Cottage 6- Below the Line - Barryville, NY
Since the Owner of Cottage 6 makes his living on the big screen, I thought it was apt to use a movie analogy for this post. In movies, 'below the line' are all the people behind the scenes, like camera men, grips, sound, production, etc... "Above the line" are those more visible such as the actors and the directors, etc... These photos could be considered 'below the line', since they are the unsexy elements that happen before the finishes that everyone sees. But as with many things, what happens behind the scenes is as important if not more than what occurs in plain view.
The Owner of Cottage 6 wanted a stained glass window for an area inside the house that looks out onto the back yard and receives a bunch of mid-afternoon sunlight. So, as I mentioned, we drove to Scranton PA, home Old Good Things (a massive salvage yard) to scan our options. The Owner selected the above old school stained glass mosaic of King David to define his march up the staircase.
This photo highlights what will be the steam room/shower combo in the upstairs bath. Flip a switch (or, since we have passed the '90's), push a button, sit back on the tile bench, and steam away.
Here's Lisa, a new addition to our team, surveying the stain glass with a wary eye. She is standing in the basement/ground floor room that will someday be a very hot media room, with surround sound and other fast amenties (like electric and cable).
The Owner opted in for a fair amount of exterior stonework, and what you see here is the first step of stoning the chimney. First you set up the scaffolding, than apply wire mesh, then apply a 'scratch' coat of mortar, then the stone, when it arrives. We are stoning the fireplace, and the entire exterior foundation.
On Friday we have our 'rough-in' inspection, meaning the building inspector comes round and inspects our wiring, our framing, and our plumbing. The electric also gets inspected by an independent electrical inspector, and with the plumbing, we cap off the plumbing and heating pipes on both ends, and apply 10 lbs of air pressure, and then leave it sit for a few days in order to detect any potential leaks. If the pressure stays static, we are good to go, which is the way we like it.
Bella Drive - Sullivan County - Barryville
Some nice anonymous person made up a sign for my new road and hung it out front with little ribbons on it. At first I thought it was Mrs Carr, but then the ribbon effect probably means it was Maurizio or Benoist. Doesn't really matter - a pretty nice gesture.
Bella Drive, newly posted, at 7:30 am, rising from behind the McInnes property. This project is pretty exciting from a client vantage - Lot 1 is a first time homeowner from a distant land, Lot 2 is a writer/food team expecting their first child (and our 1st full time residence after 25 homes), Lot 3 family just sold a magazine they spent eleven years establising, and Lot 4 is a cinema star.
And then there is me - with a beard that went from chic to hick one morning without me even noticing it.
And then a little more polished in Rome, probably 2 sheets to the wind.
Chapin Estate Deal nears completion
Chapin Estate - Lot 45, Top Ridge, Bethel NY. 6000 sq ft of perfect country living. 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, fireplace, woodstove, etc..., etc...., etc....
A quick picture of the rear of the house. Note my full length cover alls hanging over the railing, the debris pile on the right handside, and the rack propped up against the staircase. Not the sort of thing that makes Lisa real happy.
Below, my home office on a Friday afternoon. A little bit of everything happens here. Lisa and I werent' sure if an active home office would be good thing since I tend to work too much as it is, but it has turned out pretty good, and allows me to nibble away at my work without leaving home all the time.
The living room showcasing the fireplace, the duel balconies and, of course, my lucky charm picture of Abe Lincoln.
Me with Bella.
Our Farmhouse at Chapin Estate has always been our most accomplished home. From a design perspective, it is nearly a perfect getaway home due to the fact that the guest wing is completely separate from the rest of house, giving true privacy for guests and family. Details galore such as old-fashioned radiators, wood plank ceilings, barn board walls, large crown mouldings, full house audio and security, wide-plank floors, fireplace, woodstove, sliding barn door, bluestone flooring in the mudroom - all the usual suspects of our homes except more of them. We don't normally build this large, but for the standard at the gated community at Chapin Estate, this is on the small side of what people are building. Built as a spec home and finished in Jan 2007, Lisa and I decided to move into it because it was a fabulous house and we needed a place to live after our 30 acre farm sold in Bethel near Jeffersonville. So we raised the price and took it off the market for all intent and purposes, and as is usually the case, as soon as we did not want to sell it, a young family decided it was the perfect house for them (it's a perfect house, period, if you ask me.) This is the 3rd time in the last year and a half that I have sold our home out from under my wife to be, and while she is quite the sport, I think I better not do it again. Since we are glass half full type of people, we are appreciative to have lived in several diverse spaces over the last 2 years, because when we go to build our next and permanent farm, we will have had the experience to really design a home from the pros and cons of previous spaces we lived in. As I have told her, you got to take one for the team every now again and hopefully it all pays off in the end (it's a little easier to believe these days, because I think she was just humoring me over the course of the first few years, when debt was through the roof, business was a roller coaster and the learning curve still steep.)
Carr Farmhouse in Barryville NY Nearing Completion -
The architectural landscape of Sullivan County real estate is about to be enhanced once again with the completion of the Carr Farmhouse near Barryville New York. Above photo was taken during the sheetrock polishing phase. What I like about this photo - as the boss - is how clean the house is. Not many things besides actually finishing a job shows the merit of a builder than the cleanness of the job sites. Good for many reasons, not the least being safety and efficiency. The hand hewn beams that were delivered by ol' yeller many months ago stand proudly, separating the fireplace room from the reading room. Sheetrock spackling and polishing is not a romantic trade but is critical to the quality of a home.
Cottage red cedar siding, primed and painted in the factory, being installed rather slowly by the siding crew. I would have liked to see this completed by now, but to be honest, there are lots of things I wish for that I don't get. For instance, a day without being aggravated to the extreme by some nonsense, a little more cash in the bank, or the return of the 34" waistline come to mind as examples. Well, at least I have my health.
This house is going to be sharp - the Carrs have done a fantastic job with not only the design collaboration, but also making decisions in a timely manner. As a whole, the many clients we have collaborated with - Chris and Matthew, Katrina, David, Maurizio, Steve and Christine, Tammy, just to name a few - have not only been amazing in their aesthetic, but also their respect for the process and the deal they struck with Catskill Farms.
