Ugly House Photos

Uh, there’s a door on the 2nd floor that leads to a corrugated metal porch roof.  Safe?  Hopefully, these Hickory, North Carolina sellers aren’t advertising it as a balcony.

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Are we sure these Taylor, Alabama home owners got building permits for their room additions?

Good luck with the home inspection.

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Adding an extra bathroom to your home can add value.  Except when it’s done by amateurs and installed in a garage!  Yep, in the garage.  It also has a door lock as if anyone would walk in on him/her.  Is there a water supply, is there proper drainage, is there a vent stack, is there ventilation, is there lighting, was a building permit obtained?

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Be very very careful using the stairs in this tri-level Charlotte, North Carolina home.

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The UglyHousePhotos Awards for Worst Structural Integrity (aka Tear It Down Now) go to:

8th Place - Dilapidated Phoenix home.

7th Place - Scottsdale, Arizona.  This $1.2 million baby suffered severe structural damage throughout the entire house as the result of a faulty swimming pool.  The house had to be demolished.  See more photos from our March 2008 post.

6th Place - Phoenix.  Built by the owner, probably.  Did they get a building permit?

5th Place - Phoenix.  Looks terrible.

4th Place - Glendale, Arizona.  Got crack?  Too many structural problems with this house.

3rd Place - Casa Grande, Arizona.  Not even siding will help this beast.

2nd Place - Unknown location.  Like a house of cards about to come crashing down.

1st Place - Unknown location.  Make sure the seller shows you the Certificate of Occupancy!  Otherwise, tear it down!

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The UglyHousePhotos Awards for Worst Stairs go to:

5th Place - Ithaca, New York.  Does look like fresh wood on the railing, but the ugly orange carpet and dirty walls helped it reach the top 5.

4th Place - Phoenix.  Angry foreclosed seller got mad at the railing.  Hardly seemed properly secured to begin with.

3rd Place -  Phoenix.  This dirty, ugly staircase was not photoshopped; the sellers did a poor job of painting close to the carpet.  Puke green and bubble gum pink don’t mix well.

2nd Place - Mesa, Arizona.  The sellers created their own basement and staircase.  Note how the stairs aren’t spaced evenly.  One of the stairs is missing at the bottom.  Creepy and unsafe.  [This is the same home that got 7th Place Worst Basement yesterday.]

1st Place - Boston, Massachusetts.  They used pegboard for the kick boards!  No railing = unsafe!!!

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The UglyHousePhotos awards for Worst Room Additions go to:

7th Place - No insulation under the roof.  No ventilation except for the wall A/C unit.  The roof slopes back to the house which isn’t good during rains.

6th Place - It scored points for being unfinished, but at least they have new flashing at the roof edge and some type of wall insulation.

5th Place - Warped roof edge.  Bars on the window.  Scary electric panel about to fall over.

4th Place - His and hers bathrooms?

3rd Place -  Poor workmanship.  Bad ventilation ductwork on top of the roof.  Cheap windows.

2nd Place -  Would you use this “bathroom”?

1st Place -  We’re talking about the shanty town building on the left.  Our winner!

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The sales brochure probably promotes that this Davenport, Iowa home has a convenient third bathroom.  In the basement.  Watch your step when you walk to the sink.

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I had the pleasure of viewing this, uh, interesting mountainside home in Phoenix this week.  In a setting of million dollar homes and views, the previous owners cheapened the house, in my opinion, with horrific faux paint as you’ll soon see. 

They were a little upset that the house went into foreclosure; the return vent was kicked in.  Every wall, and I mean EVERY wall, was painted with bright colors and finished off with gold sponge paint.

Let your eyes readjust for a moment.  Here’s the front yard of the house.  The lot size is 1.2 acres.  Hilltop home with nearly 360-degree views.  It’s quite a walk up to the house.

Check out the dirt driveway.  All rutted from erosion.

OK, now back to the horror.  This is the living room.  Green with gold sponge paint.  Entirely green.  Nearly every square inch.  The room in the background is also green.

The kitchen with ugly red paint with gold sponge paint.

They ripped out tile at the front entry (seen here), the master bath, and two other locations.  Was probably custom-made mosaic that they wanted to take (or sell).  The house was listed for $2,877,000 in February 2008.  It didn’t sell.

It was re-listed in April 2008 at $2,250,000.  It didn’t sell.  It was listed again in September 2008 as a short sale for $1,200,000.  It didn’t sell.

Media room/movie theatre with green padded wall and ceiling cushions.  The house went into foreclosure and was taken back by the bank in 2009.  The bank listed it for $735,000 in April 2009, then dropped it to $550,000.  It’s now listed at $479,000.

Downstairs family room with lots of damage.  That’s a wet bar in the corner.

The family room with floor tile on the wall (repeated in several other rooms).  In my opinion, this home was poorly designed.  It’s a hilltop home but has view windows from the living room and master bedroom and that’s all.  Surprisingly, the house is very dark.  The media room, the family room, and the next two photos are the basement floor with no windows at all.  How can you entertain guests in darkness?  The only way down there is by a narrow staircase off the back of the kitchen.  Creepy.

I expected sunshine in a mountainside home so didn’t bring a flashlight.  These photos were taken in total darkness, using the camera flash to light my way.  Flash and walk 10 feet.  Flash and walk 10 feet.

In the dark, I thought that thing in the corner was an ugly water fountain.  But it’s actually part of the mountain!  To the left of it was another room, used as an office.  All that time spent installing tile and rock veneer!  In total darkness.  It’s like a mine in Chile.

The master bedroom with tacky green and gold paint.  They spent so much money on tacky decor in this house.

The master bedroom smells of pet urine.  And you can see why.

These are the steps leading to the front door.  Uh, where’s the railing??!!  How dangerous is this staircase??

Looking down from the top of the stairs.  One slip and you’re a goner.  The dirt driveway has eroded onto the stairs.

The house is 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 5000 square feet.  So much work needed, small kitchen, dark rooms, etc. that it’s really a tear-down.  What a shame.  What a waste.

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We’re trying to find something nice to say about this house.

They saved money by not paying for a building permit for the room addition?  The back door is eco-friendly?  They recycle?  The electric panel is accessible?

They save time & energy by not having landscaping?  They didn’t waste money on a concrete driveway?  It’s a big lot?

The refrigerator is included with the sale?  The house has gas service?  The gas line serves as a cup holder?

The cabinets look new?  There’s a window above the sink?  Nice.

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