Biscayne Park is a Very Charming Neighborhood. Or it Should Be. Or it Could Be. Or it Will Be? Part 2.

Recently, some of us have experienced another charm-related crisis.  We have had definitive renovations and new construction, and the new properties have been almost grand.  Styling is in some cases contemporary.  Homes have been large or two-story.  Some Village residents have complained, and their complaint has always focused on charm.  They felt these structures were not charming, as the complainers envisioned the rest of the neighborhood, or perhaps the houses that gave way to new construction, to be.  The term "McMansion," in its unmitigated derogatory sense, was used.  It should be noted, of course, that the Park is a very heterogeneous place, as far as home design is concerned.

"The hacienda" is on 117th Street, just east of 6th Avenue and on the south side of the street.  This home was originally two houses on adjacent lots.  The lots were owned by the same person, and at some point, he or she connected the facades, making a sprawling home on two lots.  It is no doubt only the typical and delightful Spanish style that saves this house from being the subject of complaint.  Inside the property, the effect is extensive and breathtaking.  The house has often been used for filming and advertisements.

The contemporary just north of 113th Street on 8th Avenue is now old enough not to attract derision.  By its design, it is not at all in keeping with the other houses nearby, but it is a very nice piece of architecture.

The old "Larry King" house at 119th and Griffing gave way to a stunning contemporary.  Although this house is on our most upscale street, it is very different in look from anything else in the Park.

An abandoned and fully deteriorated house on 119th between 8th and 9th, on the south side of the street, has been replaced by an exquisite-looking new construction.  This large, two-story CBS project is super energy-efficient.  The house appears finished, but the landscaping has not yet been set.  Although there is another two-story house two houses east of this one, and another catercorner from that one, and another one just east of that one, and two others further east on that same block, across the street from each other, the new house is unquestionably grand.  It will, for better or worse, stand out on the street.

A property on Griffing at about 116th, on the east side, still looks like a Spanish style from the front, but it has undergone very substantial extension in the back, and the front and grounds have been completely redone.

These properties, other than the last mentioned, are new or recent.  Other than the one on 8th and 113th, they feature or have planned very beautiful landscaping.  (The latter is spare.)  A new house on Griffing at about 115th on the east side of the street is not complete, and it does not have landscaping in place.

Do projects like these impact "charm" in any way?  Do they increase it, because they look so nice, or do they decrease it, because they depart from the much more unassuming character of many others of our homes?

One older house, on 11th Place at 117th, on the east side, has undergone substantial renovation, much of which is not visible from the street.  But the homeowners are planning also to reconfigure the driveway arrangement.  The house will look essentially the same, but the overall property will look more modernized.  The duplex just south of that replaced parking on the grass with a turfblock installation that occupies a considerable part of the front yard, but also includes new and very lovely landscaping.  Same house, different effect.  Previously bleak, now distinctly charming.