Mefite Commune?

September 10, 2015 10:55 AM

This is epic and cheaper than most San Francisco housing.... Just think of all the cool fun we could all have!
posted by Katjusa Roquette (44 comments total)

Talk about a mid-century modern dream home that will kill your children.
posted by griphus at 10:58 AM on September 10, 2015 [4 favorites]

if there's one thing I've learned from Octavia Butler, it's that you shouldn't set up your utopian commune somewhere where there's no fucking water.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:04 AM on September 10, 2015 [22 favorites]

Ah, yes- I had a look at this last week. Lovely views, and certainly the aesthetic I'm interested in, but the basement needs a lot of work, and significantly more...depth.
posted by Alexander J. Luthor at 11:05 AM on September 10, 2015 [5 favorites]

I don't know about a commune, but if there's a MeFi retirement community, I'm in.

It'd be worth it for the parlor games and conversation alone.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:06 AM on September 10, 2015 [11 favorites]

Landlocked? NO THANK YOU.

(lakes sometimes count)
posted by Kitteh at 11:13 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Google tells me the high temperature there is 103º for the next three days. Which doesn't sound quite so terrible given that it's currently 85º in SF, 95º down the peninsula, and was hotter yesterday, but then you realize the monthly averages in July and August are over 100º. No thanks.
posted by zachlipton at 11:17 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Good call on the water. We'll need water for the shark pool we use for disposing of nosy secret agents.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:18 AM on September 10, 2015 [13 favorites]

Related and nearby: Newt's Paradise. (Although it'd need a LOT more work to make it livable.)
posted by notyou at 11:18 AM on September 10, 2015 [3 favorites]

I love the Mojave--we lived in Barstow for a couple of years when I was a child and I have fond memories of weekend trips there catching lizards and snakes, rock hunting, and watching my dad run his radio-controlled plane. Which brings up a memory of when I actually appreciated for the first time what his being an engineer meant. He sent up a plane but forgot to turn the transponder(?) on. We all watched it sail off into the horizon. I was upset, thinking we'd never see it again. He took out a scrap of paper and quickly calculated its speed, how much fuel, etc. and we piled in the station wagon and drove off after it. He kept an eye on the odometer and stopped after a while, saying, "It should be around here...." Sure enough, we got out of the car and walked a few steps and there it was, nose first into the base of a telephone pole. I was so impressed.

So, thank you for bringing back those memories!
posted by agatha_magatha at 11:18 AM on September 10, 2015 [49 favorites]

no fucking water

You mean, other than the lake it's directly adjacent to?
posted by Sys Rq at 11:26 AM on September 10, 2015

Can you separate the saucer?

It does look lovely. And a great place for a bit of a festival (MetaFest?) - you could put up a temporary stage above the main building and perhaps have smaller installations at various points of the side of the cone. But I'd want to have at least one fuck-off laser pointing straight up.
posted by Devonian at 11:33 AM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]

(And the neighbours appear to be irrigating their crops with something. Why, it's almost as if there's a reason the place is called Newberry Springs!)
posted by Sys Rq at 11:34 AM on September 10, 2015 [3 favorites]

So Huell Howser was actually a supervillain. Who knew?
Now I'm starting to think he faked his death to further his nefarious schemes to make the whole world appreciate California's natural and cultural treasures.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 11:43 AM on September 10, 2015 [9 favorites]

Putting the secret lair on the outside of the volcano has got to depreciate the value for even the least discriminating super villain.
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:43 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

(MetaFest?).....don't even start, it'll just go the way of burningman, counter culture whispers, writeups in increasingly respectable blogs, eventually fly-ins by various billionaires, then the standard Yoggi Berra quip "no one goes there anymore, too crowded".
posted by sammyo at 11:45 AM on September 10, 2015

Somewhere around Barstow? That's bat country!
posted by rodlymight at 11:48 AM on September 10, 2015 [11 favorites]

Crone Island?
posted by Grandysaur at 11:50 AM on September 10, 2015 [5 favorites]

San Francisco rent comparisons? French Castles Cheaper to Rent Than San Francisco Apartments!
posted by GuyZero at 11:50 AM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

We've already done this. I've offered to be the town baker and the beekeeper, but no one has taken me up on the offer yet. Call me when you're serious.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:53 AM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]

Two words: Huell Howser. If the guy who gushed over every semi-quaint location in California chose THIS place to live, I WANT IT.

And this is much closer to water than my current "5 miles from the California coast" location; you just have to trudge uphill to return to the house itself (and lugging water bottles uphill? yuk.) Still, the Mojave was one area I ruled out 'retiring' to, and the last couple weeks of close-to-Mojave weather conditions remind me of that fact.

And I wouldn't consider that kind of location only a "supervillain lair"; to me, it more resembles Tracy Island on Thunderbirds and Cory should've noticed that, he had more exposure to Supermarionation as a kid than I did. Still, you gotta love a place with a "50451" street address... 504 blocks away from the center of town... but who lives at 50441?
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:01 PM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]

My kids would love this. When playing the game of "the floor is lava!" the floor would actually be lava.
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 12:07 PM on September 10, 2015 [6 favorites]

you'd really think that with full-wall windows and views like that that the built in couch would face the other direction.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:14 PM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]

>> no fucking water

> You mean, other than the lake it's directly adjacent to?

Nevertheless I remain confident in my belief that perhaps the Pacific Northwest might be a better place for a commune than anywhere in California.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:14 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

> When playing the game of "the floor is lava!" the floor would actually be lava.

This feels less like "playing the game" and more like "living the terrible reality". But you can't coddle them their entire lives, right?

Their entire, short lives ending in a horrible burning death.
posted by cardioid at 12:15 PM on September 10, 2015 [4 favorites]

There's some nice land in southern New Mexico that I've had my eye on. Maybe Kingston, NM, could use a MeFite compound.
posted by answergrape at 12:15 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

but then you realize the monthly averages in July and August are over 100º.

I have found, living where I do, that desert temps in the 100-110 degree range are actually quite comfortable, especially if you have shade. With a swamp cooler, it's damned pleasant. That dry heat will dehydrate you fast, though - best to stay hydrated. I recommend margaritas while lounging in the hammock.

FAR better than back in the Mid-Waste where 80 and 95% RH is a super miserable sticky mess.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 12:16 PM on September 10, 2015 [5 favorites]

I thought it was Wilt's house for a second there.
posted by zerobyproxy at 12:17 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter: one fuck-off laser pointing straight up
posted by vibrotronica at 12:19 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

I like that the washrooms come with paper towel holders on the walls.
posted by Kabanos at 12:25 PM on September 10, 2015

Wilt's house
That's an obvious case of Location Location Location. It's overlooking 'the city and the ocean' with an easy downhill ride to either, so the 2007 price of $10.5million is probably up to at least $15million since the last 'real estate market adjustment'. Still, if you're not into absurdly high ceilings, I'd not recommend any house built for an NBA player, except maybe Muggsy Bogues.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:34 PM on September 10, 2015

you'd really think that with full-wall windows and views like that that the built in couch would face the other direction.

And with that attention to design and decor, they wouldn't have a knock-off Eames chair.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:36 PM on September 10, 2015 [3 favorites]

>Crone Island?

This reminds me of a longstanding dream I've had to own a house and name it "Whore Island" so if people ever said "why don't you go back to your home on Whore Island?!" I could be like, great idea. And if I'm at a shitty party or bar cornered by some obnoxious dude I could be like, "This is super fascinating but I'm going back to my home on Whore Island now. Bye."
posted by Solon and Thanks at 12:37 PM on September 10, 2015 [6 favorites]

This seems like the perfect place to confront that aging slacker who, in his misguided quest to receive compensation for a damaged rug, threatens to uncover your fake kidnapping scheme.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:01 PM on September 10, 2015 [3 favorites]

We can all go into town for Mrs. B's bisquits and gravy, best anywhere. A pleasant way to die.
posted by Oyéah at 1:59 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, in the desert 100 degrees at 10% humidity is nothing. You're like, "Hey, sweating actually works!" But even at 30% it starts to get uncomfortable.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:15 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is this thing supposed to look exactly like the penthouse of the Lucky 38?
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 2:17 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

My partner and I are looking for a place to live. Perhaps this one, if we win the lottery.

Or, a Wal-Mart heiress has just put her place on the market.

In addition to 1,432 acres (the agent alleges 1,435, but who can you trust?) with a quarter-mile of frontage on the Brazos River, it offers a 4,000-sq.foot house with staff and guest quarters and a cutting horse operation -- but not the prize-winning horses; they'll go on auction separately.

It's only $20 million, ideal for someone with demasiado dinero.
posted by key_of_z at 2:21 PM on September 10, 2015

So Huell Howser was actually a supervillain. Who knew?

That's a-MAZ-ing!!!!!
posted by mudpuppie at 2:50 PM on September 10, 2015 [4 favorites]

Everything was fine until one day they decided on baked beans for dinner.
posted by Evstar at 4:08 PM on September 10, 2015

you'd really think that with full-wall windows and views like that that the built in couch would face the other direction.

It's a conversation pit, for casual fireside supervillainous conspiracy, brandy snifting, and general turtlenecking.

If you want to look at the view, there's a perfectly good terrorrace (AKA plummet summit AKA perch'n'pitch AKA splatio AKA action lenai AKA condorminium AKA falcony balcony) to do that from.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:11 PM on September 10, 2015 [9 favorites]

I'm in.
posted by allthinky at 7:13 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

You can grab some lunch at the nearby Bagdad Cafe (as seen in the movie), on the original Route 66.

Here's a Google shot of the house.
posted by eye of newt at 1:19 AM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Looks like I have my next Minecraft project.

That's a-MAZ-ing!!!!!

This really needs a #HuellHowser tag.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:40 AM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Looks like it'd be a magnet for roving bands of homicidal hippy/bikers.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:11 AM on September 11, 2015