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

So, owning 3 businesses, a personal home, a shop/office, real estate, having employees and a growing fleet of trucks, life insurance, health insurance, etc..., I am inundated with ways to protect myself with various insurance policies. It's pretty fascinating all the policies I have, the total cost per year, and the ins and out of the insurance business. I actually spend so much time pricing, reading and evaluating insurance that a couple of times a month a situation arises and I wonder to myself - 'What policy covers that?' My go to insurance knowledge person is many times Eric Goldstein, of Misner Insurance. So, last night I was bored and was watching a show on PBS about snow leopards in the Himalayas, and no sooner did I sit and start watching than this big snow leopard ran across the big screen, actually scaring me it was so big - just so happens Jake the dog, who is now 95 lbs, was in the room to and took off after the cat. Question - does homeowner's insurance cover a dog attacking a big screen television? Or, what if Lucas pulled down the television accidentally, a scenario that seems increasingly likely. Answer - No, homeowner's insurance does not cover such a situation. Good to know, don't you think?

For all of our followers who like to hear me blather on, I will be on the Radio this Monday night, on our local hydro-powered, community-supported public radio station. Dick Riseling does a show every Monday night, and he invited James and I on to talk about our businesses and strategies, and how small homes insulated well just might be the greenest idea out there. His show, Connections, airs at 7:30, this Monday, August 9th. You can listen here -

Oh my Cottages, let me count the ways - Cottage 25 Sold in February. Cottage 20 Sold in February. Ranch II Sold in February. Micro 3 Sold in April. Barn II Sold in March. Farm 12 Sold in May. and Now Cottage 28, sold in August. Also, have contracts on Barn III and Ranch IV, and most perfectly, perhaps another 3 signed commitments this week. Cottage 28 started on April 5 - and was completed in Mid-July. 3 months from raw land to polished perfection. Even the Haters can't take that type of seriousness of purpose away from us.

Denzil and Carolyn came to us one Saturday with a warning - they told right out that if they like what we are doing, they have a bad habit of just doing it, having purchased real estate before. So, they liked what we were doing, and now they are just cooling it on the front porch, just a few short months later.

And this house is great - I love the hayish yellow, the bucks county ledgestone, the front metal porch, the stone on the foundation, the on-demand water heater, the slicked out glass shower.

As with all our homes at this point, we deliver them finished beyond any gray area. Clean, appliances working, grass growing, full tank of propane.

This Cottage has a walk-out, so the basement can be finished off for some nice space. Not that you need a walk-out to finish off the basement, it just adds a nice element to it.

It's amazing how many inspectors and bosses I have - the building inspector, the septic inspector, the homeowner inspector (or sometimes most problematic, historically, the homeowner's Dad), the nosy neighbor inspector, etc... We toe the line for sure, doing a daily garbage check not just on the site, but the roads leading up to the houses as well.

We've had great building weather for the last few months. Hot, dry, production-oriented weather.

Good pic of a finished house. Chalkboard doors, fireplace, cable rail, kitchen island.

Wine rack in the island. Now that's a nice touch.

Hand-hewn posts.

Funky backsplash and sliding barndoor, with radiator back in the corner in front of some wainscotting. I think I mentioned this before, but one of our homeowners thinks we are jerks because we keep getting better, and she resents the fact that we are innovative and her home doesn't have all the cool tweaks that the homes 4 years later have. I mean, that's an absurd proposition, by any measure.

This Cottage in the woods is 1260 sq ft, lives on 5+ acres, has 1.5 baths, full basement, separate dining room that leads directly to the deck, 2 bedrooms, cool driveway approach. I know I've said it 100 times, but this whole open basement idea of Courtney and Bronson's has totally reinvented our little homes by keeping the flow going. Then with some rock treatment at the bottom - now you got something. It adds a bunch to our cost of the home, but so does the prewired audio, the security system, the low heat alarm, the stone chimney chases, the wood siding, the wrap-around porches. It's value, done efficiently, and offered at the best cost we can. An amazingly boring proposition that works.

Glad to report that Bakers Tap Room outside of Yulan seems to be staying busy. Not easy for restaurants to survive up here.

The dining room with it's high white washed ceiling and stained wide plank floors.

The five panel doors with black hardware. Going up the stairs. One thing we try to do, regardless of the size of the home, is to keep a little space, a little elbow room, at the top of the stairs. Even at the expense of little space lost in the bedrooms - it's just such a nice thing to have, instead of a cramped little hallway.

And granddaddy shower, with the half-wall, and glass shower walls, and Denise's special tile border.

Cool sink.

Powder room.

And some simple kitchen shelves to finish it all off.

24 months into the Great Recession and Catskill Farms continues to rock the house, providing these perfect little getaways that work. Our quality at this point and time has reach a state of near perfect quality control, and the challenge will be to remain this attention-to-detail, get-it-done-right-the-first-time company that we have grown to be.

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So 7:30am was a meeting with Al the tree guy to go over some tree cutting, tree topping needs I have to cut open a view for Lot 11, on LakeRidge Road. This guy climbed a 60' skinny tree to rescue our kitten in the time it took me to drive home from the office, which is two miles max. Ruby the cat that was rescued as a kitten from a trap in Brooklyn spent more than 24 hours up that tree. Then over the the Mitchell Farmhouse, renamed as of this moment the Callicoon Farmhouse, to meet with the security system guys, the HVAC guys, the plumbers, the electricians and our carpenters. The building inspector popped in for a review as well. Then over to DIY Blog Cabin house, to meet up with the building inspector for one final CO walk-thru, which we passed without issue. Then over to the Bethel building department to drop off my Certificate of Occupancy affidavit in order to receive that all important CO document. Then to office to meet with the outside salesperson from Superior Lumber in Neversink who is pricing a 'new skin' for our office building. Then took a call from Jason who is installed 60 ornamental grasses at the office in the next few days. Then met with my architect to discuss Shack #2, and a miniature version of Benoist's house for Ase. Now off to inspect the final trim work at Cottage 29, then a newspaper interview revolving around DIY project and then that's it, I guess. Lots of places for things to get really screwed up when you move everyday in so many directions. Chaos management - take it too far and it's sure to cost you money, and not far enough and you sure to miss some serious opportunities.