Killington. Family.
10+ annual trips to Vermont over President’s Day weekend. Always a changing cast of characters, sometimes ballooning past 12 people and sometimes shrinking to two. This year my brother, his 26 yr old son Eli Petersheim, his 20 year old son Marcus Petersheim, and my 15 yr old son, Lucas Petersheim, who can now benchpress 160 lbs and deadlift 315, or so he says. Lucas, heading towards the starting qb role in a year, and dating the smartest girl in class, and a darn nice kid with a good group of friends to boot, has been a grand achievement of mine. Anyone who parents knows there is no surefire guarantee any of the above attributes will turn out the way you hope, aspire, dream and work.
We did Stowe for years, but are into year 3 of Killington, a larger mountain with less bougie aspirations than Stowe. It’s a great big wide mountain with lots of diversity of slopes of all sorts of skill levels and terrain. My son Lucas has become a good skier which is fun to see. Marcus, in his first weekend of skiing ever, sort of frightening to watch.
It’s fun that life is long so things have a chance to work out.
I guess it's been an up and down year for VT skiing, with some snow, then rain. And from what i was hearing over the weekend, this was their best weekend of new snow all year, with 6-8 of new powder on the ground over the weekend. Some good luck is good - cause I get my share of bad luck across 16 job sites on any given Sunday.
Getting ready to close on Ranch 65 - and then will probably knock a sale out every 3 weeks for the rest of the year, +/-.
Houses - another 2 into contract. Library Work.
This is getting a little crazy.
8 houses under contract in Ulster County.
4 houses under contract in Sullivan County.
3 spec houses under construction that will be sold this year.
The hour and a half kick-starting the cataloging of thousands of old books started in earnest yesterday at Grey's Tower, and it was as spiritual and meditative as I had hoped. Literally picking up and holding (with my thin rubber gloves on) hundreds of books, originals mostly, from the the late 1800's across the fields of history, philosophy, humanities, ecology, many with notes handwritten on the inside cover, some with notes from the author to the Pinchot. Some had personal cards in them, newspaper article cut outs, etc... It was literally holding the past in my hand. I'm a big fan of the 1870's - 1925 historic period, encompassing the mature Industrial Revolution, the gilded age, the conservation movement, and the Jazz Age. Pinchot was a contemporary and friend of Teddy Roosevelt and the writiing of and about that man lay just one 'section' over. Grey's Tower is a national park service property, run by the nat'l Park Service. We made it through 3 shelves in Section 1 in the bright chilly morning before I had to head back into battle.
New owner our new micro-cottage - "CHUCK! The house is beautiful. We are completely stunned. Just wanted to send a massive thank you. My jaw was on the floor looking at the photos."
New owners at a new farmhouse - 'House looks beautiful. You've reach new heights in your craft.'
I haven't actually looked at the stats, but I'm wondering if the jan 2023 - feb 2024 time span hasn't produced more blog posts than any period in recent history.
I think a lot, really I do, I'm a thoughtful person, about the pros and cons of my blog and what I choose to write about. it may seem I'm reckless but that's the furtherest thing from the truth. It's sort of a very rare form of gorilla marketing where I just have faith that my clients and reader are smart, worldly, broadly perspectived enough to understand or at least reflect on all the different layers of communication happening with each post. I deal with humans, everyday, lots of them, in a wide range of activities - it's a fascinating journey, and while I always seem most motivated to write when things are messed up, it's still a fair record of the journey. Just the duration of the effort is legitimacy in and of itself. So many players have come and gone - many a lot better financed than me.
I'm doing a lot of time reflecting. I must be getting old. I can't decide if I'm in my prime or not - I know one thing for sure, I'm a lot more measured than I used to be. OMG, I can the laughing and guffawing from here.
It's true - my blog is a bit like pornography - everybody reads it but no one cares to admit it. That's fine. I'll take it, as well as the profits that seem to come with being real and trying hard.
Ashokan Acres SOLD OUT
Even by the Boss standards of Catskill Farms, selling out Ashokan Acres in Olivebridge NY is truly a Boss move. There are so many things large and small to even being able to visualize moving things along that fast it's hard to put into words, but that was the whole idea in the Spring of 2022 when I purchased the 70 acres just down from Tetta's General Store. I'm 2 years into it, pushing close to $5m invested, not a penny of return yet, but it's coming. Even with the vibrant sales of our homes there, it would still be a heavy financial lift if I was using borrowed money at common commercial rates at 8, 9, 10 % - that bleeds money right out of your bottom line at an alarming rate, payable monthly. But nope, mostly self-financed. Still need to keep it moving, for a myriad of reasons, but at least you don't have the interest breathing its sloppy bad breath down your neck 24/7. Frankly, the project has been hard enough - add in severe financial stresses and it would be nearly unbearable.
For the first time in 4 years, we are also seeing the relief in the schedule of our subcontractors, so it seems like we are entering a perfect storm of good news for our production capacity. Super busy, great relationships all around from subs to suppliers to municipalities, to a staff kicking ass - and then a reprieve in the busyness that everyone from building departments to framers to lumber companies were experiencing, so they can better serve us - Who else better to serve!!, is my question!.
Back in 2009, when we remained busy during the international financial crisis by pivoting to good looking small cottages, we were able to forge some relationships with vendors who were looking for new customers as their primary ones slowed down or went out of business. Some of my most important relationships of my business career happened in the tough times of 2009, when I was able to break in with some subcontractors who never would have answered my calls without a recession.
Today I start flexing my nerd side, which lurks just below the rugged all-american handsomeness, and volunteer at Greys Tower, helping them organize and catalogue their disorganized book collection that numbers around 5000. I love big old mansions, and love old books, so this should be nearly a spiritual experience.
Grey's Tower is in Milford PA, and was the home of the Pinchot family, who are credited with founding the American conservation movement in the late 1800s.
Micro Cottage 6 - SOLD
We haven't built one of these mini's since 2020, pre-pandemic - but now that I built it again I remember how special these spaces are. They were a huge hit back in the day, especially these 800 square feet ones, with 2 bedrooms, decks, etc... 5+ acres - really just a slice of heaven. This one sold for $450+/- which is $200k more than our 2010 versions. Costs are up, inventory is down, and there is literally nothing interesting and inspiring in the $400k range - and that's where we come in with our minis.
This one is on Lake Ridge Road in Narrowsburg NY.
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We are selling a lot of houses right now - I know I keep saying that, but it keeps happening. And gratefully, we have a team breathing fire and really creating one of the most seamless experiences and processes we've ever had.
After all the hard work last year putting this vision into place and recruiting the talent necessary to do it, to say it's rewarding to see it come into reality would be a major understatement.
