Catskills - Sullivan County - Ulster County Real Estate -- Catskill Farms Journal

It's been a good couple of months (or should I say years, or should I say decade, which is fast becoming true). Here are some recent news profiles - Times Herald Record Web Cast about DIY project - And our organic spray foam insulation business we started at the height of the financial panic last February. We just received word from New York House magazine that EcoTech Spray Foam won a special mention in the region for Innovative Products. And then the Article in NY House was fun and flattering. And the Hudson Valley Biz Journal didn't hurt.

DIY's TV show we are working on is taking this boring old period ranch and trying to snaz it up a bit with a full on renovation. There are actually 6 shows being filmed at this house in Bethel NY, with 6 separate film and production crews, 6 different hosts/talent and 6 separate schedules. I'd never thought I'd say 'construction is easy compared to this', but without a doubt, construction is easy compared to this. We had 3 days to take the backyard of this ranch and make it pop. Final pics not allowed till the show airs, of course. It's funny - because of the production priorities and schedules, the master bed and bath are completely finished and furnished, and so is the back yard. Everything else is still early construction.

Then we just finished up Farmhouse 12, and the family is coming up for the first weekend. Here's Norm and the gang finishing the grade and planting the grass. He looks comfortable supervising, which is dangerous.

Then we got Cottage 25 rounding the home stretch for a mid june closing.

Floors looking good after being stained and polyed.

Cottage 28 moving right along, - the trim phase (doors, windows, crown) etc... happening next week.

And Ranch III with the radiant tubing in the slab, which was poured today.

And then sweet little Cottage 29 taking shape nicely.

Well, that's what we are up to. Great frickin' spring weather. We are able to fire on all cylinders with weather like this.

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It's been a bit crazy around Catskill Farms lately - this is the 3rd weekend I've had to double book appointments, meaning take more than one prospective customer out at a time since there just isn't enough time in a day to accomodate all the 'tour requests' - even got an email the other day from Mike wondering how to make an appointment for one of these 'famous tours'. So anyway, to make a long story short, I'm thinking about buying the above touring vehicle, and outfitting it with a speaker system - 'And here's Pablo's house on the right, and Jeanne's on the left and this old rock wall used to be the foundation of barn, and you see that deer and group of turkeys - I paid them to run across the yard just at the right moment, and that other family that is trailing behind us, well, they are paid actors to inject a sense of urgency into your homebuying process." Lisa always says I belong on the 'short bus', so why not go out a buy one? Then I bought this cool high end photo manipulation software - so hopefully I can jazz up my photos even more than presently. Below is a radical interpretion I call "Guest Bathroom and John and Wendy's New Farmhouse". Who spiked the kool-aid?

Old School black and white of Farm 12, a house idea that the new owners brought to me - and after literally months of work nailing down the shaker details, and finding the land that matched the house - here we are, literally 6 months from ground-breaking, literally the weekend I told John it would be ready, here we are, just closing the deal this past Thursday.

Farmhouses and larger homes were our bread and butter for the first 4 years - I think I designed and built 14 1800 sq ft farmhouses, barns, art and crafts homes and the like from 2003 to 2007. Now we usually have one going but our bread is buttered more with cottages (1300 sq ft), mini-cottages (980 sq ft), micro-cottages (750 sq ft) and now the Shack series at (400 sq ft). This home is on 7+ acres, has a seasonal stream, big trees and pretty picture perfect setting.

The thing about our homes is that they are not complex, grandiose, over-the-top marvels of craftsmanship. They are well-built, and they will stand the test of time both from an aesthetic and quality point of view. The genius is in the appreciation and execution of simple ideas - ie, an appreciation of good taste.

In the below photo - a simple entry way with stone flooring, a sliding barn door that segues into the powder room, laundry and double closet, a simply elegant staircase and spindle treatment, and some Jacobean stain to finish it off classically.

A little photo shop trickery below.

And the light that cascades into the dining room like the pearly gates of heaven. Actually, another photo shop effort.

Cathedral ceiling in the kitchen, a ceiling fan and recessed lighting. And the cool rad off to the left.

From the kitchen, past the stairs and peeking into the fireplace room.

Lots of heat in this room with the fireplace and white brick, and two radiators. French doors lead into the library with built in bookshelves.

Great built in with a great window seat with lifting lid for the kids to hide in.

Laundry room area, with the 5 panel doors and black hardware stealing the show.

2 upstairs landing shots - one manipulated, one not. Bead board edge and center planking make up a traditional wainscotting.

And the master bedroom, where the magic happens. The 15 light door leads out to the 2nd floor deck.

Double his and her sinks in the bathroom off the bedroom. I hate the words subdivision, development, bonus room and even master bedroom (made worse by the abbreviation 'MBR') and worst of all, Master Suite.

Great shower with bench.

A little more fun - these doors lead to the kid's rooms, the linen closet and the gst bath, respectively.

These hanging trough sinks have really become popular. I think Albert pioneered the selection.

So there you have it. So far this year we have built and sold Cottage 24, Cottage 2o, Ranch II, Barn II, Micro III, and now Farm 12. Cottage 25 will be coming in for a soft landing here in Mid-June, and Cottage 28 and Ranch III are under construction and spoken for. Cottage 29 just got started and is unspoken for and Farmhouse 14 is sitting, furnished, looking for a date to the dance. We just put some furniture in and boy does it look great.

Just read in the Times that some owners of an expensive 'green building' in lower Manhattan are suing the developer because the 'green' attributes are dubious at best, with no quantitative proof of lower energy costs or improved air quality. I think this is a great development, because if you are out saying 'this house is green', 'this house will pay for itself', 'this house will improve your health', 'this house will save you money' - then the house better be all those things. If someone buys a $400k home over a $325k home because they believe it has long term financial benefits, then that house better perform.

In terms of all the 'green washing' out there - builders and marketers are trying to gain an edge by claiming their homes are green, I'd say watch out. I see a field day for a good attorney, quantitively proving that a lot of these claims are bullshit, leed certified or not. I think a good young attorney could really make his make suing for 'misleading or outright false advertising'.

Our homes - I don't even bother yelling they are green they are so green. With the fantastic spray foam insualtion, salvaged materials, propane boilers, small footprints and efficient build process- I will put our homes head to head with any modular or stick built 'green builder' - the proof, they say, will certainly be in the pudding.

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Our latest and greatest and last ad in the New York Magazine, a 13 week run that I thought was really pretty neat. I mean, we owned it - no one upstate was running ads, and here we were - this itty bitty little red engine pulling out a 13 week 1/2 page ad run. We are doing a lot of building, and it looks like we will be doing so for the foreseeable future, having just consummated two new deals, as well as probably another big one on the short term horizon. Here's the pink house - and if you can remember back when they put this pink house wrap up, I bemoaned the fact since now the house was going to be pink until we got the siding up. In the foreground is the 1998 Rav that I bought when I moved up here in 2002. Drove it for 130,000 miles, Lisa learned how to safely drive in the snow in it (she's from Virginny), -although come to think of it she was one of the few people who could get that car stuck - it was virtually stick free, with it's all-wheel drive, etc... Then Juan, who is back in Guatemala with his kids, bought it from us, and now Job, Juan's protege bought it from him - and it lives on and on. Seriously, nothing like a reliable car to help you get ahead of the game.

Here's Ed, really 'pouring it on' for the camera. His grimace from the weight of the board is a bit overkill in my book. This is the 2nd day of floor laying, and we will finish it up today. That's the good and bad thing about small houses - they go quick, and that means a shorter construction time, but it also means you gotta be on your game in regards to administration - every two days brings a new phase.

The upstate landing with the sheetrock art and wood ceilings. Anytime I can steal a little space from the bedrooms and give a little to the upstairs foyer, I do it - in terms of space give-back, that intangible feedback that sells homes, and inspires buyers (actually one and the same thing) - a little knowledge goes a long way. Looking into the mbr and the upstairs bath. There's another half bath in this Cottage 28 - a 1300 sq ft 2 bedroom wonder.

And the bedroom, with lots of light, and big high ceilings. And we are not wasting anytime on Ranch III - a 1200 sq ft 2 bedroom on a concrete slab with radiant heat, super insulation and secret little house spot that fits the home like only a builder with 70 homes under his belt could manage.

We got John coming through the ultra May green with the secondary electric, bringing power to the home so the rest of us can work like gentlemen.

And Rich the plumbing and heating maestro surveying his slab rough in, just about ready to put the piping under air pressure to check for any leakage. His co-worker behind him always runs from the camera, like he's the subject of America's Most Wanted episode.

First the dig, then the footings, then the foundation, then the stone tamped, then the waste and vent lines, then the slab electric outlets, then the insul-tarp, then the slab wire, then the radiant heat and then the slab - and then the frame goes up. Won't be long.

And this 2400 sq ft home that has been in the works on Tuthill Road since last November is reaching the closing table tomorrow. Not much more really needs to be said.

Tito is wrapping up the back porch with his magic painting brush.

And Cottage 25, with the screened porch for bug free dining and cocktails. Rough cut locally harvested porch railings.

Handhewn stair posts, red kitchen, ledgestone wood stove nook.

A bold red kitchen, that really works.

And the room that will serve many purposes I'm sure.

And our newest Cottage, this 960 sq ft pretty cool design is up for grabs - that's right - unspoken for. That's right, unsold. That's right - a cottage for sale.

8 acres in the town of Lumberland, in the hamlet of Barryville. Just another little piece of magic in the middle of nowhere.

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