Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Dusty pink is out, hot pink is in


November 1st Theme Day : 'Something that is about to disappear'
This old fibro cottage is doomed, it will soon be sold and knocked down. Cottages like this one used to be everywhere along the coast; today, only a few remain. In the hands of greedy developers, they are being replaced by apartment blocks or townhouses leaving no space for the good old backyard. Below is an idea of what is 'in': wooden decks, brightly coloured feature walls and a Balinese touch. Wanna bet that the little girl who lives here dresses in the same hot pink as her bike and front porch?

Le vieux rose est passé de mode, voici le rose Barbie. Ce vieux cottage en fibrociment dont on voyait des quantités le long de la côte sera bientôt vendu et rasé. A sa place viendront un petit immeuble ou trois maisons de ville presque sans jardin. En contraste voici une maison à la mode : un deck en bois, quelques accents de couleurs vives et une touche de déco balinaise. Je parie que la petite fille qui vit là s'habille du même rose que son vélo et son porche d'entrée !

For more photos on the theme "Something that is about to disappear", please click on the links below and discover how cities of the world are changing :
Porto -Seattle WA USA (Kim) -London, UK -Greenville, SC -Albuquerque, NM (USA) -St Paul Kate -ShangHai, China -Phoenix, Az -Twin Cities, MN -Sequim, WA -Stayton, OR, USA -Bandung (Indonesia) -Dallas, USA -Stavanger (Norway) -Singapore (zannnie) -Budapest (Hungary) -Paris (France) -Tuzla (BiH) -Melbourne, (Aust.) -Auckland, New Zealand -Singapore (Raymond) -Dubai UAE (DXBluey) -Vantaa, Finland -Oshawa, Ontario, Canada -St. Paul MN Carol -Singapore (Keropok) -Delta Colorado, USA -Rotterdam (Netherlands -Queens, NY (USA) -Tenerife (Spain) -Santiago (Chile) -Nelson, New Zealand -( Japan ) -Hyde (UK) -Sydney (Sally) -Manila, Philippines -Aliso Viejo, CA (USA) -Nottingham UK -Brussels, Belgium -Sharon, CT (USA) -Sydney Australia (Nathalie) -Edinburgh, Scotland -Evry, France -San Diego, CA (USA)

21 comments:

Olivier said...

j'aime bien ce vieux rose, il a un cote nostalgique

DXBluey said...

A similar sentiment to my shot - I wonder if many shots will be a little depressing...

Thanks so much for all your comments recently! I will respond...

Great shot and nice comment - Happy Theme Day...!

Anonymous said...

Nice one Nathalie, you beat me to it. I'm waiting until about 8 before I post mine. LOve the old cottage, what a shame it's going. I wonder how many lovely things we will see today that are about to be demolished for no good reason!?

kaa said...

I assume there is no lack of land space in Sydney then. In singapore, it's a different story as the city continues to grow vertically because of lack of land space. but it'll be nice to have a big backyard for swing set and play.

Meg said...

The little girl will be wearing mint green today. With pink.

Alex said...

I like this "mad about pink" color. Very funny comment too. Too bad this house is going to be torned down. Looks cute.

Matthieu said...

Et dire que certaines municipalités interdisent des façades de certaines couleurs ou bien au contraire encouragent l'utilisation de touches colorées ...

Nb : comme annoncé par ailleurs, on commence à observer de légères variantes entre légendes anglaise et française :)

Anonymous said...

Australian affluence depends in part upon population growth, and most people don't want to live in old cottages --- unless they're made of brick and the suburb has become trendy. Without large numbers of "greedy" SELLERS and enthusiastic buyers, the small number of developers wouldn't be doing so well.

Mind you, a far more serious loss has been some of the old values which have disappeared even faster than the buildings.

Pod said...

ello madam nathalie! thanks for all your lovely comments. it was nice of you to pick up on what my mum said. that was sweet. love the pic of the pelicans. being a fellow sydneysider, do you know the sculpture by the sea is on? there will be some great photos to be had there. have a cool day
a bientot!

Sally said...

The coastal fibro cottage....ahhh. Now everyone wants to have their holidays in luxury resorts revelling in the aircon, poured concrete and plate glass windows and resort style pools...(global warmignmay well take care of them ;-)

My mum and dad sold their fibro on a large block to fund their old age and now it will have 6 town houses on it.

we are doing our little bit for fibro - our little south coast retreat will NOT become a concrete behemoth as long as I have anything to do with it.

Anonymous said...

Interesting!

Jazzy said...

pink is new black i'd say =)

sad to see it go.

Eric said...

I'm beginning to see a theme within a theme around the world...development, development, development. Thanks for this insight to a local cultural aspect I did not know.

Kate said...

It's very hard to "let go" especially if what is replacing it cannot improve upon the initial structure. But, I suppose that is in the "eye of the beholder."

Bill said...

It is hard to convince the owners of these sorts of “gems” to keep them intact. For many they represent a lifetime of care, and many are living on the edge of financial ruin. The money offered by the developers represents a little less pressure in their life, a little more food on the table, or perhaps freedom. Few in today’s generation are willing or able to make them the same offer unless they can make money out of it, so their fate is more or less sealed.

There is a 2000+ acre ranch in the valley below us, and for a while it was up for sale. My fear was that developers would buy it and subdivide. It appears to be off the market for now, so we are safe, but I know a day will come when it will be attempted again. It’s hard to retire from ranching, and few want to continue the old ways. Selling the asset may be their only option. I wish I had the funds to buy and preserve the property, but that is not to be. If I was able to scrape the funds together, then someone came to me with the chance to get 10 times my investment if I subdivided, could I resist? I could retire, the financial pressure would be gone, and I could travel to the many wonderful places I see each day in DP! I suspect I too would sell even though I would very much like the current owner not to do the same.

Too much thinking so early I need to make some coffee and get this day started :)

Jenny said...

You don't see too many pink houses around here, though we do have a purple one down the street. I do think that development is the theme of the day!

Irredento Urbanita said...

In Europe is easy to find buildings with departments inside, those can be elegant or simple. But we never forget green areas or those special places like that of your image.

Sorry for comment on 2nd November.

Question of time, hehehe.

Greetings of this emisphere

Kim said...

Dusty rose was a predominantly popular color in the 70s and 80s. These brights from the 90s and 00s will look as dated to our eyes in 20 years, I suppose. Sad about the cottages and overdeveloped lots. Coastal places the world over seem to have the same phenom. happening.

Denton said...

Greedy developers? IMHO, what we need are fewer mansions and more muli-family complexes. Or as you have shown single family cottages would be nice as well.

Edulabbe said...

Salut Nathalie
Je suis arrivé ici parce que Olivier m'a fait voir la similitude entre notres deux Theme day posts!
Deux vieilles maisons roses qui vont être démolies pour construire un immeuble plus grand. Il paraît que le rose attire de la mauvaise chance pour les maisons...

Nathalie H.D. said...

Thanks all for your varied and very pertinent remarks. I'm not sure this particular fibro home was an architectural masterpiece worth preserving but I am very concerned by what will come in its place!

Sally, your comments are spot on.

Meg, I love your sense of humour.

Eric you are right, there is a bit of a common thread emerging from our posts around the world. The damage to our environment. Are we just being nostalgic retrograds or do we have a case?

Interestingly enough, both Santiago de Chile and Trujillo Daily Photos have shown pink house about to be demolished too. Is pink a 'bad luck colour' for houses?