Photos By John Hoff These are images from 4250 Fremont Avenue, a house which has been extensively remodeled by Stephanie Gruver with the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation. (GMHC, or "Gimmick")
Gruver's renovation efforts were recently the subject of a Star Tribune story, which catapulted Gruver's work to a greater degree of public consciousness and, possibly, political debate.
Normally I'd link to a media story after mentioning it, but--as I've griped about incessantly on this blog--I won't use Star Tribune links because they're scheduled to go dead. (The fact that newspaper's owners, Avista Capital Partners, is THE DEVIL is actually besides the point, but I thought I'd mention it)
Back to the house at 4250 Fremont Ave. N.
I'll tell you more about this house in my next post, but for now, from top to bottom, here's what you're seeing...
1.) Top photo: the main room of the house is breathtaking. I actually found myself sucking in breath and forgetting to let it out.
2.) 3.) Second two photos: Wow, check out all these little freebies placed in the kitchen to give the house charm. Whoever buys this place is going to make out like a BANDIT!
4.) 5.) Next two photos: Details from the upstairs bathroom, including his and hers (or hers/hers and his/his) bathroom sinks, and some cute tile in the bathroom. I haven't included the basement bathroom. I was amazed such attention was lavished on a BASEMENT bathroom, but the result was great.
6.) A cedar closet! You know, some slumlords would rip out the shelves, put a humidifier in there and call it a "sauna." (I'm kidding, but readers get my point about those disreputable North Minneapolis slumlords like, oh gee, Mahmood Khan)
7.) Look at all that copper! Good thing this North Minneapolis home has an alarm system.
8.) Some painted hand prints were left in the basement, some kind of remnant of the folks who once lived there, apparently. It was cool to leave that. Good call.
9.) I couldn't help but notice the use of low-energy, long-lasting bulbs. I use these myself and I've been phasing out energy-hog incandescent light bulbs.
10.) The only lame thing in the whole house: an EMPTY wine bottle in the kitchen. Here's a suggestion: use a bottle of sparkling cider. It looks just like a booze bottle, it's less lame, and nobody will steal it just like they won't steal the REAL PASTA in the pasta jars.
Wow, what a house!
In my next post, I'll discuss why it actually makes sense to layer such expensive renovations on this GMHC house as part of neighborhood revitalization. There's a method to this particular madness, and it became obvious when I looked at the house and its location in the neighborhood.
Wow, nice write up Johnny, I'm sure GMHA and all of northside will tremendously appreciate your kind words that you have used to describe the community surrounding this house. It will go a long ways in helping to sell this house and to sell the community. I'm sure future buyers are going to appreciate the chance to line up to save that stabbing/gun shot victim. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteI call 'em as I see 'em. I don't sugarcoat things. This post is VERY positive about the house. In fact, I went ON AND ON about how great the house is. But I'm writing the truth, here, not some kind of promotional plug for GMHC or the Camden neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, are the folks who tour that house not going to NOTICE the proximity of the bus stop? Are they going to be completely unaware of the things which happen at bus stops in North Minneapolis and even on the buses themselves when those incidents are on the Minneapolis Crime blog, straight off the Fourth Precinct highlights?
(By the way, for years I've been shocked that Metro does so little to enforce standards of decent behavior on buses except to put up posters telling people to be nice in front of, good grief, a child's teddy bear. Those posters are what we have instead of enforcement of actual decent behavior on Metro buses)
If somebody wants me to start writing nothing but happy happy rah, rah, then guess what? This blogger for hire. Until then, you get the truth as I see it and you get it for free. I do keep the comments pretty open since I obviously don't have the market cornered on truth or opinion.
Word reaches me via Facebook there is now "Charles Shaw" in the wine rack. I guess the power of the blogosphere is once again apparent!
ReplyDelete