I've lived here for 7years, next to the Orange Monolith.
Our lovely ( quiet! ) neighbours were from Uruguay and the only day I ever saw his wife was the day they moved out.
Every Monday cleaners would come and wash windows, vacuum and do cleanerly stuff.
With two old people in a big old house I never understood how they could possibly make so much mess to warrant a professional cleaning team weekly.
I fantasised about the Monolith. I fancied decor untouched since 1971, but of the finest European quality. Lurid things, maybe some black velvet artpieces, plastic carpet-protector walkways .. all those good things.
They sold this year.
And behold, it was amazing:
Except in this neighbourhood, people have no vision ( that's how we got our house - failed at auction, we walked around with lots of sneering peeps - no vision ) .. so I was offended on behalf of my old neighbours as prices failed to rise, and people blanched at the horror of things not perfect.
SURE it needed things done, SURE it looked like an old fashioned Pizza Hut and the garden was uncool .. but .. it was solid, and liveable .. and you do what we do, and fix it up as you go.
Ok, so sometimes i'd like a pretty new perfect house too .. but this house, if you closed your eyes and imagined it with a whack of render on the outside .. and a lick of paint on the inside .. replaced the flowing swirling browny shagpile with something more retro-modern .. the LIGHT in there was heavenly .. and the layout was NOT UNLIKE those modern monoliths of today. It had like 5 bedrooms, a pool room ( complete with vinyl studded bar! ), a wine cellar, a shoe closet ( hello Imelda! ), a sauna, a dozen different zones over various levels .. I mean, in 1971, they must have had some hella coin. De-luxe!
Someone's bought it now. They don't look very visionary. I'm not sure of their intentions.
I wish I could have done a photoshoot in there while it still looked like this :)
