk about what's going on out front there. The structure itself is like a parallelogram with curved corners. Out back, the free-floating roof provides cover over the patio while also adding some artistry to the proceedings. Inside, it's a geometric funhouse with every room presenting it's own shape and corners. No surprise that it was named a Seattle Times AIA Home of the Month in 1987 and it still looks like it's in prime shape. Given the state of the market, $898K seems like a pretty good deal for a local architectural gem like this.
New IMAX Theater Opens; Developers & Living Buildings
· Do "Living Buildings" Make Economic Sense for Commercial Developers? [XC]
· Why you should visit the Living Computer Museum in Seattle [PW]
· Inside one of the world's most advanced IMAX theaters, opening this week in Seattle [GW]
· Sneak peek of Pier 54 transformation and seawall replacement [SPI]
· How traffic troubles Seattle's psyche [CC]
· UW planning $110M Allen Center expansion [DJC]
· College loans, frantic bidding wars thwart young Seattle homebuyers[PSBJ]
· Why you should visit the Living Computer Museum in Seattle [PW]
· Inside one of the world's most advanced IMAX theaters, opening this week in Seattle [GW]
· Sneak peek of Pier 54 transformation and seawall replacement [SPI]
· How traffic troubles Seattle's psyche [CC]
· UW planning $110M Allen Center expansion [DJC]
· College loans, frantic bidding wars thwart young Seattle homebuyers[PSBJ]
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Cornerspotter: Know This Busy North Seattle Intersection?
Cornerspotter is the Curbed Seattle feature in which we show you a historical photo taken somewhere in the city and you identify the location. Impress fellow Curbed readers with your knowledge by leaving guesses in the comments or send them to our tipline: seattle@curbed.com. We'll post the answer on Friday. And hey: no cheating!
Image: Seattle Municipal Archives
Looks like a rather quaint junction in 1963. Not these days, however. Get caught here during rush hour and you're playing Russian roulette with the cars in four other lanes as you all try to trust in one another that everyone is up to speed on their stop sign etiquette. There's a fairly strong giveaway over in the back left of the photo, if you need some help. Any idea what road this photo was taken from?
Renee Erickson Raises Wages to $15/Hour; Redhook's New Seattle Brewpub
This week's top hits from Eater Seattle, Curbed's sibling bar, restaurant, and nightlife blog.
TIPPING -- Last week, Renee Erickson announced that starting next Monday, The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, and Barnacle will no longer accept tips. In their stead, she said the restaurants will add an 18.5 percent service fee to checks that will be shared between front- and back-of-the-house employees. What Erickson did not announce in her original press release, however, was that also beginning May 4, all front-and back-of-house workers—including servers, cooks, and dishwashers—in these three restaurants will make a base pay of at least $15 per hour, and will also receive a bonus based on daily sales and hours worked.
CONTROVERSIES -- In other minimum wage law news, Broadway zPizza will close in August after five years because business has become too expensive with the new labor costs. This will mark the first restaurant to cite the new minimum wage law as reason for closure.
COMING ATTRACTIONS -- Redhook is returning to its Seattle rootswith a new brewpub planned for 2017. Redhook was founded in Seattle in 1981 and previously had brewpubs in Fremont and Ballard, the two neighborhoods it's currently scouting for its Seattle reappearance.
What $2,000/Month Can Rent You in Seattle Right Now
Welcome back to Curbed Comparisons, where we scour Seattle's rental listings to see what your monthly budget will get you across the city. Today we find out what $2,000/month can get you. You tell us which lease you'd sign.
↑ We begin in Greenwood where $2,000/month gets you this 925 sf 2-BR at Sapphire Condos. The sizable, well-kept unit comes in a building full of the usual amenities foyer with pool table, exercise room, game room and rooftop deck). Good location along 85th between Greenwood Avenue and Aurora Avenue.
MIT Unveils 190-Ton Memorial Dedicated to Sean Collier, Officer Slain by Boston Marathon Bombers
Photo by Iwan Baan via MIT News
In Cambridge, Massachusetts yesterday, MIT dedicated a new permanent memorial to Sean Collier, the campus police officer ambushed by the Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on April 18, 2013. The completed structure, a months-long collaboration among MIT architecture professor Meejin Yoon, structural engineering professor John Oschendorf, students, and a crew that included Collier's brother, stands on the site of the murder and is laden with symbolism. From the choice of material—32 giant pieces of polished granite painstakingly excavated from a New Hampshire quarry—to its overall shape—an "open hand" that represents service and generosity, the memorial is the striking physical embodiment of "Collier Strong," the simple words that Boston has embraced in remembrance of the fallen officer.
How About a Cape Cod Floating Home For $975K?
Shouldn't you do this at least once in your life, especially if you're working and possibly living in Seattle? Live on a houseboat. A 2 bedroom, 1 bath, houseboat with 1,184 square feet is on the market and they're asking $975,000 (plus dues of $420/month). The designer went for a bit of Cape Cod, but the setting is definitely Seattle, floating on Lake Union with views of downtown and the Space Needle. Of course you might have to peek around the other houses or climb onto the roof for the views; or even better, launch your boat from your house and sit in the middle of the lake. Mind the floatplanes. Inside, the houseboat looks more like house than boat. The kitchen is full size, and doesn't look like a galley. The bathroom has tile and tub and chrome and brass fixtures that could be on land in a mansion, but actually over water. There's even a wood-burning fireplace, though probably more for ambiance than heating, unless there's room for a cord of wood somewhere. Outside, there is room for people and a few plants because of the decking - a natural for sunny days, or storing your kayak. Just like in Cape Cod, be prepared for visits from the waterfowl. Remember, poop happens.
Amazon's Life in Seattle Promo Video Gets a 'Real' Makeover
Back in 2013, Amazon made a recruitment video aimed at helping job candidates "learn a little about life in Seattle." It's what you might expect, Amazon employees talking about the things they love about Seattle over shots of the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and the Seattle Great Wheel. You know, all the places Seattleites love to hang out. And while a lot of the things they talk about in the video are real, you can't help but notice that they're talking about a Seattle that's only actually accessible to a shrinking percentage of people who live here. It's about the time that one Amazon employee boasts "Everyone runs, everyone does CrossFit," that you realize just how ripe for parody this whole thing is.
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