Cottage 43 -Livingston Manor

 Cottage 43 lives in Livingston Manor NY, on the Southern edge of the Catskill Park.

This has been a popular design and each time the iteration takes a unique creative direction - this draft eliminating some walls on the first floor between the living room, kitchen and fireplace room.

Handhewn posts and custom stairs.

Trying to turn this baby over by June 17, one of 5 home sales set for the next 5 weeks.

Cottage 44 - Sold

Brrrr - it's cold up here in the Catskills for this Holiday Weekend - cold and rainy.  Will have to see how it plays out, but not looking good right now, though I have no problem lazin' around, cooling my heels, if that what the weather calls for.

We are super busy closing out 6 projects and starting 4 more.

Here's Thomas' Cottage in Saugerties NY - inspired by Matthew's Cottage 36 in Narrowsburg, and Miles' Cottage 40 in Woodstock.  Started in the Fall, Finished in the Spring.  Just like clockwork.




3 beds, 2 baths, 1450 sq ft.  6 acres.




Screened porch.




Some cable rail, rough hewn railing highlights.




The next generation POJAB - with a wet and dry area.

 These trough sinks are always a winner.

Guest Bath.

The Master bedroom.

And the shared kitchen, dining and living room of lore.

Painted black doors, which I thought was a great new look that we hadn't thought of before.  We just keep using those 3 chords to make new music, keeping it simple, keeping it real and keeping it creative.

Wood burner.

Outdoor party room.

A flashy entrance.

 

Stone wall for the new Owner to restack in his leisure.

And leaving him with the grass already growing.

Be it the cleaning person, the appraiser, the home inspector, the building inspector - we hear the same thing all the time - an exuberant "I could live here!" - coming from people who see homes all day long as part of their jobs, it's a good compliment.

Diverse Projects around Upstate

Saugerties Loft renovation going swell...

Nothing like cement sheetrock, - seriously, the sheetrock was made out of concrete.



One day it's there, 135 yrs of generational living...

the next day it's not....

Cottage 44 in Saugerties is hot.

Mt Tremper Modern House for Broadway.com editor.

Then the dig, and the footings were installed today.  Foundation later in the week. Framing not too long from now.

Cottage 43 in Livingston Manor.

Schoolhouse reinvention in Barryville coming to a close.

Just tagged our new spray foam insulation trailer with some graphics.



Some of the numerous barrels of foam we have sprayed on the way of building this business.

One can guess what happened next as I drove into my new garage with my fancy bike.

Cracked frame.



New bike.




Bike NY - 30,000 riders.

'borne back ceaselessly into the past...'

2 blasts from the past over the weekend, which I spent in Hudson NY, in Columbia County.

The Great Gatsby is more popular than ever with the big splashy new rendition just coming out this weekend.  I caught it upstate, where my date was positive we should go an hour early to get tickets.    My experience of upstate movie viewing won out, we arrived on time, and were on of 8 to see it in the matinee time slot on Saturday.  I'm a big Fitzgerald fan - I like Gatsby, but his other works are compelling too - especially his self-portrait in the CrackUp.  I've been known to explore many a college library's F. Scott Fitzgerald section, meandering quietly in the tall stacks and rows of hardbound books.

Here's a Hudson photo.




Then my friend Shannon McNalley and the Smoke Signals were playing up in Hudson as well - actually, now that I remember it, she was the reason I planned the weekend up there.  I met her when she was graduating from F&M in Lancaster PA, where I'm from.  Any way, she has spent the last 20 yrs playing music, from one club, bar, arena to another.  It's an impressive display of commitment and she's good enough to become a overnight star one day.  Actually amazing to be that well-respected in your industry, know the right people, say the right thing and still barely make a living at it.

Early Bird Cookery - Spring Announcement.

Message from my Friend Amy, who filled a much-needed market niche with her cooking and catering.

Happy Spring! Early Bird is back in the kitchen, at Foodstock this weekend and planning our first farm-to-table dinner for May 25th.  Early Bird will kick-off the 2013 season at Foodstock, WJFF's fabulous food & wine event. It takes place this Saturday May 11th from 11:00 until 4:00pm at the Villa Roma in Jeffersonville, NY. We will be offering prepared meals to-go. Early Bird uses real food sourced from local farms to create mouth watering meals. Let us get dinner on the table! If you miss us here, we will be offering packaged / prepared foods all summer at the Sunday Callicoon Farmers Market or sign-up for a weekly Monday delivery right to your door.  Our first farm-to-table dinner will be a WJFF Fundraiser and will be held on Saturday, May 25th. Dinners will be held the last Saturday of every month through October. Please call or email for more information and menus. Memorial Day Menu - Fava bean, spring pea, fried almonds, wild   mushrooms & parmesan : farmers market greens. - Housemade ricotta cavatelli w/asparagus & spring   pea shoots. (lardons optional) - Buttermilk roasted chicken, fiddleheads,   creamy polenta, chives - Lemon tart, smokey rhubarb jam      Early Bird wishes all our lovely Mother's a happy Mother's Day!  www.earlybirdcookery.com

Pics speak a 1000 words

New home site in Roxbury NY, with a hay bale for a desk.

Abe Lincoln flask I found in Rhinebeck NY.

4 1/2 yr old chest/book-keeping art.

5 boro 45 mile bike ride this weekend.  Looks like another fantastic weekend of weather.

Loft Renovation - Saugerties NY

So, a multigenerational furniture business which owns, and has owned, a large corner building where they have hawked their wares for decades has collaborated with us on a design of the rear living loft portion of the block long building.  Interestingly, many generations of this family have at one time or another lived in this 1500 sq ft 2nd floor loft.  Now, we are redoing it, Catskill Farms style - a little old, a little new and  lot of pizazz.

I keep a little apartment in Saugerties, right around the corner.   A little love nest, you may say (though to be honest, it hasn't seen any female callers except for cleaning company lady).

Its a super cool and historic building.

Pretty old school interior that has seen lots of kids raised and general good-natured overcrowding and limited bathroom quarrels.

The blues...

Super good looking mint green drop ceiling and wall paper.

We're keeping that beadboard door.

I liked this yellow print long hallway - it caught a lot of sun and was a good color for it.  Alas, by the time you read this it will be no more.

The living room.

Hot red bedroom.

The Kids room.

Should be fun  - and of course like every renovation unexpected things happen - but not usually so quick - we started demo and the sheetrock on the interior walls was partially made of concrete, for chrissakes.