Category: Uncategorized

I’ve been ripping up carpet on the third floor, and I did all of the rooms, and pulled up the carpet firring on the sides, and then prepared for what unexpectedly was the hardest part of it all— pulling up the carpeting on the stairs. First of all, the stairs are very tight, so they…

I’ve been keeping tabs on the project mostly via telephone lately, as I’ve been all over the place. The work is going very well, and so far the schedule that we’ve developed is pretty much right on target. We’re spending this next week setting things up so that we’ll be right and ready for the…

So, the house is finally under construction. At least that’s what Adam tells me. He was over there on Monday for the ceremonial first drywall-pulling-down with Aaron, who showed up bright and early with scaffolding in tow. Apparently Aaron (or maybe Aaron and Adam, though I’m sure mainly Aaron) removed all of the drywall on…

My family in Chicago has a dear friend named Stan who is our home-related guardian angel. Stan has been part of the family for years, probably decades, and he’s there for every house- (or office-) related project that my family undertakes. There have been many times in the 7+ years I’ve lived in New York…

Still working on the kitchen layout. Here’s the latest and greatest (version 6a), incorporating many people’s comments (especially really great ones from Well denziens and from Adam’s mom). Changes include swapping the fridge and ovens, removing the counter next to the back door (replaced with a small shelf – though it’s not too clear in…

Here, for your viewing (and commenting) pleasure, are three more kitchen layouts. My stepmother Nancy and I burned the midnight oil on Saturday night, working through all of the issues. She was really insightful and I think these designs are much improved over the earlier ones. One major change she suggested was to turn the…

I found a REALLY interesting article about the old funicular that used to run up Park Hill. (we live at the bottom of Park Hill) Not sure what a funicular is? Look it up here! Our theory about our very large garage is that rich people who lived up Park Hill went to work using…

One of the great things about our neighborhood is the cuisines. Our neighborhood is full of all different ethnicities, and they all have different foods, and a lot of them are on South Broadway. (Which is not very far from the new abode.) One of our favorites is an Arab place Ya hala. They have…

We haven’t even hired anyone yet and I already hate them all. Hate them. Two of them blew me off today – one for an 8:00 am appointment and one for an 8:00 pm apppointment. Since we’re not yet living in the house, meeting contractors before and after work is a chore – get up…

Okay– OUR kingdom. (I have to get used to saying that!) One of the biggest questions we are going to have is — what are we going to do with our kitchen? For those of you who have been there, you’ve seen it– we definitely need to redo the kitchen. (For those of you who…

So today I started to understand that among contractors, the greatest variation, at least thus far, seems to be in heating contractors. They all have vastly different opinions on what we should do with our oil-fired forced hot air furnace to make it more efficient and hopefully heat the office on the 2nd floor (which…

So this is the listing to our house…. (MLS # blurred for our protection) [EDIT: Photo removed – if you want to know why, email us!] Of course, as it turns out the house was built pre-1900, not 1950, has closer to 2300 sq. feet (than 3500), and (although we haven’t measured it yet) I’m…

By the way, the Mayor of Yonkers is Philip Amicone I found out quite a bit about him and about Yonkers on the City of Yonkers website For example, Yonkers is the fourth largest city in New York State! And Amicone is very well qualified as Mayor– he spent 8 years as Deputy Mayor before…

Welcome! Adam and I are building this blog to bring you into our world – that which involves the recent purchase and upcoming renovation of our 100+ year old Victorian home in Yonkers, New York. The fact that we’ve bought the house is significant for a number of reasons:1) It means Adam and I are…