lexington

I improved a neighborhood BEFORE it was a neighborhood

by John Rice

10,000 trees.  That is how many I planted in what is now known as The Enclave at Chilesburg.

It was the mid 90s.  Back then Andover Hills was a fairly new neighborhood.  There was a 32 acre parcel that was outside the urban service area.  The developers, Bob Miller and Lynwood Wiseman, decided they would build their own houses on it.

Bob Miller went first.  He had Jose Oubrerie design his house while he was in town serving as Dean of UK’s College of Architecture.  Oubrerie learned a thing or two about architecture from his time with a more recognizable name in architecture, Le Corbusier.

miller-6

miller-1

Ok, that is the history of the place before my time planting trees.

Bob Miller was a lawyer.  My dad was a lawyer.  All lawyers know each other because half of them have been partners at one time or another.  Anyway, my dad was good friends with one of his partners and that is how I found out about the job to plant 10,000 trees.

I had seen Bob Miller’s house only from the road.  This was long before Hays Blvd existed.  There was just the little country road over there and it was called Walnut Hill-Chilesburg or something like that.  In the fall and winter, you could see the house from that road.  I had always wondered what it was since it is unlike anything else in Lexington.

Bob gave me the address, which was then on Maple Ridge Road in Andover Hills.  I remember wondering how I was going to plant that many trees on a neighborhood lot-this was before google earth.  I pulled up to a driveway between two houses at the end of the cul de sac and there was a gate.  It opened and I followed the road to the house I had previously only seen from a distance.

I was speechless as I approached the house.  It was a piece of art to me, surrounded by 32 beautiful acres as it’s frame.  There was a pond in front of the house….well, it was really the back of the house but you saw it first as you came down the driveway.

Bob liked trees.  He had made a walking trail all the way around the place, which is now part of the neighborhood.  He wanted to make a forest in the middle.  So, I spent a few weeks randomly planting about 8 different types of saplings all over the field across from his house.

One late afternoon, I took a break and gazed across the land that is now Chilesburg.  I remember thinking that one day, I would bring my kids to see these trees when they were huge.  The trees when they were huge, not my kids.

Another time I was out planting, Lynwood Wiseman came out in his Nissan Pathfinder and gave me a hard time about planting where he was going to build his own house one day.  He drove over most of the freshly planted trees on his way in and out.  I told him I was only doing as I was told and he would need to talk to Bob about it.  Few people disliked Lynwood.  Everybody else hated him.  Lynwood would eventually build his house on the opposite side of the pond from Bob Miller.  It is still there, right in the middle of the neighborhood.  The pond is long gone, filled in to make lots for new houses.

I was in an architectural program at LLC at the time.  I told several students and a few teachers about Bob’s house.  Word got over to the College of Architecture.  Turns out that Bob had involved many students in the designing and building of the house, allowed it to be photographed for various architecture books and magazines…..and then closed the gate once it was all over.  I was the only person those architecture loving people knew who had seen it in person.  I asked Bob if I could take some pictures and make a video of the place.  I did not realize at that time how private he was about the house.  I have always appreciated his kindness to me for that.  The video I made ended up in the UK College of Architecture’s library.  It was a VHS tape.  I sure hope somebody converted it to a DVD.

miller-5

Those were happy memories for me.  Then there were some unhappy memories of that place.  Bob Miller passed away.  His wife Penny, who was the inspiration for Penny Lane in Andover Hills, sold it to a developer.  That developer went belly up.  The house was vandalized many times.  While it finally did get an owner who appreciates it, it just isn’t the same for me when I see it now.

I did take my kids to see the trees when Ball Homes began to develop the land.  About half of them are gone (the trees, not my kids).  They are about 30 feet tall I guess.  I think of all the people who picked their lot because it backed to the wooded area that I helped create.  I think of how nice it felt the day they were planted, when I was out in a beautiful field, the only sound being the wind passing through trees, and Bob’s house in the corner of my eye.  I also think about the day when somebody backing to my trees calls me up to list their house, and I get to tell them everything you just read.

2 Lexington homes whose history you didn’t know

by John Rice

I’m doing a mash up of Old Lexington, scandal, politics, big business and……real estate?  Yep, real estate.  Just like a retro-local version of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Before moving to Lexington in the mid-80s, I was in Frankfort.  And when you live in the capitol of this fine state, you are always aware of who is the Governor.

So let’s begin with John Y. Brown’s house:

One of my favorite things to do when I was a teenager was driving around neighborhoods and looking at houses.  This one caught my eye long before I knew it’s history.  I later found out that it was John Y’s house, but it wasn’t until I read this book that I knew what kind of stuff went on here:

The book is a good read.  I had always thought of John Y. Brown as the guy who stole Kentucky Fried Chicken from Colonel Sanders and that chubby Governor who really liked riding in helicopters until I read this.  My favorite memory of John Y was when I was in the 4th grade.  He and his wife Phyllis George landed in a helicopter in front of Hearn Elementary.  A limo showed up with their newborn baby, Lincoln Brown.  All us kids got to stand in line and walk past the limo for a quick glimpse of Baby Lincoln.  Even as a kid, I thought it was crazy that they chose the helicopter for transportation when the Capitol was about 5 miles away.  Even crazier now that I am a parent is that the school interrupted education so we could see some baby whose dad was the Gov.

His house last sold for $660k in 2012.  From the pictures I saw when it was for sale, it looks like several of the bathrooms are pretty original-in that cool mid century way.  Somebody at some time added an amazing swimming pool.  The basement has a catering kitchen.  I don’t know if that is an original feature.  It looks to be since the cabinets feel more like 1960 than the 1970s when John Y lived there.

 

Moving on, the other  80s Governor who is memorable for things not having to do with being the Governor, is Wallace Wilkinson.  He is best known for saying things like he was for “Tax Avoidance” and not “Tax Evasion.”

Life was probably pretty good for him when he built this monster of a house in 1972.  His chain of bookstores were doing so well that he had the money to make several additions to his home, one of which was an indoor swimming pool.

This picture was taken when he was selling the house….probably to pay off the $300,000,000 in debt he had at the time.

According to Wikipedia, he was insolvent since about 1992 and was operating a Ponzi scheme.  Maybe that is why the pool was covered with a tarp in this picture?

Wilkinson’s house last sold in 2004 for $875k.   It use to have two other huge lots with it, but those were sold to pay off his creditors.

Every time I pull into Greenbrier, I try to imagine what it would have been like for Wally to drive home from work.  I picture him in a 1979 Cadillac Seville, talking on a giant cell phone hardwired inside his car as he drives past Hamburg back when it was only a farm.  He waves to Anita Madden if she is at her mailbox.  He gets off the phone about where Man O War is now, pushes the Conway Twitty 8-track in the stereo and chills for a minute before turning on Bahama Road.  Then it is fondue for dinner and an evening watching The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

 

 

The peas and carrots can touch now

by John Rice

It was 1987.  A friend of mine lived in a brand new house in Cumberland Hills.  It was gorgeous and seemed huge to me.  I lived in a Bungalow in the first block of Kenwick.  His parents paid $148,500.  Two years earlier my parents paid $58k.

Today, if equally updated, the Cumberland Hills house might be worth $300k.  Our 1920s bungalow would pull around $400k.

My how things change.

Lexington has always been a town of either older or newer houses.  You had Chevy Chase and Ashland Park if you wanted a nice older house.  You had Greenbrier and Westmoreland if you wanted to pretend you lived in the country.  Everything else was generic new construction of various price ranges or older affordable houses.  You didn’t see much variety of prices within a neighborhood either.  If Lexington was a plate of food, it was the plate of that person we all know who doesn’t like any of their food to touch.

Today, it seems like it is okay for the peas to touch the carrots and some of the gravy to run on the roll.

An incredibly renovated house on Lakeshore Drive listed for $1,200,000 sells as soon as it hits the market and it is surrounded by mostly $500-600k houses.

A house on Townley in Meadowthorpe sells for $275k.  This is one of the highest prices EVER in Meadowthorpe.  Townley had always been the most affordable street in the neighborhood.

The renovated houses on Rand Ave sell for about $170 a square foot.  Very little of Lexington gets that kind of money per square foot.

There is more and more interest in living downtown.

The north end of Lexington seems to be losing it’s stigma as being the “Bad” side of town.

The Hamburg area seems to be equal to the southwest side of Lexington in terms of housing stock, good performing schools and retail/dining/entertainment.

I think all of this is a good thing.  I think there are a lot of factors driving all the change in the market, all happening at once.  We’ve got first time Millennials transforming downtown and several affordable north end neighborhoods.  Downsizing boomers are wanting smaller homes closer in town, selling their bigger houses on bigger lots to Gen Xers.  The market is good.  People are in a mood to move.  We’ve almost run out of room to build, so we are seeing more of an interest in renovating existing houses.

Who knows….maybe in another 30 years that Cumberland Hills house may be worth more than my old Kenwick house again?

Rinse, wash, repeat-The secret to my success

by John Rice

I’ve never really done things in a conventional way.

Before I got into real estate, I owned a lawn care business.  Believe it or not, I really like cutting grass.  It’s great to be outside and to take a look at the yard once you are done.

I was working at another lawn care company when I decided to go out on my own.  I had a $99 push mower from Wal-Mart that I would put in the back of my Dodge Colt.  My wife called it the Grass-Mobile since it had grass clippings everywhere.  It smelled like gasoline too.  I would see my past co-workers around town.  They all had a good laugh at my expense because I am sure I did look pretty silly driving around town with a mower hanging out the hatch of my car.

I did a great job and showed up on time.  I didn’t cuss or smoke and customers felt good about communicating with me.  My single female customers were not afraid of me.  The threshold for success was low in that business.

Before long, I was able to buy better equipment.  I also got a truck, then added a trailer.

I would see the same former co-workers around town and instead of laughing at me, they would ask me questions on how I did it.  I was always happy to tell them.  My attitude was that all I needed to be in business was a customer and to do a good job.  Rinse, wash, repeat.  I stepped out with not much and it grew organically.  They would look at me like I was crazy and say that they would need to start out where I was at that time.  I wished them luck and went on to my next yard.

Flash forward a bit to 2005.  I’ve just gotten my real estate license.  I joined the biggest firm at that time.  I was told I needed to do things like send people football schedules, flower seeds, and let them know when the time changes would be.  I’ve never understood why the realtor community bears the responsibility of letting the world know when to change their clocks forward of backwards?

I told them that I didn’t want to lick stamps all day.  I got into real estate to DO real estate, not to try to drum up work.  They thought I was crazy.

They said I needed to remind people I was a realtor.  I told them that if I had to remind people to use me again, I must not have done anything worth remembering and didn’t deserve to be used again.

So, slowly I built my real estate business based on word of mouth.  The only advertising I have ever done has been to promote two blog posts on Facebook.  I’ve spent $20.  That is why you’ve never seen me on the shopping carts at Kroger or seen my face as you drive around New Circle Road.  I had a client who referred his mother to me several years ago, a lady I have enjoyed becoming friends with, she said to me “Jimmy tells me you are a top realtor in town.  I’ve never heard of you.”

My proudest accomplishment is that 75% of my work is from past clients and referrals from past clients and friends.  That is the way I want it.  I want to do such a good job that people remember me and send their friends and family to me.

Over the years, I have had several agents approach me about how I did it.  I have always been happy to tell them.  My attitude was that all I needed to be in this business was a client and to do a good job. Rinse, wash, repeat.  I stepped out with not much and grew this organically.  They too look at me like I am crazy and want to be where I am overnight.  I usually wish them luck and move on.

 

What The LEXpert has been thinking about

by John Rice

Here are some things that have been on The LEXpert’s mind lately:

 

  •  I am seeing more and more interest in the houses around Liberty Road and Henry Clay Blvd.  About 25 years ago I saw that once Kenwick got expensive, interest would move to the Courtney/Clayton area.  And once those prices shot up, it would keep going further down Henry Clay Blvd.  What I didn’t see back then was that Delaware would become a hip spot for businesses and restaurants.  Back then, we all thought it would remain the scuzzy industrial area it had always been.  You watch, once the National Avenue area gets filled and rents go up, you’ll see more businesses you want to frequent along Delaware and Winchester Road.   The great thing about the Henry Clay/Liberty Road area is that you are minutes to downtown, minutes to NoLi, and minutes to Hamburg.  It really is an ideal location.

 

  • Greenbrier is seeing a lot of sales.  I have seen several that sold by word of mouth lately.  A couple others sold extremely fast.  I think it mostly has to do with the new school districts.  It is no longer a nice neighborhood on the wrong part of town thanks to Hamburg.  It is also no longer a nice neighborhood with a poor performing school district.  It will attract people who want to have their kids in public school now.   That makes for a broader market.  That means more buyers for fewer houses.  That means prices go up.

 

  • The $350-500k market is strong in Lexington still, even as we get late in the year.   Sales seem to come in waves.  There might be a few slow weeks for certain parts of town and then, all the sudden, that area will have lots of sales in one week.

 

  • Century Hills is blowing my mind.  I have seen several 3 bedroom/1 bath houses without a garage sell for over $100k, some close to $110k.  It wasn’t too long ago that the nicest ones out there were $95k!  Percentage wise, that is a huge increase.  Looks like we are back to the days where under $100k doesn’t get much.

 

  • I think that the new Citation Blvd is going to be a big gain for the west side of town.  That road really ties together all the neighborhoods between Georgetown and Leestown Road so well.  It is easier to get in and out of that area too.  It nolonger feels like a bunch of random neighborhoods scattered across the west side of town.  Businesses are what the area needs.  I think values will really go up if the residents of those neighborhoods do not have to go to Hamburg or south Lexington for shopping/dinning/entertainment.  A nice big road like this might attract them.

 

This is an exciting time to be in real estate.  Things are changing so fast.  Prices are increasing in some areas, stable in others.  Tastes are shifting too.  It is a lot to keep up with…….every new business, every new road that opens changes how people feel about a location.