Why do we have to live in a square house?
May 6, 2019 11:52 AM Subscribe
The town of Hillsborough has always been at war with the Flintstone house but now files suit against its owner. The Flintstone house is well-recognized by Bay Area drivers as series of terracotta lumps off of the 280 in the wealthy enclave of Hillsborough. Well known for its architecture, the tastemakers of Hillsborough have not extended their favor to the experimental stylings of William Nicholson, the architect who came up with the idea of creating a house by spraying dry concrete over a structure molded from giant aeronautical balloons, wire mesh and rebar. Hillsborough filed suit against the current owner of the "highly visible eyesore" Flintstone house in March, declaring it a "public nuisance."
The owner, Mrs. Fang, is not taking the town’s strictures lying down. She has hired a prominent local attorney who promptly threw a press conference, accused the town of racial discrimination and harassment and promised to file a “very ferocious counter-claim”.
“I’m always thinking, why do we have to live in a square house?” she says. “The square, to me, is limitation. You limit yourself in the square, in a box … Round is different. Round is inclusive and accepting all ideas. I look at this and think, why are we taught to live in squares?”
The owner, Mrs. Fang, is not taking the town’s strictures lying down. She has hired a prominent local attorney who promptly threw a press conference, accused the town of racial discrimination and harassment and promised to file a “very ferocious counter-claim”.
“I’m always thinking, why do we have to live in a square house?” she says. “The square, to me, is limitation. You limit yourself in the square, in a box … Round is different. Round is inclusive and accepting all ideas. I look at this and think, why are we taught to live in squares?”
I mean, yeah, it’s ugly but the city needs to get over it.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:56 AM on May 6, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:56 AM on May 6, 2019 [21 favorites]
Clarification: Mrs. Fang didn't build the Flinstone House - she bought the house in 2017. And the city is not objecting to the house itself. What Fang has done that pissed off the city is done is put in some hillside retention structures that were allegedly unpermitted as well as install a bunch of huge dinosaur sculptures that the city is trying to claim should be treated the same as a gazebo or a shed.
posted by muddgirl at 11:58 AM on May 6, 2019 [27 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 11:58 AM on May 6, 2019 [27 favorites]
I mean, yeah, it’s ugly but the city needs to get over it.
Looking over Zillow listings, ugly isn't foreign to Hillsborough's aesthetic, fun & unpretentious are.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:59 AM on May 6, 2019 [50 favorites]
Looking over Zillow listings, ugly isn't foreign to Hillsborough's aesthetic, fun & unpretentious are.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:59 AM on May 6, 2019 [50 favorites]
“I see any dinosaur, I buy it,” she says
Highly relatable.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [110 favorites]
Highly relatable.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [110 favorites]
(I mean, the city obviously objects to the house itself but that's clearly grandfathered in. Their latest salvo is against the improvements done by the current owner.)
posted by muddgirl at 12:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 12:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
they call it the flintstone house but for my money it has always looked much more like barbapapa’s house
posted by murphy slaw at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by murphy slaw at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
I LOVE AND SUPPORT HER AND HER HIDEOUS EYESORE OF A HOME
posted by poffin boffin at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [138 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [138 favorites]
I love both the house and her landscaping. People need to get lives. There isn't a public health risk of garbage all over or environmentally damaging. I have a neighbour who has tons of lawn ornaments. I personally don't like any of them but I love the fact that she took the time to indulge her whimsy and personality. Not harming me in any way.
posted by biggreenplant at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [38 favorites]
posted by biggreenplant at 12:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [38 favorites]
I thought I was prepared for the hideousness of it before I opened the article but I was NOT and it is magnificent.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:02 PM on May 6, 2019 [52 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:02 PM on May 6, 2019 [52 favorites]
lol I drove by this last weekend and I was like, I do not remember it being this on-the-nose with the dinosaurs and all
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [16 favorites]
Looks like the ideal venue for the met gala after-party. It’s literally camp as tits.
posted by Middlemarch at 12:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by Middlemarch at 12:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [24 favorites]
This is a terrible house and I love it.
posted by bondcliff at 12:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 12:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [17 favorites]
Here's the thing. The 280 is a beautiful drive. It's green (when seasonally appropriate), there's fog (when seasonally appropriate), and the traffic is light (haha, no). But the best parts are where you can't see any man-made structures*. One giant, hill-top mansion is much the same as the other. Glass-sided cube or spherical Flintstone's homage, it doesn't really matter.
* The Stanford Linear Collider gets a pass because, it's a friggin particle collider!
posted by Phredward at 12:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
* The Stanford Linear Collider gets a pass because, it's a friggin particle collider!
posted by Phredward at 12:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
tbh i think having HUGE TECHNICOLOR DINOSAURS appear from out of the fog is the best possible thing that could happen on this hellish rock
posted by poffin boffin at 12:11 PM on May 6, 2019 [106 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:11 PM on May 6, 2019 [106 favorites]
a couple of other things:
the house used to be adobe white, not orange and purple, so hats off to whoever made that improvement
hillsborough is one of those enclosed preserves for the chronically overpaid like atherton, where they lobbied hard for CalTrain NOT to stop there lest the wrong element accidentally bruise a blade of grass on their immaculately manicured lawns, and anything that gives them headaches or anxiety about their property values gets my enthusiastic support
posted by murphy slaw at 12:12 PM on May 6, 2019 [91 favorites]
the house used to be adobe white, not orange and purple, so hats off to whoever made that improvement
hillsborough is one of those enclosed preserves for the chronically overpaid like atherton, where they lobbied hard for CalTrain NOT to stop there lest the wrong element accidentally bruise a blade of grass on their immaculately manicured lawns, and anything that gives them headaches or anxiety about their property values gets my enthusiastic support
posted by murphy slaw at 12:12 PM on May 6, 2019 [91 favorites]
well it's far enough from the road that it's more like "are those fuckin dinosaurs?" and my next thought was that somebody had finally decided to monetize the property in some way, but yes, hellish rock and we take our pleasures where we can.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
Dick Clark also had a Flintstone House, but it was not this one. Did the Flintstones ever visit any other cities?
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:15 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:15 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that's wonderful. She still should have gotten the proper building permits for the dinosaurs.
posted by notyou at 12:16 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 12:16 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Geez. Some people just have no room for joy in their lives. "I want those dinosaurs gone! Zoning laws!" Is this who you wanted to be?
posted by mhoye at 12:17 PM on May 6, 2019 [33 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 12:17 PM on May 6, 2019 [33 favorites]
I went to middle school in this rich-ass hell city (not my choice) and my hate for Hillsborough knows no bounds. I hope she takes the city to the cleaners and gets to keep her dino-house and that it gets even more dino-y.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 12:18 PM on May 6, 2019 [47 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 12:18 PM on May 6, 2019 [47 favorites]
She still should have gotten the proper building permits for the dinosaurs.
Yeah, but there's a whole meso-zoning laws.
posted by bondcliff at 12:19 PM on May 6, 2019 [66 favorites]
Yeah, but there's a whole meso-zoning laws.
posted by bondcliff at 12:19 PM on May 6, 2019 [66 favorites]
Why not just make it into an Arby's?
posted by thelonius at 12:21 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 12:21 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
The_Vegetables: Did the Flintstones ever visit any other cities?
Rock Vegas, come to think of it. Probably went to the Flamingosaurus to see comedian Bobby Slate-Ton.
posted by dr_dank at 12:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Rock Vegas, come to think of it. Probably went to the Flamingosaurus to see comedian Bobby Slate-Ton.
posted by dr_dank at 12:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'd love to live next to someone this cool.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:28 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by doctor_negative at 12:28 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
I didn't know so many of us are driving up (the*) 280 every day! We should have secret horn-honk.
It is indeed a beautiful drive. I don't think this house takes anything away from it. I think this is busybodies doing their busybody nonsense. "Live and let live" isn't just a nicety, it's what we should all be doing more of.
*not from the west coast and it still sounds weird, always will.
posted by bleep at 12:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
It is indeed a beautiful drive. I don't think this house takes anything away from it. I think this is busybodies doing their busybody nonsense. "Live and let live" isn't just a nicety, it's what we should all be doing more of.
*not from the west coast and it still sounds weird, always will.
posted by bleep at 12:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
I have never even seen any dinosaurs. It just looks like some big purple and orange lumps to me.
posted by bleep at 12:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 12:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
It will take a long, long time for me to care about properly values in Hillsborough. Frankly shouldn't you be happy that this weird house is saving you on property taxes?
Unless you want to sell. Do you want to sell, wealthy South Bay couple who sees the bubble breaking?
Well fuck off and roll your damn dice the same as everyone else.
posted by East14thTaco at 12:34 PM on May 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
Unless you want to sell. Do you want to sell, wealthy South Bay couple who sees the bubble breaking?
Well fuck off and roll your damn dice the same as everyone else.
posted by East14thTaco at 12:34 PM on May 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
I hope she’s created a non-profit foundation and endowed it with millions to keep making the house more awesome and the busybodies more fraught for literally decades to come.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:40 PM on May 6, 2019 [14 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:40 PM on May 6, 2019 [14 favorites]
It's on the "city" side of the 280. You see it for all of 20-30 seconds from the overpass depending on speed/fog/traffic, and then only if you look to the side. It's at the back end of the suburb, and looks like the neighbors have put a lot of trees around it. It's been around for decades (albeit not in its current color scheme and dinosaur laden form). Even the Yabba Dabba Doo sign is actually sloping downhill towards the house and not pointing out to the road.
I can imagine being an attraction its sometimes a pain in the next for immediate neighbors on that cul-de-sac with people coming in to gawk. But they live in $3m+ houses with massive wooded properties. I'm sure they will survive - and I' sure their houses will sell if they want to move...
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:41 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I can imagine being an attraction its sometimes a pain in the next for immediate neighbors on that cul-de-sac with people coming in to gawk. But they live in $3m+ houses with massive wooded properties. I'm sure they will survive - and I' sure their houses will sell if they want to move...
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:41 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'd love to live next to someone this cool.
posted by notyou at 12:42 PM on May 6, 2019 [16 favorites]
Mrs Fang moved to a large house in Hillsborough after her husband’s death, but a few years ago, with her children grown, she told her realtor that she wanted to move somewhere “cozy” with a “good view”.As this is her part time pied a saur, you'd have to live next to her other Hillsborough house.
When the realtor brought her to the Flintstone house, she says, it was love at first sight. The house had languished on the market for years; Mrs Fang does not live in it full time but says she visits as much as possible.
posted by notyou at 12:42 PM on May 6, 2019 [16 favorites]
I will bet you dollars to donuts that no one else got permits for all their cookie cutter neoclassical sculptures they bespeckle their lawns with. They’re not mad about the permits but the dinosaurs.
posted by corb at 12:43 PM on May 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by corb at 12:43 PM on May 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
christ, via wikipedia:
posted by murphy slaw at 12:43 PM on May 6, 2019 [105 favorites]
Hillsborough's landscape is dominated by large homes; the town zoning and subdivision ordinances require a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) minimum house size and minimum lot size of 0.5 acres (2,000 m2).[9] As a result, there are no apartments, condominiums or townhouses in the city limits.so basically, violating zoning ordinances in hillsborough is a moral imperative
posted by murphy slaw at 12:43 PM on May 6, 2019 [105 favorites]
I will bet you dollars to donuts that no one else got permits for all their cookie cutter neoclassical sculptures they bespeckle their lawns with. They’re not mad about the permits but the dinosaurs.
And I wonder if bigotry has something to do with this. It may not, but that she's an outspoken confident asian woman is probably upsetting someone. I hope it's not related to that, because I'd like us to move beyond this kind of petulant racist ass behavior but I'm not holding my breath.
posted by Fizz at 12:46 PM on May 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
And I wonder if bigotry has something to do with this. It may not, but that she's an outspoken confident asian woman is probably upsetting someone. I hope it's not related to that, because I'd like us to move beyond this kind of petulant racist ass behavior but I'm not holding my breath.
posted by Fizz at 12:46 PM on May 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
This reminds me of one of the houses in The Big Orange Splot.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:47 PM on May 6, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:47 PM on May 6, 2019 [8 favorites]
Hillsborough Park is frightening after dark
All the ordinances are running wild
posted by nubs at 12:49 PM on May 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
All the ordinances are running wild
posted by nubs at 12:49 PM on May 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
I just found the place on Google Maps, and poked around with street view and satellite view. I'm honestly surprised that the town is being this vehement about it. The thing's on a cul-de-sac street with houses on big lots with lots of trees.
But yeah, it is wildly, unrepentantly, GLEEFULLY hideous.
posted by booksherpa at 12:53 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
But yeah, it is wildly, unrepentantly, GLEEFULLY hideous.
posted by booksherpa at 12:53 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
b1tr0t, you forgot monks setting up to hold footballs for field goals.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:53 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by humboldt32 at 12:53 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
I always called it the hobbit house on my way up the 280, it did used to be much more sedate in color.
When we moved up to Berkeley we landed in the same neighborhood as this amazing thing, it seems like a side benefit of NorCal to live among these relics of a hippy past. I hope this lady gets everything she wants out of this incredibly petty move by the Hillsborough authorities, what bullshit.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
When we moved up to Berkeley we landed in the same neighborhood as this amazing thing, it seems like a side benefit of NorCal to live among these relics of a hippy past. I hope this lady gets everything she wants out of this incredibly petty move by the Hillsborough authorities, what bullshit.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:01 PM on May 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
Mrs. Fang is my heroine of the day.
posted by praemunire at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
Somehow I doubt anything else in that town (even the name seems like a boring, generic, subdivision name) will look cooler or more interesting than this Flinstones house. I have no respect for people who want to make the world uglier and less interesting, especially if their motivations are money.
posted by GoblinHoney at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by GoblinHoney at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
We should have secret horn-honk.
I bet if you honked your horn to the cadence of "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones" that whole neighborhood would lose their damn minds.
posted by mhoye at 1:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [55 favorites]
I bet if you honked your horn to the cadence of "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones" that whole neighborhood would lose their damn minds.
posted by mhoye at 1:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [55 favorites]
I want to send her some dinosaurs. Or even just a postcard with a picture of a dinosaur and a note that says "hell yeah".
posted by lucidium at 1:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by lucidium at 1:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [8 favorites]
When I first encountered that house while driving up THE 280, I thought of it as the "hot dog house", because it looked a lot like the ends of a bunch of hot dogs.
Now I think of it as the Dugtrio house, and I completely support whatever the homeowner wants to do with it and its surrounding lands.
posted by hanov3r at 1:11 PM on May 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
Now I think of it as the Dugtrio house, and I completely support whatever the homeowner wants to do with it and its surrounding lands.
posted by hanov3r at 1:11 PM on May 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
> [...] huge dinosaur sculptures that the city is trying to claim should be treated the same as a gazebo or a shed.
...which, I mean... how did we end up in a world where that alone is not grounds for immediate summary judgment in favor of the dinosaurs?
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 1:12 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
...which, I mean... how did we end up in a world where that alone is not grounds for immediate summary judgment in favor of the dinosaurs?
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 1:12 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
the same neighborhood as this amazing thing
oh my god that man is an fpp all on his own. THE SOLAR PANELED SEQUINED JUMPSUIT. is he single.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [27 favorites]
oh my god that man is an fpp all on his own. THE SOLAR PANELED SEQUINED JUMPSUIT. is he single.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [27 favorites]
@juliacarriew: Sometimes my job is kind of tough, and sometimes I show up to interview an octogenarian multimillionaire about the giant dinosaurs in her backyard and the first thing she does is show me how her windup chicken dances and lays eggs.
I'm still not prepared to forgive the Fang family for the newspaper nonsense they pulled in the 90s, nor do I ever want to be on the same side as Angela Alioto, but Hillsborough can bite me. The Flintstone house looks better than half the architectural monstrosities in Hillsborough anyway.
Here are some more photos of the interior, which is amazing.
posted by zachlipton at 1:16 PM on May 6, 2019 [26 favorites]
I'm still not prepared to forgive the Fang family for the newspaper nonsense they pulled in the 90s, nor do I ever want to be on the same side as Angela Alioto, but Hillsborough can bite me. The Flintstone house looks better than half the architectural monstrosities in Hillsborough anyway.
Here are some more photos of the interior, which is amazing.
posted by zachlipton at 1:16 PM on May 6, 2019 [26 favorites]
I just saw this house on 280 last week whilst visiting fam in the area. Did notice the dinosaurs peeking through, and snorted to myself.
All the best to Mrs. Fang in her journey!
(How do you tell when someone's from the lesser part of California? They gotta put in the superfluous THE in front...)
posted by Jubal Kessler at 1:18 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
All the best to Mrs. Fang in her journey!
(How do you tell when someone's from the lesser part of California? They gotta put in the superfluous THE in front...)
posted by Jubal Kessler at 1:18 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
Looking over Zillow listings, ugly isn't foreign to Hillsborough's aesthetic, fun & unpretentious are.
The proprietress of McMansion Hell could do a whole series on the town's other offerings.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
The proprietress of McMansion Hell could do a whole series on the town's other offerings.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
I just found the place on Google Maps, and poked around with street view and satellite view.
I did the same. Could the retaining walls she's added possibly have any negative consequences for, say, the mud slides California hills are known for? If so, I could see that being a plausible complaint if they weren't constructed up to a legit safety code. Otherwise, the place is barely visible from the street so I don't see the problem.
posted by dnash at 1:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I did the same. Could the retaining walls she's added possibly have any negative consequences for, say, the mud slides California hills are known for? If so, I could see that being a plausible complaint if they weren't constructed up to a legit safety code. Otherwise, the place is barely visible from the street so I don't see the problem.
posted by dnash at 1:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I would love it if the gentrifiers moving into my area would build fantastic crazy buildings like this when they tear down little old bungalows, instead of just another modernist angular box with giant windows.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
notyou: Yeah, that's wonderful. She still should have gotten the proper building permits for the dinosaurs.
“Whether you like the project or not, it needed to go through design review and the permitting process,” said Hillsborough Assistant City Attorney Mark Hudak. (Mercury News)
So, what rules and regulations apply to (whimsical) statues? Are they trying to say that statues are to be considered general structures, with regards to setbacks and height limits? I guess I could read the town’s 78-page residential design guidelines, but yeah, not at the moment.
But when, as murphy slaw cited: town zoning and subdivision ordinances require a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) minimum house size and minimum lot size of 0.5 acres (2,000 m2), is the size of the dinosaurs the problem here?
Fuck exclusive zoning, especially in California. And screw requirements that houses be bland. Like a natural landscape? Don't build anything there.
Final FYI - ruling on aesthetics as part of the "police powers" under which zoning and land use laws are passed is an old standard, which is constantly being tested in courts. "[W]hen an aesthetic consideration has been raised, it generally has been upheld if it could be fitted into one of the traditional molds that encompass public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Once the concession has been made to allow city councils to consider aesthetics, one finds that the ordinance is upheld only if it can be sustained in its entirety upon a non-aesthetic ground." (Missouri Law Review, Volume 35, Issue 2, Spring 1970 -- "Aesthetic Zoning: Property Values and the Judicial Decision Process," Sheldon Elliot Steinbacht) [PDF]
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, from a land use planning and regulating point of view.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
“Whether you like the project or not, it needed to go through design review and the permitting process,” said Hillsborough Assistant City Attorney Mark Hudak. (Mercury News)
So, what rules and regulations apply to (whimsical) statues? Are they trying to say that statues are to be considered general structures, with regards to setbacks and height limits? I guess I could read the town’s 78-page residential design guidelines, but yeah, not at the moment.
But when, as murphy slaw cited: town zoning and subdivision ordinances require a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) minimum house size and minimum lot size of 0.5 acres (2,000 m2), is the size of the dinosaurs the problem here?
It was in response to the Nicholson’s construction of the Flintstone house in 1976 that the town first established its Architecture and Design Review Board (ADRB), according to former resident Tom Petika, who told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1997 that the ADRB was established “so there would never be another home like that built in Hillsborough”.Nope, some citizens in this town have hated it since it was first built.
Fuck exclusive zoning, especially in California. And screw requirements that houses be bland. Like a natural landscape? Don't build anything there.
Final FYI - ruling on aesthetics as part of the "police powers" under which zoning and land use laws are passed is an old standard, which is constantly being tested in courts. "[W]hen an aesthetic consideration has been raised, it generally has been upheld if it could be fitted into one of the traditional molds that encompass public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Once the concession has been made to allow city councils to consider aesthetics, one finds that the ordinance is upheld only if it can be sustained in its entirety upon a non-aesthetic ground." (Missouri Law Review, Volume 35, Issue 2, Spring 1970 -- "Aesthetic Zoning: Property Values and the Judicial Decision Process," Sheldon Elliot Steinbacht) [PDF]
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, from a land use planning and regulating point of view.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
Eh. It’s a living.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:30 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:30 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
Did the Flintstones ever visit any other cities?
There's a similar house in Bethesda, MD, but we call it the Mushroom House.
posted by amarynth at 1:31 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
There's a similar house in Bethesda, MD, but we call it the Mushroom House.
posted by amarynth at 1:31 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Zach, Alioto makes me grind my teeth too- but she can be a good blunt instrument against certain city's bullshit like this, and she's almost always guaranteed a win in a case like this, no matter the length of the case. It does feel weird rooting for her, but meh, stopped clock principle applies sometimes. I wish she'd only take cases like this where the loser was a rich ass city that needs to stop being... Hillsborough.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
I have driven along that part of 280 a number of times and it is impossible to miss that house. It is absolutely hideous and completely awesome. If my parents owned that house then my kids would never ever leave.
Right across from the house is a hurricane fence that encloses a decent size bit of lawn on a mega-mansion. That fence is, to my mind, uglier than the house. It's not like you can even see the house that much from the road and it's on a freaking cul-de-sac so who cares?
Even the mailbox is Flintsones, which is so adorable.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 1:37 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
Right across from the house is a hurricane fence that encloses a decent size bit of lawn on a mega-mansion. That fence is, to my mind, uglier than the house. It's not like you can even see the house that much from the road and it's on a freaking cul-de-sac so who cares?
Even the mailbox is Flintsones, which is so adorable.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 1:37 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
*not from the west coast and it still sounds weird, always will.
You mean not from Southern California. It sounds just as weird to anyone from the Bay Area.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:45 PM on May 6, 2019 [14 favorites]
You mean not from Southern California. It sounds just as weird to anyone from the Bay Area.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:45 PM on May 6, 2019 [14 favorites]
In the early eighties the house was bright orange and my family always called it the Cheeto house.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:46 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:46 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
*not from the west coast and it still sounds weird, always will.
It's not a west coast thing, it's a southern California thing. Bay Areans don't say "the" before a freeway number. Traffic reporters insist on using names and will talk about "the Nimitz" or something like that, but saying "the 880" or anything like that marks a person as not from here.
(on preview, scooped by Tell Me No Lies.)
posted by Lexica at 1:46 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
It's not a west coast thing, it's a southern California thing. Bay Areans don't say "the" before a freeway number. Traffic reporters insist on using names and will talk about "the Nimitz" or something like that, but saying "the 880" or anything like that marks a person as not from here.
(on preview, scooped by Tell Me No Lies.)
posted by Lexica at 1:46 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
from the comments section on the Mercury News link:
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
Wow, I agree! We should tear down all highways and roads because they are ugly and noisy and place metal sculptures of dinosaurs everywhere...yeah, that makes so much more sense!This, but sincerely.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2019 [18 favorites]
Looks like we've got us a Mr Plumbeam situation:
"My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams," Mr. Plumbean said.
posted by awenner at 1:56 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
"My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams," Mr. Plumbean said.
posted by awenner at 1:56 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I want her to win the lawsuit, and, as part of the settlement, require all the house to have at least one life-sized dinosaur sculpture at least 20’ in length. No species can be represented more than once, and they must all be from the same era.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
this woman is my hero
nimby ass bitches
posted by supermedusa at 2:07 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
nimby ass bitches
posted by supermedusa at 2:07 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
I was with her until she added a Great Gazoo. Might as well have a jumping shark.
posted by headnsouth at 2:09 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by headnsouth at 2:09 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
I have a neighbour who has tons of lawn ornaments.
Mine does too. Mostly Chevys, alas.
The house is awesome.
Somehow my mind got "280" mixed up with "17" and I spent a few minutes recalling an ancient web artifact, "The Highway 17 Page of Shame". You youngsters would not understand.
posted by maxwelton at 2:14 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mine does too. Mostly Chevys, alas.
The house is awesome.
Somehow my mind got "280" mixed up with "17" and I spent a few minutes recalling an ancient web artifact, "The Highway 17 Page of Shame". You youngsters would not understand.
posted by maxwelton at 2:14 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
God I have had the Flintstones theme running in my head for almost an hour now. Thanks, I hate it!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 2:14 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 2:14 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I like the house. Architectural follies are the best sort of follies. It must be a pain to furnish, but she can afford it.
Maybe one too many dinosaur statues. Or six too many.
posted by zompist at 2:20 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Maybe one too many dinosaur statues. Or six too many.
posted by zompist at 2:20 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I didn’t know one could have too many dinosaur statues.
posted by lemon_icing at 2:22 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by lemon_icing at 2:22 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
... huge dinosaur sculptures that the city is trying to claim should be treated the same as a gazebo or a shed.
Yes, this seems ridiculous. Everyone knows that dinosaurs are hot-blooded, while sheds and gazebos are cold.
posted by LeLiLo at 2:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
Yes, this seems ridiculous. Everyone knows that dinosaurs are hot-blooded, while sheds and gazebos are cold.
posted by LeLiLo at 2:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is in the Bay Area, right? The area whose hillside homes inspired the song about "little boxes, made of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same."
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
The area whose hillside homes inspired the song about "little boxes, made of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same."
That song was written to make fun of Daly City for having the temerity to build affordable housing.
posted by murphy slaw at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2019 [16 favorites]
That song was written to make fun of Daly City for having the temerity to build affordable housing.
posted by murphy slaw at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2019 [16 favorites]
That song was written to make fun of Daly City for having the temerity to build affordable housing.
That seems a peculiar take to me, but the meaning and purpose of suburban tract housing (and suburbia itself) is a complicated question, I guess. The song came from a progressive folk-music perspective, but it surely contained an implicit classism. There is a certain privilege in being able to turn on, tune in, drop out. We are arguably living in the aftershocks of this cultural divide today.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:48 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
That seems a peculiar take to me, but the meaning and purpose of suburban tract housing (and suburbia itself) is a complicated question, I guess. The song came from a progressive folk-music perspective, but it surely contained an implicit classism. There is a certain privilege in being able to turn on, tune in, drop out. We are arguably living in the aftershocks of this cultural divide today.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:48 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Anyway, to the topic of this thread, I love the Flintstones house and wish her the best.
I hope she’s created a non-profit foundation and endowed it with millions to keep making the house more awesome and the busybodies more fraught for literally decades to come.
She hasn't done that yet, but she has in fact created a non-profit foundation.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:54 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I hope she’s created a non-profit foundation and endowed it with millions to keep making the house more awesome and the busybodies more fraught for literally decades to come.
She hasn't done that yet, but she has in fact created a non-profit foundation.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:54 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
God I have had the Flintstones theme running in my head for almost an hour now. Thanks, I hate it!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis
It’s definitely true that the show glossed over the brutal treatment of your people by the likes of the “upstanding citizens of Bedrock.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 PM on May 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis
It’s definitely true that the show glossed over the brutal treatment of your people by the likes of the “upstanding citizens of Bedrock.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 PM on May 6, 2019 [9 favorites]
cromch
posted by poffin boffin at 3:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 3:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
God I have had the Flintstones theme running in my head for almost an hour now. Thanks, I hate it!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis
It’s definitely true that the show glossed over the brutal treatment of your people by the likes of the “upstanding citizens of Bedrock.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 PM on May 6 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
cromch
posted by poffin boffin at 3:05 PM on May 6 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
Why is everything an eating neanderthals joke! This is harassment!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 3:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis
It’s definitely true that the show glossed over the brutal treatment of your people by the likes of the “upstanding citizens of Bedrock.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 PM on May 6 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
cromch
posted by poffin boffin at 3:05 PM on May 6 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
Why is everything an eating neanderthals joke! This is harassment!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 3:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Someday, maybe Fang will win the fight,
Then that town board will see the light
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:37 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Then that town board will see the light
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:37 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Right now all her dinosaurs are brown. I think they need more color :).
Also, in the category of strange houses visible from freeways, there is this classic in Colorado.
posted by elmay at 3:53 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Also, in the category of strange houses visible from freeways, there is this classic in Colorado.
posted by elmay at 3:53 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Love the Sleeper house.
posted by Windopaene at 4:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 4:00 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I do not think it is unreasonable that you need to get approval before you erect a 15 foot tall structure in your backyard.
Nor do I think it is unreasonable to need an engineering and code review before you build retaining walls
However, I imagine she is correct in that the powers that be in the town have made getting such permits and approvals difficult or impossible.
This strikes me as a case of someone moving into an established community and then complaining that the community won't let them do what they want.
According to the article, the town put in place an architectural review board in 1976, 41 years before she bought that house.
It's not as if she didn't know what she was getting into, and I'm willing to bet she needed to sign some paperwork acknowledging that you need the approval of the architectural review board before making changes.
If you don't want to smell a farm, don't move to the country.
If you don't want to be surrounded by uptight homeowners, don't move to a suburb full of them.
posted by madajb at 4:04 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
Nor do I think it is unreasonable to need an engineering and code review before you build retaining walls
However, I imagine she is correct in that the powers that be in the town have made getting such permits and approvals difficult or impossible.
This strikes me as a case of someone moving into an established community and then complaining that the community won't let them do what they want.
According to the article, the town put in place an architectural review board in 1976, 41 years before she bought that house.
It's not as if she didn't know what she was getting into, and I'm willing to bet she needed to sign some paperwork acknowledging that you need the approval of the architectural review board before making changes.
If you don't want to smell a farm, don't move to the country.
If you don't want to be surrounded by uptight homeowners, don't move to a suburb full of them.
posted by madajb at 4:04 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
Geez. Some people just have no room for joy in their lives. "I want those dinosaurs gone! Zoning laws!" Is this who you wanted to be?
Yes. The world is full of people who want to be exactly there and have stopped at nothing to arrive at their destination. In fact, they're pretty much running the show, and have been throughout most of recorded history. They sleep well at night and have almost zero existential angst and feel right at home, pretty much all the time. It boggles the mind, but hey, what about this crazy universe doesn't when you really stop to think about it?
posted by treepour at 4:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
Yes. The world is full of people who want to be exactly there and have stopped at nothing to arrive at their destination. In fact, they're pretty much running the show, and have been throughout most of recorded history. They sleep well at night and have almost zero existential angst and feel right at home, pretty much all the time. It boggles the mind, but hey, what about this crazy universe doesn't when you really stop to think about it?
posted by treepour at 4:06 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
I...you know, the phrase “Mrs. Fang lives in an orange mushroom house, surrounded by technicolor dinosaurs” is probably the most surreal, yet actually true, statement I’ve heard in a long time.
posted by darkstar at 4:07 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 4:07 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
This strikes me as a case of someone moving into an established community and then complaining that the community won't let them do what they want.
To make it clear to those who (obviously) did not read the article: Donald J Trump has been President of These United States longer than Mrs Fang has owned this house. Also, the specific things the city is getting after her for are even newer than that.
posted by sideshow at 4:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
To make it clear to those who (obviously) did not read the article: Donald J Trump has been President of These United States longer than Mrs Fang has owned this house. Also, the specific things the city is getting after her for are even newer than that.
posted by sideshow at 4:13 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
That seems a peculiar take to me,
I seem to remember reading Malvina Reynolds saying she wrote it specifically about Daly City.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:17 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
I seem to remember reading Malvina Reynolds saying she wrote it specifically about Daly City.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:17 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
On reflection my main objection is that her dinosaurs do not have feathers, and therefore continue to perpetuate an incorrect interpretation of the fossil record.
posted by mhoye at 4:20 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 4:20 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
I seem to remember reading Malvina Reynolds saying she wrote it specifically about Daly City.
Clearly she was not objecting to "affordable housing" as such, but rather the regimented and sterile aspect of it, as well as the sorts of community it implied (to her). But I acknowledge that it is a messy question mixed up in class and race and everything else that has dominated post-war America.
Contrast Diebenkorn and Thibault, who saw something very different in these same developments.
posted by sjswitzer at 4:35 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
Clearly she was not objecting to "affordable housing" as such, but rather the regimented and sterile aspect of it, as well as the sorts of community it implied (to her). But I acknowledge that it is a messy question mixed up in class and race and everything else that has dominated post-war America.
Contrast Diebenkorn and Thibault, who saw something very different in these same developments.
posted by sjswitzer at 4:35 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
This strikes me as a case of someone moving into an established community and then complaining that the community won't let them do what they want.
i object to the characterization of hillsborough as a "community" rather than a "loose affiliation of petty fiefdoms"
posted by murphy slaw at 4:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [28 favorites]
i object to the characterization of hillsborough as a "community" rather than a "loose affiliation of petty fiefdoms"
posted by murphy slaw at 4:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [28 favorites]
Did the Flintstones ever visit any other cities?
I remember them once mentioning Hyenasport, which blew my mind as a kid because I knew where Hyannisport is.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
I remember them once mentioning Hyenasport, which blew my mind as a kid because I knew where Hyannisport is.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
That song was written to make fun of Daly City for having the temerity to build affordable housing.
The song was inspired by housing developments around Daly City, particularly Westlake. Westlake was built as housing for middle class white people during a time of redlining, white flight, racial covenants and sundown towns. Daly City was 97% white in 1960 (Little Boxes was written in 1962.)
* The Federal Housing Administration backed many other whites-only suburban housing developments such as Daly City’s sprawling Westlake project, where the homes came with real estate covenants prohibiting resale to buyers “not of the white or Caucasian race.”
Daly City didn't have the temerity to build affordable housing in any sense that we would use that term now. Daly City had the temerity to build racist commuter suburbs.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:57 PM on May 6, 2019 [25 favorites]
The song was inspired by housing developments around Daly City, particularly Westlake. Westlake was built as housing for middle class white people during a time of redlining, white flight, racial covenants and sundown towns. Daly City was 97% white in 1960 (Little Boxes was written in 1962.)
* The Federal Housing Administration backed many other whites-only suburban housing developments such as Daly City’s sprawling Westlake project, where the homes came with real estate covenants prohibiting resale to buyers “not of the white or Caucasian race.”
Daly City didn't have the temerity to build affordable housing in any sense that we would use that term now. Daly City had the temerity to build racist commuter suburbs.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:57 PM on May 6, 2019 [25 favorites]
It's a landmark! It's listed on Google maps!
More inside pics can be seen at www.flintstonehouse280.com
posted by vespabelle at 5:02 PM on May 6, 2019
More inside pics can be seen at www.flintstonehouse280.com
posted by vespabelle at 5:02 PM on May 6, 2019
If you don't want to be surrounded by uptight homeowners, don't move to a suburb full of them.
That would be understandable, but the problem is that uptight homeowners are in pretty much every neighborhood at this point. They're everywhere, and they're causing enormous problems on a societal level. Blocking giant dinosaurs is ultimately a trivial issue, but it's the same people are blocking a lot of development that's sorely needed as well. Farms need to be somewhere, but uptight homeowners don't.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 5:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
That would be understandable, but the problem is that uptight homeowners are in pretty much every neighborhood at this point. They're everywhere, and they're causing enormous problems on a societal level. Blocking giant dinosaurs is ultimately a trivial issue, but it's the same people are blocking a lot of development that's sorely needed as well. Farms need to be somewhere, but uptight homeowners don't.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 5:05 PM on May 6, 2019 [11 favorites]
Daly City didn't have the temerity to build affordable housing in any sense that we would use that term now. Daly City had the temerity to build racist commuter suburbs.
Thanks for saying that more clearly and with more evidence than I was able to do.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:09 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thanks for saying that more clearly and with more evidence than I was able to do.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:09 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
When I was a kid and it was all white, it reminded me of Luke Skywalker’s place on Tatooine. If I’d bought it, I’d would have left it white, but would have added a perpetually smoldering Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru out back.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 5:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [24 favorites]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 5:33 PM on May 6, 2019 [24 favorites]
There's a similar house in Bethesda, MD, but we call it the Mushroom House.
I grew up 15 minutes from this house and never heard of it before this exact minute. What the entire fuck.
posted by nonasuch at 5:39 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
I grew up 15 minutes from this house and never heard of it before this exact minute. What the entire fuck.
posted by nonasuch at 5:39 PM on May 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
Hell of a lot better than a lot of houses I've seen.
posted by freakazoid at 5:45 PM on May 6, 2019
posted by freakazoid at 5:45 PM on May 6, 2019
About to drive home from work and see this lovely sight as I do every day on my way home. It's awesome. And I know the place in Half Moon Bay she got the dinos (or at least I'm pretty sure I do.)
The world needs more weird.
posted by Kafkaesque at 5:47 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
The world needs more weird.
posted by Kafkaesque at 5:47 PM on May 6, 2019 [4 favorites]
MORE WEIRD SHIT
posted by duffell at 6:22 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by duffell at 6:22 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Some people just have no room for joy in their lives. "I want those dinosaurs gone! Zoning laws!" Is this who you wanted to be?
I'm here for kicking against the pricks, but I drove past recently and the stuff on the hillside looks like trash. No accounting for taste, sure, but it looks to me like $400 worth of Walmart pool toys. Yes, more weird shit, but this is tasteless.
posted by rhizome at 6:24 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm here for kicking against the pricks, but I drove past recently and the stuff on the hillside looks like trash. No accounting for taste, sure, but it looks to me like $400 worth of Walmart pool toys. Yes, more weird shit, but this is tasteless.
posted by rhizome at 6:24 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I grew up driving past that thing all the time! It was mud-tan colored back in my day and we called it the Beehive House.
posted by moonmilk at 6:24 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 6:24 PM on May 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
To make it clear to those who (obviously) did not read the article: Donald J Trump has been President of These United States longer than Mrs Fang has owned this house. Also, the specific things the city is getting after her for are even newer than that.
For those who didn't read closely enough, she moved to Hillsborough in about 2000, and bought this house in 2017. I'm willing to bet she knew exactly what she was doing.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 6:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
For those who didn't read closely enough, she moved to Hillsborough in about 2000, and bought this house in 2017. I'm willing to bet she knew exactly what she was doing.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 6:26 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
Yeah, until relatively recently "Flintstone House" was the corny name you used after someone blanks at the actual name you think of it by, "You know, the Flintstones house," but I never really thought of it as particularly Flinstones-y, which if I remember correctly was more of a slab-roof neighborhood.
posted by rhizome at 6:31 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 6:31 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
She should get together with the lady with the Christmas display made of inflatable light-up dragons, who's response to criticism was to immediately order more inflatable light-up dragons.
posted by Fuchsoid at 6:58 PM on May 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Fuchsoid at 6:58 PM on May 6, 2019 [13 favorites]
I love the shape of the house. I can see an alternate vision where it’s painted like a giant half-dismembered Kaiju corpse with all kinds of gross bits. I mean, compared to what she could do if she got really mad, a Flintstones homage is fuckin tame.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:58 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:58 PM on May 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
This strikes me as a case of someone moving into an established community and then complaining that the community won't let them do what they want.
I know I should agree with this. Years ago, when my red-neck, racist, jackass uncle learned I was in grad school studying urban planning, he went on a rant re his objections to zoning regulations that included "I own my property, so I get to do whatever I want with it, including opening a junkyard on the front lawn if I have a mind to". I truly believe that communities have a right to establish regulations to curb the actions of folks like my uncle.
Consistency be damned—I not only don't give a fuck about upholding this particular community's standards, I would love to see the homeowner set up a trust to ensure the property remains a thorn in the side of the locals in perpetuity.
Maybe we can't eat the rich, but we can sure as hell annoy the bejesus out of them just for sport.
posted by she's not there at 7:09 PM on May 6, 2019 [12 favorites]
I know I should agree with this. Years ago, when my red-neck, racist, jackass uncle learned I was in grad school studying urban planning, he went on a rant re his objections to zoning regulations that included "I own my property, so I get to do whatever I want with it, including opening a junkyard on the front lawn if I have a mind to". I truly believe that communities have a right to establish regulations to curb the actions of folks like my uncle.
Consistency be damned—I not only don't give a fuck about upholding this particular community's standards, I would love to see the homeowner set up a trust to ensure the property remains a thorn in the side of the locals in perpetuity.
Maybe we can't eat the rich, but we can sure as hell annoy the bejesus out of them just for sport.
posted by she's not there at 7:09 PM on May 6, 2019 [12 favorites]
And screw requirements that houses be bland. Like a natural landscape? Don't build anything there.
Allow me to introduce you to The Sea Ranch.
posted by jesourie at 8:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
Allow me to introduce you to The Sea Ranch.
posted by jesourie at 8:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [7 favorites]
The original seems to have been a somewhat interesting piece of innovative architecture. It possibly merited preservation, but it surely deserved better than being turned into a poor quality dad-joke parody of itself.
posted by Segundus at 10:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Segundus at 10:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I dislike the entire Fang family and Angela Alioto, too (most recently in the news for using the n-word SIX times in a public meeting) but I've loved this house since I was a little kid. I do think the bright paint job suits it better than the white or brown and I'm always a fan of dinosaur statues pretty much anywhere. What view can't be improved by the placement of a dinosaur in it, I ask?
Wishing I could channel rtha for this thread, who commuted past this house for years and had definitive opinions about it (and the hideous Junipero Serra statue, among other 280 highlights.)
posted by gingerbeer at 11:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [20 favorites]
Wishing I could channel rtha for this thread, who commuted past this house for years and had definitive opinions about it (and the hideous Junipero Serra statue, among other 280 highlights.)
posted by gingerbeer at 11:08 PM on May 6, 2019 [20 favorites]
and the hideous Junipero Serra statue
Father Junipero Placekicker? We love him!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:29 PM on May 6, 2019
Father Junipero Placekicker? We love him!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:29 PM on May 6, 2019
If my hometown can take down statues of Confederate generals, we sure as hell can get rid of the genocidal Serra.
posted by gingerbeer at 11:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by gingerbeer at 11:36 PM on May 6, 2019 [6 favorites]
That’s the first time I’ve heard that charge leveled at him and I don’t think it fits very well. He certainly worked enough people to death, but there are no signs he was attempting to eradicate any race.
A complete asshole and cultural imperialist to the core though.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:07 AM on May 7, 2019
A complete asshole and cultural imperialist to the core though.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:07 AM on May 7, 2019
Completely obliterating a culture is also genocide, and that he most certainly did intend.
posted by tavella at 12:53 AM on May 7, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by tavella at 12:53 AM on May 7, 2019 [10 favorites]
That song was written to make fun of Daly City for having the temerity to build affordable housing.
In addition to what others said above, this also seems strange because the song literally has a line about the inhabitants of said boxes being "doctors and lawyers and business executives" (I'm glad this song is in my head instead of the Flintones one!) and I don't think those are the kinds of people who use affordable housing?
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:00 AM on May 7, 2019 [6 favorites]
In addition to what others said above, this also seems strange because the song literally has a line about the inhabitants of said boxes being "doctors and lawyers and business executives" (I'm glad this song is in my head instead of the Flintones one!) and I don't think those are the kinds of people who use affordable housing?
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:00 AM on May 7, 2019 [6 favorites]
But this is what you’re *supposed* to do when you have too much money!
posted by MexicanYenta at 2:21 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by MexicanYenta at 2:21 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Need the flinstones song out of your head? Try this as a palate cleanser:
(Yabba Dabba Doo) The King is Gone, and So Are You
posted by spitbull at 4:40 AM on May 7, 2019
(Yabba Dabba Doo) The King is Gone, and So Are You
posted by spitbull at 4:40 AM on May 7, 2019
Years ago, when my red-neck, racist, jackass uncle learned I was in grad school studying urban planning, he went on a rant re his objections to zoning regulations that included "I own my property, so I get to do whatever I want with it, including opening a junkyard on the front lawn if I have a mind to". I truly believe that communities have a right to establish regulations to curb the actions of folks like my uncle.
Racist redneck uncle aside, this should be the default unless there's a damn compelling reason to get involved. "Gaudy" isn't enough.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:21 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Racist redneck uncle aside, this should be the default unless there's a damn compelling reason to get involved. "Gaudy" isn't enough.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:21 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
If the city lawyers were smarter, they'd have attacked the homeowner through Hannah / Barbera on Copyright and/or Trademark infringement .
If California Homebuyers were smarter they'd never buy or build on incorporated land.
The bulk of government corruption in America is found at the municipal level with abuse of zoning regs and creation of "special (taxation) districts. And Baseball stadiums.
The story at hand here is a perfect example of City Hall, fat with tax rev, and too much time on their hands.
posted by Fupped Duck at 9:17 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
If California Homebuyers were smarter they'd never buy or build on incorporated land.
The bulk of government corruption in America is found at the municipal level with abuse of zoning regs and creation of "special (taxation) districts. And Baseball stadiums.
The story at hand here is a perfect example of City Hall, fat with tax rev, and too much time on their hands.
posted by Fupped Duck at 9:17 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
All missionary work is inherently genocidal, sorry. Yes, even the nice friendly kind ones you know personally.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:56 AM on May 7, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:56 AM on May 7, 2019 [8 favorites]
(“An octopus is always good company,” Mrs Fang points out)
I like this woman.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 10:17 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I like this woman.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 10:17 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've wanted a custom shotcrete house since I was a kid and found a book about how to build them in a free-book bin. But, I want to live in a place dense enough that single family homes don't exist far more. Maybe someday I'll make a little teardrop-shaped dacha by a lake somewhere.
I can't say I share Fang's particular aesthetics. But, it's at least a lot more interesting than that of her neighbors. I sure hope she wins.
posted by eotvos at 10:37 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I can't say I share Fang's particular aesthetics. But, it's at least a lot more interesting than that of her neighbors. I sure hope she wins.
posted by eotvos at 10:37 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am bemused to see how easily a few tacky dinosaurs can cause MetaFilter's enmity toward the obscenely rich to melt away.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:48 AM on May 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:48 AM on May 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
people are in fact capable of feeling and thinking more than one single thing at a time, i know it's groundbreaking
posted by poffin boffin at 10:54 AM on May 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:54 AM on May 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
I am bemused to see how easily a few tacky dinosaurs can cause MetaFilter's enmity toward the obscenely rich to melt away.
it's not so much that it's gone, but that if the rich intend to spend their money annoying each other rather than for some other nefarious purpose, i will support this activity until the revolution comes
posted by murphy slaw at 10:56 AM on May 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
it's not so much that it's gone, but that if the rich intend to spend their money annoying each other rather than for some other nefarious purpose, i will support this activity until the revolution comes
posted by murphy slaw at 10:56 AM on May 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
I am bemused to see how easily a few tacky dinosaurs can cause MetaFilter's enmity toward the obscenely rich to melt away.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:48 PM on May 7 [1 favorite +] [!]
There's a lot of the exact opposite going on, but feel free to select which comments are reflective of the whole that you think is relevant here.
anyway I think it's stupid that they want to classify the dinosaurs as a shed or gazebo, because both of those things are intended to have people inside of them, and need higher safety standards.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2019
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:48 PM on May 7 [1 favorite +] [!]
There's a lot of the exact opposite going on, but feel free to select which comments are reflective of the whole that you think is relevant here.
anyway I think it's stupid that they want to classify the dinosaurs as a shed or gazebo, because both of those things are intended to have people inside of them, and need higher safety standards.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2019
anyway I think it's stupid that they want to classify the dinosaurs as a shed or gazebo, because both of those things are intended to have people inside of them
Certain types of dinosaur may also intend to have people inside of them, or so I've been led to believe by some very popular movies that feature dinosaurs eating people as the primary plot point.
posted by nubs at 11:04 AM on May 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
Certain types of dinosaur may also intend to have people inside of them, or so I've been led to believe by some very popular movies that feature dinosaurs eating people as the primary plot point.
posted by nubs at 11:04 AM on May 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
I'm bemused how someone could paint the MetaFilter community and the obscenely rich with the same broad brush.
My wife and I worked for several years for the family controlling the Weyerhaeuser fortune. I've not one ounce of enmity for them. Everyone we dealt with were fine, admirable human beings. Almost as if they deserved being treated as actual people.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:07 PM on May 7, 2019
My wife and I worked for several years for the family controlling the Weyerhaeuser fortune. I've not one ounce of enmity for them. Everyone we dealt with were fine, admirable human beings. Almost as if they deserved being treated as actual people.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:07 PM on May 7, 2019
Love the house, know it well from driving past. It never said "Flintstones" to me, the houses in Bedrock were kind of like Stoneheng-y Eichlers, with their angled slab roofs, which this place lacks -- it' smoothly futuristic and I wish the building technique had caught on and become commonplace. Also, the house was much better white, the current paint-job is garish. Can't speak for the dinosaurs, haven't been past in a while but they sound dumb and tacky and if I was a neighbor such decorations would bug me also but what are you going to do, it's a free country.
posted by Rash at 4:29 PM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Rash at 4:29 PM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hillsborough's landscape is dominated by large homes; the town zoning and subdivision ordinances require a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) minimum house size and minimum lot size of 0.5 acres (2,000 m2).[9] As a result, there are no apartments, condominiums or townhouses in the city limits
Nor even a single yabba-dabba-duplex
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 6:53 PM on May 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
Nor even a single yabba-dabba-duplex
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 6:53 PM on May 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
I gotta say, do you want the House on the Rock? Because this is how you get the House on the Rock.
And I think the answer is “yes,” and furthermore, screw you, rich suburb.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:22 PM on May 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
And I think the answer is “yes,” and furthermore, screw you, rich suburb.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:22 PM on May 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
Might as well have a jumping shark.
Like this?
posted by TedW at 12:21 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
Like this?
posted by TedW at 12:21 PM on May 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
A tour of this place is the only thing that could get me to step foot in Hillsborough. Hillsborough is basically solid white NIMBYism made tangible.
posted by benzenedream at 1:45 PM on May 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by benzenedream at 1:45 PM on May 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
« Older Goodbye to the last of the Lindy Hoppers | "Oh, my lungs and liver, what do you want? Oh... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Best of luck in her fight, she sounds like she'd be awesome to have tea with!
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:55 AM on May 6, 2019 [28 favorites]