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Is black and white the new gentrification gray?

Let’s say you’re building a house for someone else, but you don’t know who yet. As soon as the hammers are done swinging and the paint rollers have finished rolling, you put the property on market, and whoever has the most money (and it’s going to have to be a lot of money) gets your house.

But because you are trying to please everyone, or at least everyone rich enough to buy your house, you’re going to have to make some design compromises. You’re not going make spaces for your own funky art installations — that’s too personal. Nor are you going to line the walls with deep wood paneling, the way a mid-century master builder would — too many people would find the look dated instead of classic. And you’re certainly not going to put a two-story waterfall and swimming pool in the middle of your living room — because even though seven-year-old you would find it awesome, most adults would think it insane.

Private yards are for people who have to worry about their neighbors.

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This brings us to 208 Pacific Avenue, a newly constructed, six-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath home in Solana Beach occupying a bizarrely triangle-shaped lot just one house from the ocean in Solana Beach. “The finishing touches are now complete on this Brand New, extraordinary California Coastal Farmhouse, tucked upon a large, corner lot,” brags the questionably-capitalized-and-punctuated Zillow listing for the home.

The first view from the street looks nice — there’s an interesting two-story stack of windows at one corner, looking into what we’ll assume is the living room. The front door is also glass, and is flanked by more windows. I’ll bet the light inside around sunset is impressive, though it’s not clear whether we’ll have a view of the ocean or if the one house in front of us blocks said view. The “manicured grounds” add a pop of color to an exterior that’s otherwise black, white, and not much else.

The first photo we see of the inside is a cozy living area with a fireplace and retractable glass wall looking out onto the covered patio outside — part of the open-concept first floor. In addition to the canned lights, there’s what looks to be a fan with very skinny blades and light bulbs attached at the ends of those blades. It doesn’t appear to be spinning, so possibly this is just another light fixture.

Moving into the “fully-equipped chef’s kitchen with a walk-in pantry/office nook,” we see that the designers were really committed to this black-and-white aesthetic. White cabinets, black handles, white counters, black faucet, white walls. There’s a relatively interesting silver-tiled backsplash behind the range, and the hardwood floors covering the whole first level do add a little color. Also, there’s another one of those three-pronged lights that looks like it wants to be a fan.

Upstairs, the owner’s suite “boasts a luxe bath, walk-in closet and private sun deck.” The cabinets here are stained wood, and the walk-in shower has two gold shower heads, providing some of the only touches of color we’ll find on any of the interior fixtures. We’ve seen this harsh adherence to all-black-and-white décor before; is it becoming the new gentrification gray?

Next, we encounter some pictures of a massive, windowless room with a wet bar at one end. The listing calls this a media room, but also “a versatile space that could be a gym, playroom, or whatever suits your needs.” We also see two pictures of washers and dryers, one set in a full laundry room downstairs and another tucked into a (presumably) upstairs closet, alleviating the need to trek across the house with a load of clothes.

Outside, we get a few more pictures of the yard, which is basically the aforementioned patio and a triangle of grass extending out to the odd intersection surrounding much of the lot. There are no fences so the space doesn’t feel closed off, but also it doesn’t afford much privacy. Perhaps these streets don’t draw a lot of traffic, so that isn’t an issue.

Public records list an Adams Family Trust as the Pacific home’s current owner; It was last sold in 2014 for a reported $1.6 million when the lot hosted only an 1800-square-foot three-bedroom built in 1975. Now that construction is complete, the new house is being offered for $8.8 million, unchanged from its early September list date.

• 208 Pacific Avenue | Solana beach, 92075
• current owner: Adams Family Trust | listing price: $8,800,000 | beds: 6 | baths: 5.5 | house size: 4353