Just to name a few...
We got a lot of house making good progress. Here's Cottage 33, with some bluish/gray siding, white trim and a galvanized metal roof. These customers are always downplaying their design talents, but after seeing this exterior combo, I don't think they are giving themselves enough credit. The biggest compliment I can pay a client is to like their color schemes and palettes on another house, and this is definitely one we will use again.
Cottage 34 foundation is beginning today outside of Narrowsburg. Norm cleared the drive and site the other day, and today we are digging.
Actually, there will be some digging, and there will be some rock pounding, hence the big rock pounding machine on the left.
And Farm 15, coming in at a cool 2400 sq ft, is just coming out of the ground with its foundation walls. Today we are 'pouring the slab', and having the footing drain inspected, and then tomorrow we shall backfill. Framing starts early next week.
Cottage 31 races ahead. We just had our rough in plumbing, heating and electric inspection this morning, and we will be insulating next week.
And our first Shack is up. 500 sq ft, 5+ acres, big views, nice land, close to Narrowsburg.
The Shacks are interesting, and it will be interesting to learn who is interested in them. As we did with the cottages, the mini-cottages, and the micro-cottages, you have to build one first to see who wants them, since nothing existed like it in the marketplace, the demand is initially unknown.
Clock is Ticking
Farm 15, selected by a Dr. of Chemistry, just getting started. 2400 sq ft, 2 car garage, 7 acres. John looking over his handiwork prior to pouring the footings.
With Fall in full bloom, and the windy afternoon shaking off the brittle leaves, leaving just the skinny little legs of big and small trees. We are on a race against time, as we are every year about this time. It starts to get rainy, and then a little colder, and by mid-October you have to start planning on the colder days, then the unpredictable days where we get down below zero, and just when you really start pressing your luck knowing that the super-cold snap is just around the corner, bang - it's here, and everyone scurries around looking for some warmth, hustling to get the septics, well lines, and porch piers in before the ground gets too hard. Below is our first Shack. 500 sq ft, one bedroom, kitchen, 2 deck/porches, full basement, cool views. The Shack is another attempt find a new lower price point in order to open the door to a new wave of country livin' dreamers. We won't know just yet what the price will be, but we are hoping for the mid-$100k's. It's hard to price, since the land, the drive, the electric, the site work such as tree cutting, site clearing, septics wells and foundation are costs that are fixed and the smaller the house, the higher the percentage of cost are the fixed costs. That's Norm and Justin.
Cottage 29 is now nearly complete. One of two homes we have in inventory, finished and ready to sell. Actually, with the Shack above, that makes 3, at 3 different price points. this home is 2 bedroom, 960 sq ft, 7+ acres and a basement.
Micro-Cottage 2 is looking very woodsy with the Adirondack style siding, a first time selection for us. The cottage is spoken for and the Moma momma and her man are coming up on Monday to make some interior design choices. 720 sq ft, 1 bedroom, big open living/dining/kitchen space. Tito in the foreground, painting what he can before the weather turns gray and uninviting.
The writer and his partner country abode below has good views, high ceilings, and by the look from this picture, a happy electrician. 1300 sq ft, 2 bedrooms and a cedar shake exterior.
Two banking pros picked up this neat little mini-cottage and then took a big swing with some dark gray blue siding which will contrast the matte aluminum of the porch roof grandly. 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths.
Of course, we can't forget about Cottage 34, reserved by some NYC art pros. Starting that one shortly. A great house on a 6+ cool acres, a few miles outside of Narrowsburg. Our shop also went down for some badly needed spruce up. This building was in the past was the place where they fixed up the school buses for the Eldred School District - built 20 or 30 yr ago. We moved in 2.5 yrs ago, after working out of my homes for a few years, and have year by fixed it up. We built a big building in the back, and this year we fixed up the interior space in the front building. Before winter hit, I wanted to put on a new roof so we could retire all the buckets around the shop, and we also redid the siding. We could have just painted the siding, which would have looked pretty good, but our main goal was to insulate the heck out of the place with our spray foam insulation - so we stripped 'er down, peeled back the disgusting fiberglass insulation, sprayed the crap out of it from the outside, then put on new metal ribbed siding. We also added a window to lighten up the main space.
Every year we get a little ahead of the game in terms of planning and preparing for the winter. This year we should be in good shape, working indoors with our temp heat and preparing a bunch of homes for their new owners.
Ahead of our Time
New York Times covers the small house trend again in today's magazine, titled, "The Elusive Small House Utopia." And Russel Versace's "Retreats: A World Apart." Trends we are well-aware of, trends we have informed and directed since early 2007 when we started our small home utopias at the height of the large home and mcmansion hysteria, mastering trends that have kept us busy and employed during the Great Recession.
New David Cross Show
So David (think 'Arrested Development'), is one of our favorite clients, having bought into the Catskill Farms thing back a few years ago, and credits his country home with being the sole inspiration for all ensuing work - a writing endeavor entirely inspired and completed on his back porch of Cottage 6 is now premiering on IFC channel. I don't know what I am talking about, but I think he writes, directs and pretty much is in charge of the whole kahuna. Check it out - "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" on the IFC channel.
