Neighbor Rant: No Kumbaya in Noe Valley

Sweet, sweet vindication— we're here to give it to you, disgruntled neighbors all. 178-180 Randall Street are two lovely condominiums situated in the ever-idyllic Noe Valley. Family values all around: 178 features 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths on 2 levels. Decks, private garden, one car parking; 1440 square feet, $1195,000 asking. 180 is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2-level condo with a "sitting room," office, and one parking space. 2103 square feet, $1,595,000 asking. Lovely. A neighbor scorned during construction? Not so lovely. Viva the power of the blog:

I've lived next door to this house while they've renovated it for the last year (suffering the dust, horrid noise, asshole contractors [seriously, one of them actually swore at me], hijacking of parking spaces, etc etc) only to find that the second it was finished, they (of course) slapped a for-sale sign on it. Somehow the idea that at least they were building their dream home made it more bearable. Alas.

Rant, continued...

The owners have been living in the house next door to that one (someone's got deep pockets, no?) and took this formerly nice Victorian house, cute as can be, raised it up, added a second unit and garage, and (here's my real complaint) stripped the entire place of any remnant of its former Victorian history and charm. The place is completely and utterly soulless. Not to mention that the downstairs unit has a bizarre floorplan, and that the decks (of which there are three) are so close to the neighbor homes that we can all essentially reach out and hold hands and sing kumbaya. And god forbid anyone ever want any semblance of privacy in the shower... all of them are super-modern super-glass cases.

Now, I am actually a reader of Dwell, and I do like modernism--where it belongs. But to take a piece of what makes San Francisco.. well, San Francisco, and turn it into some modern piece of boring is just insulting to our beautiful city. I'm sure they will eventually find buyers for these over-priced gutless wonders, but I don't think I will be singing kumbaya with any of them any time soon.