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Gorgeous Government Buildings

Gorgeous Government Buildings published on

Having grown up in NYC, I take many things for granted. Architecture is one of them. 45 years of seeing the same buildings. Why would I stop and look now?

Well, over the weekend I visited the Museum of the American Indian for the first time in the downtown location. Walked into the building and was blown away by the interior. Seriously, blown away.

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of the finest examples of Beaux Arts buildings in the city. The winding staircase! The rotunda with the huge skylight (it was leaking)! The marble everywhere! I’d be beyond thrilled to have a living room as nice as the ladies room.

Go visit. The museum is free because it’s a government building. Good museum too!

And look at all these other beautiful government buildings. I just pass them all the time. Maybe now I’ll stop and say hello.

Historic Bed Stuy Architecture Snappies

Historic Bed Stuy Architecture Snappies published on 1 Comment on Historic Bed Stuy Architecture Snappies

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Much enjoyed touring my own area of Bed Stuy yesterday with Andrew Dolkart, Brownstoner’s “Montrose Morris” and Save Bedford Stuyvesant‘s “Amzi Hill”. Since I didn’t take notes, I’m just posting some pics and referring you to the links above for your own research. Because I’m lazy that way.

Or…perhaps some kind reader will comment on what we’re looking at. 🙂

Full Flickr set.

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Historic Bed Stuy Walking Tour

Historic Bed Stuy Walking Tour published on 2 Comments on Historic Bed Stuy Walking Tour

Come see why I love my neighborhood so much! Bed Stuy is HU-UGE! This area is the proposed “Bedford Corners Historic District” aka “My Neck of the Woods”.

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Crown Heights North House Tour

Crown Heights North House Tour published on

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The 4th annual Crown Heights North house tour is this Saturday, October 2nd. There are 8 houses and two churches this year. A St. Marks Avenue mansion that most people thought was unsalvageable will be included. It’s still a work in progress and the committee promises it is spectacular.  Other fab homes include the double duplex Kinko house, an American classic Colonial Revival, a new house that rose in an old shell, plus more.

Meet at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, at 991 St. Johns Place, on the corner of Brooklyn Avenue. Representatives of various city agencies and local non-profit groups will be on hand to answer questions. There will also be local vendors selling crafts, art, books, and other products.

The Tour kicks off at 10:00 am with a welcoming ceremony. The self guided tour commences from 11-4pm, rain or shine.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Tickets will be on sale at Barbara’s Flowers, 615 Nostrand Avenue, Brownstone Books, 409 Lewis Avenue and online.

Reclaimed Space

Reclaimed Space published on

Reclaimed Space

A small house made an entirely from recycled materials. That’s what Reclaimed Space does. And they come pre-assembled too!

The Texas based company is the brainchild of rancher/construction guy Tracen Gardner. Kimber Reed is the design gal behind it all. Together, they build some super fab sustainable living quarters ranging from 336sf to 1240sf. Prices start at $38,460 for the smallest structure. That includes almost everything, but it looks like delivery is separate.

I totally would have done this back when I was thinking about my new garage that I never did. Too bad I can’t stick one of these babies in my Brooklyn backyard. Hmm…nah.

Covet Thy Turret

Covet Thy Turret published on 7 Comments on Covet Thy Turret

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So, the broker finally came over to look at our Beacon house and tell us how much we stand to lose in this God awful market. Looks like we’ll list it at $399k even though we paid $385k and put (still putting) a shitload of work into it. What are ya gonna do? We’re motivated.

Everyone thinks their house is special and worth more than the realtor tells them. But we KNOW our house is special because it has a turret! That didn’t impress the broker all that much. He said the home has some nice period details, but the turret isn’t a major selling point.

Well, excuse me, but I beg to differ. Why? Because there’s an old home sucker born every minute. Take us, for instance. We looked at several houses before seeing this one. When we pulled into the driveway, my eyes teared up because it had a turret (We didn’t see any pictures beforehand as it wasn’t listed yet). We knew we were going to buy the house before we went inside. We toured around in a matter of minutes so we could quickly put in an offer. Did I mention we had been looking for months? I think six months, to be exact.

We overpaid. It didn’t appraise out. But we love our house. We think there are other folks out there who are jonesing for turrets just like we were.

$399k is not what we wanted, but it’s a fair price for the house. I’m really hoping buyers won’t try to get us down to much or I might cry again.

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