Farmhouse #9 on the Market -

Well, it was just over a year ago that I finished this house - as it turned out, one of the most popular designs we ever came up with - so much in fact that I had to start saying no to prospective homeowners who just had to have this design - my god, it's not the only nice farmhouse in our portfolio. I think people really love the porches.

The problem with this house is that, according the homeowners, this house sucked - and here we are now, browsing one of the most glowing reviews of a house one can come by -

Check it out below -

"We fell in love with this absolutely charming home. Modeled after an English Country Cottage this cedar sided 2-story home sits on 4+ private acres. The property itself is just wonderful combining a forest landscape with a rolling pasture bordered by a pristine mountain creek. Situated to take advantage of the position of the sun the owners have built an enclosed garden with reclaimed hinges and copper finials...charming...charming. The home starts off with a large front porch.
The interior is so impressive. The well-thought out floor plan encompasses functionality as well as character and charm, including high ceilings, wide-plank wood floors, crown moldings and schoolhouse electric fixtures. The brick fireplace is the main focus of the large living room. Real barn beams divide the living room from the formal dining room/playroom. The large eat-in- country kitchen has a wonderfully uncluttered appeal. A separate pantry with barn doors accommodates kitchen overflow. There’s a half bath off the kitchen and a rear door that opens to an oversized screened-in wraparound covered deck.
The 2nd level has a master bedroom suite with full bathroom. There are 2 large additional guest bedrooms and another full bathroom. There is a walk-out full basement, again with high ceilings. The heating system is propane hot water and is extremely efficient. The home is alarmed for heat as well as for safety. This is the kind of home that is best viewed in person. .Pure Country Charm and Elegance... A must see. MLS #26146"

I just have to wonder how bad a house can be if the owners are listing the house at a price 20% higher than they paid, after a year of the most dismal declines in housing values ever. But mostly, shouldn't all those deficiencies I've been hearing about for a year be disclosed to the new buyers?

Anyway, I've always thought it was a great house - not perfect, but really great. And by the price the homeowners are asking, I guess they couldn't agree more.

It's not really any of my business, but a $360k-$390k price is probably more doable. And if it was listed with Catskill Farms Realty (which doesn't exist yet), we could have it sold in no time.

The most quirky thing about satisfaction, -be it with art, houses, wives, or life in general, - is that it is all about perception. One man's perfection is another's disaster, one man's happy place is another's hellhole - as a builder, a truer thought has never been thunk, and navigating this truism is always a challenge.

Details, Details, Details

Farm 9 is finished, and the Baby was born - it was a healthy baby girl. I asked them to name it Chuck, or Chuxxx (my call girl name), but they declined.

Farm 9 is perfect - I took Lisa (my girl) through the other day and she had two comments - tight and classy.

By tight, she meant it was obvious the construction details were attended to, and quality control emphasised. By classy she meant - well, it's obvious what she meant.

Which reminds me of a story a few years back when I was caught off guard when someone on the phone asked me who Lisa was, and since 'girlfriend' seems adolescent and 'significant other' seems too mature (especially for us) - so I said, 'she's my friend'. She overheard me and said -'who's your friend?' As you can imagine, that didn't go over that well, and she still brings it up on occasion to prove some point or another.

The Carr's are obviously students of architecture and interior design and the collaboration between them and Catskill Farms (me) was very successful. We started their house in November and finished up late February - meaning a 4 month construction schedule, even when fighting the elements every single day and night.

Barn beam posts and hand hewn shelving separate the fireplace room from the reading room. The beams from my old barn, and the shelves are from a local mill in Beach Lake, PA. They don't deliver so we have make a road trip in old yeller. We went back and forth quite a bit deciding whether to build built-ins or not. Eventually we decided on this design, and the books will create the partition between the rooms. The deep royal blue 3-lite door was a nice touch.

Down below here is a great sink. We ordered from a company that had great stuff -when it arrived we were a little concerned about the innards quality, but it worked out great and I will definitely use them in the future. The georgian green paint is a little washed out in this picture, but it's hot. 7 foot high beadboard wainscotting with a nice little shelf for baby pictures.

And the downstairs 1/2 bath, with baby blue, wainscotting, 5 panel door and simple farmhouse sink and toilet. Also, dark chestnut wide plank flooring really sets the white off nicely.


And the ole clawfoot, great for washing husband after a day out in the fields or the baby doing baby things.

I think it's safe to say the architectural landscape of Sullivan County real estate has been enhanced once again by Catskill Farms and the new homeowners.

Hard Work at Farmhouse #9

Nobody said construction was for the weak - and last week proved the point pretty succinctly (I just want to put it out there that this blog has no spell ck). Besides being butt ass cold, a couple of snow storms blew through.

So there was ice ice ice everywhere - thick ice on the driveways, steps, porches, walkways, etc... and this was the final week of construction at Farmhouse #9, meaning the radiators were being delivered, the clawfoot tubs were being delivered, and lots of other delicate and expensive items.

Not only did all these assorted vehicles need to make it the 1/4 mile up the private lane/driveway to the house, but we then had to carry these items over icebergs to get them in the house.
For example, here's the smiley clawfoot tub delivery guy unloading the 500 lb clawfoot tub. From here we have to uncrate it (4000 screws per inch protecting the tub), and with six men, coordinate our journey across the ice, up the porch steps, into the house, up the stairs, cattywhompass into the master bedroom, and finally remove the door of the master bath to get it inside.

From here we had to cut open the ceiling of the downstairs pantry so the plumbers could get behind the tub to put it together.

Happy Bathing.

This picture of the living room of Farmhouse #9 in Barryville NY shows us unpacking and organizing all the faucets, sinks, toilets, etc... that will go into the house.

And here's Juan and JJ carrying in a 400 lb brand spanking new old school radiator.

Construction is a hardball sport - and the men who work for us know that everyday brings a test of mind over matter, of man over nature.

The men you see pictured in our various photographs are the creme of the crop, having made cut after cut as I have culled the ranks, hired, fired, and rearranged the business, always looking for that perfect alchemy of talent, loyalty, hardwork and attitude. Most people don't make it, and many times, after they see how hard we work, have no desire to try to make it.

This hard driving slave like mentality benefits one person - our customer. And when you are building custom designed and crafted pieces of art for under $400,000, there is no room for inefficiency, waste, duplication or laziness.

Carr Farmhouse Moving Along - Catskills Real Estate

Farmhouse #9, tucked away on 4 acres in Barryville, NY, is moving right along. With the siding completed, the house is really taking shape. Lot of porches, lots of windows, lots of privacy, lots of gracious country livin'.
This design was inspired by a 1870's farmhouse in Cochecton NY, owned by my friend Amy. Really classic and simple lines. The Cottage Red siding gives a nod towards Arts & Crafts. The walkout basement with windows gives the owner lots of choices for future use.

This house has over 650 sq ft of exterior covered porch space.

Like I said before, this house should be finishing up in late February. Next week we install the electric switches and lights, then the floor sanding and finishing begins, and from there we install all the toilets, sinks, kitchens, doorknobs and the million other pieces and details that make it perfect.

The race between the birth of a new baby and the completion of the house was garnering a lot of interest, and Vegas was reporting the odds on favorite was the house completion - 3-1 odds for the house, with an over/under of +2. However, since some things are more important than others, we've decided to delay the closing of the house for a few weeks while this family welcomes a new addition.