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

It's weird how in good design, until the final piece is put together, the final floor is finished, the final paint is applied - how in good design, until the final stroke is brushed on, the house just isn't complete.

I see that in a lot of homes, and this one we are just finishing up in Stone Ridge had the same feeling as we were coming up on the final homestretch.  I would stare at the front of the house and just feel something was missing - I thought shutters, more porch, more something but I just couldn't pick it out, which is rare for me.

And then the window trim got painted a color that complimented the roof and that was it - wallah - wonder no more.  James, our project manager, in house designer and project administrator, and the homeowner Amanda brought it home with this final brush stroke of inspiration (forgive the pun).

The subtlety of design and site execution on this home is important.  The front yard/grade comes up just below the siding, keeping a large home low slung in a way.   The concrete and earth fireplace chimney, the way the deck stays low and slope higher as it goes out of vision.  Neat little porch roof at the front door.

The home is defined by a high open spaced living dining and upstairs landing.  Wood planks ceilings, cable rail, intricate and hand hewn/built stair case.  Dark on Light.

Butcher block countertops and a fun working kitchen.

Lots of light, lots of chimney.

Dueling barn doors on the 2nd floor.

Master bedroom wood stove.

Master bathroom.

Rear entrance with stone to catch the mud.  I believe that a dutch door that the top and bottom open independently - and that's always fun.

Heres the front entrance, with high beaded board - perfect for art and hooks.

This project started with a young family and a fire and concludes with what I'm hoping is a true and meaningful happy ending.

For more project pics -

Sure, some of you doubting Thomas' might say I'm only hyping Nest cause they pay me for advertising on my website, but I'd say that has it all backwards.  The only reason they are allowed to advertise on my website and gain a foothold with our 100 families across 4 counties is cause the do it right.

Eric - the owner, and father of 3 girls under 10 - stands behind his word  -you know you aren't going to some befuddled country runaround if you have a problem.

So, he's making a play into lawn and gardening services - a natural expansion from his property management platform.

You know how it is at the end of the winter and everything is so blah blah and the leaves you piled but never gathered are now killing your lawn (see above for real life example) and that momentum you had last fall just isn't there after an ass kicking winter.

So, I call Eric's team, and within a week I had the sharpest, neatest, tightest, leaf free lawn cut property on Crawford Road.  It was a good service, and if you want to go from blah blah look at my crappy property to bling bling look at my styling, I'd call Eric.  He's also segueing into gardening (hopefully with a hottie gardeness doing the designing and overseeing) and a bunch of other niche tasks and chores.

Here's my Neighbor Theresa Pagano (I'm sure her first real mention in a digital fashion, and this blog post will now define her online profile so I better make it good since she has helped raised lil' lucas (who's reading now) since he was just a little babe. ) She also doubles as my site manager when I'm not home and things are happening around the grounds.

I get a lot of 'your neighbor was down' from vendors working on my property - meaning she was pointing out something that wasn't up to snuff or prioritized right.

And Billy cutting down some dead big trees so we can plant some weeping willows.

And the end of the day for me, on my back deck.  It was a little weird - the lawn guys, the tree guys and the cleaning woman (who makes notes to me like '2 expired yogurts' , 'ant season - no food out' and arranges Lucas' stuffed animals animatedly on his bed) were all working on the grounds on the same day and I had to just take a step back and say 'who am I?'

Mud season is upon us.

But no better way to watch the seasons change than on the Hudson River.

And then the Spring thaw.

And Lucas always playing around.  $10 bucks I can't find that umbrella when I need it next.

So busy, so good.

Our Country Living Home in Rhinebeck is going swimmingly.

El;ectric finally - after building the whole damn house without it.

Nice light helps a photo.  Simple advice but oh so easy to poopah.