Reuse. Rehabilitate. Restore. Architectural salvage and repurposed pieces for the home.
Bushwick was among the possibilities when we decided to return to Brooklyn. We explored a bit, but realized we’re too old for that hipster meshugas. We wanted the lovely brownstone on a quiet tree lined street (Yes, I know there are brownstones in Bushwick). But being that I was once a hipster myself (albeit over 20 years ago in the East Village), I get it.Continue reading Affordable NYC: Bushwick
$ 185k: 1 BR Co-op
$ 497k: 2 Family
$ 639k: 2 Family Brownstone
The 29th Annual Bed Stuy House Tour is taking place this Saturday, October 20th. Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the group behind the tour, has been doing this since the 70’s, when NYC had “bad neighborhoods” and Bed Stuy was near the top of the list.
29 years ago, the BBS’s goal was to keep folks from leaving by educating them on home ownership and creating a strong community. These days, they want to spread the message that it’s not an impossible dream to own a home in the rediscovered area.
The day kicks off with a 9am home buyers workshop. The tour begins at 11am at 832 Marcy and tickets are $20. Visit website for more info on where to buy advanced tickets.
NY Daily News
Bed Stuy Blog
This months Brooklyn Blogade is being hosted by The Luna Park Gazette in Bay Ridge (Yeah, Luna Park is Coney Island). If you’re a Brooklyn blogger or even just obsessed with reading blogs, you should come!
From Rob’s site:
The Where: Omonia Cafe, 7612 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. For about 8 bucks you get a delicious pastry and a damn good cup of coffee.
The When: 1 p.m. to about 4 p.m.
The Why: Meet, greet, mingle, schmooze, kibbutz, and sound off about your blog or anything else that might be bugging you.
Sunday, October 21 through Saturday, October 27: Participating Brooklyn vegetarian restaurants are offering discounts.
The event is being sponsored by Brooklyn Goes Veg, a one woman show. That woman is Melissa D. Haile, director of the Black Vegetarian Society of New York.
BGV has a list of participating restaurants. Among them, Red Bamboo in Fort Greeen and 4 Course Vegan in Williamsburg.
Since this site is dedicated to “affordable” real estate, you may be wondering “WTF? We can’t afford a first home. Why are they showing this weekend crap?” Well, that’s just it. If you’re stuck renting in the boroughs because the real estate train passed you by, at least you may be able to own something.
This advice is not for those of you paying $5000 for 1 BR apartments. It’s for those of you lucky enough to have a rent stabilized apartment or adventurous enough to be paying low rents in fringe neighborhoods.
Second homes are best for people who don’t get to travel anymore. Having less vacation time, kids and various responsibilities puts a damper on that 3 week trip to India. So, it’s good to have a place to go at the drop of a hat.Continue reading Buying A Second Home Before Your First
I’m not trying to justify spending $324 on a trash bin (although I’ll be swallowing those words soon when I report about the Reclaimed Home trash bin enclosure), but I’ve gotta admit, this does seem cool.
I saw it on AT Green yesterday. I’ve never counted how many cans and bottles I can get into my bin, not even when my dog gets into them and I have to put them back one by one. I’m sure it’s nowhere near the crushed 50-60 containers that the Ecopod holds.
People Powered Machines has some great products. Hint to husband: I might be willing to deal with the compost heap if you bought me a RolyPig.
We spent weekends near Ellenville when I was young. My childhood memories of the area are pretty crummy. It’s been run down for so many years, it’s depressing. But then again, I kind of like that. Because when you’ve hit rock bottom, there’s no where to go but up. So, I find Ellenville fascinating and inspiring. And it certainly seems as if it’s on the upswing!Continue reading Weekender: Ellenville, NY
$65k: Gutted Handyman/Woman (ask for Tom)
$124k: 3BR + barn
$179k: 4BR + Carriage House (ask for Tom)
$199k: 2BR near creek
$ 229k: 4BR, ready to go
A reader (who happens to work for Illy Coffee) sent us this tip after reading about the shipping container homes.
Although we’ve seen the Push Button House online, we didn’t realize that we’ll get to see it in our own backyard come November. It will be set up as a cafe in Columbus Circle from November 28-December 29. It is meant to show Illy’s commitment to sustainability, from coffee production to development and environment.
We’ve been breaking down our countertop reviews by material. The Kitchen Designer has the complete guide posted this week. Apart from the old standbys, Paperstone and Icestone, there are some companies on there that we’ve overlooked (or didn’t get to yet).
The most impressive one to us was the Craft Art wood, because the reclaimed counters had an antique look to them and we like anything that looks weathered and beaten. Kitchen Designer sites that there are 8 new reclaimed species available. Craft Art sources new exotic and domestic woods upon request if the species is not endangered.
Project Re-Generation is a non profit which strives to eliminate teenage after school idleness in Bed-Stuy and similar communities through educational programs.
Founded in 2001 by Barnabas Shakur after a friend’s life sentence to a maximum security prison, PRG sets out to give teens value and self worth.
So what does this have to do with a home blog? I’m getting to that! For the homeowner, PRG offers member services for as low as $3.99 per week. Foot Soldiers will sweep, shovel snow and do front yard maintenance, depending on which package is chosen.
Seems like a win/win situation to me. Please check out their website for more info on this fabulous organization.
Bed Stuy Blog
I love the idea of this site, but unfortunately, not enough people utilize it. I wish there was one big salvage classifieds, like a Craigslist, but just salvage. I want my own forum to be like that, but nobody listens to me.
Anyway, if you’re getting rid of architectural salvage or looking for some, Salvage Web does have a classified section and forum for all things salvage. It is a great resource and there are some local listings, such as all the good stuff being taken out of a Manhattan tenement.
Saw this on Off Beat Homes, my new favorite website. She has a house called “The Poop House” on there! Oh, you can bet I’ll be covering that one.
But back to the lovely Remainder House… From Open Space Architect’s website: “The Remainder House is a celebration of old growth timbers salvaged from a New Westminster warehouse. The house was carefully sited on a tight triangular shaped lot to frame a woodland garden, maintaining the existing trees, minimizing the visual impact to neighbors and maximizing Southern views over the water. All was achieved without removing a single existing tree. “
The house is in British Columbia, but hey, just as easy to build it here in New York (Hear that, architects and builders?). I would love, love, love to have a weekend retreat in a place like this. Anything longer than that, I have to admit, would make me claustrophobic.
“Hudson Valley Ruins, Forgotten Landmarks of An American Landscape” is both heartbreaking and beautiful. The subjects, like Norma Desmond, are faded and forgotten, yet haunting all the same. Thomas E. Rinaldi and Robert J. Yasinac share their passion of these once grand structures. The book, originally released in September 2006, is now in second edition.
The Demolition Alert on their website points out all of the buildings already gone or in danger of being lost. Among them is the Red Apple Rest Stop on Route 17, where my family would stop on the way to the Catskills bungalow colony for the weekend (Yes, I am sooo stereotypical NY Jew.) and the Dennings Point Brick Works Factory in Beacon.
I’m ready for my close up.
