Ugly house contest going on?

Chas · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:22 pm Post subject: Ugly house contest going on?

OK. Tell me the truth. Is there a contest going on for who can build the ugliest house in Palm Hills? There are a couple of VERY nice homes there, newly constructed, but some of the newest seem to have been designed by graduates of the Mr. Potato Head school of Architecture ( Hmmmm lets just stick this window THERE, and lets try a door HERE and how about a light just HERE. . . or maybe there?)

If you get a chance, check out these Palm Hill beauties:
Wink

First house on the right as you enter. Tiny windows, main entrance nestled in the corner like an afterthought and marked by an awkward pediment so you won’t miss it. The crowning glory is the driveway which is fenced off from the lawn on BOTH sides by a lovely waist high wall. (Yet there is no fence along the road.) Why would you build a wall between your own driveway and your own lawn?

The next house along was actually rather well designed and attractive ( if you discount that your first view of the house is the air conditioners and laundry yard) until the lighting designer came along. He decided to put spotlights all around the outside to light up the second story exterior wall of the house ( Is it Christmas already?)

Then way in back of this is a real gem featuring ugly cut-out roof corners, odd doors and doorways and the smallest windows you can buy. (Considering that these homes are not cheap to build, I can’t figure out why the owners can’t hire real architects.)

Along the road a little further is an entry in yet another contest: “How many houses can YOU cram onto YOUR one little lot?” Beauty and style go right out those tiny windows when there is money to be made!

But that is a much bigger contest and other developments like Blue Lagoon take the prize hands down. (That place still looks like Berlin after the war) If you want an architectural laugh, go compare their spacious models and maps ( showing grand yards and LOADS of space) with the on-the-ground reality of tightly packed tenements.

Jaime · Ace Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1884 Location: Sh*t Creek

linktolinh · Specialist Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 135 Location: Hanoi

Guess · Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 2:25 am Post subject: Re: Ugly house contest going on?

linktolinh · Specialist Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 135 Location: Hanoi

Chas · Last edited by Chas on Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:40 pm; edited 2 times in total

buksida · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:25 pm Post subject:

linktolinh · Specialist Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 135 Location: Hanoi

I don't think you got my meaning Chas.

There are so many different kind of taste. Some people like mango and other like durian.

The one who have money is the one who can decide how will they use their money. There is no rule about how your house should look like in this area, there is no rule or system to judge this is nice and this is ugly.

Maybe a nice house for you is not nice for other, the worst thing is the owner feel uncomfortable in their own house, is that right? Next time you better stop your car, get out and ask the owner if they enjoy their place, if they do...and you still not sastisfy with that news, you can keep blaming them ruining the area to make yourself better.

And finnaly you ignored my last line about nice houses in Thailand. I lived in a very very and very beautiful house in Thailand and I enjoyed the place as much as possible.

Finnaly their is a truth that no matter where I post my stuffs, Guess will join in, a nice company huh. sorry to disturb you SERIOUS topic, can you explain to me what's the connection between SILLY and LOVE under the Foo?
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buksida · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:03 pm Post subject:

lomuamart · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject:

I'll add my tuppence worth.
I remember about 8 years ago reading in the BKK Post about the widening of the road from Cha-Am to HH. This was whilst I was still back in England. There was a huge environmental outcry as many trees, hundreds of years old, were going to be chopped down - let alone the diaspora of folk who lived alongside. Still, it went ahead, despite the fact that the main north-south bypass from CA to Pranburi was already there. What's it all been replaced with? Shophouses. A welcome addition to any vista.
In England and I know this isn't, you must have express permission to fell a tree that may have a conservation order on it even if its on your property. Extensions to your existing property go through fairly rigourous planning enquiries etc etc.
The net result will never be perfect, but from my layman's view, it's an awful lot better than the slash and burn, I'll build whatever I want attitude that seem to be increasingly blighting HH now.
Architechs always get a bad press, but it seems that some of them are educated to improve our visual life.
As I said, just my baht's worth.

Chas · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:30 pm Post subject:

Chas · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:46 pm Post subject:

Exactly what I mean Imouamart!
Where is the concern here for beauty and the environment? I just see a lot of big money being thrown around to impress other people with how rich you are.. .and ugliness being created in a country that is so blessed and beautiful to begin with. A shame really.

Randy Cornhole · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:30 pm Post subject:

I regulary travel up soi 112 and around that general area and am saddened beyond belief at what i am seeing. Lots and lots of small pockets of land with shi**y houses crammed on them roofs touching. Every time i travel around the area there is more land being filled and more ticky tacky boxes going up. Now there is a growing dog presence in the area. Small now i'd admit but give it time.
Soon all these small bits of land with there featureless houses on, will meet up and you will have one big hot crappy dog ridden housing estate!
Thats certainly the last place on earth i'd want to live. Dont say I diddnt warn you..... Neutral

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STEVE G · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 10:56 am Post subject: bad house design

If you want to see how other peoples views of house design can differ, drive 50km south to Dolphin Bay resort, just round the corner is this mind blowing thing that looks like an upside down wedding cake, covered in gaudy, ornamental green and white plaster work!
I had to stop driving, and just stare, to convince myself it was real,I am not passing judgement on other peoples tastes, the thing is just shocking,
and in an area just outside a national park!

Chas · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:39 pm Post subject: ugly houses

Steve, since I started this topic, I have seen such ugliness that I couldnt begin to describe the monstrosities I am now passing every day at Palm Hills. I swear I will take my camera and take pictures for you guys as words fail me. The only regulation at Palm Hills is that you erect a green fence around your construction site so that nobody can see what you are doing. (We have a brown fence that just wouldnt do now covered with tacky green plastic.) A quick tour of them as I have named them. First, man with an ugly fence around his lawn. Then the house with the spotlighted upper story, then the Jumble Sale. . .three ugly houses on a single lot, all VERY different). . . then the house with the leaky fountain ( nice unicorn . ..large permanent puddle in the driveway) Then the Pyramids of Cheops. Then a couple of rather nice houses.

But lots of construction underway for the title of "Biggest House in Hua Hin", now held by a company which built a huge house on the other side of Palm Hills and is bragging about having done so. (Bigger is better!)

Then, past the Golf Club, a rather nice Roman Temple to Apollo which I rather like.. .despite its being so out of place. Anyway, I know I will get a ton of replies that people can build ugliness if they want to, their money, blah blah blah. . but this IS an opinion forum and this IS my opinion. And there ARE rules for architectural beauty and form which are universal.

Anyway, hold your fire until I get a bit of time to take some pictures. You will be amused.