A Weber County, Utah based blog that keeps you informed on real estate and related subjects. For all your real estate needs contact Jeremy Peterson ~ Owner/Broker of Vesta Real Estate ~ 801-390-1480
A professional Real Estate Broker, Father, Husband, and Former State Legislator who writes this blog to share his thoughts and experiences with those seeking knowledge.
I just listed this excellently located home in the Eccles Historic District. The home has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a 1 car garage. The home has a two story configuration with bathrooms on each level. There is also a large cellar for storage. With 2,088 SQFT, there is a lot of room to work with.
The home has original hardwood floors, high ceilings, original wood casing and doors, and a lot of charm.
If you are interested in viewing this property, CONTACT ME, to set an appointment.
Ogden's resurgence continues. It seems with the warmer weather that constructions crews are in full swing with new exciting projects going on in downtown Ogden. As I was driving around town today, I couldn't help but notice.
My first stop was at the site of the new Ogden Preparatory Academy. This new edifice is being build adjacent to the site of the existing elementary school. Once the structure is complete, the old school will be torn down to make room for a schoolyard.
Along the River Project the new townhomes are coming along nicely. Many have been sold and a third lot is being prepared for construction. These townhomes are located next to the Ogden River Parkway.
There is also construction going on at the old Weber College site at 25th and Jefferson Ave.
This project will be a mixed use building that incorporates the old Weber College Gymnasium as part of the floorplan. The new building will hold some commercial space and also some residential.
It will be an exciting addition to the neighborhood. This site has sat dormant as an old parking lot for decades.
Further down the street next to the old Pingree Mansion, this new structure is being assembled. It will be a triplex building. It is also being built using S.I.P.S construction methods. It is an innovative construction technique that enhances energy efficiency. Many components of the structure are pre-assembled offsite, and then brought together at the construction site. The technique creates super energy efficient structures with low operating costs.
Finally, there is construction going on along the 600 block of 27th Street. There used to be a couple historic looking (though very poorly constructed) homes sitting on the site. One burned down back in 2004. The other was torn down in the past month or so to make room for new housing. Here is a photo of the neighborhood from a few years ago.
The Ogden Temple reconstruction project continues to plod along. Meanwhile, some of the land surrounding the temple lot continues to receive attention. Within the past several months the half block east of the temple site was worked on some more with structures being scrapped along Ogden Ave. Hence, Ogden Ave. has become a great vantage point to view the work going on below:
I have been impressed with the sheer size of the building. When finished, it will be one of the most prominent buildings in the downtown skyline.
I am told that the new temple is anticipated to host about 600 weddings per month after its dedication. That is an amazing difference since the previous structure hosted very few. Certainly the new activity will bring even more vitality to this part of the city.
We recently sold a beautiful home just a block away with a view of the temple from the kitchen window. If you are looking for a home in this area of town, CONTACT ME, and lets find a home that is right for you.
I attended a recent Ogden City council meeting to speak in favor of the proposed new Dee Elementary School project. The School District has had Dee in line for replacement for several years and finally has the financial resources in place to start the project. To maximize the school's positive impact in the neighborhood, it will be relocated to the eastern half of the 600 block between 21st and 22nd Streets. I have highlighted that area here:
The school will utilize the Liberty Park area much like St. Joseph's Elementary has done for Monroe Park at 28th and Quincy Ave. It is a win-win scenario for the city and the School District to make use of the city park in a synergistic way. Land will be procured by the District this next year with construction following the year afterward.
The current school needs to be demolished. It represents a weird period in school architecture experimentation. As you can tell from the picture at the top, it yielded a building that looks like a prison. The floorplan isn't any better. It is one giant open space with no walls separating class"rooms". The recent performance increases at the school are in spite of its design, not because of it.
This will also make a huge impact in the quality of life in the neighborhood. The old Dee School will be demolished to make room for historic style infill housing.
Here is video of the event with more details. My comments are around 1:04:00:
One of the perils of having a vacant property is the risk that your local neighborhood metal "recycler" might take a shining to your building.
Recently a client called me and wanted to take a look at a commercial industrial building for sale in Ogden. The property was built in the 1950's and needed some TLC. When we got there, it was apparent that somebody had been there before us.
Notice the conspicuous absence of wires. As we walked around, we notice another interesting scene.
No box was left untouched. It looks like the whole building will need to be rewired. Given the age of the electrical, it may actually be a blessing in disguise that it is gone. Nevertheless, it is a warning to any property owner to keep a close eye on their property and use common sense to keep marauding "recyclers" away.
One of Ogden's most endearing qualities is the sheer quantity of old Victorian houses that adorn its streets. Ogden benefited from the economic boom of the late 1800's that was mostly spurred by the railroad industry. With that boom came lots of construction.
However, despite the abundance of stately designed Victorian edifices from that era, those same buildings are missing much of their original charm and grandeur.
What's missing? Decorative and ornamental woodwork...especially on front porches.
For those of you contemplating restoring an Ogden Victorian home, I thought I would present a few examples of what a Victorian front porch is supposed to look like. Join me for a brief tour in front porch design and restoration.
Our first stop takes us to 28th Street and Adams avenue to an old 1880's farmhouse. It's now in the city but hasn't always been that way. Notice the turned columns and brackets decorating either side. A very simple design.
Next is an excellent example of how a nicely done front porch can make even the most simple home look prominent. This home is located at 322 31st Street. Most folks don't notice it because it is on a busy one way road headed into town. Take a look next time you drive by. Notice the turned colums, brackets, and top railing that decorate the home. Original top railings are hard to find intact these days but add a ton of charm to a home.
The next two homes are Italianate Victorians. The are characterized by tall vertical lines and low hipped roofs.
Each of these homes has original front porch woodwork. Very nice.
The Jefferson Ave. Historic District has many examples of finely restored front porch decoration.
Finally, here are some other examples of fine front porch and ornamental work.
I have a great book that references old Victorian design elements and floorplans. If you are looking to restore a Victorian home, CONTACT ME, and I can point you to the right resources.
I just listed this property for sale in Downtown Ogden.
The property is over 2000 SQFT and is located just two blocks from Historic 25th street. The address is 321 27th St. The area is zoned CP-3 which allows for a variety of different uses. This property may make a good boutique shop with living upstairs, or an office, or simply a residence.
The owner is willing to seller finance the purchase of this property to allow for a buyer to renovate it for use. The interior has been stripped and is ready for electrical and sheetrock. Here is a video walk-through of the property with my comments:
If you are interested in details on current pricing, financing terms, and property specifics, please CONTACT ME.
We have been slowly restoring our home. One of the projects that has been on the back burner for several years is our back porch. When we purchased the home, the back porch screens had been vandalized. They were also made of chrome frames. We quickly discarded them and never got around to putting in their replacements.
Finally, I had a couple weekends to work on the back porch. To put the screens back in place, I purchased a roll of tight mesh black screen at Home Depot. I used my staple gun to stick the screen to the existing wood frames with 1/4 inch staples being sufficient for the job.
Obviously staples are not pretty to look at. I searched for some trim strips and came up with some hemlock 1.5 inch pieces that seemed to work well. After two coats of paint, they were ready for installation.
I got the hemlock strips up with 4d nails on the frames and 3d finish nails for the door. After that, I pulled the original copper hardware out of storage and gave it a bath in Goof Off. That helped soften up the coats of paint that cloaked the metal finish. A rag and some very fine steel wool did the trick of removing most of the paint.
NOTE: Rubber gloves break down with Goof Off so I just used some sandwich bags to keep it off my skin. If you leave it on your skin too long your skin turns into a giant callous. Believe, me. I know.
After about fifteen minutes of buffing the paint off, the pieces were ready for installation.
If you buy this property, you gain the unique privilege of becoming my next door neighbor. I have been managing the property for the current owners for about a year. I can give you all the information you need to know.
The property has super cashflow potential. Current gross scheduled rents are around $2,650 per month. However, it also has potential as a victorian home. Ogden City will give an owner occupant $40,000 to restore it to a single family premises like it was when it was built in the 1890's. It has gorgeous fluted casings and 12" ceilings. It could be made into an awesome home again. The entire property is about 3,000 SQFT.
If you are interested in learning more about this property or want to see rent rolls and expenses, CONTACT ME, and I can answer all your questions.
Construction has finally begun to take shape on the long awaited River Project scene south of the Ogden River.
Here is a view of the start of the much anticipated new housing in the area. These townhomes are three stories tall and boast excellent views of the city skyline to the south. They are also located just a few dozen yards from the Ogden River Parkway Trail. If you are interested in learning more about these townhomes, contact me.
Also, Kneaders Bakery is open for business. It is located just south of Bingham Cyclery on the 19th block of Washington Blvd. The building was just completed recently.
It is exciting to see the project move forward. More to come...
One of the challenges facing owners of old homes is the issue of handling repairs and upgrades while preserving the architectural integrity of their home. Today’s new construction is performed to much lower architectural standards than in days of yore.
For instance, lets use our Arts and Crafts Style (aka Craftsman) home as an example. Unfortunately, our home has been in need of a new roof for some time. The original roof from 1908 was beautiful cedar shake installed on cedar slats. Over 104 years, three other layers of shingle were added. Another layer of cedar shake was installed along with two layers of asphalt. The last time the roof was shingled was likely in the late 1970’s. You can see the moss growing on the cedar shakes below.
One of the unique characteristics of our home (relative to new homes) is that it has crown molding adorning the fascia boards as an ornamental architectural feature. Since the crown butts up against the roof, any roofer would have to work with it to have a nice looking finished product while maintaining the decorative ornamentation.
We called several roofers to bid the job. One of the responses was disheartening:
“Oh, I can do that job no problem. Let’s rip off all that ugly crown molding and just put some drip edge on there. We can get’er done fast!”
Clearly, this roofer had no appreciation for old homes. As I later confirmed, he mostly worked on homes built after 1960 and was only bidding my roof because he was starving at the time. We passed on using this contractor.
Of the three bids we received for our roof, we ended up going with the highest bid. The lowest bid was a 35 year old guy and a truck who had been roofing for 5 years. He was nice enough but he was unfamiliar with working around the crown molding. We ended up using Stuart Roofing which had 80 years experience as a family roofing business. Their bid was only $2,000 higher and we felt they were by far the best value for our home. We definitely got our money’s worth.
The tear off crews arrived around 6am one morning and had the roof torn of and dried-in after just two days. They removed 60 yards of debris. Amazingly, they used drop clothes around the home and didn’t leave a single nail in the grass or on our driveway.
Then it was time to pause while we dealt with our crown molding. After searching for the right contractor for the job, we tapped Paul Martin to install new crown molding and paint our home. We had Ellis Planing, on Wall Ave. and 26th St., custom mill our 4” crown out of paint-grade poplar. Paul got to work priming, painting and installing the new crown.
After Paul installed the crown, he painted our dormers and the decorative woodwork around the home. We asked him to leave the lower half of the front porch for us to paint as a Saturday family project. Paul completed his work in just over a week and it was time to put the shingles on the home.
We chose a 40-year architectural asphalt shingle as we figured we didn’t want to install another roof on this home in our lifetimes. We tossed around the idea of installing a cedar shake roof but the cost would have doubled our bid. So, asphalt prevailed. Three more days of work, and the project was finished.
The improvements going on in Downtown Ogden continue to impress. The Ogden River Parkway now connects to greenbelt trails in West Haven and Riverdale. The trail system is quite remarkable and enjoyable to run or ride on.
Today I wanted to showcase the portion of the trail between Washington Blvd. and just west of Wall Ave. Ogden now has a tremendous asset flowing through the heart of the city.
The Ogden River is now a great place for family outings. Note: The wildlife in the area is still unfamiliar with people. Unlike the ducks at Beus Pond which have had generations of people feed bread crumbs to them, the ducks on this stretch of the Ogden River run away from people well before you can can get close to them. I guess that is a testament to their "newness" to the area. Regardless, they are a welcome addition.
Be sure to get out and enjoy this great part of the city!
