His Decision to Go Remote Called for a $180,000 Library Remodel
January 30, 2024 9:57 AM Subscribe
An Austin-based hedge funder went big on a calm, relaxing space Santostefano chose Primavera marble for the countertops for their gorgeous veins of blue and orange. 'It reminded me of blue cheese,' she says. // Price: $11,000
Love this space. Thanks for sharing, I would never have seen it otherwise.
posted by rpfields at 10:05 AM on January 30
posted by rpfields at 10:05 AM on January 30
Gated. Which is fitting.
posted by zenon at 10:14 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
posted by zenon at 10:14 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
Stuff like this is a taunt, right?
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:15 AM on January 30 [6 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:15 AM on January 30 [6 favorites]
My favourite bit is the part where they explain that the brief was 'no windows' yet the photo shows a wide assortment of windows.
Or perhaps the part where he found the interior designer for this expensive reno on Yelp.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:21 AM on January 30
Or perhaps the part where he found the interior designer for this expensive reno on Yelp.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:21 AM on January 30
My favorite bit might've been where he had a bust of (the late) (Warren Buffett crony) Charlie Munger.
Here's a gift link.
posted by box at 10:25 AM on January 30 [8 favorites]
Here's a gift link.
posted by box at 10:25 AM on January 30 [8 favorites]
We're so lucky to have rich people around. I hope they never leave us.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 10:25 AM on January 30 [8 favorites]
posted by thatwhichfalls at 10:25 AM on January 30 [8 favorites]
Is it me or does that look like an extremely uncomfortable place to work, and a very small library for the price? Like, there's not even a desk? Am I missing something?
posted by The Vintner of Our Disco Tent at 10:33 AM on January 30 [5 favorites]
posted by The Vintner of Our Disco Tent at 10:33 AM on January 30 [5 favorites]
I wanted a better view of the books to see what these rich types are reading. Couldn’t see much. But given that all the books seem to be arranged by matching height, I bet this library is for looks and, according to the notes, to hold some investment collectibles. Not impressed.
posted by njohnson23 at 10:36 AM on January 30 [4 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 10:36 AM on January 30 [4 favorites]
>> My favourite bit is the part where they explain that the brief was 'no windows' yet the photo shows a wide assortment of windows.
To be fair, that "no windows" brief clearly refers to the bedroom next to the library, not the library itself.
To be fair, that "no windows" brief clearly refers to the bedroom next to the library, not the library itself.
For the primary bedroom next to the library, Pabrai had a caveat—as a habitual afternoon napper, he required that the room have no windows so it could remain pitch black during the day.posted by jeremias at 10:37 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
Oh, you're right, I misread that first sentence.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:39 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 10:39 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
Wait, that's it?
I kept waiting for the penny to drop. Surely there was some sort of catch like the funds he used to remodel his library were misappropriated from his company or at the very least the headline was burying the lede and it actually cost him ten times as much because some enterprising grifter took him for a ride.
But no. The Wall Street Journal is just reporting on this rich dude's library.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:40 AM on January 30 [13 favorites]
I kept waiting for the penny to drop. Surely there was some sort of catch like the funds he used to remodel his library were misappropriated from his company or at the very least the headline was burying the lede and it actually cost him ten times as much because some enterprising grifter took him for a ride.
But no. The Wall Street Journal is just reporting on this rich dude's library.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:40 AM on January 30 [13 favorites]
Austin: "Keep Austin Weird!"
Rich Guy: "10-4! How about I remodel my library!?"
Austin "I mean, I guess...?"
Rich Guy: "Get this: I'm gonna put a chair in it!!"
Austin: "Well, sure, but..."
Rich Guy: "And books! Like a bunch of them!"
Austin: *homer_walking_backwards_into_bushes.gif*
posted by gwint at 10:45 AM on January 30 [11 favorites]
Rich Guy: "10-4! How about I remodel my library!?"
Austin "I mean, I guess...?"
Rich Guy: "Get this: I'm gonna put a chair in it!!"
Austin: "Well, sure, but..."
Rich Guy: "And books! Like a bunch of them!"
Austin: *homer_walking_backwards_into_bushes.gif*
posted by gwint at 10:45 AM on January 30 [11 favorites]
I mean, is there more? The library looks small. Does he work in there? Does he need to?
I'm sure there's some point to be made about having an exclusive, fancy, celebrated library with a lifetime of books but only one chair.
Also, I'd argue the whole point of having a library is to put a big ol' nappable couch in it, some sort of fluffy critter who reliably steals your seat, a table big enough for a tea tray, a grip of good pencils, a bottle of whisky, and a good reading lamp.
posted by mochapickle at 10:51 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
I'm sure there's some point to be made about having an exclusive, fancy, celebrated library with a lifetime of books but only one chair.
Also, I'd argue the whole point of having a library is to put a big ol' nappable couch in it, some sort of fluffy critter who reliably steals your seat, a table big enough for a tea tray, a grip of good pencils, a bottle of whisky, and a good reading lamp.
posted by mochapickle at 10:51 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
Here's a thing you could have if you were rich. Don't you wish you were rich? Like us? Well, too bad!
posted by I-Write-Essays at 10:54 AM on January 30 [16 favorites]
posted by I-Write-Essays at 10:54 AM on January 30 [16 favorites]
oh, I love busts, how else do you signify your appreciation of high culture and tradition. The Munger bust is 1300 and is, I quote, the "perfect silent companion for your office, forever reminding you to "invert, always invert".
Ah, the fabled triple inversion, a mantra for all situations.
For a moment I thought the windowless room thing was a call out to Munger's failed windowless dorm, the 1.5 billion dormzilla.
posted by zenon at 10:55 AM on January 30 [8 favorites]
Ah, the fabled triple inversion, a mantra for all situations.
For a moment I thought the windowless room thing was a call out to Munger's failed windowless dorm, the 1.5 billion dormzilla.
posted by zenon at 10:55 AM on January 30 [8 favorites]
Scrolling to the bottom there’s a slew of these articles. I did not call WSJ turning itself into Pinterest for 2024, but I guess it makes sense.
posted by Ryvar at 10:55 AM on January 30 [6 favorites]
posted by Ryvar at 10:55 AM on January 30 [6 favorites]
I wanted a better view of the books to see what these rich types are reading.
It's just four thousand copies of Atlas Shrugged, in different shapes and colors. (This is a joke, but if anyone is feeling entrepreneurial, you could probably sell this to internet Libertarians)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:56 AM on January 30 [19 favorites]
It's just four thousand copies of Atlas Shrugged, in different shapes and colors. (This is a joke, but if anyone is feeling entrepreneurial, you could probably sell this to internet Libertarians)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:56 AM on January 30 [19 favorites]
Goddamn, if I had nearly $200,000 to blow on a remodel, I'd at least go for something to reflect my personality instead of just the $$$ version of the same shit every suburbanite is throwing in their McMansion right now. Like, seriously, this looks like it should be on Instagram with a title like "How we made a super-luxe built-in library by hacking IKEA SEKTION and BILLY!!!"
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 10:58 AM on January 30 [13 favorites]
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 10:58 AM on January 30 [13 favorites]
I keep wanting to critique this design for being so dedicated to form over function (what, you don't have a desk in your library?! are you too stingy to buy a READING lamp for you LIBRARY, buddy? also where's the rest of your family supposed to sit?!) but I guess that's just because my brain isn't wired to think like rich people. I'm sure rich people brains are trained to think of a 'library' as a space in which one (emphasis on ONE) reads.
Maybe rich people would look at your average middle/upper middle class home 'library' with desks and armchairs enough for three or four or five people, and think we've somehow confused the word 'office' for 'library'? and be a little horrified that all family members are expected to share one space for their work, I'm sure! I'd look at such a room and covet it and wish I had the space for a dedicated office/library/work room in my little house. The rich really are a different species, aren't they.
posted by MiraK at 10:58 AM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Maybe rich people would look at your average middle/upper middle class home 'library' with desks and armchairs enough for three or four or five people, and think we've somehow confused the word 'office' for 'library'? and be a little horrified that all family members are expected to share one space for their work, I'm sure! I'd look at such a room and covet it and wish I had the space for a dedicated office/library/work room in my little house. The rich really are a different species, aren't they.
posted by MiraK at 10:58 AM on January 30 [3 favorites]
$130k for the carpentry and cabinetry. Kudos to whoever made off with that check.
(Does this guy think this is a lot of books? This is not a lot of books.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:06 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
(Does this guy think this is a lot of books? This is not a lot of books.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:06 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
I wanted a better view of the books to see what these rich types are reading.
I wanted a better view of the counter to see if it actually looks like it's made of cheese.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 11:07 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
I wanted a better view of the counter to see if it actually looks like it's made of cheese.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 11:07 AM on January 30 [25 favorites]
I want to know if there's a secret red button underneath the Munger bust.
posted by clavdivs at 11:08 AM on January 30 [11 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 11:08 AM on January 30 [11 favorites]
your average middle/upper middle class home 'library' with desks and armchairs enough for three or four or five people
Huh I thought I was middle class but I guess not.
Not that it bothers me. My library is a massive, multimillion dollar library with not only books and armchairs as far as the eye can see but also many other resources for me and my family and everyone else, and a sense of loving, friendly community.
There is no poverty but what we create.
posted by splitpeasoup at 11:12 AM on January 30 [33 favorites]
Huh I thought I was middle class but I guess not.
Not that it bothers me. My library is a massive, multimillion dollar library with not only books and armchairs as far as the eye can see but also many other resources for me and my family and everyone else, and a sense of loving, friendly community.
There is no poverty but what we create.
posted by splitpeasoup at 11:12 AM on January 30 [33 favorites]
We're so lucky to have rich people around. I hope they never leave us
As it doesn't say in the Bible, "the rich ye shall always have with ye"
posted by chavenet at 11:14 AM on January 30 [6 favorites]
As it doesn't say in the Bible, "the rich ye shall always have with ye"
posted by chavenet at 11:14 AM on January 30 [6 favorites]
The greatest trick the WSJ ever pulled was convincing MeFi its middlebrow consumerist glurge was worth an FPP.
posted by The Bellman at 11:17 AM on January 30 [13 favorites]
posted by The Bellman at 11:17 AM on January 30 [13 favorites]
Some of my friends sold their plasma twice a week in college.
And after college.
posted by AlSweigart at 11:26 AM on January 30 [7 favorites]
And after college.
posted by AlSweigart at 11:26 AM on January 30 [7 favorites]
Hahahaha. So good.
So only about 50% (and falling) of US GDP goes to wages. 10% of households control 69% (nice) of the wealth and easily enough wage income to have claim to more than half of US's GDP.
The value of an eyeball is proportional to the share of the GDP it commands: "under $864,900 net worth not permitted on this ride".
Hence the WSJ: the people who matter relate to a 180,000$ library nook human interest story.
posted by NotAYakk at 11:29 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
So only about 50% (and falling) of US GDP goes to wages. 10% of households control 69% (nice) of the wealth and easily enough wage income to have claim to more than half of US's GDP.
The value of an eyeball is proportional to the share of the GDP it commands: "under $864,900 net worth not permitted on this ride".
Hence the WSJ: the people who matter relate to a 180,000$ library nook human interest story.
posted by NotAYakk at 11:29 AM on January 30 [1 favorite]
It was the year he celebrated one year of his company’s relocation from California to Austin, moved into his new home in Austin’s West Lake Hills...
who purchased the Austin property in 2021 for $6.3 million
[unsurprised Austin noises]
At this point that's more on brand for the city than Southby.
posted by howbigisthistextfield at 11:30 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
who purchased the Austin property in 2021 for $6.3 million
[unsurprised Austin noises]
At this point that's more on brand for the city than Southby.
posted by howbigisthistextfield at 11:30 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
And Franklins.
Southby and Franklins put together. Like some sort of tech BBQ startup. Even that would not be as Austin as this article is.
posted by howbigisthistextfield at 11:31 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
Southby and Franklins put together. Like some sort of tech BBQ startup. Even that would not be as Austin as this article is.
posted by howbigisthistextfield at 11:31 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
My Formica countertops sometimes remind me of blue cheese too. That’s how I know it’s time to clean them
posted by I_Zimbra at 11:35 AM on January 30 [16 favorites]
posted by I_Zimbra at 11:35 AM on January 30 [16 favorites]
when i Hit It Big, mochapickle will do my library remodel construction.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:50 AM on January 30 [5 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 11:50 AM on January 30 [5 favorites]
The Wall Street Journal is just reporting on this rich dude's library.
They have sections on Lifestyle and Real Estate with stories like this all the time. Not sure why this one crossed over.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 12:02 PM on January 30 [2 favorites]
They have sections on Lifestyle and Real Estate with stories like this all the time. Not sure why this one crossed over.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 12:02 PM on January 30 [2 favorites]
Somebody went home with him, and he didn't have books.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:03 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:03 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
I too recently upgraded my home office space for remote working... by buying a $85 desk via Facebook Marketplace, a folding screen from WayFair, and by getting rid of a bunch of books I will never look at again in this life.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:04 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 12:04 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
The greatest trick the WSJ ever pulled was convincing MeFi its middlebrow consumerist glurge was worth an FPP.
I mean, I don't know the OP's life, but my impression is that this is here precisely so we can mock it.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:11 PM on January 30
I mean, I don't know the OP's life, but my impression is that this is here precisely so we can mock it.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:11 PM on January 30
That's the kind of Austin that is the new Dallas.
Also, the woodwork and shelves are gorgeous and if I had all the money in the world, that would be the kind of model I looked at for storing my large, old-school RPG books.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 12:14 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
Also, the woodwork and shelves are gorgeous and if I had all the money in the world, that would be the kind of model I looked at for storing my large, old-school RPG books.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 12:14 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
a folding screen from WayFair
The only folding thing from Wayfair I want to see is the company itself.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:15 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
The only folding thing from Wayfair I want to see is the company itself.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 12:15 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Scrolling to the bottom there’s a slew of these articles. I did not call WSJ turning itself into Pinterest for 2024, but I guess it makes sense.
The WSJ introduced a weekly real estate section in 2012, which they at some point renamed quite accurately "Mansion." So that's about 600 editions, each with several of these articles, most of which are more ridiculous than this one. There's a long takedown of the section here. I stopped a few paragraphs in, after "Part advertising section, part ruling-class design review, part dangling inducement to middle managers to go on believing in the system, Mansion is a hilarious delight and everyone should read it to learn about the purposeless waste of the upper crust." I don't think any more elaboration is necessary.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:16 PM on January 30 [9 favorites]
The WSJ introduced a weekly real estate section in 2012, which they at some point renamed quite accurately "Mansion." So that's about 600 editions, each with several of these articles, most of which are more ridiculous than this one. There's a long takedown of the section here. I stopped a few paragraphs in, after "Part advertising section, part ruling-class design review, part dangling inducement to middle managers to go on believing in the system, Mansion is a hilarious delight and everyone should read it to learn about the purposeless waste of the upper crust." I don't think any more elaboration is necessary.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:16 PM on January 30 [9 favorites]
I wanted a better view of the counter to see if it actually looks like it's made of cheese.
There is a trollish chamber of my soul that desperately wants to post an AskMe about whether I can eat blue cheese with orange streaks.
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:16 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
There is a trollish chamber of my soul that desperately wants to post an AskMe about whether I can eat blue cheese with orange streaks.
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:16 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
I mean, the OP likely either posted this so we could savage it or had a wild hair and thought this would be a fun thing to do with a ludicrously excessive amount of money, which, okay, maybe it would be. But they also had to know we were going to discuss eating this guy or at least putting him against the wall.
My splurge if I had an offensive amount of money would be an unnerving series of hidden rooms. Like, hidden room with a hidden room with a hidden passage to a hidden room with a hidden passage to a secret staircase to a fucking bunker with a... you get the idea. If I ever come across a story of somebody doing that, I'll share it, and I won't mind if you say you'd like to push him into a den of jackals.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:24 PM on January 30 [11 favorites]
My splurge if I had an offensive amount of money would be an unnerving series of hidden rooms. Like, hidden room with a hidden room with a hidden passage to a hidden room with a hidden passage to a secret staircase to a fucking bunker with a... you get the idea. If I ever come across a story of somebody doing that, I'll share it, and I won't mind if you say you'd like to push him into a den of jackals.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:24 PM on January 30 [11 favorites]
That looks like 200ish linear feet of books in the picture to me, which I'd call only a moderate effort at a library, given his age. Maybe he has more in storage or he's just done a big purge?
My parents had more between the two of them and mom was always doing book exchanges. My f-i-l has a bit more, and entire library room devoted to books. I've got more than that still and I've given away more books than I currently have at this point. Though to be fair most of my purchases these days are ebooks and pdfs. At least two of my nieces are rapidly accumulating books on the same pace. One is building a house right now with an eye to book storage, as well as fibre work.
My IKEA-based storage system perhaps ran for 1800 usd. It was a while ago when we invested in the Billy cult.
But the WSJ calls it an "enormous book collection" so it must be so. It just looks like the collections of a reasonably active reader to me. Or maybe my family is weird.
posted by bonehead at 12:25 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
My parents had more between the two of them and mom was always doing book exchanges. My f-i-l has a bit more, and entire library room devoted to books. I've got more than that still and I've given away more books than I currently have at this point. Though to be fair most of my purchases these days are ebooks and pdfs. At least two of my nieces are rapidly accumulating books on the same pace. One is building a house right now with an eye to book storage, as well as fibre work.
My IKEA-based storage system perhaps ran for 1800 usd. It was a while ago when we invested in the Billy cult.
But the WSJ calls it an "enormous book collection" so it must be so. It just looks like the collections of a reasonably active reader to me. Or maybe my family is weird.
posted by bonehead at 12:25 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Not quite a series of hidden rooms, but the WSJ Mansion section is there for you: "It’s No Secret: Hidden Rooms Make Homeowners Feel Like Kids Again: From a tricked-out office to a wood-paneled speakeasy, these concealed spaces are anything but vanilla"
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:28 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:28 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Can someone explain all the invective spewed at a simple article about someone's home library?
Is it because the homeowner has more money than you? Because you don't agree with his design aesthetic? Because you think he has too many books, or two few, or not the right kind? Are you worried that he hasn't read enough of them? Or that they're arranged in the wrong way? Or is it because you think this is symbolic of class inequality? Do you think the Wall Street Journal should stick to straight business and finance reporting and shouldn't include lifestyle content, even though interior design is a $140 billion industry in the United States? Does the idea of a single chair upset you, although this is clearly a photo staged to emphasize the minimalist aspect of the space? Do you wish Austin was still weird?
The world's a big place. Some people have the fortune of being able to envision and create spaces they enjoy. Some people enjoy reading about them. It's all okay.
posted by bassomatic at 12:35 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
Is it because the homeowner has more money than you? Because you don't agree with his design aesthetic? Because you think he has too many books, or two few, or not the right kind? Are you worried that he hasn't read enough of them? Or that they're arranged in the wrong way? Or is it because you think this is symbolic of class inequality? Do you think the Wall Street Journal should stick to straight business and finance reporting and shouldn't include lifestyle content, even though interior design is a $140 billion industry in the United States? Does the idea of a single chair upset you, although this is clearly a photo staged to emphasize the minimalist aspect of the space? Do you wish Austin was still weird?
The world's a big place. Some people have the fortune of being able to envision and create spaces they enjoy. Some people enjoy reading about them. It's all okay.
posted by bassomatic at 12:35 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
Awaiting the snark in 3, 2, 1.... but there are worse things to do with $180,000 than to build a shrine to books.
The stupid part is that $180k is basically the minimum budget to get a General Contractor to even consider making a bid on any remodel. Go much lower and you'll find it hard to find someone to take a job that small. There are probably a dozen other $180k or more remodels happening within a square mile of this dude's house, why is the WSJ doing a whole article on this one?
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 12:36 PM on January 30 [2 favorites]
The stupid part is that $180k is basically the minimum budget to get a General Contractor to even consider making a bid on any remodel. Go much lower and you'll find it hard to find someone to take a job that small. There are probably a dozen other $180k or more remodels happening within a square mile of this dude's house, why is the WSJ doing a whole article on this one?
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 12:36 PM on January 30 [2 favorites]
Can someone explain all the invective spewed at a simple article about someone's home library?
I wouldn't call it invective. We're 45 comments in and there's not a single demand that we throw this particular millionaire into the sea, or eat him, or both, like we usually do around here. This is more... gentle ribbing?
There is a paucity of spew.
posted by mochapickle at 12:43 PM on January 30 [14 favorites]
I wouldn't call it invective. We're 45 comments in and there's not a single demand that we throw this particular millionaire into the sea, or eat him, or both, like we usually do around here. This is more... gentle ribbing?
There is a paucity of spew.
posted by mochapickle at 12:43 PM on January 30 [14 favorites]
This is the deal we get in 2024: regular people get told we have to report to the office "for maximum productivity" or we'll be fired, even if our productivity stayed steady or even went up during work-from-home. This rich guy gets to hire contractors to fulfill his elaborate whims for a library, to make sure working from home is extra awesome for him.
Being gracious while people resent him and punch up is literally the only thing society demands of him to address this kind of disparity.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:46 PM on January 30 [12 favorites]
Being gracious while people resent him and punch up is literally the only thing society demands of him to address this kind of disparity.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:46 PM on January 30 [12 favorites]
Can someone explain all the invective spewed at a simple article about someone's home library?
When that someone is a billionaire hedge fund manager, there's a lot of incumbent baggage. It's a nice library and it looks like a pleasant space. As far as the excesses of wealth go, $180,000 is peanuts, but the fact that it's peanuts to some while so many struggle to meet basic necessities is an obscenity. That's where this reaction is coming from.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:46 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
When that someone is a billionaire hedge fund manager, there's a lot of incumbent baggage. It's a nice library and it looks like a pleasant space. As far as the excesses of wealth go, $180,000 is peanuts, but the fact that it's peanuts to some while so many struggle to meet basic necessities is an obscenity. That's where this reaction is coming from.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:46 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
Two immediate reactions:
- unless the window glass filters UV-A and UV-B light, the spines of quite a number of those books are going to fade pretty fast
- nice chair but without a reading lamp it's not going to be a practical place to read for more than a few hours a day.
posted by senor biggles at 12:49 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
- unless the window glass filters UV-A and UV-B light, the spines of quite a number of those books are going to fade pretty fast
- nice chair but without a reading lamp it's not going to be a practical place to read for more than a few hours a day.
posted by senor biggles at 12:49 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
I haven't lived in Austin in 6 years but I saw the headline and thought "West Lake Hills gonna West Lake Hill."
This is the community that installed a jumbotron in their HS stadium a few years back.
posted by pantarei70 at 12:52 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
This is the community that installed a jumbotron in their HS stadium a few years back.
posted by pantarei70 at 12:52 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
why is the WSJ doing a whole article on this one?
Because people like to see what other people do to make their living spaces better, and it frequently gets written about, in many outlets? If this was a link to Architectural Digest, Apartment Therapy, or Zillow Gone Wild would it be here? Would these comments be here?
posted by sageleaf at 12:52 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Because people like to see what other people do to make their living spaces better, and it frequently gets written about, in many outlets? If this was a link to Architectural Digest, Apartment Therapy, or Zillow Gone Wild would it be here? Would these comments be here?
posted by sageleaf at 12:52 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
also, if you're curious how the other parts of this renovation look, here's a link to the designer's page for this project. (Unfortunately it only shows the same photo of the library).
posted by senor biggles at 12:53 PM on January 30
posted by senor biggles at 12:53 PM on January 30
a paucity of spew
80s DC punk band or title in a YA fantasy series
posted by bassomatic at 12:53 PM on January 30 [13 favorites]
80s DC punk band or title in a YA fantasy series
posted by bassomatic at 12:53 PM on January 30 [13 favorites]
And this particular guy, he has a foundation, he gives away a million dollars a year to good causes, mostly fighting poverty in India. So, you know, good for him.
But also, the thought of spending what for most of us is a life-changing amount of money on such a bland overall effect in a library that doesn't even have a reading light is kind of a bummer. So we laugh, because cynicism is free and we've got bills to pay.
posted by mochapickle at 12:53 PM on January 30 [9 favorites]
But also, the thought of spending what for most of us is a life-changing amount of money on such a bland overall effect in a library that doesn't even have a reading light is kind of a bummer. So we laugh, because cynicism is free and we've got bills to pay.
posted by mochapickle at 12:53 PM on January 30 [9 favorites]
Eh, I can't get worked up much one or another about this. Hedge Fund Manager shouldn't be a job that exists and wealth inequality is ridiculous and needs to be ended via aggressive taxation. But $180,000 spent on a private library is a decent amount of money going to local contractors and craftspeople.
My dad is a cabinetmaker. He's extremely skilled and has spent his career doing beautiful work for a variety of clients, individuals ranging from wealthy to middle class, and organizations ranging from government to museums to for-profit companies. He's always depended for some of his income on projects like this, less so as he got older and focused more on small projects. The problem with rich people isn't them hiring people like my dad, it's them hiring supreme court justices.
I couldn't access the article past the first photo, which was enough for me to see that it's not my taste. But it doesn't seem especially obscene in its display, nor for $180k is it likely to be. There's a lot of context here around wealth inequality that is totally reasonable to discuss, but as far as ways that the rich spend their money go, this is actually pretty good. A crew of skilled tradespeople got paid for this work and brought some actual money into their local economy. Much better than disappearing it into some baroque financial instrument that represents no positive impact on society whatsoever.
It's idiotic that the WSJ wastes time and money writing about these sorts of things, and I've seen similar articles in other papers recently. I'd rather that money be spent on skilled tradespeople practicing and improving their craft.
But I also don't begrudge anyone mocking the bad taste of the rich.
posted by biogeo at 1:07 PM on January 30 [13 favorites]
My dad is a cabinetmaker. He's extremely skilled and has spent his career doing beautiful work for a variety of clients, individuals ranging from wealthy to middle class, and organizations ranging from government to museums to for-profit companies. He's always depended for some of his income on projects like this, less so as he got older and focused more on small projects. The problem with rich people isn't them hiring people like my dad, it's them hiring supreme court justices.
I couldn't access the article past the first photo, which was enough for me to see that it's not my taste. But it doesn't seem especially obscene in its display, nor for $180k is it likely to be. There's a lot of context here around wealth inequality that is totally reasonable to discuss, but as far as ways that the rich spend their money go, this is actually pretty good. A crew of skilled tradespeople got paid for this work and brought some actual money into their local economy. Much better than disappearing it into some baroque financial instrument that represents no positive impact on society whatsoever.
It's idiotic that the WSJ wastes time and money writing about these sorts of things, and I've seen similar articles in other papers recently. I'd rather that money be spent on skilled tradespeople practicing and improving their craft.
But I also don't begrudge anyone mocking the bad taste of the rich.
posted by biogeo at 1:07 PM on January 30 [13 favorites]
I had a momentary glimmer of hope when I thought a rich guy endowed a public library.
Back to reality.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:18 PM on January 30 [8 favorites]
Back to reality.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:18 PM on January 30 [8 favorites]
idk why everyone's so worried about a reading light. obviously what they're gonna do in that chair is just poke at their phone while sitting somewhere nice and booksy
posted by aubilenon at 1:34 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 1:34 PM on January 30 [7 favorites]
I live in the REAL AUSTIN (not in $uburb) and I have more books in MY GARAGE!
posted by a humble nudibranch at 1:40 PM on January 30 [8 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 1:40 PM on January 30 [8 favorites]
I don't actually hate it. I mean the one chair doesn't have a light, but it has amazing natural light, and for all we know, the other side has another chair with a lovely lamp. I also note that his book covers are chaotic in a way that screams "actual person's collection of books" rather than "dig this gradient I made from remaindered and/or antique junk."
Mostly, I was, like Abehammerb Lincoln, bummed because I had initially misread it as "he fixed up the public library he was working remote from" and that would have been much cooler.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:40 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Mostly, I was, like Abehammerb Lincoln, bummed because I had initially misread it as "he fixed up the public library he was working remote from" and that would have been much cooler.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:40 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
... but same amount of chair in garage.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 1:41 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 1:41 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
Even actual public and academic libraries are deemphasizing shelves of physical books in favor of creating comfortable and calm spaces for reading, studying, and thinking. Why are we surprised when the same is happening in people's homes?
posted by kickingtheground at 1:46 PM on January 30
posted by kickingtheground at 1:46 PM on January 30
The world's a big place. Some people have the fortune of being able to envision and create spaces they enjoy.
If the world's so big of a place, why do only some people get to do this?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:48 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
If the world's so big of a place, why do only some people get to do this?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:48 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
wealth inequality is ridiculous and needs to be ended via aggressive taxation. ... The problem with rich people isn't them hiring people like my dad, it's them hiring supreme court justices.
So this really gets to the heart of the issue: If you're reducing wealth inequality, then you're also going to be reducing consumption inequality. That means that rich people will be less rich and and will have somewhat smaller houses and renovate their kitchens somewhat less often, and poorer people will have more money and can buy larger houses and newer kitchens. (And I know there are all sorts of complications, but that's the general idea.) Skilled craftmanship is costly: It takes more resources to make great hard-wood cabinetry than to throw up some Ikea cabinets. But more financial equality means more Ikea cabinets, equally distributed, and less beautiful handmade cabinets, and less work of the type your dad is doing. And that's a loss, but it's more than offset by the gains to the people who get to replace their crumbling shelves with new Ikea cabinets.
(Absolutely, hiring justices is bad, and the connection between wealth and political power is real and interrelated, but I'm just talking here about actual resource consumption.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:50 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
So this really gets to the heart of the issue: If you're reducing wealth inequality, then you're also going to be reducing consumption inequality. That means that rich people will be less rich and and will have somewhat smaller houses and renovate their kitchens somewhat less often, and poorer people will have more money and can buy larger houses and newer kitchens. (And I know there are all sorts of complications, but that's the general idea.) Skilled craftmanship is costly: It takes more resources to make great hard-wood cabinetry than to throw up some Ikea cabinets. But more financial equality means more Ikea cabinets, equally distributed, and less beautiful handmade cabinets, and less work of the type your dad is doing. And that's a loss, but it's more than offset by the gains to the people who get to replace their crumbling shelves with new Ikea cabinets.
(Absolutely, hiring justices is bad, and the connection between wealth and political power is real and interrelated, but I'm just talking here about actual resource consumption.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:50 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
> the connection between wealth and political power is real and interrelated
When it comes to the wealth gap, we get the thatcherite-reaganite retort that the economy isn't a zero-sum game, and that it's alright for there to be increasing inequality as long as everyone is getting richer on an absolute scale. However, money buys you power, and power is a zero-sum game. Even if or when the economy is growing for everyone, rising wealth inequality means the power distribution in society is changing.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 2:07 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
When it comes to the wealth gap, we get the thatcherite-reaganite retort that the economy isn't a zero-sum game, and that it's alright for there to be increasing inequality as long as everyone is getting richer on an absolute scale. However, money buys you power, and power is a zero-sum game. Even if or when the economy is growing for everyone, rising wealth inequality means the power distribution in society is changing.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 2:07 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
If you're reducing wealth inequality, then you're also going to be reducing consumption inequality...
This might hold true for mega-yachts, but not for custom cabinets. There's a saturation threshold even for billionaires, beyond which changes to their wealth don't alter their lifestyle spending. If providence sucked $2 billion out of the 99% and gave it to this guy, doubling his net worth, he's not going to buy twice as many cabinets.
This kind of remodel is accessible to roughly the 90th percentile wealthy today. It's not 1% or %0.01 territory. Wealth redistribution is going to expand that group up until the point that they all drop below a threshold, but it's so unbalanced right now that you'd have to do a shitload of redistribution before you reach that point.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 2:11 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
This might hold true for mega-yachts, but not for custom cabinets. There's a saturation threshold even for billionaires, beyond which changes to their wealth don't alter their lifestyle spending. If providence sucked $2 billion out of the 99% and gave it to this guy, doubling his net worth, he's not going to buy twice as many cabinets.
This kind of remodel is accessible to roughly the 90th percentile wealthy today. It's not 1% or %0.01 territory. Wealth redistribution is going to expand that group up until the point that they all drop below a threshold, but it's so unbalanced right now that you'd have to do a shitload of redistribution before you reach that point.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 2:11 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
Some people have the fortune of being able to envision and create spaces they enjoy. Some people enjoy reading about them. It's all okay.
SOME people do. Lucky them. A lot of people are homeless and would just like to have a locking door, a small cookstove, a sink, and a crapper in 10x10 feet. Some people would like to be able to sit in a public library and read the WSJ without being kicked out because their poor and homeless and maybe they stink. Some communities don't even have a public library anymore. It may be okay for some, but by no means is it ALL OKAY.
This kind of crap just gets old. And the scary thing is that we think $180K is peanuts--which, to some, it is.
But $180K would sure feed a lot of hungry kids or buy a lot of condoms to prevent kids that will be going hungry after they're born to women who can't afford birth control, or it could do SOMETHING to help society. Write me a story about that. I'm tired of hearing how lucky people get more nice stuff in their lives.
Sure, it's his money, and he can spend it however he damn well pleases. Our complicity in believing that the rich don't have a responsibility to the rest of society is what keeps widening the gulf between the have and the have-nots.
Yeah, IMO bring on the snark. Most of you guys are pretty funny, and I favorited those comments. There are definitely worse things to do with that amount of money, and I'm sure that amount and more is being wasted on worse daily. But I've seen a home library with more books built with IKEA bookshelves and better ambiance, and the other $100 could have spent on something better. Give me a story about somebody building a really cool library on a budget.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:14 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
SOME people do. Lucky them. A lot of people are homeless and would just like to have a locking door, a small cookstove, a sink, and a crapper in 10x10 feet. Some people would like to be able to sit in a public library and read the WSJ without being kicked out because their poor and homeless and maybe they stink. Some communities don't even have a public library anymore. It may be okay for some, but by no means is it ALL OKAY.
This kind of crap just gets old. And the scary thing is that we think $180K is peanuts--which, to some, it is.
But $180K would sure feed a lot of hungry kids or buy a lot of condoms to prevent kids that will be going hungry after they're born to women who can't afford birth control, or it could do SOMETHING to help society. Write me a story about that. I'm tired of hearing how lucky people get more nice stuff in their lives.
Sure, it's his money, and he can spend it however he damn well pleases. Our complicity in believing that the rich don't have a responsibility to the rest of society is what keeps widening the gulf between the have and the have-nots.
Yeah, IMO bring on the snark. Most of you guys are pretty funny, and I favorited those comments. There are definitely worse things to do with that amount of money, and I'm sure that amount and more is being wasted on worse daily. But I've seen a home library with more books built with IKEA bookshelves and better ambiance, and the other $100 could have spent on something better. Give me a story about somebody building a really cool library on a budget.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:14 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
But more financial equality means more Ikea cabinets, equally distributed, and less beautiful handmade cabinets, and less work of the type your dad is doing. And that's a loss, but it's more than offset by the gains to the people who get to replace their crumbling shelves with new Ikea cabinets.
To some extent this is true, but it's not as true as it might seem at first blush. It's true that the ultra-rich spend more money on craftspeople than the poor do, but as a fraction of their wealth, the ultra-rich spend far less money on material goods and services from skilled workers than poor and middle class people do. This is because the vast majority of the wealth held by the ultra-rich sits in complicated financial instruments that make them more money, rather than being spent on even the very expensive projects that they do occasionally undertake.
I don't actually think that a more equitable distribution of wealth would mean less money being spent on craftspeople like my dad. Yes, the poorest people would be able to better afford Ikea, but the middle classes would be better able to afford my dad. The rich might be less able to afford my dad than they were before but they weren't spending most of their money on him anyway. And with more middle-class people looking to spend money on skilled tradespeople, more people could use the skilled trades as a means of climbing out of poverty.
On preview, as qxnt... said.
posted by biogeo at 2:15 PM on January 30 [12 favorites]
I'm okay with skilled craftsmanship if it represents some personal connection with the craftsman. Is the craftsman a neighbor or a relative or someone you just bumped into one day and started a lifelong friendship? Did you keep them working when their day-job as a carpenter dried up? Do you invite them over for holiday parties, long after they finished your cabinets? Were you having a beer with the craftsman when their thickness planer found a nail in that reclaimed hardwood you requested, and did you pay for a replacement set of blades? Did you get their kid, who has interests that align with your occupation, an internship?
If you're just some rich twit who hires a craftsman to do something only in exchange for money, fuck you.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:15 PM on January 30
If you're just some rich twit who hires a craftsman to do something only in exchange for money, fuck you.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 2:15 PM on January 30
I think I've mentioned on MetaFilter before that my least popular opinion is that the personal library is the ne plus ultra of bourgeois aspirational conspicuous consumption. Public libraries justify civilization and working libraries I can get behind but if I have a book and I haven't read it in the last eighteen months it's time to get rid of it.
On the other hand many years ago I had a good friend who owned an off-campus bookstore next to a community college and that gave him access to a bunch of wholesale booksellers and he went a little bit wild with it. Every wall in his condo was covered with bookshelves and when those bookshelves filled up he just put another row of bookshelves in front of them. He was two rows deep when we were hanging out but a reliable source told me he eventually made it to three. He had a habit of putting a book down, misplacing it somehow and rather than look around his home for it he'd just buy another copy. It wasn't unusual, he told me, to have three or four copies of a novel in the condo before he finished reading it.
This dude's library remodel and the accompanying article just commit the sin of saying the quiet part loud.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:23 PM on January 30
On the other hand many years ago I had a good friend who owned an off-campus bookstore next to a community college and that gave him access to a bunch of wholesale booksellers and he went a little bit wild with it. Every wall in his condo was covered with bookshelves and when those bookshelves filled up he just put another row of bookshelves in front of them. He was two rows deep when we were hanging out but a reliable source told me he eventually made it to three. He had a habit of putting a book down, misplacing it somehow and rather than look around his home for it he'd just buy another copy. It wasn't unusual, he told me, to have three or four copies of a novel in the condo before he finished reading it.
This dude's library remodel and the accompanying article just commit the sin of saying the quiet part loud.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:23 PM on January 30
I kind of want to see a billion-dollar cabinet project now. Elon, if you're reading this, you can own the libs by building a cabinet city. Do it!
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 2:23 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 2:23 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Come sundown, Raval wall sconces by Urban Electric channel a dazzling airport runway. // Price: $17,094
Ah yes, the relaxing atmosphere of an airport runway….
The cost of the cabinetry/millwork is more than I can afford but is probably reasonable for what it is. It’s fairly extensive, and looks to be quite well done, with good attention to detail. And the swivel chair is a neat idea, though I’m also on the “library needs a lounging couch or chaise” team, myself. The rest of it… not so much. Someone needs to pay more attention to those high/low columns in the middlebrow home renovation and decor magazines made for us middle class rabble. Equivalent sconces, for example, could have been found at IKEA, or at least something in the Pottery Barn/West Elm tier.
posted by eviemath at 2:27 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Ah yes, the relaxing atmosphere of an airport runway….
The cost of the cabinetry/millwork is more than I can afford but is probably reasonable for what it is. It’s fairly extensive, and looks to be quite well done, with good attention to detail. And the swivel chair is a neat idea, though I’m also on the “library needs a lounging couch or chaise” team, myself. The rest of it… not so much. Someone needs to pay more attention to those high/low columns in the middlebrow home renovation and decor magazines made for us middle class rabble. Equivalent sconces, for example, could have been found at IKEA, or at least something in the Pottery Barn/West Elm tier.
posted by eviemath at 2:27 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
(Also, as a lifelong renter until five or six years ago, who moved often, I have of necessity developed amateur level interests in architecture and interior design. Everyone else I know who has moved a lot also has Opinions on such matters. Which means there are quite a few of us in the world who find commenting on HGTV shows or just houses that we pass by to be an entertaining pastime in general. I wouldn’t publicly comment on a less wealthy random stranger’s home design choices. But if you’re proactively agreeing to have your home remodel on tv or in a magazine, any entertainment value people get from that is part of the deal. On top of the class issues here explained fully by other commenters above.)
posted by eviemath at 2:35 PM on January 30 [5 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 2:35 PM on January 30 [5 favorites]
I love that a bust of Charlie Munger and a painting of Buddha share this room.
posted by Phreesh at 2:43 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
posted by Phreesh at 2:43 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
Attachment is suffering. Here's how to do more of it.
posted by biogeo at 2:48 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 2:48 PM on January 30 [3 favorites]
MetaFilter needs more FPPs. This article provided a perfect pretext for discussions of cabinetry, collective Vs. individual libraries, and some more or less gentle gnawing on the monied. Some good aesthetics discussion. 74 comments as I’m looking at it right now. folklore724, this is a good post—thanks.
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:59 PM on January 30 [19 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:59 PM on January 30 [19 favorites]
Goddamn, if I had nearly $200,000 to blow on a remodel, I'd at least go for something to reflect my personality instead of just the $$$ version of the same shit every suburbanite is throwing in their McMansion right now. Like, seriously, this looks like it should be on Instagram with a title like "How we made a super-luxe built-in library by hacking IKEA SEKTION and BILLY!!!"
I came in here to make this exact argument, and I'm glad to see the machine-guns opened up the moment this tried to take the beach.
If you have Fuck-You Money, and are planning to show it off to the Wall Street fucking Journal, why would you choose the most banal library decor imaginable? Where's the replica leviathan skeleton, or the bird-cage interior-wall filled with hundreds of birds-of-paradise? Why is the whole thing not built like an enormous functioning bathyscaph? Where's the platinum-framed portrait of a golden retriever dressed in the standards of the 19th century British admiralty? Why do you not sink slowly into the floor if you stand motionless for too long? Why bother accumulating wealth, if not to construct renovations that make your guests feel giddy, or fill them with a vague sense of dread?
I may not have a classically-refined sense of taste, wealthy would-be-remodelers, but my services are for hire if you want to make sure that people will be talking about your writeup in next year's WSJ Style section.
posted by Mayor West at 3:23 PM on January 30 [18 favorites]
I came in here to make this exact argument, and I'm glad to see the machine-guns opened up the moment this tried to take the beach.
If you have Fuck-You Money, and are planning to show it off to the Wall Street fucking Journal, why would you choose the most banal library decor imaginable? Where's the replica leviathan skeleton, or the bird-cage interior-wall filled with hundreds of birds-of-paradise? Why is the whole thing not built like an enormous functioning bathyscaph? Where's the platinum-framed portrait of a golden retriever dressed in the standards of the 19th century British admiralty? Why do you not sink slowly into the floor if you stand motionless for too long? Why bother accumulating wealth, if not to construct renovations that make your guests feel giddy, or fill them with a vague sense of dread?
I may not have a classically-refined sense of taste, wealthy would-be-remodelers, but my services are for hire if you want to make sure that people will be talking about your writeup in next year's WSJ Style section.
posted by Mayor West at 3:23 PM on January 30 [18 favorites]
I too recently upgraded my home office space for remote working... by buying a $85 desk via Facebook Marketplace, a folding screen from WayFair
Do either of them look like cheese?
posted by evidenceofabsence at 3:43 PM on January 30 [2 favorites]
Do either of them look like cheese?
posted by evidenceofabsence at 3:43 PM on January 30 [2 favorites]
>buy larger houses
Citation needed, house buying feels like impossible dreams.
Why is this offensive? Because the money was more than ten years of my late, very handicapped girlfriend's disability payments, and we both thought she was extremely lucky to get that much. Because, with my semi voluntary, partially problematic lifestyle, that amount of money might very well last me the rest of my life. Because I feel lucky that I'm not way worse off, that I'm not one of the people with visible mental health issues that get them kicked out of libraries.
That this money could have gone to domestic abuse shelters that are full. Rain forest protection. Ukraine and other countries refugees. School lunches so kids don't starve. Millions in medical debt erasure. The billion and one crisises, large and small that aren't strictly speaking his responsibility but also entirely completely are.
When the law doesn't have to protect people from those sleeping under the bridges or in fear of their lives, when nobody has to worry about where their next meal comes from or selling a beloved book for a dollar to eat, then there's no problem with this spending. If only we lived in a world where the Lowest of the low don't have to worry about not having the basics, then having the rich isn't a crime against humanity. If only.
(Me personally, I don't mind the public toilet, I miss having a refrigerator)
posted by Jacen at 3:44 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
Citation needed, house buying feels like impossible dreams.
Why is this offensive? Because the money was more than ten years of my late, very handicapped girlfriend's disability payments, and we both thought she was extremely lucky to get that much. Because, with my semi voluntary, partially problematic lifestyle, that amount of money might very well last me the rest of my life. Because I feel lucky that I'm not way worse off, that I'm not one of the people with visible mental health issues that get them kicked out of libraries.
That this money could have gone to domestic abuse shelters that are full. Rain forest protection. Ukraine and other countries refugees. School lunches so kids don't starve. Millions in medical debt erasure. The billion and one crisises, large and small that aren't strictly speaking his responsibility but also entirely completely are.
When the law doesn't have to protect people from those sleeping under the bridges or in fear of their lives, when nobody has to worry about where their next meal comes from or selling a beloved book for a dollar to eat, then there's no problem with this spending. If only we lived in a world where the Lowest of the low don't have to worry about not having the basics, then having the rich isn't a crime against humanity. If only.
(Me personally, I don't mind the public toilet, I miss having a refrigerator)
posted by Jacen at 3:44 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
End of the last century, I was a subscriber to the WSJ and could happily spend an entire morning going through the paper. Given that this meant I was not getting much else done, I reluctantly stopped my subscription.
Murdoch bought WSJ in 2007 and at the time I wondered how long it would retain its clear-sightedness. Then I heard about the real estate section being introduced and I knew the rot was starting.
Now - WSJ, Fox News, Sky - it's the same business model - engagement by grievance, anger and greed. These are not nice people.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 3:49 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
Murdoch bought WSJ in 2007 and at the time I wondered how long it would retain its clear-sightedness. Then I heard about the real estate section being introduced and I knew the rot was starting.
Now - WSJ, Fox News, Sky - it's the same business model - engagement by grievance, anger and greed. These are not nice people.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 3:49 PM on January 30 [4 favorites]
The explanation for how they avoided egress windows in the bedroom is not sufficient. Hand-waved as the designer designated the bookshelves as exterior walls.... um? What?
So, hey, maybe they'll die in a fire? Oh, dear, that was mean. Just mean for no reason. Hm.
I also don't understand how library sconces "channel" runway lights? And I like how the windows have been 'shopped to be at the beach. I think this is an AI story about an AI guy with an AI generated "human interest" story with an AI-created floorplan and an AI-created building code and so for that reason...it's perfect.
posted by amanda at 4:02 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
So, hey, maybe they'll die in a fire? Oh, dear, that was mean. Just mean for no reason. Hm.
I also don't understand how library sconces "channel" runway lights? And I like how the windows have been 'shopped to be at the beach. I think this is an AI story about an AI guy with an AI generated "human interest" story with an AI-created floorplan and an AI-created building code and so for that reason...it's perfect.
posted by amanda at 4:02 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
Goddamn, if I had nearly $200,000 to blow on a remodel, I'd at least go for something to reflect my personality
That's exactly what he did. What that says about his personality is left as an exercise for the reader.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:18 PM on January 30 [9 favorites]
That's exactly what he did. What that says about his personality is left as an exercise for the reader.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:18 PM on January 30 [9 favorites]
So this is what the inside of those absolutely heinous black and white rectangles with the sans-serif metal address numbers that have been metastasizing all over Austin looks like.
Whenever I see one of these soulless nightmares I think of the bit from Barton Fink where he holds up a drawing of a circle on a piece of paper and says "You know, for kids!" Except in this case it's a meeting between a developer and a team of architects. The latter hold up a drawing of a rectangle on a piece of graph paper and the developer goes "you nailed it!"
posted by deadbilly at 4:23 PM on January 30
Whenever I see one of these soulless nightmares I think of the bit from Barton Fink where he holds up a drawing of a circle on a piece of paper and says "You know, for kids!" Except in this case it's a meeting between a developer and a team of architects. The latter hold up a drawing of a rectangle on a piece of graph paper and the developer goes "you nailed it!"
posted by deadbilly at 4:23 PM on January 30
DirtyOldTown, are you familiar with the Winchester Mystery House?
That place is relevant to several aspects of the discussion here, actually.
posted by zoinks at 4:38 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
That place is relevant to several aspects of the discussion here, actually.
posted by zoinks at 4:38 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
> I'm okay with skilled craftsmanship if it represents some personal connection with the craftsman. Is the craftsman a neighbor or a relative or someone you just bumped into one day and started a lifelong friendship?
Why? I have all kinds of encounters all day long with people who fill one small role in my life, and vice versa. I don't want every person I help at work to have my home phone number, and I don't want to have to go out for dinner with every bus driver who gets me down the street. Some relationships are primarily financial, and I'm fine with that.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:02 PM on January 30 [10 favorites]
Why? I have all kinds of encounters all day long with people who fill one small role in my life, and vice versa. I don't want every person I help at work to have my home phone number, and I don't want to have to go out for dinner with every bus driver who gets me down the street. Some relationships are primarily financial, and I'm fine with that.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:02 PM on January 30 [10 favorites]
I think of the bit from Barton Fink where he holds up a drawing of a circle on a piece of paper and says "You know, for kids!"
You’re thinking of The Hudsucker Proxy.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:18 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
You’re thinking of The Hudsucker Proxy.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:18 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]
The rich might be less able to afford my dad than they were before but they weren't spending most of their money on him anyway.
Well, all in all, the Your Dad in this situation is its redeeming feature and the clear winner; so good for him!
If I had fuck you, my books money I'd want something more like this or this or this for my many dimes. Even if I had to sacrifice the cheese counter and build it in another state, inside a prefab barn.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:52 PM on January 30
Well, all in all, the Your Dad in this situation is its redeeming feature and the clear winner; so good for him!
If I had fuck you, my books money I'd want something more like this or this or this for my many dimes. Even if I had to sacrifice the cheese counter and build it in another state, inside a prefab barn.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:52 PM on January 30
the only two books mentioned in an article about a library are expensive collector's editions which is intended to signify to the WSJ reader that
1) that this person is not the worst kind of person whose massive wealth is exploited from the surplus labor value of workers and
2) that this person actually deserves their wealth too because they are so well read and thus intelligent
so we have a perfect little example to pull out when someone asks you 'what do you mean by social capital, what are empty signifiers of class?' this entire library and the books within, a built and externally designed trophy imbued with subtexts indicating high educational attainment
the library is like a little visual story for WSJ readers indicating that, you know, hedge fund folks deserve everything they've exploited from workers all around the world because can't you see how intensely intelligent and well-read they are? there's a plan to things like mass layoffs, a rationale for pushing for shittier, cost-cutproducts - and this quiet little reading space, well that's evidence to that fact
and nobody's saying it but the message that's intrinsic in all WSJ articles is there: fuck the poors, they deserve what they get, they're not reading obscure books about investing strategy, if only they would pull those bootstraps, so sad they're so dumb out there in the pleeblands, understanding nothing, knowing nothing
posted by paimapi at 10:08 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
1) that this person is not the worst kind of person whose massive wealth is exploited from the surplus labor value of workers and
2) that this person actually deserves their wealth too because they are so well read and thus intelligent
so we have a perfect little example to pull out when someone asks you 'what do you mean by social capital, what are empty signifiers of class?' this entire library and the books within, a built and externally designed trophy imbued with subtexts indicating high educational attainment
the library is like a little visual story for WSJ readers indicating that, you know, hedge fund folks deserve everything they've exploited from workers all around the world because can't you see how intensely intelligent and well-read they are? there's a plan to things like mass layoffs, a rationale for pushing for shittier, cost-cutproducts - and this quiet little reading space, well that's evidence to that fact
and nobody's saying it but the message that's intrinsic in all WSJ articles is there: fuck the poors, they deserve what they get, they're not reading obscure books about investing strategy, if only they would pull those bootstraps, so sad they're so dumb out there in the pleeblands, understanding nothing, knowing nothing
posted by paimapi at 10:08 PM on January 30 [6 favorites]
If you're just some rich twit who hires a craftsman to do something only in exchange for money, fuck you.
Wait does this mean I have to be lifelong mates with the dude who fixed my air conditioning this summer? Crap, I better get his direct number from my landlord. And also I need to stop ever getting anything fixed, my calendar is already pretty full frankly.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:00 AM on January 31 [7 favorites]
Wait does this mean I have to be lifelong mates with the dude who fixed my air conditioning this summer? Crap, I better get his direct number from my landlord. And also I need to stop ever getting anything fixed, my calendar is already pretty full frankly.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:00 AM on January 31 [7 favorites]
This kind of remodel is accessible to roughly the 90th percentile wealthy today.
Am I missing something here? If you go off HHI, the 90th percentile in the US is around $216,000/yr. That is certainly a comfortable income but it's not exactly billionaire territory, plenty of average white collar dual-income families are in that range. I know plenty of folks like that and have trouble picturing any of them blowing well over six figures to remodel a single room.
Also, personal opinion but definitely feeling a "that's it?" when I see the pictures. Just feels a bit underwhelming. And much of it just feels so wasteful, why spend $25k on that little bit of floor if you throw an area rug over it that covers 90% of it?
posted by photo guy at 8:23 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
Am I missing something here? If you go off HHI, the 90th percentile in the US is around $216,000/yr. That is certainly a comfortable income but it's not exactly billionaire territory, plenty of average white collar dual-income families are in that range. I know plenty of folks like that and have trouble picturing any of them blowing well over six figures to remodel a single room.
Also, personal opinion but definitely feeling a "that's it?" when I see the pictures. Just feels a bit underwhelming. And much of it just feels so wasteful, why spend $25k on that little bit of floor if you throw an area rug over it that covers 90% of it?
posted by photo guy at 8:23 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
You need a floor to hold the rug up
posted by aubilenon at 10:18 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
posted by aubilenon at 10:18 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
Am I missing something here? If you go off HHI, the 90th percentile in the US is around $216,000/yr. That is certainly a comfortable income but it's not exactly billionaire territory, plenty of average white collar dual-income families are in that range. I know plenty of folks like that and have trouble picturing any of them blowing well over six figures to remodel a single room.
A $180,000 remodel isn't billionaire territory, either. A household earning $216,000/yr could afford financing for that, and often do for more practical remodels that include kitchens and bathrooms. Would they do it just to have a fancy library? Probably not, but it's within their means.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:52 AM on January 31
A $180,000 remodel isn't billionaire territory, either. A household earning $216,000/yr could afford financing for that, and often do for more practical remodels that include kitchens and bathrooms. Would they do it just to have a fancy library? Probably not, but it's within their means.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:52 AM on January 31
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your point (which is honestly not clear), I was just taken aback at that statement. Being able to pay for something doesn't mean you'd be smart to do so, and $200k in custom cabinetry for a one-room vanity project is totally different than $200k to gut-renovate an entire old house which would likely give a large ROI. A lot of people can technically afford a Ferrari but if you have to cash out your 401k to do so it's probably not a good idea.
posted by photo guy at 11:40 AM on January 31
posted by photo guy at 11:40 AM on January 31
before we go further, do we think the WSJ would ever deign to feature a remodel of someone making a paltry $216k? would someone of that economic paucity even register on the WSJ's radar except as living examples of how people in that bracket are also living paycheck-to-paycheck or some other clickbait article about how exec salaries really still aren't enough
posted by paimapi at 11:44 AM on January 31
posted by paimapi at 11:44 AM on January 31
Of course the WSJ wouldn't. I guess the most surprising thing to me about this article is that they didn't pick something with a bigger price tag.
Then again, maybe that price is a distraction, because the centerpiece of the library is the astounding view, and that wasn't part of the remodel.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:51 AM on January 31
Then again, maybe that price is a distraction, because the centerpiece of the library is the astounding view, and that wasn't part of the remodel.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:51 AM on January 31
If you're just some rich twit who hires a craftsman to do something only in exchange for money, fuck you.
I'm not rich, but I'm having someone come by next week to re-hang one of my kitchen cabinet doors. Do I need to sign up for her wedding registry, or do you think that would just be more of a birthdays and Christmas kind of relationship?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 12:57 PM on January 31 [9 favorites]
I'm not rich, but I'm having someone come by next week to re-hang one of my kitchen cabinet doors. Do I need to sign up for her wedding registry, or do you think that would just be more of a birthdays and Christmas kind of relationship?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 12:57 PM on January 31 [9 favorites]
You’re thinking of The Hudsucker Proxy.
Yes, I guess I am.
posted by deadbilly at 1:26 PM on January 31
Yes, I guess I am.
posted by deadbilly at 1:26 PM on January 31
I'm not rich, but I'm having someone come by next week to re-hang one of my kitchen cabinet doors. Do I need to sign up for her wedding registry, or do you think that would just be more of a birthdays and Christmas kind of relationship?
If you don't already know her well enough to know the answer to that question, you have no business hiring her!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:34 PM on January 31 [6 favorites]
If you don't already know her well enough to know the answer to that question, you have no business hiring her!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:34 PM on January 31 [6 favorites]
He hired people to re-do his library, not cuddle him during thunderstorms.Metafites are jealous, right?
posted by Ideefixe at 2:51 PM on January 31
posted by Ideefixe at 2:51 PM on January 31
If you're just some rich twit who hires a craftsman to do something only in exchange for money, fuck you.
Uh, my spouse is a craftsman who gets hired by rich twits (and middle-class and working-class twits, too, I guess), and doing something only in exchange for money is literally the entirety of what he wants to happen. He's going to be fascinated to hear that this arrangement has been Wrong And Bad for the past twenty years, though! I guess we should start gearing up now to be incredibly insulted when everyone he ever made a cabinet for doesn't invite us over for Thanksgiving this year.
posted by paper scissors sock at 6:20 PM on January 31 [8 favorites]
Uh, my spouse is a craftsman who gets hired by rich twits (and middle-class and working-class twits, too, I guess), and doing something only in exchange for money is literally the entirety of what he wants to happen. He's going to be fascinated to hear that this arrangement has been Wrong And Bad for the past twenty years, though! I guess we should start gearing up now to be incredibly insulted when everyone he ever made a cabinet for doesn't invite us over for Thanksgiving this year.
posted by paper scissors sock at 6:20 PM on January 31 [8 favorites]
>>...those absolutely heinous black and white rectangles with the sans-serif metal address numbers that have been metastasizing all over Austin..And Chicago, and many other cities. I've heard the architectural style is called "privilege box."
posted by onehalfjunco at 6:24 PM on January 31
"Wait does this mean I have to be lifelong mates with the dude who fixed my air conditioning this summer?"
Unless you're a rich twit, you're fine. I think it's a sliding scale. The more you're worth, the more you're required to devote to the people you hire. Annual income of $500k requires the invitations to holiday parties. $750k you have to get their kid an internship (if you don't own a company, you need to form one so you can give the kid an internship). $1 million and they're automatically legally adopted by you and placed into your will.
Seriously, though. It's getting harder and harder to tell what are joke comments and what are serious comments on this site. I guess we'd probably all be better off if we assume everything is a joke until told otherwise.
posted by jonathanhughes at 6:45 PM on January 31 [2 favorites]
Unless you're a rich twit, you're fine. I think it's a sliding scale. The more you're worth, the more you're required to devote to the people you hire. Annual income of $500k requires the invitations to holiday parties. $750k you have to get their kid an internship (if you don't own a company, you need to form one so you can give the kid an internship). $1 million and they're automatically legally adopted by you and placed into your will.
Seriously, though. It's getting harder and harder to tell what are joke comments and what are serious comments on this site. I guess we'd probably all be better off if we assume everything is a joke until told otherwise.
posted by jonathanhughes at 6:45 PM on January 31 [2 favorites]
Seriously, though. It's getting harder and harder to tell what are joke comments and what are serious comments on this site.
No kidding, and there seems to be an undercurrent of meanness towards other posters channeling its way through sometimes. This is one of the dwindling few places I can visit that hasn't turned into a cesspool, would be nice if it could stay that way.
Let's save the anger for the garbage system we have in the US and not for each other.
posted by photo guy at 9:57 PM on January 31
No kidding, and there seems to be an undercurrent of meanness towards other posters channeling its way through sometimes. This is one of the dwindling few places I can visit that hasn't turned into a cesspool, would be nice if it could stay that way.
Let's save the anger for the garbage system we have in the US and not for each other.
posted by photo guy at 9:57 PM on January 31
These kinds of articles in the WSJ read exactly like articles in magazines with names like Chicago Luxe. In those magazines, they are very obviously puff pieces intended to give a leg up to the designer and/or the owner, who is probably getting ready to try to sell the thing with a really jacked-up asking price. I get a strong sense that somebody knew someone at the WSJ and someone is being done a favor. Most of these places don't really seem to have any design or architectural significance, or at least it's not presented that way, unlike articles in Dwell or Architectural Digest. I have the feeling that, maybe contrary to the fantasies of whoever decided to build something like this, the first thing the next owner will do is rip it out.
posted by BibiRose at 4:14 AM on February 1 [2 favorites]
posted by BibiRose at 4:14 AM on February 1 [2 favorites]
Mr.Know-it-some -- I strongly disagree that a high level of craftsmanship is incompatible with with eliminating inequality!
I envision an egalitarian world where skilled craftsmanship is available to everyone, at the core of our community spaces, and embedded in the fabric of everyday and public life. I don't think making things more egalitarian means we abandon craftsmanship. I think it means we step enough away from capitalism that there is time for humans to make durable objects and adaptable environments slowly and well with their hands, rather than a relentless churning-out-of-disposable-widgets. (Also, if we're envisioning utopias, why not outsource the most unpleasant and hazardous work to the robots, instead of the fun stuff?)
Becky Chambers has some sci-fi visions of this in the Monk & Robot books, where "3-D printer" is a career. The local printer is a valued craftsperson contributing to the town. Here's a description from "A Prayer for the Crown-Shy" of one printer and his workshop:
“One wall featured sample objects, hung from hooks so visitors could get a feel for the materials before placing an order. There was a shovel, a bicycle helmet, a pair of swimming goggles, a pocket computer frame, a full set of dishes, a single waterproof boot, an artificial hip, a toy boat, kitschy jewelry, and more besides. The opposite wall held built-in shelves, filled with storage boxes of the materials Leroy needed for his work. A service counter divided the single room, standing before a small army of print machines waiting at the ready...
" 'All right, while that’s compiling, let’s talk printing materials.' He gestured at the storage rack, which was filled with spools of printer filament and bins of meltables. 'I’ve got casein, pectin, chitin, sugar plastic, potato plastic, algae plastic—'
Here's another one, from Becky Chambers' book "A Psalm for the Wild-Built":
“At last, Dex sat in their chair behind the larger table. They pulled their pocket computer from their baggy travel trousers and flicked the screen awake. It was a good computer, given to them on their sixteenth birthday, a customary coming-of-age gift. It had a cream-colored frame and a pleasingly crisp screen, and Dex had only needed to repair it five times in the years that it had traveled in their clothes. A reliable device built to last a lifetime, as all computers were."
I'm a sucker for a world without the obscenity of planned obsolescence and unrepairable objects.
So, yeah. tl;dr, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because capitalism currently distorts the clientele of skilled craftspeople (like it distorts the clientele of almost every worker...) doesn't mean getting rid of skilled craftsmanship is a necessary outcome of eliminating homelessness, fixing inequality, etc.
Would you advocate getting rid of therapists because most therapists currently charge rates that are unaffordable to average people? Or would you advocate, you know, a world where people who are skilled at therapy can practice that skill and serve their whole communities?
posted by cnidaria at 1:28 PM on February 4 [1 favorite]
I envision an egalitarian world where skilled craftsmanship is available to everyone, at the core of our community spaces, and embedded in the fabric of everyday and public life. I don't think making things more egalitarian means we abandon craftsmanship. I think it means we step enough away from capitalism that there is time for humans to make durable objects and adaptable environments slowly and well with their hands, rather than a relentless churning-out-of-disposable-widgets. (Also, if we're envisioning utopias, why not outsource the most unpleasant and hazardous work to the robots, instead of the fun stuff?)
Becky Chambers has some sci-fi visions of this in the Monk & Robot books, where "3-D printer" is a career. The local printer is a valued craftsperson contributing to the town. Here's a description from "A Prayer for the Crown-Shy" of one printer and his workshop:
“One wall featured sample objects, hung from hooks so visitors could get a feel for the materials before placing an order. There was a shovel, a bicycle helmet, a pair of swimming goggles, a pocket computer frame, a full set of dishes, a single waterproof boot, an artificial hip, a toy boat, kitschy jewelry, and more besides. The opposite wall held built-in shelves, filled with storage boxes of the materials Leroy needed for his work. A service counter divided the single room, standing before a small army of print machines waiting at the ready...
" 'All right, while that’s compiling, let’s talk printing materials.' He gestured at the storage rack, which was filled with spools of printer filament and bins of meltables. 'I’ve got casein, pectin, chitin, sugar plastic, potato plastic, algae plastic—'
Here's another one, from Becky Chambers' book "A Psalm for the Wild-Built":
“At last, Dex sat in their chair behind the larger table. They pulled their pocket computer from their baggy travel trousers and flicked the screen awake. It was a good computer, given to them on their sixteenth birthday, a customary coming-of-age gift. It had a cream-colored frame and a pleasingly crisp screen, and Dex had only needed to repair it five times in the years that it had traveled in their clothes. A reliable device built to last a lifetime, as all computers were."
I'm a sucker for a world without the obscenity of planned obsolescence and unrepairable objects.
So, yeah. tl;dr, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because capitalism currently distorts the clientele of skilled craftspeople (like it distorts the clientele of almost every worker...) doesn't mean getting rid of skilled craftsmanship is a necessary outcome of eliminating homelessness, fixing inequality, etc.
Would you advocate getting rid of therapists because most therapists currently charge rates that are unaffordable to average people? Or would you advocate, you know, a world where people who are skilled at therapy can practice that skill and serve their whole communities?
posted by cnidaria at 1:28 PM on February 4 [1 favorite]
Becky Chambers has some sci-fi visions of this in the Monk & Robot books
Okay so this is a deep derail and way into the overthinking-the-plate-of-beans territory, but I've spent a whole bunch of time reading those books and trying to figure out how that society actually works, economically, and the only conclusion I've come to is that it can work because it's really, really small. They have some renewable energy technology we don't have right now, but it's near-future stuff, not like fusion reactors or faster-than-light warp drives or whatever. But Panga has one populated continent, that is fifty percent wilderness, that a single person on an electric bicycle can circumnavigate in a period of months. There's one city. The small towns are stated to have a population of about 100 each. At one point Mosscap receives pebs from accounts that each have a six-digit identifying number. If each person has an individual pebs account, that implies that the entire population of Panga is under one million. It's like a whole planet but the only human-inhabited thing that exists on it is Iceland. I don't think Earth can humanely de-growth ourselves into that kind of sustainable society even if there were the will to do so.
posted by Daily Alice at 4:04 PM on February 4
Okay so this is a deep derail and way into the overthinking-the-plate-of-beans territory, but I've spent a whole bunch of time reading those books and trying to figure out how that society actually works, economically, and the only conclusion I've come to is that it can work because it's really, really small. They have some renewable energy technology we don't have right now, but it's near-future stuff, not like fusion reactors or faster-than-light warp drives or whatever. But Panga has one populated continent, that is fifty percent wilderness, that a single person on an electric bicycle can circumnavigate in a period of months. There's one city. The small towns are stated to have a population of about 100 each. At one point Mosscap receives pebs from accounts that each have a six-digit identifying number. If each person has an individual pebs account, that implies that the entire population of Panga is under one million. It's like a whole planet but the only human-inhabited thing that exists on it is Iceland. I don't think Earth can humanely de-growth ourselves into that kind of sustainable society even if there were the will to do so.
posted by Daily Alice at 4:04 PM on February 4
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posted by bassomatic at 10:00 AM on January 30 [18 favorites]