Goings On.
I hate being censored, and every now and again someone will write to me with some far-fetched reason why I should delete that, retract this, change that. Whatever, sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't. When I railed against Mr Aragon's anti-growth ideas, whatever he thought of my thoughts, at least he had the respect to let me write what I want unfettered. You have to respect that.
Saugerties has a cool real romantic (for those inclined) lighthouse at the end of a 1/2 mile sandy walk out into the Hudson. When I'm up there I often run from my apartment on Partition Street down to the lighthouse and back.
The Hudson is a pretty serious river for sure.
It's huge.
Down below on the left are three land lovers outside of Joe and Katie's house outside of Narrowsburg, NY. Joe is clearing some land and in the interim is storing his long ass canoe in the center of it. He had the canoe shipped to our offices and I couldn't help but laugh at the size of the thing. It was like 40' long.
And Veronica and Bill and Son.
This picture below is interesting cause you can't even see them but there are at least 5 chicks in the picture but are so well-evolved with their youngster camo you can't see them.
Over on Coldbrook Road in Bearsville, NY (part of Woodstock NY) we have a project going for a guy who I think writes for the Jimmy Fallon Show. I don't watch much tube but I hear it's funny.
I went from land to shell to house in a split second. We got our rough-in inspection and now we are ready to insulate.
Up outside of Saugerties we have a cool house going as well. We are building a new Arts and Crafts house in Saugerties and one in Barryville, so don't matter if you want to be in Ulster or Sullivan, we got this house for you.
We bought two lots next door to each other. And we are building Barn VI on this one below.
Over outside Narrowsburg we have Farm 19 going up.
Bam
Smash
Wallah
And then our favorite road in Stone Ridge, that brought us lots of luck with Cottage 38.
It's funny how in Woodstock NY they try and act like the music festival of 1969 was actually held there. The real story is it was held in Sullivan County, Bethel NY, after Woodstock pulled their permits a few days/weeks before the event.
Hey, can't see the harm I guess....
Then a week or two ago Courtney and Bronson had a summer warmup at their pad. Lucas and I went over and crashed it. Lots of homeowners and others from the area were standing around eating some good burgers, drinking some good drinks and telling some good stories.
Pictured below is Courtney (Cottage 22), Justen (Cottage 19), Deb (Cottage 14), and Daniel (Micro 3).
Courtney and Bronson have good taste and a lot of fun furnishings so I always take prospective clients over there to show them the full extent of our game.
Down below was this funny burrito joint on 212 between Woodstock and Saugerties. It was a bit of oasis with a sultry burrito queen hanging out the front window very new orleans-like.
I know - it's gross. But it was either this snotty picture or one of his cute dimpled butt.
Figured this one would save me the harassment of the emails I would surely get telling me to take it down 'don't you know that's child porn in some states'.
Hey, it ain't easy being the hippest, coolest, smartest, handsomest builder in Sullivan County. Ok, Ok, so the competition is a little shallow but hey, small ponds are fun to swim in too.
Happy Memorial Day.
Barn V - SOLD
Barn V - super hot, super finished, super sold. That's right, that's our 2nd this month, with 2 more to go.
It's funny how the house starts - with one design, then a few quick revisions later we have something totally different. Something new, fresh and theirs. And then we keep tweaking that design and come up with 5 iterations of it.
Galvanized metal roof and the deep bluish/grey siding. Even a small thing like posts 45ing back into the house instead of posts coming down on the front porch. A subtle but defining feature.
The Modern ManShed.
Back of the house with a part covered and a part open with doors into the dining area. It also has a walk-out basement with lots of windows.
Bill and Veronica and James keep in the interior palette pretty clean. The open stairs allow for a see-thru space. This home has 3 beds, 2 baths, dining area, living room area and the kitchen.
From the front door looking at the back of the house.
Baby gate, powder coated hinged barn door, radiator, open chunky treads and cable rail and some hand-hewn posts and even a jelly jar sconce.
Again looking through the house to the back porch and yard.
2 baths and kitchen. This bath has a separate bath and shower.
A lot of our homes start with a vision of the kitchen - a few exceptions like Matthew's vision of the camp bunk beds and designed a house around them.
This is one of my favorite shots of the house. It's a good corner with a great light.
And pics of Bill and Veronica and their son. I'm trying to think - I'm not sure if he was born when we started looking for land - or if he was, he was just a little guy, not like now where he's totally a big boy.
I thought this was pretty good light for sure.
Nothing explains and details our process and success with our process better than our clients - here's the followup, when we got it done for them.
"Hey Guys
Would like to say thanks for all the hard work from u and team on putting this project together. The house looks amazing with a lot of small details that were very important to us and decisive in giving the house a unique look like we wanted. James was very patient and professional during the whole process and made everything super easy for us - honestly it was easier to build a house upstate than any renovation we've did in the city.
Chuck, on your end the business model really works - we have a house ready in 8 months having to visit 5/6 times. I am recommending to friends already and I am pretty sure that once they spend some weekends in our place you will have new costumers!!
Once we are settled you are invited to some caipirinhas at our place!!"
We have a lot of happy customers and I think it's a real testament to how hard we try.
Weekender
Lots to do up here in the Catskills on a nice sunny weekend. This is the scene outside of the Whistle Stop in Narrowsburg, NY.
Then Lucas catching a few zzzzz's before our next adventure...
Which took the form of some kayaking on the Mongaup Reservior. What a day for that today, with hardly a breeze and the temps hitting 81. Yesterday my sister and did 23 miles on a bicycle so not bad for staying active in the month of May.
Last year I bought a single rider canoe with a little extra space so Lucas and I can travel the waters together up here this summer.
He likes going shirtless and shoeless after seeing the Avengers last weekend (yes, his Mom said the same thing - "he's too young to see that!!:")
So now he wants to be called Bruce Banner and has this whole 'change in the Hulk" routine thing down pretty good, not to be confused with his tiger roar or other personalities.
After the kayak ride, waiting to catch a ride to the pizza shop.
Earlier in the day we went out to York Lake and where Farm 20 is gonna be built. Had to meet the solar guy so we can position the barn/garage in a true south position to maximize sun exposure. Also had to evaluate the shading because positioning it well doesn't well matter much if you got trees in the way. So we got that done - as you see Norm has done a pretty good job clearing the site.
Lucas is with me a bunch on Saturdays and Sundays and I'm always wondering what he is picking up at these construction and sales meetings and general hanging out with the big guy doing deals. I forget he's in the back seat half the time as I'm on the phone dealing with something. I'm sure it's not all lost on him for sure.
And then Art from Cake Boss was up to check out our houses with his fiancee. He asked if there were a lot of black people in the area and I said not really but there are a lot of gay people if that is any solace.
Farm 19 in Narrowsburg is up and by the end of the week should be just about ready for the roof.
And then a real tragedy - where Bryan's (from Cottage 34) dog ate the arm off Captain America, instigating a real drama until lucas got convinced that a one-armed superhero was even more super.
And his pals.
And Barn V closed on Friday (yep, another one down). That post will come tomorrow.
Random Sunset Migrations
There she is - The Rock House. My first house in Sullivan County that I bought on a credit card in 2001, two months after 9-11. All 400 sq ft, unfinished, no plumbing, knew no one, didn't even have a car. A few miles outside of Jeffersonville. it's where it all started - with the wood stove, the privations, the dreaming and the defeats. It's a tremendous property where I raised a dog, a couple of kittens, started a little family, and got Catskill Farms off the ground.
The story is so base it is best told in small examples like storing my food outside during the mild winter of '01-'02, or the fact that the family wouldn't come up to visit for Thanksgiving (the holiday I traditionally hosted) unless I put a driveway in and replaced my camping two burner with a working stove and my exterior cooler with a refrigerator.
Of course, the $2m barn and garage is only taking the concept of simplicity, so well honed at the Rock House, a little further. Nothing we do is overly complicated. It's just not our thing - and to be honest, restraint and simplicity is a lot hard to achieve than most design ambitions anyway.
The siding job photo from a week ago would be further along if the siding guy didn't take a vacation in the Dominican Republic for a week+, god bless him not.
Some fun open cable rail steps...
Old School, with the subway and the gravity tank and I love the black toilet seat.
The nest thermostat which takes our homes up a notch...
And a funky wine cellar with stone and wood and shelves.
The lap pool is up and running and ready for the first biathlon trainee, or lead in to a great porn scene, no plot necessary.
Farm 19 is rolling with dog and all. Since this photo was taken, the house is nearly built.
And Sweet Barn V, where Bill & Veronica from Brazil knocked it out of the Park with subtlety and taste.
And this lot clearing is just an example of the tens of thousands, actually the hundreds of thousands of dollars that our customers spend locally in their assorted projects and home improvements.
The clients of Catskill Farms have injected Sullivan County with a real jolt of dollars over the last 6 years, in small and large ways.
