Odd Duck Homes

Off topic, but is that the AC unit mounted on the roof? Why in the world mount it on the roof?
 
Wow. Somebody had a lot of time on their hands. It’s so over the top it’s almost funny just to look at the pictures. I’m not sure what I would do if I bought that house. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

And yet in their garage they just have plain wood cabinets with no special details. I wonder why they stopped there.
 
Wow.. Nice wood working, wrong display mode.
Wonder if the owner did the work while living there? Maybe original wood cabinets are those in the garage.
 
Beautiful woodwork!!!

Somebody with skills and passion put some time and love into their home!

Kind of reminds me of the Madonna Inn up in San Luis Obispo.
 
JoeWras said:
Probably a conversion. Perhaps the piping is easier this way? I don't know, I'd rather have it on the ground where it is easier to work on. And the less roof penetrations, the better.

Here's a company that does conversions and they have a picture of the compressor on the roof in the "after" picture.
https://experthvacandrefrigeration.com/the-problem-with-swamp-coolers-is-everything/
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I put the picture into Paint and zoomed in on the unit, now, I think it is a swamp cooler.

It looks like it has a water pipe coming in, an over flow pipe and electricity.
I don't see any Freon pipes. Ok, I've just about hit my limit on swamp cooler knowledge. :)
 
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AC on the roof is not unusual in AZ. Both my houses have the AC on the roof. They are installed with a crane like a giant window unit.

Living in the desert is different.
 
AZ2020 said:
AC on the roof is not unusual in AZ. Both my houses have the AC on the roof. They are installed with a crane like a giant window unit.

Living in the desert is different.
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That reminds me of an old movie. Apparently Gig Young had a lot of direct experience to draw on playing his boozy role.

 
I'm sure glad they showed the credits. I would have searched for the movie to see how it ended. I sure would have been disappointed if I found the movie, watched the whole thing and then saw it end there.:facepalm:
 
Time2 said:
I'm sure glad they showed the credits. I would have searched for the movie to see how it ended. I sure would have been disappointed if I found the movie, watched the whole thing and then saw it end there.:facepalm:
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The entire movie is on YouTube, but I thought that would put it in the TL/DR category for this thread.
 
oiseux said:
Some amazing talent there, and would look almost appropriate in a proper Victorian or Tudor (with some balance). My favorite part was the playhouse in the back, which showed a more balanced restraint.
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Lol, I thought that was a she shed (so the Mrs. could get a break from all the manly woodwork throughout the house). :LOL:
 
Masquernom said:
Off topic, but is that the AC unit mounted on the roof? Why in the world mount it on the roof?
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Roof-mounted heat pumps used to be the norm in Arizona until the late 1980s.

All new homes since then have split units, with the heat exchanger in the attic, and the compressor on the ground outside the home.
 
Time2 said:
I put the picture into Paint and zoomed in on the unit, now, I think it is a swamp cooler.

It looks like it has a water pipe coming in, an over flow pipe and electricity.
I don't see any Freon pipes. Ok, I've just about hit my limit on swamp cooler knowledge. :)
Click to expand...


It looks like an AC or a heat pump, based on the size and location of the louvers for the condenser coil. There's no Freon pipe, because it is an all-in-one unit with compressor/heat exchanger/condenser all inside the cabinet.

The condensation drain line is clearly visible. There's another bent tube (painted white), which could be a water feed line for a previous swamp cooler.

The norm for old homes in AZ is to have a roof-mounted swamp cooler, plus a separate nat gas furnace. The swamp cooler works OK until the monsoon season when the humidity rises and the cooler puts out humid air in the high 80s, which is better than 110F outdoor air, but not as comfortable as a home with AC. Hence, most older homes now have the AC to replace the swamp cooler. My parents did that on their rental home.
 
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Masquernom said:
Learn something every day. Turns out swamp coolers are typically mounted on the roof.
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Swamp coolers mounted on the roof have a down discharge, which is fed to the duct work that goes to every room in the house. It means the swamp cooler is a central unit, and can have an output of 4000-5000 CFM.

Smaller swamp coolers that are mounted on the wall are smaller, have a side discharge, and are typically used to cool a garage. Their output of 1500-2000 CFM can blow around a lot of "stuff", if used for a bedroom. :)


PS. In the 70s, a friend of mine lived in a run-down apartment which was more like a long-term motel. It had a wall-mounted swamp cooler, and when it was running, you had to strain to open the front door inward. The air pressure was that great.
 
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Mr._Graybeard said:
That reminds me of an old movie. Apparently Gig Young had a lot of direct experience to draw on playing his boozy role.

Click to expand...


This movie was filmed in the California desert, which of course is not distinguishable from the Arizona desert, or Nevada, or many other places in the Western states.
 
The above home with elaborate wood work is in Chino Valley, a high desert area in Central AZ. At 4,500-ft elevation, it's not too hot in the summer, with a high of 89F, and on the cold side in the winter with a low of 26F. It is of course dry climate, as obviously seen in the photos.

But, but, but, look at the acre lot. I can easily mount enough solar panels to crank out enough cold air to hang meat in the summer, and keep the house toasty in the winter (need a lot of expensive battery for storage for night use though).

I wonder about water availability. Can't grow anything if water is scarce.


PS. The description says the house has HVAC (AC). It has a private well. The shed that houses the well pump is also shown among the photos. So, all one needs is an array of solar panel, and he can pump the aquifer till it is dry. :)
 
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Looking at it again... I cannot believe a 1400 sf house is listed for so much... and not anyplace that seems like it would be at a premium...


And I would have to take out almost all of that wood...
 
Texas Proud said:
Looking at it again... I cannot believe a 1400 sf house is listed for so much... and not anyplace that seems like it would be at a premium...


And I would have to take out almost all of that wood...
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I saw a news/special interest report years back on Gerry Spence. It gave a tour of his home. Talk about wood. A log home, with all exposed beams as well as massive wooden furniture. Not the same taste as the home in the listing, but a truly amazing use of natural wood tones. I'm sure it's a love-it-or-hate-it as in this case. YMMV
 
I liked the front porch, but inside was over the top. Impressive that someone did this though and probably enjoyed it.
 
Texas Proud said:
Looking at it again... I cannot believe a 1400 sf house is listed for so much... and not anyplace that seems like it would be at a premium...

And I would have to take out almost all of that wood...
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That house is going to be difficult to sell with all the woodwork. The price is high because of the wood, ironically.

But I just saw that homes in that location, Chino Valley, are pricier than one expects. Many home of less than 2,000 sq.ft. are on the market right now for $400-500K.
 
NW-Bound said:
Roof-mounted heat pumps used to be the norm in Arizona until the late 1980s.

All new homes since then have split units, with the heat exchanger in the attic, and the compressor on the ground outside the home.
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A terribly flawed design that seems now to be common in modern homes...huge risk of ceiling damage from nothing more than a plugged condensate drain line & since most attics are unconditioned space it reduces A/C efficiency in the summer.

Even my modest two-story town home manages a separate 6' x 8' mechanicals room (HVAC, water heater) next to the laundry room...the one-story units in my development put the air handler in the crawl space.
 
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