architecture geek
Jul. 17th, 2005 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorMy mind has been wandering a lot lately. In response to some of this curiosity, I ended up in a strange place at the end of a pseudo-random web walk.
Have you looked at real estate in Bulgaria?
I did the other night.
I am still haunted.
There seem to be 3 types of housing available in Bulgaria. The first is the standard "sell vacation places to tourists in new buildings in very specific areas for high prices." They are boring architecturally and intellectually. Nothing to see here, move along. The other two types are more profound.
The second type, which had extremely low prices, 10,000 Euro for a house are one brand of scary. These are buildings built of round stone and not much mortar. They could be used as the backdrop for a medieval movie if it weren't for the occasional piece of metal roofing that is used to cover the hole where a wall has collapsed. Poor, poor houses on rocky hillside. Looking at the pictures I could hear destitute creeping around me, whispering in my ear, making me feel trapped and helpless.
The other type of housing was puzzling, in contrast to the roundstones. They are modern looking structures made of cement, cinder block, and brick, three or four stories high, selling for between 30,000 and 120,000 Euros depending on amount of completion. That's the thing, they are all incomplete. Some have the shell finished but no interior. Some have the walls and roof up, but no windows or doors. Some don't even have all the walls up. If I had seen them all at the same time I might have gotten it quicker. But they were scattered in with the more prevalent roundstone buildings. It did dawn on me eventually. These weren't 3,000 sq ft homes. These were incomplete buildings that were intended to be 3 or 4 flats in communist state built housing. People waited years for one story in these buildings, the nicest of which is selling for less than you can get a 700sq ft condo where I currently live. Trade the desperate poverty of a medieval development level for collective deprivation, what a deal.
Slovakia was a different story. They have wonderful architecture. A mix of this that and the other: gingerbreading, onion domes, federal period, classical, and more. Lots of incredibly neat stuff architecturally. The sad thing is there are many places that have been left empty. The prices are more variable, but some of the ones that are in need of restoration are incredible. It makes me sad to see those awesome houses getting overgrown.
The cheapest extreme house was in the Czech Republic. It is a castle, probably built around the time of Versaille or after. It is big. As big as a city hall or a state capital building. It looks like it's still intact and has the windows etc. 187,000 euros. At that price I really have to wonder what happened in that building and who it belonged to before. It must be incredibly notorious locally.
Have you looked at real estate in Bulgaria?
I did the other night.
I am still haunted.
There seem to be 3 types of housing available in Bulgaria. The first is the standard "sell vacation places to tourists in new buildings in very specific areas for high prices." They are boring architecturally and intellectually. Nothing to see here, move along. The other two types are more profound.
The second type, which had extremely low prices, 10,000 Euro for a house are one brand of scary. These are buildings built of round stone and not much mortar. They could be used as the backdrop for a medieval movie if it weren't for the occasional piece of metal roofing that is used to cover the hole where a wall has collapsed. Poor, poor houses on rocky hillside. Looking at the pictures I could hear destitute creeping around me, whispering in my ear, making me feel trapped and helpless.
The other type of housing was puzzling, in contrast to the roundstones. They are modern looking structures made of cement, cinder block, and brick, three or four stories high, selling for between 30,000 and 120,000 Euros depending on amount of completion. That's the thing, they are all incomplete. Some have the shell finished but no interior. Some have the walls and roof up, but no windows or doors. Some don't even have all the walls up. If I had seen them all at the same time I might have gotten it quicker. But they were scattered in with the more prevalent roundstone buildings. It did dawn on me eventually. These weren't 3,000 sq ft homes. These were incomplete buildings that were intended to be 3 or 4 flats in communist state built housing. People waited years for one story in these buildings, the nicest of which is selling for less than you can get a 700sq ft condo where I currently live. Trade the desperate poverty of a medieval development level for collective deprivation, what a deal.
Slovakia was a different story. They have wonderful architecture. A mix of this that and the other: gingerbreading, onion domes, federal period, classical, and more. Lots of incredibly neat stuff architecturally. The sad thing is there are many places that have been left empty. The prices are more variable, but some of the ones that are in need of restoration are incredible. It makes me sad to see those awesome houses getting overgrown.
The cheapest extreme house was in the Czech Republic. It is a castle, probably built around the time of Versaille or after. It is big. As big as a city hall or a state capital building. It looks like it's still intact and has the windows etc. 187,000 euros. At that price I really have to wonder what happened in that building and who it belonged to before. It must be incredibly notorious locally.
