Tasteful Friends: Beautiful curb appeal. The interior is not disaster.

Gorgeous...I could NEVER live in Alabama...NEVER. I have no use for most of the south, and I'm tired of the rest of the country paying their way.

Jes a few mo days

Fo to tote da weary load...

Its pretty.

You'll need to get some hoop skirts and pin curls.

It's simply gaw-juss!

But it's not only in Alabama, it's in godforsaken, left-to-rot Selma, Alabama. Anita Bryant will be your neighbor.

Buy it and turn it into a teen club for children of low-income parents.

I love you, R2.

R5 = Bryan Singer

WHYYYYYYYY is the basement furnace pic up at the top? The pics must flow the viewer through the property!!

Let a nice gay couple buy it. Then wait for The weekly cross burning and barbecue on the verandah .

You could invite Lindsay Graham down For an old fashioned pot luck on the expansive lawn .

What R8 said.

Damn, I could buy it for cash. Can't say I can do that most places.

You could have Gov.Kay Ivey overnight for an afternoon high tea.

It's a reproduction of a southern mansion. NO THANK YOU

r14 = Lindsey Graham

[quote] You could invite Lindsay Graham down For an old fashioned pot luck on the expansive lawn .

It’s a soupluck not a potluck.

It looks like the home's architect carved out the center of the south side of the White House. A little pretentious with the colonnaded portico. And located in Alabama? I'll pass.

Mobile or Birmingham might be survivable, but Selma....no thanks!

OP's lookin' for his home- and I hope he finds it.

That is piss elegant for sure! And it's not surrounded by mouldy landscaping.

It looks haunted.

[quote] And it's not surrounded by mouldy landscaping.

Then it’s not really Southern.

[quote] And it's not surrounded by mouldy landscaping.

Then it’s not really Southern.

It shows extremely well - so why do they call it a diamond in the rough? Sounds like there's some major structural or other issues to contend with.

I wasn't expecting much - but it is stunning. Love the two staircases and the bathroom tile looks pristine and authentic (even if not).

Shame.

Not nearly enough land. Looks like the neighbors live in a shack.

R25 from Google street view, that 2 story shack looks to be the garage. It has a small circular driveway in front. BUT, the other houses on the street are very poor relations.

This house was probably built with a lot of land then they sold off bits, which became small housing units.

It sticks out on the street - it does not belong in that neighborhood.

Selma? Alabama? WHAAAAA!

such charming folks down that way.....

“Two leaders of an Alabama city have resigned after their mayor posted a comment on Facebook about ‘killing out’ socialists, ‘baby killers’ and gay and transgender people,” the Montgomery Advertiser reports.

“But mayor Mark Chambers refused to step down and told residents of Carbon Hill he plans to run for re-election.”

Sweet Home, Alabama.

I really like the tiles in the bathrooms. Too bad they put the ugly brown cupboards in the kitchen.

Decent. Wouldn't live in Selma, AL even though the price is fantastic.

The realtor's staging is odd, with a mixture of that prissy rococo Victorian furniture along with pieces that vaguely Chinese.

I think they said it was a diamond in the rough because the kitchen, while serviceable, needs a complete overhaul. Some of the rest of it looks a little tired and dated.

C'mon, DL. You would have your own "Lady in a Cage" elevator!

That alone should close the deal here.

I think its fabulous,but I wouldnt live in Alabama if that house was free.I lived in Mobile for 5 months with my 1st husband during a job and it sucked even then,and that was 30 years ago.That entrance haul is gorgeous though.

[quote]That entrance haul is gorgeous though.

Oh Dear! it does look like it would be a long slog

other than the shitty brown cabinets and the horrid tiles, this seems a fair representation of the "high piss elegant" style of southern decoration

The seller reserves the right to approve the buyer, so I'm assuming no gays or blacks need apply. It says it was built in 1942, but I thought all civil construction not essential to the war effort was banned at that time. The first year of the war seems like an odd time to be building your dream house version of the antebellum South. And are those slave quarters in the back?

[quote] The first year of the war

No. There is only one war, and that is the War of Northern Aggression.

[quote] It says it was built in 1942, but I thought all civil construction not essential to the war effort was banned at that time.

It was probably finished in 1942. Construction likely began well before Pearl Harbor. Civilian projects that were near completion were usually exempted from the first wave of wartime restrictions.

that kitchen! those baths! SELMA!

[quote]The realtor's staging is odd

In lesser markets—as Selma certainly is—staging is uncommon. The furnishings probably belong to the current owner. If it is indeed professionally staged, I would expect a lot better.

"You're going up the down staircase."

"I'm what?"

"Up the down staircase. The up staircase is over there."

$148k won't rent a garage where I live.

The foyer is breathtaking. I love the sunroom too. I could slash my wrists just imagining moving to AL however.

I’d rather be dead than live south of Manassass VA. Nope.

What poor people think rich looks like. HIDEOUS!

I couldn't live in a state with so many hurricanes.

I much prefer this little gem in Ardmore . . . & remember, it's only an hour + to Dallas/Fort Worth!

NO r47. Carpeting everywhere??? Those fucking 60’s French Country lighting fixtures and vanities? The fucking dining room furniture that must be hauled away??? The used feather-top king-sized mattress?!??? And just what in the fuck would you do with that stone fireplace? And don’t get me revved up on the KITCHEN. Hissssssssssssssss.

I like the house, a lot. The furniture appears to be staged, so it would have to go. I would really need to think hard about living in Alabama.

[quote]The seller reserves the right to approve the buyer

That is still legal?

i think we did this one already.

R49, as an anonymous poster on DL, I can’t let you do it. You will be miserable there. Trust. It will damage your delicate psyche, and you won’t be able to dress the same way.

R51, Tiresome and pointless. Thanks for your contribution! You cunt

Termites.

It looks like a Sears house kit--back when you could order an entire house out of a catalog.

I'm going to do a search online.

I hate the columns at the entrance and to echo other posters you couldn't pay me to live in Alabama. Let it die out and be regentrified later.

Yeah, I knew it reminded me of Sears.

It looks to me like they took the Lexington and added the half cupola to the front.

They made bigger ones, R57

R568, yes! The one you found has the two windows on each side. Maybe this house started as that, and then was modified over the years. They were very popular.

R59 It's a funeral home now. Here's the ad - and Sears sold them until 1940. Individual owners/builders could modify something like windows easily.

But r59, what about the circular stairwell opening? I have a hard time believing that is from Sears, nor do I see how it could be modified so dramatically.

Wow r60. So it IS a Sears home? I’m actually impressed.

Here you go--this was the year that the Magnolia came out.

Really sort of impressive. A lot of these people who ordered them built them with their own hands. (All the parts came cut and stamped.)

Wha, that's ole Judge Hieronymus Mayfield Huddleston Bean's family home. I remembah when it was festooned with lovely perfumed belles fanning their dance cards, sipping theyah julips, and flirting wildly with theyah handsome beaus. Such a wonderful time. The 1950s it was and the Judge was so well respected for putting all those uppity nigras behind bars, making the streets safe for elegant ladies like mahself.

I don't know if it is or isn't. My point in posting it is that Sears kit homes weren't all small Craftsmen bungalows.

Sears did, on occasion, make modifications to the original designs but I agree - both the stairs and the portico look nothing like the Magnolia model but, at least for the exterior, I can imagine the "Tara" look might have been very popular in the South circa 1939 and something a builder could have modified then or later.

Well, there is an elevator in that house. Maybe they modified the original blueprint to accommodate the elevator (in the photo that has a bookshelf), they widened the whole thing?

Oh, I just remembahed. That was about the time those pretty young men held a debutante ball of theah own at Slema's wickid Manhattan Club. Such an odd thing, all those pretty boys in dresses. I declare, some looked bettah than our own Southern Belles. how those hussies could put on men's tuxedos and shame themselves like that I just don't know.

Mah husband made us all proud when he and his friends put on their white hats and drove those boys out of town. We've been hetera-sexule ever since. Praise the Lord.

I would love to know how a builder makes a round opening like that.

Don't mind me, I'll just prattle on about my mammaries.

If you took out the second stairway (behind the kitchen) and the pantry next to it (from the Magnolia blue), you might be able to sneak a second set of stairs to the main stairway.

I'm troubled by the double stairway in the entry hall of Op's Alabama mansion. I much prefer a curved stair.

Do our tasteful friends seriously think a realtor would pay to stage a 148k house?

Strange how cheap this house is. This one is nearby, the same price, half the size on a small lot.

R72 $148,000 IS the high end of the market in Selma...

That is a great looking house; nice curb appeal. The columns reminded me of this home that kind of mimicked the White House, that was posted here a few years ago.

I really like the house at R73, even most of the decor.

R76 "stove oven does not work, partial basement unfinished, some plumbing issues, has a small sub-pump. Selling property AS-IS."

Houses are cheap in the Old South because no one wants to live there. Do they realize that? Do they ever stop to wonder why you can buy a 4000-square-foot house in Alabama for the price of a closet in the rest of the country? It's the free market at work.

Of course it's also why no one in Alabama ever leaves - they can't afford to.

The house at r75 is a tragedy. Have you ever visited Roswell, GA? And that place is over a million? You couldn’t pay me a million to live there. The “coffers” (or whatever) on the ceiling, particularly over the dinette make me want to vomit.

r79 you sound like a 13 year old imbecile. Roswell is a beautiful area.

I can't understand how they can stay, either, R78.

Just the electric bill for the a/c 8 months a year in OP's house must cost a fortune.

And it's poor, poor, poor: "The median income for a household in the city was $21,261, and the median income for a family was $28,345. Males had a median income of $29,769 versus $18,129 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,369. About 26.9% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.8% of those under age 18 and 28.0% of those age 65 or over." ...from Wikipedia

$148,000 IS the high end of the market in Selma...

Hardly.

That house is cheap because it's in a crappy neighborhood, and most people buying houses in the south want new and modern, not some old house they're going to have to spend a ton of money on keeping up.

That's a beauty, R82.

Of course it's also why no one in Alabama ever leaves - they can't afford to.

Another outlandishly stupid statement. People move from Alabama to other parts of the country every fucking day you twit. What decade are you living in?

Did I hit a nerve r80? I lived in Athens for five years — I’m entitled to my own opinion, as are you. Maybe you should post on threads where everyone agrees with you so you aren’t....upset? Much of GA is gorgeous, it doesn’t mean I would relish living there again.

The cost of land in a poor city like Selma is very cheap. There are plenty of poor country towns in New York state where the value of land is just as cheap and most every other state as well. Just let a big auto manufacturer or some other huge commercial concern decide to set up shop near Selma, putting many people to work in good paying jobs, and you'd see the price of the OP house skyrocket. I've seen it happen many times.

Not upset R85. I just recognize a BS artist when I read one.

A BS artist because I don’t like Roswell, GA? You have psychological problems.

I agree with R80/R87 for the most part. R88 you seem over the top about a home. Calm down.

I like the bathrooms.

And the ELEVATOR!!!

I would move in and never leave the house.

I like that aqua bathroom.

I love the old bathrooms that were room-sized.

"stove oven does not work"

WTF, Selma?

The current residents at R93's home must be near foreclosure if they can't even get a new oven installed or fix their plumbing issues.

So as neighbours, you would have the Smooters on one side, and the Robicheauxs on the other. Good times.

A Millennial will buy it (with a gift from Grandma), start a craft beer business, live there for 2 years... then flee to pursue new adventures.

It's the Redneck White House.

Believe it or not but there are plenty of people, gays included, who have no interest in the trappings of city life and who aren't terrified of the thought of living in a small rural town in the south because (yes believe it not again) gay men and women are living openly everywhere, even small rural southern towns like Selma, and living perfectly nice, trouble free lives.

Some of you people really do need to travel outside your areas of preconceived ideas once in a while.

Whatever you say, r98. I'm happy staying in my urban bubble, thanks awfully.

There are some small Southern towns, even in Alabama, that would be OK to live in. But not Selma.

Buy that house and move to the charming state of Alabama. This map will help you navigate your way around.

Selma is just east of Montgomery between rappers and morbid obesity.

Roswell is just an ordinary suburb of Atlanta, but with Buckhead like pretense. Not some place to brag about.

This house just seems gaudy and there probably aren’t that many people who want to sink a lot of money into a house in Selma that they’ll never make back. Have been to Selma. It’s definitely a place to depart.

[quote]It shows extremely well - so why do they call it a diamond in the rough?

It’s located in a state that’s a giant shithole.

I’ve had several of my employees work parties there.

Both of my parents grew up in Selma. White. I was in the town on the day the confrontation on the bridge took place, flying a kite in my grandmother's back yard (it was a chilly windy day). I've spent a lot of time in Selma, and lived there for about half a year in the mid-Sixties. All those folks in my family are dead now, and I spent a weekend there this past Spring, dealing with some minor property issues up in the north part of the County (Dallas). I stayed in an Airbnb right in town, on the main drag, 2 blocks down Highway 80 from the famous bridge. I can tell you it's a pretty scary, lawless-seeming place these days. The town of Selma is failing, that is obvious to anyone who spends a few hours there. White flight. Intense black-white social tensions. The town has no tax-base, no revenue, and no money. It is going down the drain economically. The place was scary enough to me that, even though I still need to return to finish up business re my father's estate, I would not willingly spend another night in any kind of accommodation near "downtown." And I sure as hell would not move anyplace remotely close to that town. It's done for.

^^And re the above, that's the reason that house is so cheap.

R105 Kicked-to-the-curb appeal.

Comes with a sound system playing an endless loop of twangy banjos plinking the olde timey hits of Stephen Foster.

Read the demographics for Selma. Nope, PASS.