Fun, I wondered that. But its really bad staging. The same two plaid pillows show up twice, and I didnt like them the first time. And in the kids den .... that afghan cannot be staging, or the nail polish. Can it?

Diana, I like the house too. But the reason I like these slideshows is to look at the decor, too, and that disappointed. Even if it was staging.

Wow, I'm sooo underwhelmed by that place. I think my mind must really be in the gutter right now because the plaid ottoman...well, it's shape is questionable.

LOL...

I think that is just a bad angle for the poor thing.

I tried to squint, hoping to 'blank out' all the furnishing and take in the house itself. A bit over-priced, but gorgeous non the less. ;o)

Why does one need 2 kitchens?

I would love to live in this one for 6 months. After that, I would be bored.

Here is a link that might be useful: Six Month Trial House :)

oh no, all that Bradbury and bradbury ...

love the kitchen floor and MBA

Hapnor's trial house is really interesting to me, if a bit on the spooky side. Did you see the ceiling in the first bathroom pictured? Gee, that looks like something that would be going on at my house.

The house itself is really terrific - that staircase is amazing!

It would be so satisfying to strip out all of the furnishings and start over...

not much of the decor is my taste at all, but it's staged well enough to sell.

I'd have to see it, but to me having 2 kitchens seems like more of a drawback than anything else about the pictures. Can you imagine 3 garages in that location?!!

Not that i'd be in that price range anyway !

House poor for sure!

I first heard the term house poor when I was house hunting with my DH and I was always so shocked when I walked up to beautiful homes only to enter them and they were practically empty- it was my agent to said that term to me.

i was expecting to see something quite distasteful when i opened this....(although i agree, those reddish, possibly faux leather couches were quite terrible!)
i love the staircases and wainscoting, the windows, and the arched doorways and the beautiful arched pocket door!!
the furnishings seemed very 'average', but at least were not gaudy or 'over the top' which to me is often distasteful...

The town I moved from had lots of big older homes (3 stories not uncommon) and many homes had two kitchens.
My guess is that these extra kitchens date from that awkward era in history (post energy crisis, pre This Old House) when big old homes were just white elephants. They were often turned into apartments, or, since we were a college town, frat houses. Our home had once been a frat house (thank goodness not when we bought it).

We had a second eat in kitchen on the third floor, and think someone had ripped a kitchen out of the walk-out basement at some point (based on the electrical and plumbing left there).

When our children were young and I travelled a lot for work, we had live in help. A second kitchen is great for that. It is also great for an aging parent, or a boomerang 20-something who is job hunting in the Great Recession and has decided not to sleep in Zucotti Park. It also meant we had three ovens at Thxgiving time, but traversing three flights of stairs with a hot pumpkin pie is not ideal!

Oh for pity's sake. It's just furniture. The bones and architectural details are there. (That staircase is particularly drool-worthy.) I'd rather see it empty...but I could look past the furnishings. Looks like they did an excellent job on the remodel/restoration. (I didn't look at ALL the pictures.) They should get credit for putting their money where it was most important.

Oh for pity's sake yourself. That's not my point at all. That's not the title of the post.

My point is simple ----- when they feature these homes, I also like to see the decor. For those of us interested in decor, listings can be very interesting. When I was making choices on the expansion and gut reno of my home, I scoured not just the shelter mags, but also local architects' sites, and approproately priced listings in similar towns in my region.

Of course it has nothing to do with the house's value or desirability of it. I didn't say that. Essentially my issue is, who puts pleather sofas and a neon chevron afghan in a $4mn home they are trying to sell. Better empty.

The house I grew up in had two kitchens. The main kitchen was downstairs, and in my parents bedroom there was a sink, countertop and cabinets in a corner. A stove/fridge hookup was nearby. It was a big house so we assumed they used the top floor as an apartment at one time.

My parents ended up using a downstairs bedroom, and put a pool table in the kitchen room, and boy did we have fun!

I sure miss that house.

My point is that I don't think they are featuring the house for our viewing pleasure--or for those of us interested in decor. I think they are trying to sell it. And while you might think it would show better staged with 18th C antiques...the room with the objectionable "pleather sofas and a neon chevron afghan" is being staged and billed as a den for children. Pleather sofas and acrylic afghans are appropriate in such a space. Not my choice, perhaps, but serviceable.

As to two kitchens...as a member of the "Sandwich generation" I am VERY grateful that our current home came with an auxiliary apartment. We rented it when the children were small. The Husband is using it as an office now...and sooner or later I expect one or the other of our mothers (perhaps both!) will be living there.

Guess I should feel sorry for whoever checks out our home's photos when we list next spring. Once they get past the fairly nice living room with its (mostly) Hancock & Moore furniture, they're bound to be disappointed. There's a pretty eclectic mix of both styles and prices in the rest of our house. Probably the most offensive will be the La-Z-Boy reclining sofa in the hearth room accompanied by two H&M leather chairs. They'll also be shocked if they look too closely at two of the guest rooms and the office, and realize those "antique white" headboards, plus two writing desks, are by Sauder. At least they won't know that all of the nicer quality Made-in-USA case goods were bought at consignment stores.

I hope the potential buyers will care more about the well outfitted kitchen, convenient elevator, amazing antique beams in the hearth room, five fireplaces, second (basement) kitchen and great views. Unfortunately, our media room/home theater has what I guess are "tacky barcaloungers" also - elevated rows of power reclining leather seats. I've been told it's a total "man cave" with its 110 inch screen & amazing sound system, but I enjoy it also. It doubles as a storm shelter, which is a big deal given all of the tornadoes that have hit our state in the past few years.

I get that it could be disappointing to not see $1MM worth of furniture and decor in a $4MM house, but I don't understand some of the snarky comments. It appears that the seller of the featured house is living in it while it's on the market. In some markets, it can take up to two years to sell a house that expensive. I'd expect the owner and his family to continue with their lives in the meantime and not feel obliged to move out in order to show the house empty. YMMV.

Hmmm, since none of us were consulted as to the staging we don't have to like, dislike, or approve of it. IMO this house looks staged and not at all lived in so I expect the owners have moved out with their 'good' furniture and left a few things OR the staging company has brought in everything. Of course not all stagers are good at what they do either and this may be one example of that.

Hope whoever buys it does it justice and decorates it to our expectations! LOL However I think some of us who are passionate about home decor have such high expectations we are easily disappointed.

Based on the captions, this was a failed real estate venture. He bought in 2006; Philly home prices peaked in late 06, depending on which index you use. It was never planned to be their home. This isn't his beloved homestead or, at least based on the way he speaks, his last dime. 'If I get a price I like we could sell it,' Mr. Volpe says. 'We could always build another one.'

(BTW, that's an odd comment for a project like this? Can you? And even if you could, if you are trying to sell it, you would want to intimate that you can't 'just build another one')

As I said, I always look forward to looking at the decor of featured properties. I usually expect them to straighten up their pillows. And in fact most of time these featured properties have really interesting decor. This one doesn't. I thought the disconnect was unusual.

He is ostensibly a professional developer trying to sell a $4 million home in a market where the median home price is $215,000 (2q 2011 for the Philly MSA). That is very high end, especially for Philly. Prices in Philly metro are down about 9% year over year, and sales volume is off 23% year over year --- just using rough data. I think they should have had more appropriate staging before they showcased a luxury home in the WSJ. Not for my viewing pleasure, just because it's appropriate given the totality of the circumstances. That's it, that's all I was pointing out. Nothing else.

I don't think I have ever written anything snarky to a GW'er, nor would I. But to take a jab at a developer trotting out his house in a national publication, before someone even fluffs the pillows? Guilty as charged.

I enjoy looking at the decor of featured properties too. This was one of my recent favorites. I've driven past this house many times and was excited to see what the inside looked like. It's in Hancock Park, a well-heeled and manicured area of LA. The nineteen statues of MichelangeloâÂÂs Davids in the front yard don't go over so well in an area like that.

Here is a link that might be useful: House of Davids

Another supercilious thread. My advice ... roll your eyes and move on.

The point is it is a $4M house.

The other point is it was "House of the Day in NYT", Really?
I think that puts in the category of "for our viewing pleasure," at least on some level, no? I can look at decent houses with semi-crappy furniture every day of the week on my local MLS. Especially in neighborhoods where people buy for the prestige. All you need to do is see the inside of some of the houses on "Cribs" to know that its all about the address and the curb appeal and the actual comfort of the house is purely secondary. Some of the most nicely decorated and tended for houses are in the "lesser" neighborhoods here. And no, the furniture is not that bad, it's just that the house deserves much better.

The house would Look Better Empty.

I completely understand the intent of the original post.

Pal said it well. I hadn't looked at the link when I stated "house poor," or I would have written "poor taste" as well. Staged? Even worse. Was it on GW someone posted a link to a couple that owns three tractor trailers full of furniture? They "move into" the house for sale, staging with fine antiques, etc. Of course they get to live in the house while it is for sale. Nice gig.

Just saw this - it's less than a block from our house (which isn't anything like as big btw). This house is on one of the best blocks on Philadelphia and I think it is STUNNING. I barely notice the furniture I am so busy drooling over everything else!

Agree this house tour was a total letdown It def would have looked better empty. The furniture looks like that made in china stuff that is very heavy wood, very ornate (mixing several styles between the legs and the carving or wood applique) and has an almost plastic like poly finish.... You know, the fancy pool tables with French provincial legs... I think the stuff was rented for staging, no way it belongs to the owner.

I can't imagine this was staged nor the photos taken by a professional - did you see the bed making in Photo 12?

Maybe it was a bad staging job and they're letting a friend stay there to protect the house? Obviously I am grasping at straws here..... There is no good explanation for the incongruity between the house and renovation on the one hand and the furniture and listing photos on the other.

"He is ostensibly a professional developer trying to sell a $4 million home in a market where the median home price is $215,000 (2q 2011 for the Philly MSA)."

Except that the median price in Rittenhouse Square isn't $215K. For what it's worth, a very quick search turned up med. price in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of $660,550 (for 2011 I think). Regardless, why would the seller base his price on the MSA's median price? That MSA includes, among other places, Camden, NJ, as well as some suburban counties.

As I'm sure everyone knows, real estate prices are local, and median prices, even for areas smaller than counties, can hide a lot of detail, including the outliers. I can drive less than 10 minutes in one direction and pass a trailer that still, even though I've driven by it many, many times, amazes me that anyone could possibly live in it. Never mind its condition, I have never been able to figure out how anyone could possibly get a vehicle, including the falling-apart bicycle I can see, from the trailer to the street, as there appears to be nothing there but high weeds. I don't know what the average price of a mobile home is around here, but I would be willing to bet that this one is far, far out on the left-hand tail of that bell curve.

I can also drive less than 5 minutes in another direction and pass a 100+ acre estate. I've visited it. The landscaped part of the grounds, including the acres of formal gardens, reminds me of Longwood Gardens. The houses are stunning, as is the main barn and every other outbuilding on the property.

Anyway, as to the Rittenhouse Square house, I think almost every stick of furniture in the place is hideous. The only thing I'd want from it is the grand piano. Badly, badly staged, that is for sure.

"He is ostensibly a professional developer trying to sell a $4 million home in a market where the median home price is $215,000 (2q 2011 for the Philly MSA). That is very high end, especially for Philly. Prices in Philly metro are down about 9% year over year, and sales volume is off 23% year over year."

Somehow I missed this. I'm sorry, but you clearly have NO CLUE what you are talking about.
If you can find me a house - any house - in Rittenhouse Sq for $215,000 I will buy it today. And that's a promise.
Now THAT house is on Delancey Street in one of the best sections of Rittenhouse. I think $4 million is a push - except it has a 3 car garage which is unheard of in the area.
The house opposite was on the market for $3 million and a house a couple of doors up was on for 3 or 4, can't remember which.

A block over (on a less desirable block), condos go for well over a million and there is a scary fixer upper priced somewhere around 2 million.

It isn't like this guy went into a neighborhood of $215,000 homes and built a $4 million dollar mansion. Those houses are all amazing. The block is gorgeous and the houses are expensive.

We are the poor relations round the corner and there is NOTHING in the area that would sell for close to $215,000 except perhaps a 4th floor walk up studio apartment.

Real estate is local. We have an offer on a house in a fabulous neighborhood in Bucks county where prices have dropped a lot. In Philadelphia Center City (and especially Rittenhouse) prices have actually held pretty firm.

OK, hobokenkitchen, you've got me curious. If you don't mind the question, what part of Bucks? BTW as I understand it, the reason why prices in CC have held pretty firm is that they generally did not go up precipitously, certainly not precipitously relative to many other major cities in the U.S. Palimpsest would know much more about that than I do though.

Philadelphia is interesting in that the major streets (or what were major streets) running E-W had the largest houses on them for the upper classes, the medium sized houses on the numbered streets for the merchant class, smaller houses on smaller streets in between these for one level of working people, and the smallest houses on alleys and closes interspersed with them.

I live a block from what is Delancey East and West of me (it escaped the name-standardization in the early 20th c.) It remained a "good" 2 blocks throughout the end of the 19th and 20th century, while my street became one of boarding houses, sailor hotels, and brothels, and a small area to the north of me became a notorious and dangerous slum. All within a 2 minute walk.

Anyway this wide variety of housing size (roughly 10,000 square feet down to about 400 just in a one block radius) continues to affect housing prices today in Philadelphia and SKEW them wildly.

In my neighborhood there is one house on the market for $6M, while two blocks from that are tiny one room studio condos for about $85K. These are in an old hotel, so there are a hundred+ of them.

You can see what happens to the "median" even in one neighborhood.

The $6M house, BTW is neighbors to Section8 (government subsidized housing) --neighbors meaning sharing a common party wall-- and on a block that has always been a place for the sex trade and a bit of light drug trade. My neighborhood is not as upscale as Rittenhouse.

Anyway. Each of those garage parking spots adds at LEAST $75,000 to the asking price. I think this price is pretty much on target for the neighborhood. Many Realtors at that price point around here won't list a house at an unreasonable price, especially in this market, it doesn't do much for their business reputations.

Gosh, did someone google something to unearth this, or has someone been paging through? I just was having fun dissing the decor of a perfect stranger. I'm surprised it riled people up so!

Dear Hobokenkitchen, (exHobokenkitchen?)

I think you've misunderstood my point. Of course I don't think it is worth $215,000 or anything of the kind. My guess is it is certainly a multi-million dollar house. I think you,too, are also saying it won't go for $4, but maybe $3ish? That's a pretty big difference. That's all I am saying, is I am pretty darned sure that he will not get close to his asking price. I am not trying to put down Philadelphia or Rittenhouse Square.

I merely used the gross figure (from something called a paired sales index) that I happened to have for the Philadelphia Metropolitan Statistical Area, or MSA, as an indicator of how inexpensive a city Phila. is. For a large East Coast city, it's median price is not that different from the US as a whole.

I am not a real estate agent and I don't look at data by neighborhood, though of course a buyer and a seller must. MSAs are very clunky and innacurate indeed. But since so much economic and demographic data is only tracked by MSA, I find them a useful reference in analyzing markets across the country. But we all know that even within a zipcode (a darn lot narrower then an MSA), values vary dramatically. This is what makes home pricing so granular and tedious. You want to complain, can you imagine that the definition of the New York MSA goes all the way up North to Putnam County, and all the way out West to Passaic County, NJ, but does not include an inch of Connecticut? But I digress.

Anyway, Philadelphia has always been a notoriously inexpensive housing market for a city of its size (a city i went to school in and lived in, after being born and reared in Bucks County, incidentally). Philly had less of a bubble then a lot of places, and has since held up better than a lot of places too. E.g. Philadelphia's MSA rose" only" 81% during the "bubble", and subsequently fell 11%.

Of the top 25 markets, these are the three biggest bubble MSAs and, fyi, their subsequent declines to date: )And I say to date because the only major market with a monthly increase in the latest index release was Phoenix)

Miami, +214%, -49%
Riverside, +199, -53%
LA, +187, -36%

These are the three MSAs with the some of the smallest bubbles
Atlanta, +41%, -26%
Dallas, +40%, -11
Denver, +39%, -10.

There are well over 300 MSAs across the country, and of course huge variation within that, no to mention by price tier. So these numbers are useless to any given homeowner but pretty interesting as matter of economics and policy.

Palimpsest - what neighborhood are you in? I didn't realize you were in Philadelphia too! I can't imagine where you must be to have such a large disparity in pricing unless you are comparing north of South St to South of South St? Would be very interested to hear!

OP - I dug up this thread while looking for another one, clicked on it and discovered it was about a house I walk past most days.
The stuff you posted about pricing was IMHO irrelevant and misleading.
Philly did not have anything like the run up that some other cities had and you CAN buy reasonably priced real estate here - but Center City is expensive, and Rittenhouse is more expensive. It's just the way it is and to say how ridiculous the house price is based on Philly being a cheap city.... just doesn't work for most of Center City.

Sorry lynxe, missed your question - it's near New Hope. Prices have come down there, but the house we are buying has come down more than average - in part because they started too high and followed the market down, and in part because they made some interesting decorating and renovation decisions which probably put people off.

I am in Wash West, where an acquaintance of mine lives in a full floor apartment that probably tops $1M looks right out on one of the few (only) rent by the day/week/month furnished apartment houses in Center City.

It has always been like this. The wide disparity has tightened in the last decade, especially. However, both ends of the economic spectrum will be represented in one block from the rare billionaire (one confirmed in the neighborhood) to the public assistance recipient.

I really like Washington Square West - there are a lot of million dollar places there as well, didn't know there was anywhere so inexpensive there. It's a great neighborhood!!

Oh pal, I wish all neighborhoods were as yours ...It would lessen the class war problems we are presently experiencing against both ends of the extremes.

It may sound strange to those who follow and post to forums like this, but some people don't care about their surroundings. They will buy an expensive house because they have the income and may want to signal that to others, or as an investment, but furnishings are strictly functional and they don't care about color, beauty, or comfort.
Dh and I were talking about this after some parties we attended. One, in the owner's gorgeous, drool inducing Georgian. Dinner was held in the spacious dining room, where seating was side chairs (some folding lawn-type)lined up against the wall and lighting was one naked bulb hanging from the ceiling by exposed wires. Another, an acquaintance's McMansion in a pricey newer neighborhood. The place had nothing on the walls, no personal touches, minimal (but not modern minimal) furnishings. I thought they must have just moved in, but when I asked they'd been there for seven years.

Sonicmom, I find that so odd! We've been in very nice homes where there is little to no furniture because the people living there are just not "into" that. How can you not be "into" your own living quarters?? Of course, I have the same attitude about all professional sports :) .... they could hold the World Series in my backyard and I wouldn't bother to look out the window!

We all know it is a tough housing market. And it is no easier at the high end. So the OP's statement that the seller probably won't get very close to asking isn't rocket science.

But the poster who first said the OP had "NO CLUE" (capitals theirs) and then in a later post decided to ratchet down to a "In My Humble Opinion" doth protest too much. The broad point, that Philadelphia is not a city particularly noted for high end real estate, is simply correct. Every city has wealthy enclaves. But a $4 million dollar house is exceedingly rare in Philadelphia. $4 million dollar houses are better marketed where there is Wall Street Money (NY-CT), Tech Money (CA), Entertainment Money (CA), or Foreign Money (FL, CA, NY) or luxury resort spots (Vail etc). Philadelphia has none of those things.

Now, to the real point of the first post. Yup, if i saw this as "house of the day" or whatever form of house porn, I'd be let down too. Empty it out or pay up and stage it right.

I'm sorry if you disagree, but I am very familiar with that area and very familiar with the center city real estate market and the OP clearly had NO CLUE what they were talking about.... IMHO. ; )
I said I thought 4 million was high, but to compare a house like that to a Philadelphia county real estate average of $215,000 is utterly ludicrous.

Hoboken (?),

I lurk more than I post, but I don't recall seeing you post. Are you perhaps new here? I have noticed that posters are helpful, kind and civil here, even if sometimes forthright. I think Mtn has been a poster here for a while, and he/she has never struck me as CLUELESS. Your post, however, strikes me as mannerless.

The merits of the discussion are not worth debating further, if indeed you tried to see the points being made. But the tone of your comments I feel is just too strong. And that's all the more I will say on the matter.

I have been on and off these boards for years - mainly on the kitchen forums. Your posts are doing a fine job or persuading me that the decorating forum may not however be the place for me.

Perhaps my post was harsh (although I don't think so particularly), but I think posting such misleading information is actually quite damaging and was pointing out that the facts were simply wrong.

You can continue to berate me here as much as you like - however we all have our right to an opinion and when someone posts such strong (and incorrect) opinions about the house of one of my neighbors I will say something about it.

If you consider that more mannerless than continuously scolding me and taking this thread off topic then so be it.

I recently looked at a $1.2 mil house here in Austin, and houses of that caliber are usually in areas where all are vintage(not historic)and updated with high price tags, or newer 'uppity' developments. It was in what is considered to be a 'very-nice-area', and there was a 'view', but if it were not, would probably sell for a lot less. Many houses around it had obviously been neglected for years, but it didn't matter.

I would have to agree what has become the real estate mantra~~location, location, location. People *will* pay. ;o)

"missed your question - it's near New Hope."

Congratulations. It's so very pretty around there, hobokenkitchen.

"and in part because they made some interesting decorating and renovation decisions which probably put people off." Smart. It's not always easy to look beyond those kinds of things. It so often requires a conscious effort, even when you know you shouldn't be affected by the orange and purple guest bedroom or whatever.

kitschyKitch, technically, your points may be correct, but why add flames to the fire? To mix metaphors, do you have a horse in this race? Besides, while the outcome was unintended, I was the first one to comment on the asking price issue. So if anyone is to be chided, it's me. Plus, apologies, if any, are between mtrndredux and those who first brought up the price comments. As hobokenkitchen has already done. Having said that however....

mtnrdredux, I should have apologized right away, but when this thread began dropping down, I let it go. But now: I apologize for bringing up the price thing. In my mind, we were having a reasoned discussion on the issue. Clearly, though, nobody else here is able to read my mind (duh!), and the discussion took an unintended turn. Not to mention, I completely got -- and agreed with -- your main point right from the start.

Philadelphia has quite a number of expensive homes. And some much higher than 4 million. Take a look:

http://www.weichert.com/PA/Philadelphia/Philadelphia/Listings/?minpr=700&pg=1

For those that argue that there's no 'money' to be found in the region, the Philadelphia area is home to many, many american headquarters of foreign companies.(A huge number of pharma companies in particular)There's also an active list of american companies that headquarter in the area as well. Then there's the trust fund old philadelphia money class,who keep all the private supper and sports clubs afloat.

As to the original OP, I live close by in chester county pa, in my opinion 4 mill is the new 1.8 mill. People not terribly serious about selling put their homes on the market at a vanity price. Before the crash that price was around 1.8, now you often see the same homes listed again for 4 mill. It's rather unreal as you see homes once priced around the 1 million to 1.8 range either selling for 700,000 or listing between 3 to 4 million. Same homes...it's just that some need to sell and some are preening.(Or simply hoping that the market is looking up)

And if I had to guess, that furniture was purchased by the professional developer to use to stage any home he is selling and that it sits in storage until it's needed. He may also be letting someone from his company live there so that the house appears lived in.(I say this knowing two prfessional developers in the area who do exactly that)

Here is a link that might be useful: Weichert

In fairness to Mtnrdredux, before the bubble, the real estate in Philadelphia was much cheaper than the other large east coast or west coast cities. I've lived here my whole life and always appreciated how reasonably most homes were priced. We lived for a while in Europe where I was shocked by the high cost of apartments and houses. However, since the bubble, many Philadelphians of modest means have been priced out of the market. My mother's home in a traditional working class neighborhood in the far northeast is now worth $180-200K when 10 years ago it was worth under a $100K (she bought it for $13K in 1963). So, while Philadelphia is still nowhere near as expensive as NYC, Boston, LA or San Francisco, there are many, many very expensive homes in the center and surrounding suburbs.

As to the original post, if I were seriously looking at this home, the bad furniture wouldn't put me off a bit. It is funny, though, that one would restore it so meticulously and then not take the time to decorate it properly.

Oh Philly as a whole is still one of the more affordable major cities. Just think what that house would cost in New York or DC!! It boggles the mind.
That's why some people commute from Philly to NYC on the Accela - they can have a phenomenal house for 2, 3 or 4 million for a small fraction of what it would cost in NYC.

That's not to say that Philly doesn't have money - it really does. Just look at the condos on Rittenhouse Square and the gorgeous row homes of Rittenhouse, Society Hill and Washington Square. The surrounding 'burbs have mega mansions as does the area we may be moving to. There is a ton of money here, but no one is arguing that Philly is less expensive than other cities - that's one of the best things about it!