Shipping Container Home in Brookside

[Midtownkid]

Has anyone hear of, or seen this house?  It was on Apartment Therapy and my friend in DC showed me the article.  I guess it is kind of controversial.  I'll have to judge it in person when it's finished...but it looks pretty ugly so far.


http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago ... e_id=53961

http://homecontained.com/default.aspx

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... G%26um%3D1

[ComandanteCero]

this is the kind of thing i'd like to see more of in areas that have little to no context left (i.e bombed out areas).  I think plopping it down in the middle of a bungalow street is kind of obnoxious... but i'd have to see what it looks like in person.

[phna]

Deja Vu. Montreal 1967. Architect Moshe Safdie

[chrizow]

it's interesting for sure, but it doesn't seem very "green" since the shipping containers were created specifically for the house and not just recycled containers.  seems more about novelty than being eco-friendly.  it is certainly out of character on that block, but that doesn't bother me too much. 

[Jess]

Definitely ugly.

[NDTeve]

How'd you like to put your house up for sale with that baby next door. 

[watcher64110]

Thanks for posting this.  I live a few blocks from there, but had not been by yet to see what they were doing.

In truth, our little plat, while predominantly smaller craftsman style airplane bungalows from the 1920s,  is quite a bit quirkier than some of the areas around it, (even within a few blocks.)  There is quite a bit of infill housing from subsequent decades sprinkled throughout the area, most of it fairly inconsequential.  This house is actually significantly more interesting.  I will reserve judgement until it is completed, but I predict it will actually contribute to the "gently bohemian" feel the area seems to have had. 

I could see people being a bit upset if they plopped it into one of the adjacent areas which are more stylistically uniform and "planned", but I think its probably positive for the neighborhood that the location was seen as desirable for a relatively interesting infill project.

[phna]

I found these threads on the forum relating to shipping containers as houses.

http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?topic=9989.0


http://forum.kcrag.com/index.php?topic=9268.0

[lock+load]

Where is this house?

[Midtownkid]

Check out the original links...they have the address.  Somewhere on Charlotte. 

[wetpaint]

This house is in my neighborhood. I'm not a huge fan of the style, but the house that was previously there which was torn down was absolutely awful. The container house is a definite improvement to what used to be there.

[towncow]

What is the address?

[wetpaint]

What is the address?

5900 block of Charlotte. I'll check tomorrow and be more specific unless someone beats me to it.

[voltopt]

Truthfully, most of the houses on Charlotte or Holmes in that immediate area are a hodge podge of builder style ranches, bungalows, and uninteresting boxes.  There is no hierarchy or consistent scale in that area - some of the houses are on double lots, some are rundown shacks, some are large and impressive.  I'd proffer that the container house does more for the property value of the area than any other recent development...

[voltopt]

Or at the very least, for the press!

[wetpaint]

There isn't an address posted on the house, but it is between 5929 and 5945 Charlotte.

[ComandanteCero]

it's 5937 Charlotte according to the second link

http://homecontained.com/default.aspx

[wetpaint]

I don't watch a lot of TV, so I hadn't seen the "news" coverage before. I'm actually a little bit disgusted that our TV stations have decided that this is a significant enough event to cover. There have to be more important stories out there.

[Chiro75]

Chrizow, I asked you this on the Apartment Therapy site and received no reply... why do you think the containers were made for this house? The article clearly states that these are recycled containers that have been in use. Just because they're taller than average doesn't mean they were made for this project, specifically.

As for the home itself, there was some talk on AT about what a shame it was to be plunking this in a "historic" neighborhood, so I decided to drive by and see how it fits in. First of all, the lot was empty and looked pretty ratty, IMHO. Here is an image grabbed from Google Maps of the lot before this house project started:


The neighborhood, while technically part of Brookside, is not the higher end, more classic part of the neighborhood, but like someone else stated here, sort of an uninteresting mishmash of pseudo-styles. Not like it's bad neighborhood by any stretch, but it isn't like they plunked it down right among a bunch of classic bungalows or anything. The street is pretty blah, and it's close to the The Border (Troost), so to me, it seems like any new construction would be somewhat welcome by the locals.

There was some concern about the size and height of the house. Here is a photo taken from down the street. I ALMOST drove right past it without noticing it, so I think it blends in very well from this angle, which I think is south, maybe?


Here it is a little closer:


And then one from the corner:


I don't think it is too badly out of proportion. It's no taller than the home to its right and that house sits at a lower grade. I think they could have done a lot worse. The house isn't really my style, but I like the fact that it uses some recycled shipping containers and I am excited to see modern architecture in Kansas City. Brookside seems like an eclectic enough neighborhood to support such a house, and seeing NEW construction in a border area is always a good thing. I wouldn't be as supportive of this project if it was right in the middle of, say, those beautiful homes in the more classic part of Brookside like to the west of Roasterie. I am looking forward to winging by again when the project is done and seeing some landscape, too.

[LindseyLohan]

I wonder what the do for the roof. I'd imagine the sound of hail and rain would be unbearable.