Cottage 22
Cottage 22 is nearing completion and for all you counting, that's little more than 3 months from start to finish. From forest to fabulous. From dream to reality. Pretty nice day for these pictures but it has to be said that the night-time temps are hovering in the 40's. Without a summer, fall is coming. Definitely not the type of Catskill summers we've grown accustomed to, with long stretches of bright blue breezy afternoons.
House looks pretty sharp with the rails installed, finishing off the porches nicely.
This house has a heavy emphasis on the porches, which wraps-around 3 sides, has exposed local rough hewn rafters cut and harvested locally. The porches measure out at about 640 sq ft, adding 66% more of outdoor living space during the suitable months.
Simple fireplace and handhewn beam.
Handhewn beam and steel cable railings.
Sliding barn door, big tub and floor to ceiling subway tile.
3 door styles in one shot. On the left are custom constructed cross buck barn doors with 15" black wrought iron hinges. Center door is a traditional 5 panel. And off to the right is the sliding barn door.
Won't be long till construction is finished and the new owners move in.
My New Friend Jack
So like I have mentioned on several occasions, Saturdays are busy. We usually have a full construction team pounding away at something, a bunch of subcontractors are working away, and then to top it off, it’s our main day for customers to visit. So, two weeks ago I have appointments set - one at 10, one at 12, one at 2 and one at 4. So, I’m in and out of the office and some yahoo calls and wonders if he can ‘stop by’ and see some houses. Now, most times this would be out of the question, in fact, James and I would look at each condescendingly and ask rhetorically ‘what are they thinking’?
But I had a little time (15 minutes) and I liked the guy’s message energy so I called him back and said I had 15 minutes and that wasn’t a lot of time but I certainly could run him up the street to look at one of our homes. He shows up in a bad rental car, and we’re off right away to a house so he can see for himself whether this works for him - so he’s asking questions, quizzing me, I’m giving my off the cuff answers, and he really likes the work he sees and so we get back to the office and we have a few minutes to spare before the tell-tale sound of tires on a gravel drive.
Jack then gives up his game. He’s out scouting the area for the next season of a pretty big home show and he was just about ready to blow town (depressed at what he had seen over course of 2 days) when he came across our website, called up, visited and was quite impressed with moi (not sure if that‘s the correct spelling of moue, that damned French word). I showed him about everything - Cottage 17, Cottage 13, Cottage 14, Cottage 19, Cottage 22, Modern Retro Ranch, Cottage 18 - a true tour de force.
So that was pretty exciting, but we are busy, so it’s not that exciting, and since I always freeze up in front of cameras, I could definitely see negative results as well. Plus I’m sure all the hot TV talent would be trying to get in my pants and I’m a happily married guy and who, frankly, needs the aggravation? So Jack goes back to NYC, then to Nashville to meet with the network bigwigs. No, Jack’s great idea of profiling the construction of one of our new old homes won’t fly, but why don’t you work with the guy to find a great remodel project?
That’s where my good friend David Knudsen of Catskill Buyer’s Agency comes in - local real estate guru, real estate blogger of some renown, man with great knowledge of what’s for sale, where and when.
So Jack wants to see all the ugly ranch houses and similarly challenged pieces of architecture on great settings that Sullivan County has to offer. Dave pulls up a list of 25, he and I narrow that to 10 and we all roadtrip on Friday around the county to see some seriously distressed real estate.
Turns out, between Davids knowledge and Jack’s thoroughness, we found a great lake house remodel potentate that just might be coming to the big screen near you.
And you all can say you knew me when.
$10 bucks Cottage 23 gets an offer this week. You snoozo you loso.
Cottage 23 - Offered tendered, Offer accepted
Did that take 2 weeks? Congrats to the NYC architect and Broadway composer who are joining the Catskill Farms family.
Cottage 23 -
This Cottage we started about 12 days ago, and the following snapshots demonstrate the controlled speed we drive everyday, including Saturdays, and some Sunday. Foundation takes about 7 days.
Day 1 and 2 of the framing.
Day 3 and 4 of the framing.
Existing inspiration for the current Catskill Farms Cottage 23. Day 5.
Another picture of Day 5 framing. Dean the framer will be done tomorrow, paving the way for the roofer, the electrician, the plumbers, the heating guys and the siding guys. Keeping this pace will allow for a 3 to 4 month build time, getting someone into this cottage by Christmas.
