This was the entrance to our Palm Springs home of 28 years. It was an incredibly beautiful, unique home built in 1937. I loved living there and it was hard to move. It may sound like I am bragging, but it was beautiful. Not that livable. That was was one of the downsides.
WARNING: This may turn into a rant.
You can imagine my shock when a friend sent me a video from an Instagram account for our former home. The buyers, who we thought loved our home and lived in an old Spanish Hacienda themselves, are turning our home into a short-term vacation rental. They told us they liked our house better than theirs because we had a spectacular view of Mt. San Jacinto.
They’ve totally gutted the house inside and it’s lost it’s rustic charm and is filled with white marble with gray streaks, dark glossy floors with a bizarre tile shape. They removed wood-beamed ceilings, the columns and the original Sausalito tiles and everything else I loved about our home. It no longer has any character.
My daughter and I were ranting to each other by phone. Absolutely horrified by what we saw. We felt violated.
I made a comment on their Instagram account, “That’s my old home.” My daughter added a comment, “Why did you remove the original tile floors?” We were blocked. I guess the good news is we don’t have to look at more videos and photos of how they turned an authentic 1930s Spanish Colonial into a Mid-Century Modern Hollywood Nightmare. Tacky without taste.
In our Master bedroom, they removed the columns, floors, wood beams, granite wall paper, tub (at the far end) and built a wall with three archways to cut off a large portion of the room. Now the master looks much smaller. The shower and bathroom were behind mirrored doors on either side of the tub. Now they are behind archways and they put in a modern circular white stand-alone tub.
When I ranted to my husband, he was shocked when I showed him the pictures. He didn’t recognize our home. Then, being level-headed he said, “We don’t own the home anymore. We sold it.”
I know he’s right. But I have so many memories of living in that home. When we moved in, I was pregnant with my first child. It’s the only home our kids lived in before they went off to college.
FYI, we moved out December 12, 2020. We asked the new owners if we could have a little extra time to move. Escrow was 30 days and we lived there for close to 30 years. They were gracious and agreed. Then, we asked if we could stay for one last Christmas with our kids and DIL’s family. They said, “Sure. For $7,000.” We moved and spent Christmas alone getting settled in our new home.
We are better off for moving out of California to Arizona, I will admit. I liked the downtown Palm Springs location, but it had a downside with a homeless guy living on the steps to our entrance. Also, my husband said he’d have to work until he died to support the expenses.
At least I have these photos to remember what once was.
I guess it’s true. You can never go home again.
Have you ever been surprised at what has become of a place you lived in before?
What changes have you seen to your old home or home town?
In a historic home like that EA, the city allows owners to make such drastic changes? Is it because the outer facade remains the same (carries the historic look about it) so it’s okay to upend the entire inside? That is just tragic given the value of that space to history of the city and state. It astounds me that people don’t understand the value when they make these sorts of decisions. I’m truly sorry. Do you know the original history of the home?
I think if we would have tried with the city to make it a historic site there would have been protection. But that never occurred to us that someone would completely gut it and not like it the way it was. Sure, I could see some updates and improvements. As for the history, it was the Movie Colony tract developer who built it for his daughter. Other homes in the neighborhood belonged to Lucille Ball and Bob Hope.
I’m in shock with you. What a sad turn of affairs, but your husband is right the property isn’t yours anymore.
Have you ever been surprised at what has become of a place you lived in before? Yes. I once made the mistake of Googling our first condo, the one we upgraded with sweat equity to turn into a beautiful property, only to find that no one since [30 years] has done a thing to it. It had been turned into a rental and looked like the landlord hadn’t done a thing to maintain it, just a pit now. I was so bummed, I had so many happy early marriage memories of that place.
My husband is correct. We don’t own it. So sad about your first condo and your sweat equity. Memories are what make a place a home. At least I still have those.
Oh my. I’m with you…this makes me so sad. I wish I hadn’t peeked over the years to see newer images (including interiors) of homes I’d lived in growing up. My dad had a particular love of old wood, vintage charm and although we moved a lot, he tried to find houses that had some sort of history, solid construction. I get that it’s not your home any longer…but I’m sighing, just the same. It was beautiful…and I’m glad you have a lot of photos. Thank goodness for that. 💕
Thank you. I’m thankful for the photos and the memories of bringing home my two babies, their birthday parties, proms, etc. into that home. I’m sorry for the new look the home has, but like my husband said, we sold the home. Our kids wanted us to keep it as an Airbnb, but that was not practical for us to do and make a move.
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I’m pretty blase about houses. However, my mother was livid with some of the renovations the new owners did to our old house. To be fair, we had a center hall colonial that my mom made modern inside. The new owners made it in line with a center hall colonial
Those are my kind of new home owners 😉
That’s interesting about your mom making a colonial modern and then being upset that the new owners made it more traditional! That’s the opposite of what I’m going through.
Yeah. ,y mother just thinks she’s always right
That’s funny.
I am with you. My heart goes out to you. I have experienced this with a house that wasn’t even my own, but belong to someone I admired. When that person died, someone bought the home and oh my goodness, what they did to it! Over the many years, my husband and I moved a number of times, and I’m one who leaves pieces of herself in each place. Very fortunately, our last home that meant so much to us, that we built, we sold to the most wonderful family who has done nothing but improve it.
Isn’t that nice to have a family improve a home and keep up the tradition that you left. I knew a buyer would want to update our home. We cleaned it up before we sold it, and our realtor said not to do too much because it would “become a project” for the buyer. Boy, was he right!
I’ve wondered if I’d like to stay in one of our old homes, if they ever showed up on a short term rental site. Your story make me think no. Best to hold on to the memories and let the rest go- ever onward!
I am with you. Two years ago for Christmas we did rent a home for our extended family in our old neighborhood. That was kind of strange, but it was an old Spanish home like ours and was traditional. I’d never want to stay in our old home the way they changed it.
I’ve kind of seen through the window of my childhood home that they tore a wall down that separated the living room from the dining room. I’m afraid to see what other changes they made. I’d probably start crying.
I understand perfectly. I drove my daughter to my childhood home in Washington and was shocked to see that they built a barn right next to the kitchen window and deck! Plus, it was a natural wood shake shingle home and they painted the garage door bright blue!
I have to be honest, I don’t understand the rant. If you sell your home, it’s not your home anymore, so the new owners can do what they want with it. Otherwise, you should have kept it. Homes do not stay as shrines. Anyhow, sorry for the owners if you posted mean comments on their site. It’s their home now, they bought it, they can do what they want with it. I hope you make peace with this. Anger is not good for health.
I only posted “that’s my old home.” Not mean at all. Thanks for your comments. I am getting over it. Writing about it helped.
Ok, you have such a beautiful home in AZ. My goodness, those cute birds/animals that are always visiting you, beautiful scenery. Change is hard, many of us miss the old days with our kids, but we have new beginnings. Maybe for some of us grandkids come along, then new memories created. Have a nice day!
So true. I’m so grateful for our new life in Arizona although I miss the good old days.
People make changes all the time. It must be shocking to see the way they modernized your previous home but I guess they wanted to make money out of it and thought going modern was the key.
Mid Century Modern is very popular in Palm Springs. There’s a trend to restore them to their former glory. But our house was 1930s, an entirely different look. Yes, I’m sure they did it for money.
What can you do? Better to
Put it out of your mind.
Definitely.
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Oh my goodness. What struck me is that you said they loved it because they lived in a Spanish hacienda themselves. The pictures you shared are beautiful. It’s hard to see someone not appreciate and honor the unique character.
We thought they lived down the street from us, but it turns out that was also an Airbnb. Maybe they did live in it for a bit. Everybody has their own style and tastes. We had lots of happy years in that house.
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I share your outrage! I understand what your husband said, but homes, especially ones as beautiful and historic as yours, are more than walls, a floor and a ceiling.
Every once in a while, I drive by the home that I grew up in. I know that they have made a few changes – both the landscaping and the interior needed updating – so one of these days, I’m going to knock on their door to see if I could get a tour. The home has no historical significance, but it was full of love and laughter as I was growing up. I hope it still is.
We did have a couple stop by and one said our home was their grandparents. We gave them a tour and they told us what had changed from their childhoods. Mainly, we did landscaping changes of putting in lawn and flowers, while they had a gravel yard.
I drove my daughter by my childhood home and I was outraged to see the garage door was painted bright blue — the entire house was natural shake shingles.
Your home is beautiful-I guess you can never come home, again. We did visit my old farmhouse where I grew up and I was very happy to see no one had touched the enormous red barn or the beautiful fireplace room my brother, James build for us. You now live in a beautiful home in Arizona and have good memories.
Thank you. I am grateful for our new house that is easier to live in. 1930s homes don’t have much closet space and their was no insulation above that wood beamed roof. Also, I like the lower cost of living in Arizona.
Yes, you did well to move but it is natural to be curious about your old home. I would be, also.
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If we ever sell our home in Florida, I would need to know that the beautiful garden will be taken care of but It will take a special person or family to carry on. We shall see. No intention of selling just yet.
Wouldn’t that be nice to know that your garden would be taken care of. When we put our home on the market, I didn’t want to move. The kids didn’t want us to sell. So I told the realtor to put a large price on it. I told the kids, that nobody was going to pay that much for our house. Then within hours we had four offers over asking! We picked the one who said “no inspections.”
I have a little different story. My grandmother’s home in Corvallis, Oregon, held a lot of wonderful memories for me. She lived there for 50 years or more, but my grandparents were not the original owners.
After she died and the house sold, the new owners invested amazing sums to restore the original frescoes in the walls (covered with wall paper), restore the wood floors (covered with hideous carpet over old sheet linoleum from the 50s or earlier, repaired the foundation, upgraded kitchen and baths. In short, turned a large but unremarkable and dated house into a beauty. I was thrilled it didn’t get torn down, which is what we all thought might happen.
That’s a great story. Did you get to visit the home after it was restored?
My aunt and uncle did and took pictures. I’ve seen it from the outside only.
I’m happy that some of your family got to see it, plus you got to see the outside. I like your story better than mine 😊
What a beautiful home! I can understand your shock at what the new owners did. But I do love all the animals you can see now from your new home. Savor the old memories and enjoy the new ones!
I get it, though. Its memories of raising your children there and the bittersweetness of that time being past.
Thanks. You summed up my feelings and experiences exactly.
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We’ve seen the same in Phoenix, though not homes I’ve lived in. The renovations are always sterile, white and grey, and boring. I don’t know who they appeal to, but I’d much rather own, rent, or stay short-term in a unique home with character. I can imaging how heartbreaking it must be to see your old home so drastically changed.
Thanks. The white with gray seems to be the new trend. Although my son told me it’s already dated by at least 10 years 😂 Writing helped me with my feelings as well as looking at my old photos.