What’s cuter and more enticing than an all-American classic Cape Cod home? How about five of them, all priced below $300,000?

No, that was not a typo. The beauty of the Cape Cod is that it was designed to be economically yet sturdily built. Charming and cheap—that’s a winning combination.

This seminal Americana architectural style was named after Cape Cod itself, a seaside destination along the coast of Massachusetts. The design was conceived in the 1600s to withstand harsh New England winters and keep inhabitants warm and cozy.

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The same classic features that worked back then still work well today: a steep, slanted roof to help snow melt off; a chimney in the middle of the home (to heat all the rooms); cedar shutters and shake shingles to protect against strong winds; a rectangular shape; and a straight-forward floor plan.

Although they started in New England, the homes were so practical, inexpensive, and easy to build, they popped up from coast to coast.

We found five of these nifty numbers at petite prices. Take a peek.

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Price: $235,000
Classic cutie: Seriously, does it get any more adorable than this? Originally built in 1941, this three-bedroom, 1.5-bath cottage has been meticulously maintained. Its compact, 1,212-square-foot size makes it very easy to update, should you so desire.

But new owners won’t want to touch those hardwood floors, the arched doorways, the wainscoting, or the brick fireplace with the wood surround. There’s a bedroom on the first floor and two charming upstairs bedrooms with window niches and pitched ceilings.

Bonuses include a spacious, partly finished basement, a separate two-car garage, a paverstone patio, and a grassy half-acre yard surrounded by mature trees.

Penfield, NY

Realtor.com

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Price: $250,000
Upscale updates: While this shingled beauty has all the charm of the 1940s when it was built, the kitchen and baths have been tastefully updated and the walls throughout have been recently painted.

The three-bedroom, 1.5-bath, 1,556-square-foot home overlooks the Salisbury City Park, with the Salisbury Zoo just a short stroll away. Also, it’s ideally located just about 30 miles from the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Chesapeake Bay on the other.

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This home has a large, plumbed basement, which can accommodate laundry, storage, and much more. Other features include a wood-burning, brick fireplace and a three-season sunroom with generous windows to let sunlight in and to provide views of the 8,700-square-foot lot.

After just seven days on the market, the lovely home is pending sale.

Salisbury, MD

Realtor.com

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Price: $275,000
Storybook Cape Cod: The stone siding, bay window, and pitched roof give this Cape Cod a storybook feel. It’s been remarkably well maintained and restored, with original wood floors, wainscoting, and molding, plus a wood-burning fireplace.

Yet the kitchen and baths in this three-bedroom, 1.5-bath abode have all been updated with quality Kohler fixtures, the appliances are under 5 years old, and the plumbing is brand new.

The home measures 1,532 square feet, but all the light streaming in from its many windows makes it seem more spacious.

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Rochester, NY

Realtor.com

Price: $280,000
Practically perfect: This three-bedroom, three-bath cottage is so pristine it lasted less than a month on the market before it had a contingent offer.

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Measuring 1,934 square feet, the home features hardwood floors and French doors leading from the dining room to the enclosed sun porch. The extras reach outside to the master gardener-designed grounds.

There’s a finished basement with a bonus space that can serve as an office, family room, or playroom. It also includes a bedroom, full bath, laundry room, and storage.

Red Wing, MN

Realtor.com

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Price: $299,900
Remarkable remodel: Built in 2005 and already renovated since, this two-bedroom, two-bath, 2,100-square-foot Cape Cod in the Chesapeake Shores includes deeded access to the beach on Chesapeake Bay.

The solar panels on the roof, Energy Star appliances, new HVAC, roof, and water heater add appeal. The screened porch and side deck off the kitchen with the outdoor shower for removing the salt and sand are also pretty nice perks.

New Point, VA

Realtor.com

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The post You may Crave These Traditional Cape Cods, All Priced Beneath $300K appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

W.Though the Christmas box office charts are likely to be dominated by Disney’s family-friendly singer-songwriter sequel Frozen II, anyone looking for something more adventurous in animation should check out this remarkable French gem, which will see limited releases ahead of its UK release on Netflixon November 29th .

It’s a story about broken hearts and body parts. Loosely adapted from the book Happy Hand by Guillaume Laurant (who was Oscar-nominated for his scriptwriting on Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie), it was the first animated feature to top the Cannes Critics’ Week Award before further major wins in Sitges, Strasbourg and at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. This feature film debut by co-writer / director Jérémy Clapin combines a tender love story with the macabre feel of a body horror film and builds on the success of his acclaimed short films Une histoire vertébrale (2004), Skhizein (2008) and Palmipédarium (2008) in 2012 ) confirming the arrival of an important new voice in international animation.

Like Thing from the Addams family or a kind relative of the title attachments from The Hands of Orlac, I Lost My Body finds a severed hand that is brought to life in a Parisian medical laboratory. After the hand is released from its surgical bond, it learns to crawl, then run, then run, and scurry out of sterile captivity into the hustle and bustle of the outside world like a frightened animal. It’s a terrible place filled with thundering traffic, crushing machines, and predatory rodents, all of which are encountered when the hand crawls across rooftops, streets, and subways, searching for its former self.

On the surface, the story seems steeped in horror, but the main tone is delicate and melancholy

In the meantime, a second flashback takes place in parallel; tactile memories of the hand’s life when its lost body was whole. This body belongs to Naoufel, a pizza delivery boy trying to meet his deadlines and who is intrigued by the disembodied voice of Gabrielle (an angry customer) on a high-rise intercom. As the kaleidoscopic narrative retreats even further, we see Naoufel as a child in Morocco who, accompanied by his parents, laughs and records the sounds of his world on a beloved cassette recorder – sounds that become symbols of a lost innocence and broken childhood.

Themes of dismemberment – physical, emotional, temporal – run through this beautifully haunting story as it effortlessly interweaves the real and the surreal, the spoken and the still. Clapin carefully leaves the narrative voice of the dismembered hand from Laurant’s source novel aside and manages to convey huge amounts of emotional information through the simple movement of the fingers, creating a completely rounded (and above all completely personable) character whose sensory experience is the world is eloquently expressed through gestures and pantomime.

The most impressive thing about I Lost My Body, which producer Marc du Pontavice (who cites Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata as an inspirational influence) envisions as “fictional animation for teens and adults” is the way in which he different marriages marries tones and formats. On the surface, the story seems steeped in horror, and there are a few moments that will send a chill down your spine – the accidental strangulation of a pigeon trying to protect its eggs, for example; or an attack by wild rats in the bowels of the subway. There are also pulsating action sequences as the hand scurries through crowded streets and reaches for the underside of a speeding train.

The primary tone, however, is gentle and melancholy – an almost existential evocation of memory and the longing to become whole. In an early sequence in which the hand climbs over the rib cage and skull of a display skeleton (watched by a soon-to-be-crushed eyeball!), The gallows humor turns into something more awe-inspiring as it escapes onto a high windowsill overlooking the horizon. I was unexpectedly reminded of an illustrated edition of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep that I owned as a child – a picture of the engaged characters gazing at the greatness of the world beyond them, filled with a terrible sense of wonder. Fear and infinite sadness.

Just as the themes of I Lost My Body cleverly juggle light and shadow, the film seamlessly combines 2D and 3D animation techniques with elements of rotoscoped live action to create what Clapin “is an animated world halfway between the tangible and the imaginary “. . It’s an impressive feat, reminiscent of Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit’s combination of analog and digital processes at The Red Turtle, creating something that maintains a grainy, hand-drawn texture while harnessing the possibilities of new technology.

A beautiful electronic score by Dan Levy rounds off the picture, emphasizing the romantic themes of longing and loss and pulling our hearts without resorting to sentimentality.

The post I Misplaced My Physique assessment – hand on coronary heart, you’ll love this… | Animation in movie appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

WASHINGTON – Earthquakes strike without warning. The survival of the great may depend on how well prepared you are.

>> Earthquake of magnitude 2.5 near the coast

Washington State just released the Homeowners Guide to Earthquakes in Washington State to teach citizens how to prepare for quakes and protect their property.

The 28-page online brochure produced by the Washington Geological Survey also contains many facts:

There are three types of earthquake: subduction zone, deep and shallow.

Washington State’s first earthquake security building codes were passed in 1975.

The last great one to hit Washington was in 1700.

This 1700 quake was in the Cascadia Subduction Zone and was believed to be the same magnitude (9.0) as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake off the coast of Japan. While these quakes occur offshore and inevitably bring with them tsunamis, quakes also hit Puget Sound and eastern Washington.

The 2001 Nisqually earthquake was 6.8 magnitude, caused severe damage from Olympia to Seattle, and injured hundreds of people.

Helpful for homeowners, the new brochure identifies and explains various building features that can be dangerous in the event of a quake. As the brochure makes clear, it is not a guide.

Wooden-framed buildings can spin in a quake, but survive. Unreinforced masonry is more unforgiving and more likely to collapse.

The brochure recommends the following, among other things:

Anchor decks on houses.

Secure propane tanks and water heaters.

Attach wood stoves and hoods to floors and ceilings.

Reinforce items around the house that could fall on children or vulnerable adults, such as televisions, large furniture, and even small but dangerous objects.

It’s not just what your home is made of, it’s where it’s located that makes a difference when it comes to damage. The 1989 San Francisco Bay Area quake provided ample evidence that different types of soil in the same environment can react differently to an earthquake.

In addition to surface fractures and vibrations, landslides, liquefaction and tsunamis are other earthquake-related hazards.

Although Washington’s Pacific Ocean coast remains most vulnerable to a quake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Puget Sound is not immune to tsunamis. Even a Puget Sound quake can cause a tsunami, the brochure says.

Many centuries-old homes in west Washington now have newer chimneys – the result of the 1949 earthquake that destroyed stonework from that time. The brochure contains tips for checking the safety of your chimney.

As in any good earthquake safety guide, the booklet includes a checklist of over 20 items available for a post-earthquake survival kit. In addition to food, clothing, and first aid, less obvious items include sleeping bags and a tent, important documents, and pet food.

You can find the brochure at: dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_homeowners_guide_earthquakes.pdf.

The post You’ll be quake smarter with this free booklet if the Huge One hits Washington – KIRO 7 Information Seattle appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.