Update on Pop Up at 9th and I St, NE, Looks About Done

by Prince Of Petworth — February 6, 2012 at 4:00 pm 28 Comments

A lot of progress since we last checked in at 9th and I St, NE. While it’s not my favorite, it’s not the worst one I’ve ever seen. What are your final thoughts?

Fabian

The two story buildings on that block look kind of squat, so the third floor addition kind of works. On the other hand it would have looked better if they had matched the style of the house better, or if they had gone with higher-end materials (that siding looks cheap).
- Anonymous
  
  You summed it up well. That Sears siding looks cheap. How unfortunate.
  - 7th street
    
    Siding plus stuco makes it look super cheap. How did they get a permit for that hideous pop up?
- H Street Landlord
  
  +1
  
  A lot of the homes in this neighborhood are smaller and/or have low ceilings and would benefit from a third story.
Anonymous

This looks how I would look if you added another pair of shoulders and head on top of me, but made them a teenie bit smaller.
theheights

Ugly. I wonder how the neighbors feel about it. Maybe others don’t care, but I’d be pissed if someone on my block built that eyesore. If you want a three-story house, buy a three story house. If you can’t afford a three-story house, wait until you can. Don’t ruin a perfectly nice house.
- Anonymous
  
  Interesting that you’d be pissed if your neighbors did something to increase the value of everyone’s home.
  - Anonymous
    
    way to spin it.
textdoc

Looks way better now than it did in the previous update, where the original building was sort of blue-grey and the siding was ochre-colored.

I now pretty much take as a given that all pop-ups 1) don’t match the style of the original, and 2) use vinyl siding instead of brick, stucco, etc. How depressing. 🙁
LibrariNerd

What is going on with that weird wall on the left? I’m assuming there’s an architectural reason for it but it’s just awful.
dc_chica

I looks like they bought a trailer and plopped it on top of the house. I have to agree with the person who said if you want a bigger house, either buy a bigger house or make the addition match the house that you bought.
- Anonymous
  
  Is it going to be condos maybe? That is what I thought. Seems to have lots of doors.
jm1872a

It sort of appears that they added the pop-up to make it a two-family house. This particular style might have worked on a mid-block house, but being on the corner just makes it look ugly and drab.

Is it really that difficult to merge the pop-up with the existing house style?
Anonymous

I think it looks clean and fresh. Only thing I don’t like is how the wall on the left goes above the roofline.
saf

Hideous.
Soozles

double hideous. Looks like one of those old campers that you put in the bed of a pickup truck.
Anonymous

What are the restrictions for pop ups. Could I build an extra six stories on top of my house?
- Anonymous
  
  no, you can’t. you have a matter-of-right to build what your zoning codes say. you’d have to get a variance for anything above that. look up your address on a zoning map
anon

Criminal.
Anonymous

You won’t be seeing it featured on ‘This Old House’
kevin

it’s a helluva improvement on what that place used to be, damn near falling apart. i remember the top level framing was damaged in a windstorm about a year ago, wonder how structurally sound it is.
bedaub

Dislike. x10000000
Gladys Cravitz

I Like It !!
- frickorfrack
  
  you lack taste and elegance. I pity you.
new

In general I don’t like pop-ups. This one doesn’t bother me though. I think it is passable. Not great, not bad.
popupowner

sad. Just sad.
Evan

Fugz. It looks like a trailer got dropped on top.
crin

Look at the poor quality parging job and window trim. Already cracking, and trim outside of the parging without flashing means this wall system is going to leak like a screen door. They’re going to paint it to hide it, but everyone here knows to run away from that house.

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