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

Cottage 6 is a simple 1300 sq ft cottage with a lot of care in the details. It's not everyday we installed duel heat lamps in the bath, a steam unit, a movie room, salvage barn siding flooring, and exposed rafter porches. Here's a pic of the house while climbing the hill from the brook.

And a shot looking eastward.

Standing in the kitchen/dining room looking into the living room. Note the elements - 2 chalkboard doors, exposed rafters in the kitchen, perfect old floors with hand cut nails.

A pic of the bathroom under the glow of the duel heat lamps. Clawfoot tub, vessel sink, and local bluestone on the floor.

Very large and roomy shower/steam room with glass tiles and bluestone flooring.

The office/spare bedroom.

Living room looking into the kitchen and up the stairs.

We started this cottage in November and worked pretty hard at through the winter. The owner was only able to visit 3 times during construction so our ability to understand the direction of the homeowner was put to the test since the collaboration was mostly pictures and phone calls. I think it's safe to say it worked out just fine.

Another architectural gem to decorate the landscape of Sullivan County.

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We are busy. Everyday. Including Saturdays and Sundays. A sampling - We started framing Cottage 7. Began the demo and restoration of a 130 yr old farmhouse. Are completing the landscaping at Lot 1 and Lot 2 at Highland Farms. Getting the CO for Cottage 6 so we can get 'er sold. Getting the CO for Monte so he can sleep in peace. Beginning the subdivision work for the 50 acres I bought last Friday. Continuing the work at the office space so I can move in by the end of May or so. Planning the design of the McGinnis Cottage (2nd draft), planning the design for Adam and Brian (Cottage 9), getting started on the contract and design for Gayle. All in all - quite exciting, considering the doomsday scenarios being bandied about.

If I needed a reminder as to why our new old houses are such a hit, all it takes is to delve into a remodel of a 100 yr old house to remind me. The thing about old houses is you never really now how old they are, or how they were constructed, or what you are going to find. Even to a old vet like myself, each one is a real challenge and budget-buster.

More or less, just the opposite of the homes we sell, - where any uncertainty to the price or product revolves only around the bedtime debates of our clients as to whether the cedar shake siding is worth the expense, or whether foundation and chimney stone veneer is in the cards. Other than owner-inspired upgrades - which, surprisingly, are relatively rare - we come in right on budget - and when I say right on budget, I mean to the penny, and frankly (honk honk) it's unheard of in construction.

An old house, however, is only for those with lots of tolerance for the unknown. For instance, this frickin farmhouse on Crawford Rd was thought to be around 100 yrs old. Turns out to be more like a 140 yrs old, before standard framing wood was available. So we are finding tree limbs for roof rafters -

And 3 layers of roofing materials. The roof on this house reminds me of one of those archeological digs, or geology projects, where you tell the age of civilization by the layers in the dirt.

On this house we started with regular old worn out shingles, which are a breeze. But not when the next layer is old school standing seam metal roofing (see sample on front porch), below that is very uncommon cedar shake roofing (probably the mid-1800's original) and under that nothing but some bridging (usually you would find some solid sheathing).

Looking up through the roof from the 'master bedroom'.

And then the roof rafters being constructed of tree branches, about 3 inches thick, that really took the cake.

All and all, if you are a homeowner with a hired contractor, probably a $10k surprise in the first week of construction. Goodbye Viking Stove.

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