Living in Oakland, CA there is a plethora of great old housing stock built from the 1890's and on. Farmhouses, victorians, and bungalows can be found in various states, from impecabbly restored to completely run down. The rough and tumble neighborhoods have been gentrifying over the past 10 years. This has caused many homeowners as well as investors to spruce up their homes to capitalize on their rising values. This in itself is good. However, I have been noticing more and more shoddy rehabs, where a shingled bungalow with original divided light windows is "updated" with cheap siding and vinyl windows. The real estate flyer on the remodeled home always points out the newly remodeled features...Maybe they should have kept it the way it was. Now don't get me wrong, i'm all for restoring and rehabbing our old housing stock. What I am not for is taking great old homes and rehabbing them with what ever material happens to be on sale this week at the Big Box home improvement center. There should be a law against ripping character out of these old homes.

In a really sad moment yesterday, I drove down a street past where a large turn of the century dutch colonial stood not two weeks ago, only to notice that it had been torn down. I had observing the home over the past two years as it transitioned from a home with an attached small old style doctors office to a vacant home. The home appeared to be quite charming and one of those architectural anchors that give older neighborhoods their unique feel. It's a shame that these things can be done without any sort of notice. Oh well I guess this is progress...or is it.