Spring home improvement 2016 composite esub

Home HudsonValley MARCH 17, 2016 • ULSTER PUBLISHING • WWW.HOMEHUDSONVALLEY.COM

Spring Home Improvement

Whether buying or renting, there are ways to feather a perfect nest

17, 2016 2 | March Home Hudson Valley

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Hammer and tie (the Hudson valley’s new face of home improvement), plus Barn Corner and Taking the Elms, mezzotints and etchings by R. Keith Rendall.

Time to fix everything ... again Paul Smart looks into all that home improvement entails

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hough endless, home improvement peaks in springtime. Like now.

My internet’s out for the umpteenth time. I shifted from one of my region’s providers to the other and have been considering satellite, though I chafe at the idea of a dish of any size on my old home.

I’ve been getting to know the technical help sent out to fix the situation.

Various circumstances have forced my wife and I into renting out our top floor for short-term Airbnb rentals. People like what we have to offer, and it’s lower than market-level prices. Some suggestions have been made: a latch on the bedroom door, an added rug where the floor’s gotten splintery by the fridge, a coffee maker-toaster combination in the living room, and some porch furniture.

I was asked about writing something on curb appeal. The front of our home needs care. I’ve got to get the electric mower fixed, trim back bushes, and have the whole front of the house painted, including shutters and porch swing. Then there’s

the other three sides of our home, not looked at closely since just before the holidays.

The dishwasher went out months ago. While I like handwashing dishes, a lot are getting broken.

We need new bookshelves, or a trimming of those books we own. My wife’s got seedlings started all over the place, which means it’ll be garden season in a week or two. Digging time!

We put off the older jobs to the point where we don’t even notice them without outside assistance, like the bulging ceiling stains in my son’s bedroom where a sink on the second floor, and then an ice dam, caused a flood several years back. The bathtub’s lining needs replacing. Maybe we should finally try and fix that pesky hard-rain leak in our kitchen by replacing the roof instead of just its flashing. I’ll likely be looking up between the ceiling and all that’s above for the same sort of mold problems I’m suspecting under the bathtub.

It is springtime. A certain satisfaction is gained by getting jobs completed on our homes, owned and rented. Last year we had squirrels, but hundreds of dollars later we don’t any more. By autumn, six months ago, we had herbs and frozen veggies for the winter, after a summer of greatly lowered food bills. Which reminds me that the grill needs repair yet again. And the screens need

Our contributors this issue Andrew K. F. Amelinckx of Catskill writes about crime, food and art, but not necessarily at the same time.

Susan Barnett, a licensed real-estate salesperson affiliated with Gary DiMauro Real Estate, lives in West Hurley. She has been an anchor, producer and reporter for WRGB-TV in the Capital District and was Hudson Valley bureau chief for WAMC Northeast Public Radio. She’s also the author of the short-story collection, “The View From Outside,” published by Hen House Press.

Jennifer Brizzi writes on food and health for newspapers, magazines and books, and does recipe development, cooking demonstrations and teaching. Her website is www.jenniferbrizzi.com.

Otto DeLea is a curmudgeonly aesthete who has lived and observed life in and around Woodstock for years, and formerly maintained a popular column in Woodstock Times.

Elisabeth Henry, a writer and an actress who lives in Hunter with her husband, where they raised their children, has written for many local and regional newspapers and magazines.

Anne Hutton’s work has appeared in the Catskill Mountain Region Guide, Hudson Valley Magazine, Kaatskill Life Magazine, Green Door Magazine, as well as Ulster Publishing’s commu-

nity weeklies.

Dante Kanter has been a Woodstock resident for 14 of his 16 years, and has received awards for his poetry and short stories. He has attended the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio and the New England Young Writer’s Conference.

Harry Matthews, who lives on an old farm on the Kaaterskill creek outside of Palenville with his partner Catherine and their three cats, can most often be found in the woods building things, gardening, or plucking his tenor guitar on the porch of his cabin by the creek.

Fawn Potash is a Greene County-based gardener and artist who manages the Bard MFA program and is wife and soulmate to this issue’s editor, Paul Smart.

Paul Smart, a writer and editor for Ulster Publishing for two decades, has edited a number of other regional weekly and biweekly newspapers and has served as a radio host on WGXC-FM in Hudson, Catskill and Acra. He lives in Greene County with his soulmate.

Violet Snow, a journalist, author and frequent Ulster Publishing presence, specializes in history, genealogy, suspense fiction and nature, and also expresses herself through photography, video and music.

to be brought back up from the basement, which itself needs cleaning.

Work. Money.

There’s a host of local businesses and people ready to help us with all our home-improvement chores. Reading about each other’s woes with similar challenges even makes it all seem a little less stressful. Misery loves company.

By the way, that Internet problem? It turns out that some wires went bad over the years, and no one bothered to check them. It took hours to locate the exact problem, but it’s fixed. For now.

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17, 2016 4 | March Home Hudson Valley

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Of lawns, sheep and Tonka trucks Elisabeth Henry reminds us that renewal is life’s essence

T

he end of summer is sad. Autumn is more sad still. But the end of winter feels just like it does when you’re 22 and sharing a house with seven friends. You wake up Sunday morning to other people’s lost clothing, puzzling clues to mysterious events too trifling to solve, assorted detritus, and a lot to clean up.

One’s body feels heavy, sluggish. One’s eyes are not accustomed to the new first light. And yet warm air does indeed bring in the fog on little cat feet. The fog lifts, the sky is blue. We thrill to the scent of the damp earth. Spring arrives and everything is new again.

“I will never live in the suburbs. I will never mow a lawn,” said the large man seated across from me as we chatted over coffee at Ogee’s in Soho a long, long time ago. The statement seemed odd, since his entire life was inhabited by heavy equipment, power tools, hand tools, and various sorts of vehicles. Why loathe lawn labor?

Perhaps he was experiencing a moment of prescience. Years later we had to decide where to move our growing family, and we moved to the side of a mountain. He does not mow the lawn.

We don’t have a lawn. Our house is surrounded by rock, gravel, wild berry bushes, trees, and generations of fallen leaves.

To his credit, he installed and maintains the plumbing, the well, the heat, the electricity, and he does all the heavy lifting. Why should he take on more work?

For many years my parenting tasks overwhelmed me and I would not have noticed if, or done anything about, the house being surrounded by old toys, bicycles, wood ash, abandoned pup tents. Oh, wait. It was. It is.

This year I plan to change that.

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pose. People seem to like the work. I like lawns, but like my large man I’m not looking for a vocation.

I read somewhere that spring lawn care has seven steps to it. However, the writer cheated and included two steps on pruning trees and digging up dead plants, which is just filler. That has absolutely nothing to do with lawn care.

The other five steps apply.

(A.) De-thatch. This means, take a sturdy rake to your lawn and rake out any clots of really dead growth. (B.) Test the soil. This mean, grab a handful of dirt from your lawn, put it in a bag, label it, and mosey on down to the Cooperative Extension.

They will test the soil for you, and advise you as to proper pH..

(C.) Aerate. You can buy a tool to do this, or just take some sort of implement that will poke a hole in the soil. Do that every few feet.

(D.) Weed. I was thrilled to read that corn meal is a safe alternative to poison.

(E.) Seed. Now, do not apply weed retardant of any kind if you follow the advice I am about to give you. This advice is a new method pioneered by David Chinery of Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension. He recommends what he calls repetitive overseeding. Plant perennial ryegrass seed because of its quick germination. Water as needed. Do this weekly for three weeks. No digging, no raking, no straw on top. My kind of progress. And do not use a weed killer (not even cornmeal) because that will interfere with germination. You can do that once your lawn gets really lush and thick.

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should admit that we own more than one house, and I do tend lawns. Those lawns were started by other people, however, and I just sort of mow along with it. I love my riding mower, and last year I learned to drive the big tractor. There is something very sexy about it, believe me. I am hoping to purchase implements for it, so that I may rake the rocks and plow the fields. But that is a discussion for another time. Let’s stick to the sod.

The Green Crowd has, quite ironically, turned on the American ideal of the lush lawn. Lawns are stupid. Lawns waste space, better used for growing food, like ‘taters. Lawns waste water, and we all know what a political juggernaut that is. And don’t get them started on fatal lawn fertilizer and weed killer.

And yet, we continue to see lawns everywhere — lawns that cost lots of money, but give people pur-

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y romance with grass has many sources. I think it looks delicious, but I refrained from snacking on it except for using those really stiff stems with the wheat thing on top as a toothpick. And then I turned 43 and was desperate to have a child. Susun Weed, of Woodstock, advised me to eat red clover. Red clover is everywhere and mineral rich in everything a woman’s reproductive system needs. Red Clover Baby is now a senior at a university in Indiana.

Another brilliant woman, a published novelist, employed at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, routinely eats her lawn and taught me to do the same. A word of caution. The tastiest items are commonly regarded as weeds, so one must not become too enamored of the notion of achieving status among the local garden snobs, if one wants to really enjoy a midsummer salad.

However, it is the Year of the Insurgents.

My horses think grass is very delicious, and so do my sheep. They are the real reasons that the aforementioned large man has never had to mow.

While I inflate my credentials as a lawn lover because I putt-putt around on our old white mower, grooming just an acre, the animals with their toothy tools see to it that our fields are manicured glades of green.

Our orchard proved particularly troublesome that way. The ground was too rutted for a riding mower, and there was too much of it to do it all with a weed whacker. So we bought sheep for that purpose. The first year was rocky. Those sheep were terrified of us. When late autumn was turning to winter, and all the grass was gone, it was time to put them in the barn.

The sheep had other ideas. My large man and I put on a private rodeo. We learned that our Labrador, Chudley, was actually a secret-agent border collie. He chased the sheep toward me, I tackled them, and my husband, newly released from the hospital with fused spinal discs, lassoed them.

When spring came, my large man (he of the recent quintuple bypass), was limited to shouting out to us when the sheep were getting close.

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March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

PHOTO BY ELISABETH HENRY

A decade after being last used and missed, old toys finally surface come Spring.

My daughter’s boyfriend tackled them (with help from Chudley) and I lassoed them. Fed up, we sold them to a nearby petting zoo.

Those sheep proved as unreliable for them as they were for us. They broke out and were last seen galloping through the parking lot at the local Stewart Shop.

We purchased bottle-raised lambs the next spring, and have kept them cooperative with generous handfuls of sweet feed ever since.

Know this: goats browse. That means they will

eat your tree branches and bark and any twiggy things you want to preserve. Sheep keep more of a downcast eye. But if it’s brush and burdock you want to clear, get goats.

I

mentioned, before, that our house was surrounded by the litter of the childrearing years. And so it is. My husband routinely dumped yards of sand against our retaining wall.

He claimed he did it to reinforce the wall, but I know he did it so our children could play in it.

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Rusted old Tonka trucks are still half-buried there. I resist removing them, but it’s time. Who knows what else I will find?

Past clean-ups and construction have yielded some wonderful surprises. Where we live was once an inland sea, and we often discover stones with sea hell fossils stamped in their surface. When digging to plant daffodils, we found a torpid lizard, black as licorice, with big bright yellow spots.

A naturalist told us that those lizards are endangered. We left him sleeping among the daffodils.

Near one of our ponds we often find pottery shards. The pond is adjacent to an old foundation.

There is an opening to its underground sanctum, but my husband fears it might collapse if we crawl down inside.

In the forest we found a huge boulder with the words, “The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost” carved into it. No house was ever built in that part of the forest, and no one knows who carved the words, or why. A labor of love or madness.

I look forward to my lawn project. As I sift through the old leaves and rake around, I know I am treading on the graves of various goldfish, frogs, kittens, birds and a puppy. Early on my little children observed the sanctity of life by knowing its frailty. They also learned that life renews, that renewal is life’s essence, and no matter how sad we are it is to that renewal we must eventually turn.

So I will pick up the Tonka trucks, the tricycles, the frisbees, the deflated balls and discarded Barbies. When I bend in my toil, tucked between tree roots and beside the remnants of the old rock wall, I will see jack-in-the pulpits, johnny jump-ups and forest lilies. They’ll be there just after winter, lovely and wild, when everything else looks blighted. They’ll poke through the softening earth, summoned by the sweet air and sun, adumbrations of the beauty that will unfold us soon, veils of it, needing no help from paltry human hands like mine.

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17, 2016 6 | March Home Hudson Valley

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PHOTOS BY ANN HUTTON

Among recent home improvement projects, the author and her husband reroofed their house using shingles made in Canada, which meant precise translations from metric to inches, which both described as a fun challenge. The most dramatic change in her home was in her kitchen, which went from dark to light with some uncomfortable weeks in between.

Endless improvement Ann Hutton describes her work on the house she loves

A

dozen years ago, we bought a small house at the southern end of the Catskills. The plan was to fix it up, flip it, and move on to the next adventure. You know where this story is going, don’t you? We blasted through the whole structure with fervor and intention, making it the best little dream home our money could buy by doing most of the work ourselves, including the re-roofing. And in the process, which took a couple of years, we settled in and fell in love with the trees and the landscape and the coziness of what we’d accomplished.

The very first project — not a DIY one, however — was to refinish the wood floors throughout before moving furniture in. We hired a highly recommend-

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ed local, who worked at his own pace and stopped often to tell us about his snowmobiling forays into the North Country. He did a good job, bringing the almost 60-year-old wood back to a vibrant glow.

Next came interior paint, a task we were wellequipped to manage ourselves, even though it required much patching and wrangling — forcing the miter cuts of crown molding to fit into unsquare corners, that is. All the interior doors and hardware — hinges and knobs — were replaced, and the woodwork was fixed up and painted one color.

From that point on, our projects entailed an ever-evolving, acute sense of logistics — the “detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation.” For example, the dishwasher was defunct, and we wanted to remodel the kitchen anyway. To remove said appliance, which was trapped between the inch-thick plank pine floor (glued, screwed and plugged down) and the existing countertop (which extended up the back splash and was held in place by an appliance garage), we had to do all the demolition at once, starting with the removal of the upper cupboards.

The science of logistics had us ripping things apart and shopping frantically to replace them in a timely manner, because we already lived in the house and needed to function as best we could.

We hired another crew to set a new tile floor in the kitchen and ordered a fabulous stone countertop from those guys in Kerhonkson (you know who you are, guys). We took delivery on a new stove, a new dishwasher, and a new refrigerator.

Fresh paint slapped on the existing pantry and

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cupboards completed the redo, with various lighting fixtures being hung and re-hung over the years according to my aesthetic whims (this required more drywall patching of holes in the ceiling, one that hovered over us like a cloud for many months before we touched it up with paint).

T

he bathroom was gutted halfway to move the toilet a few inches and replace it with a more efficient one, and to install new cabinetry and a slick Italian sink, all accomplished by my handy husband, once a woodworker/carpenter. He took the lessons learned from watching the tile setters who did our kitchen and retiled

Spring Home Improvement March 2016 An Ulster Publishing publication Editorial WRITERS: Andrew Amelinckx, Jennifer Brizzi, Otto DeLea, Elisabeth Henry, Ann Hutton, Dante Kanter, Harry Matthews, Fawn Potash, Paul Smart, Violet Snow EDITOR: Paul Smart COVER PHOTOS BY Dion Ogust LAYOUT BY Joe Morgan Ulster Publishing PUBLISHER:

Geddy Sveikauskas Genia Wickwire DISPLAY ADS: Lynn Coraza, Pam Courselle, Pamela Geskie, Elizabeth Jackson, Ralph Longendyke, Sue Rogers, Linda Saccoman PRODUCTION MANAGER: Joe Morgan PRODUCTION: Diane Congello-Brandes, Josh Gilligan, Rick Holland CLASSIFIED ADS: Amy Murphy, Tobi Watson CIRCULATION: Dominic Labate ADVERTISING DIRECTOR:

Health, Sports & Fitness is one of four Healthy Hudson Valley supplements Ulster Publishing puts out each year. It is distributed in the company’s four weekly newspapers and separately at select locations, reaching an estimated readership of over 50,000. Its website is www.healthyhv.com. For more info on upcoming special sections, including how to place an ad, call 845-334-8200, fax 845334-8202 or email: info@ulsterpublishing.com.

March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co. the bathroom floor himself, first laying down electric radiant heating that can be set by rheostat to warm up on cold winter mornings.

Again, logistics played a big part, given that we only have one bathroom. Work had to be planned when we could easily “borrow” a neighbor’s facilities, and speedy completion was strong motivation, if you know what I mean. (We could have rented a port-a-potty during the renovation; oh well, too late now to think of that option.) The stunning tiger maple countertop he fashioned, the floor-to-ceiling pantry with a built-in clothes hamper, and the radiant heat underneath the tile made up for any temporary inconvenience.

This project, by the way, remains unfinished.

My handy husband had planned to yank out the old bathtub and put in a new gorgeously tiled and plumbed version that would reflect what century we’re in, but that dream is as yet unfulfilled. I’d also love to punch out an exterior door that would lead from the bathroom to an outdoor hot tub/sauna arrangement, from which we could gaze at the stars and listen to the owls in the woods out back. Instead, we spend long hours on our screened-in back porch, a quiet spot that got reroofed, rescreened and carpeted (indoor/outdoor) early on. It’s my favorite “room” in the house; I can live without other luxuries, but this space has become essential.

but not something that will actually show, like the construction of a flash new deck or a muchdesired outbuilding. We can only hope we’ll be

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ll these upgrades, mind you, do not even begin to address basic house maintenance. A home is a machine that needs constant vigilance against breakdowns. When we first moved in, there was a huge problem of flooding in the basement whenever a torrential rainstorm rolled into town. We put up custom-fitted gutters to remove as much runoff as possible, directing it away from the stone foundation — a feature that is beautiful in its way, but never impervious no matter what measures are taken to stave off the path of outdoor water coming in. And we dug a French drain on an uphill slope next to the house to divert groundwater from ever reaching us in the first place. Still, we keep a portable pump downstairs for those times when Mother Nature wins the argument.

We’ve also put in a highly efficient Danish wood-burning stove to augment the oil furnace (the tank was replaced just last year), insulated the rafters in the attic and added new storm windows, all to maximize the ambient temperature at the least cost in winter. My husband built a sturdy woodshed that holds three cords of precisely cut wood. And we have a whole-house fan in the hall, new ceiling fans in the bedrooms, and a portable cooler we can drag up from the basement if things get too sweltering in summer.

Here we are still, twelve years on and now watching the paint peel off inside and out. A year ago we repainted the kitchen and living room, but dings and cracks in the plastered corners are begging for attention. How does a house move this much, I wonder, to cause these seemingly innocuous fissures to appear overnight? Just last November, we managed to scrape, repair and repaint one really bad side of the exterior, fixing a spot of dry rot on one windowsill. I found a rolled up piece of newspaper, dated 1949, jammed underneath the wood.

Wow. History lives in the skeleton of our dwelling.

Old electrical wiring lurks there, too. What system will break down next — the furnace? The well pump? You just know it will be something major

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Jennifer Brizzi explains the virtues of planning

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ach time I move — fortunately it’s not too often — the word “nightmare” comes to mind. Although the process isn’t the worst thing that can happen to us, it seems like one of the more unpleasant things in human experience, up there on the list of stressful, traumatic things we have to go through. There’s the race against time, and there’s the physical drudgery of packing and lifting heavy boxes and furniture.

Then there’s that taxing emotionalism of going through all our worldly belongings, for which our levels of attachment vary from mere utility (the toothbrush) to extreme practicality and love (the sweater Granny knitted for us, the first Valentine’s Day card from the love of our life).

Moving is tough on the whole family. Small children feel like their world has turned upside down and is spinning out of control, as all that is familiar is like a rug pulled out from under them. While we may look at the bright side, like the positives of a fresh start, perhaps a bigger dwelling, a better neighborhood, or being close to that exciting new job, the kiddies just see what is missing, like their old friends, the familiar corners and doors and windows of their bedrooms. They may have trouble eating or sleeping, regress developmentally or throw tantrums.

With some advance preparation and giving yourself plenty of time, you can minimize the dis-

ruption and get through it with your sanity intact.

It helps to look at the move as a fresh start, a new chapter in your life. Knowing that you will get through it and come out the other side just fine is a good thing to remind yourself as you prepare and pack and move and unpack.

The earlier you can hire your movers or a van the better, keeping in mind that as most people move on weekends and during the summer those times book up more quickly. Check out the moving company’s reputation at www.movingscam.org.

When we moved from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley our moving company got to our new home before we did, waited half an hour, and drove back to Brooklyn with all our stuff in tow. If that website had existed then I could have spread the word.

Some people use the services of companies that provide cubes that can be moved from one city to another, and sometimes include free storage for a certain period of time.

Calling utilities early also ensures that your new home will be brightly lit. And change all those important addresses, like credit-card companies, as soon as you have the new address.

If you’re able to access your new home before the move, measure your furniture and the rooms at the new place so you can plan where everything will go and make sure there’s room for everything before you lug it there.

If you’re trying to get friends to help out with your move, you might get more takers if you ask for just an hour or two of assistance instead of the whole days.

To help the kids get used to the idea, look for books about moving or fill a shoebox with photos of the old house and local friends, along with rocks and leaves from the yard, as something to bring to the new place with tangible mementos of the old one.

Obviously, the less stuff there is to move, the more quick and painless the process, from packing to moving to unpacking, so allotting plenty of time for some serious decluttering is always in order. Toss all your nearly-empty bottles of beauty supplies, expired medicine, kitchen utensils you never ever use, tattered or never-worn clothes.

Divide everything according to what you can sell, toss or give away to friends or organizations that accept clothing. If something has sentimental value but no practical use, take a photo of it and discard or donate the item. Emotional attachment to things makes it hard to get rid of them, but you’ll make your life easier if you do. Donating things to people who need them makes it easier to get rid of some things when you know they’re going some-

March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

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| 11

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liquor stores and drug stores. Look in cardboard recycling bins. Although the boxes will usually be broken down, putting them back into box shape takes two seconds and a bit of packing tape.

Those plastic storage containers work well too and are sturdy and reusable. Cloth items like clothing, linens and towels are great for protecting fragile items.

Although you’re saving money on boxes and

packing materials, don’t forget to budget for the costs related to moving, like cleaning supplies for old and new dwellings, lots (and lots and lots) of big garbage bags or even a dumpster for old bills and new deposits.

When you disassemble furniture, put the hardware in a ziplock bag and tape it to the furniture, along with assembly instructions if you have them.

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With planning and exercising your organizational muscles, you may find that moving can be less of a bad dream and more of an ephemeral daydream that leads to a new life in a better place.

Once you’ve moved your stuff, and yourself, to your new abode, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. Give yourself sufficient time to gradually settle in and unpack, especially if the move is long-distance and comes with a whole set of adjustments you don’t have to make if you’re just moving across town.

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| 13

The green goddesses Fawn Potash claims gardening is no metaphor for life

F

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est bidder to benefit the community center. Ten middle-aged women with sharp tools and shovels, ready to weed, make the bushes look intentional, move spindly sun-starved plants to the sunny side, and make suggestions for what goes where.

We exhibited together a couple of times to benefit our radio station and the county arts council. But mostly we help each other.

Goddesses come and go at each meeting in a predictably staggered schedule. The hardest part is finding a day and time when we can all make it. As each person departs, there is a hectic marketplace goodbye as we trade eggs for goat cheese, maple syrup for raspberries, peach tree saplings and blueberries as a form of currency. In this utopian assembly we learn everything we need to know about extending the lettuce season (row covers in April and September), when to plant peas (St. Patty’s Day!), pruning bushes (before the June 21 equinox), and when it’s safe to put your seedlings in the ground (Mother’s Day). Many goddess lives have changed with new jobs, new spouses, health issues, kids flying the nest. It’s been a few months since our last meeting. Twice a week, three goddesses go for a morning power walk, covering the same conversational ground, planning our spring reawakening.

For this group, gardening is not a metaphor for life. We are not such fanatics that we live life to garden. It is all one thing: gardening and life, art

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Many goddesses use their gardens as subject, concept and materials in their work. The process of digging, planting, watering and weeding is a restorative meditation, relaxing but not tiring. For five years I saved one goddess’ moonvine seeds for trellises that I have yet to build. Every year I plant more than I can tend. I’m often out of town during the August harvest.

From these observations I learn that I am ambitious, and probably have more to learn about time management, that gardening is not all about practical matters. Figuring in time and materials, backyard tomatoes may be the most expensive variety in the universe. The goddesses recommend instant forgiveness and focusing on what works for you, your yard, your life.

I like gardening alone, letting my mind wander from thought to thought, letting the plants, dirt, tasks tell me what’s next. I recognize this alphawave headspace as the same I experience in my studio. I like getting my hands really dirty, greeting the sprouts and even the familiar weeds. I love that my son sees tomatoes growing and can eat them right off the vine. I love the goddess way of learning together, sharing food, supporting each other’s emotional needs while helping figure out what varieties of potato are most blight-resistant (Adirondack Blue).

ar ol1978

Landscape Design Permaculture Principles

FAWN POTASH

Non-gardeners may see seedlings as an invasion, but for green goddesses, they’re the start of the annual magic season.

ce

or me, gardening is a folk art, wisdom and skills passed from person to person. I keep gardening books next to the bed which I have intended to read for years. They’re about shade gardening, pruning, raised beds, care-free native species, heritage varieties, deer resistance, organic this and biodynamic that. Hopefully, one day I will pass them on to someone who likes to get their information through research. These tomes lift the bedside light to the right height for my nighttime novels and magazines. The titles on their spines remind me to order seeds in early spring and send out a long overdue email to the green goddesses.

We had started as a reading group, but not all of us read the books. We ended up eating together, talking about our lives. Ten artists who gardened, the goddesses represent the spectrum of cultivation style and ambition. Depending on what was happening in each of our lives, some of us managed acres of flowering splendor and family sustenance plus a bit to sell. Some transform front or back yards into gorgeous edible landscapes. The more lazy/busy of us work a few raised beds with annuals and perennials here and there. The dual (NYC/Hudson Valley) residents plan carefully for easy-to-maintain flowering bushes and vines. In a bad year, a goddess might only tend a few front and backyard eye candies or a couple of containers with cherry tomatoes or a basket of petunias.

Why ten goddesses? Because that’s about how many people can fit around a table for a good conversation.

We start the season by sharing seeds, then seedlings. We divide perennials and share whatever volunteer plants sprout up alongside intentional ones. At our monthly gatherings, we incorporate as many bits and pieces of the harvest as we can, even if it’s just the dried oregano from last year’s herbs.

Somehow, every potluck has been a wonderful feast of food groups, flavors, healthy and indulgent dishes, without a single “You bring this. I’ll bring that.” The goddess smorgasbord works by mental magic plus an adherence to seasonal dishes.

Several goddesses have chickens. One has goats and makes the most delicious chevre. All are as creative and talented in the kitchen as they are in studio.

While eating we go around the table. What’s happening in our gardens and our lives? We ask and offer advice. We catchup with each other, what my mother called “visiting.” This is when we find out about a life-threatening diagnosis, divorce, job struggles, a car accident, worries about kids. This is where we learn to ask for help in the garden and beyond.

Some meetings we pull weeds for a sister goddess overwhelmed by the task, or in one case plant a whole veggie garden complete with brick paths.

Sometimes we read poems, pass around seed/ plant catalogues; make face cream, share recipes.

Occasionally we have had guest speakers, gone on field trips, or convened for a garden workshop. At the end of the season, we talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what we are planning for next year. We collect seeds and share them. If there’s time, we visit the host’s studio.

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It feels like home Otto DeLea has found that life does not sustain itself in boxes

F

or more than 20 years our home was the place where friends and family gathered for every holiday and many social gatherings. It didn’t matter that we moved seven times, people still came from all parts of the country and the house was full. I know a lot about moving and making a place feel like home. Or at least I did until I found myself single again, with kids grown and gone.

After Hurricane Irene, I moved out of the charming riverside home in Phoenicia where we had I lived for more than a decade. Since then, I‘ve had a few rentals, but never really unpacked or settled. My priorities have changed. Setting up a home to match this new phase of life was an opportunity, though a daunting one.

Year after year passed, and I resisted putting down new roots. I carried boxes with me and barely peered within.

When I found a rather large apartment this fall, I had every intention of unpacking and settling in — but broke my ankle first night of the move (A literal Freudian slip!). I had more than three months to study the space. The blank walls did not grow on me.

As time passed and I began to get around enough on the crutches to begin to unpack, I realized that I was in no rush. Perhaps I would live an enlightened, spare life from here on out, devoid of materialistic attachments.

I’d peer into random boxes, and the paintings and books and photos and papers and knickknacks I had hauled around for years began to look like the artifacts and refuse of an archaeological dig. Who was this weird whimsical punk-rock Tibetan Buddhist new-age photo-hoarding notescrawling person?

I felt a faint twinkle of home when I decorated the tiny live tree someone had given me, when I lit the caramel-and-apple-scented candle (another gift), when I blasted opera, and when I took the curtains off the windows and raised the blinds. I felt absolutely alive and fabulous when my family came to visit, when friends stopped by for pizza and a movie, when someone came to visit with a playful puppy.

It was time to live my life. I would have to begin — anywhere.

H

ere are some of my favorite tips and tricks to make any place feel like home.

PHOTOS BY OTTO DELEA

The author likes to bring outdoor objects inside, and feels one can never go wrong with a bit of kids art around.

1. Prepare.

Get yourself in an uplifted state — anything to raise the energy and attitude. Take a shower, fill the air with wonderful scent, play great music.

2. Move a muscle, change a thought — and a room!

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matter whether you paint a hateful wall white, clean a silverware drawer, or unpack — one box at a time. (Don’t call it sorting, and don’t stop until the box is empty.)

Use a timer and commit to five minutes. When I did that, I kept going for four hours.

Each action leads to more action. Or a well-deserved nap.

3. Keep an inspiration board or journal Whether you are decorating, renovating or simply clearing clutter — a special little notebook can be your buddy. Start with a short list — not of your priorities, or tasks, but of your dreams.

Imagine the aroma of a winter stew, and seating your guests at a beautifully set table (now that it’s no longer the bill-collecting spot) —or how great you will feel after a workout in your new yoga spot. See yourself in your ideal workspace, completely immersed in your work. Anchoring these with a sentence, a drawing or an affirmation will set a strong intention for your goals.

If you are more practical-minded, use your little book to record your daily goals and accomplishments and above all — your progress! Paste in photos, or start a Pinterest board of your dreams to keep you inspired and empowered.

4. All clutter is not equal What to do with five boxes of kid art and kid notes and schoolwork from 30 years ago? Throw out the old doll? The plaster imprint of a hand?

The note to the tooth fairy?

Not every parent cries into the bucket of her

March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co. son’s old Legos (not me, I swear) the first week he’s away at college, but we all have our version of hanging onto something — whether a rock from a trip you hated, or a dress that will never go into style again, just because it has a nearly magnetic association with someone you love.

Get a trusted friend — or trade off with a group of people — to help you deal with these items, whether kid stuff, your old diaries, or your collection of trolls.

Photographing certain items that you simply want to remember is another option.

Keep the whole photo album in a cloud. It’s lighter that way!

As for the rest of your junk, use the three-bag trick: Giveaway, trash, sell. This time, forgo the Idon’t-know bag, and see what happens!

5. Rethink your work and play spaces.

If you work or follow creative pursuits at home, you may have noticed that your old office/studio situation is now obsolete. Even if you have an office and traditional desk, it is likely you have some strange command station that gets more than its share of traffic.

The computer you park in front of the couch becomes fixed there, and your coffee table is littered with files. Why? Because you also eat there and watch TV there, and might even sleep there. Why? Because you are a workaholic!

Consider reserving a special corner or whole room of your place just for work, whether it is creative work or bill-paying. Make it appealing and functional enough so you will actually choose to move your computer there!

If that doesn’t work, consider rigging a portable desk so you can move it and your computer to any room. Just a thought.

I used to paint pictures basically crouched in a corner of a dark room, until I bought an art table, set it up by a sunny window, filled a shelf with supplies, and put up an inspiration corkboard. Next thing, I was madly productive.

Creating clear boundaries of area, time and purpose will supercharge your work life.

7. Color stories This means blending colors so the eye does get drawn to one crazy thing, or tons of crazy things.

Think big apple circus — (artisanal, intimate, curated) — rather than Ringling Brothers (ADHDinducing, and cruel to all).

Lately people have been displaying their stuff in rainbow order. Groupings work best for tiny and old or quaint and super pretty collectibles of disparate objects, or else for uniform objects, like books of same size but different color.

Color is the best way to live your dreams of a new self without breaking the bank.

Say you yearn for a spare Zen spa look and most of your stuff is cute, shabby chic, with either bright primary accents or candy-tone accents, and tons of florals.

Choose a color palette of three organic neu-

trals. Anywhere in the cement, clay, stone, or dove tones. Invest in a pint of paint, and perhaps some pillowcases in those colors. Use the paint for photo frames, old furniture and walls if you dare) and cover all your pillows and cushions with the new neutral cases.

If you already have neutral and have been craving a raspberry or peacock green wall, why not roll some paint onto a large piece of plywood — or other object, or large canvas — and live with it for a while?

Good way to try something on!

6. See yourself as a a co-curator I like a harmonious room. You enter and instead of seeing stuff, you feel. You feel a desire to come on in and be part of it.

Take that attitude as you unpack and redesign your space.

When I began moving things around — furniture, paintings — and let myself see things with a fresh eye — I was able to experiment with different combinations of elements and colors and shapes. New solutions began to fall into place.

I might linger for 20 minutes arranging objects on one shelf, or decide in a flash that one wall would look great with that painting, that mirror and a row of black-and-white photos.

I stood back every so often and scanned the room for overall harmony. It was exciting to experience a life blooming up around me.

The spirit of experimenting and play whisked away the ideas of who I was or what I was supposed to be. I also experienced a refreshing sense of presence and reality. I began to use the raw material of what I had right now — and piece by piece it was like taking back aspects of myself — not forever, but just for now, and an immense gratitude began to flow. I had landed right here, and here

hen I had completed my list of tips, I called one of my favorite decorators for good measure, and asked how she made a place feel like home.

What she said was very, very familiar. No wonder. She is my daughter, and these traditions have worked from generation to generation!

Hang tiny Christmas lights around a window.

Make a pot of matzoh ball soup. And play NPR. To this recipe I will add a trademark scent, via candles or essential-oil decanters; single blossoms of fresh flowers in blue-glass bottles, lots of art of any sort, collections of photos of people you love, (hugging or laughing), and an expectant knock on the front door.

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PHOTOS BY HEATHER HUTCHISON AND MARK THOMAS KANTER

Love and imagination has turned the author’s home into a compound for lessons in rustic sustainibility close to town.

Making a house a home For Dante Kanter, a house is ever-changing, a place for contemplation and growing

O

ur house was built by a man named Allen Adams, who lived on Adams Road. He gathered the materials like a true frontiersman cutting a glade out of the surrounding forest. He used the felled trees for timber, cementing together broken-up pieces of slag to make walls and balusters. He spent the whole time of construction living in a red trailer that’s still there today on the edge of the woods.

We strongly suspect that it’s been taken over by squatters, because every time we go inside the bed is made with a different set of sheets and there is the newest copy of People Magazine on the bedside table. Looking out from the porch

of our house, we can see the maroon smudge of the trailer through the trees, a lingering memory of its birth as a rough-hewn hippie haven hidden away from the noisy highway a ten-minute walk down the drive. A friend of his once told us that the house was built for us.

Our whole relationship with this house on Adams Road is surrounded by omens. My mother says the house came to her in a dream about the Hindu time goddess Kali. The deity was dancing on my father’s chest like he was a Jewish Italian Shiva, and in the background were the sloping mountainsides of the Hudson Valley. It was the late Nineties. We were in Brooklyn. A deal had just fallen through on a building in another neighborhood ($40,000, a different world), and my parents were looking for a place to which to escape.

My mom woke up and decided to take a drive.

She went through New Jersey and along the Hudson River until the industrial wastes broke and dispersed into the forest. Like many others of her

age would soon be, she was captivated by the quiet eccentricities of Upstate. A real-estate company around here handed her a map and a list of addresses, and she was driving here weekly.

According to family legend, one day she called my dad who, worrying that some horrible thing had happened as he usually does, asked where the hell she was. She said: “I’m in Woodstock, your new home.”

That was it. They bought the house and used it on weekends. It was supposed be just a little getaway from the busy buzzing life of New York City.

Two catastrophes drove us to the hills.

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March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

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PHOTOS BY HEATHER HUTCHISON AND MARK THOMAS KANTER

When one grows up in a home, that home grows with one. the open fire. This may or may not be true, but the image of this sweating, burly man, orange-lit and screaming, his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled up, is necessary for the rest of the story.

My parents lived in a loft, in a building that had once been a warehouse. In the winter of 2000 the Department of Buildings sent a notice to everyone living there that contrary to popular belief their building wasn’t habitable. The city had dug up this old law that prevented people from living in industrial structures because of potential fire hazards, and the whole place had to be evacuated over a couple of months.

This was one of many steps in the sweeping out of artists from Brooklyn. The economy was beginning to lose its balance, and creative types have never been known for bolstering the market. The building was closed for renovations, renovations meaning price-jacking and painter-booting.

And so my painter-parents were booted. They had both their future and me, then two years old, to think of. They moved in to my grandparents’ squat suburban home in New Jersey, less than an hour away from the city. Though we’d been kicked out of Brooklyn, my parents were still oriented around the city. This was when the second catastrophe came into play.

The second catastrophe was 9/11, which I think has been so elaborated on by others more informed than I that it needs no explanation. So we moved into the upstate house full-time, cold and bone-weary, and it was there, with its rough-

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mentary that my dad was making about the trauma of my birth (I was diagnosed with Listeriosis and they almost lost me), mostly for himself, of me toddling around at two or three and grabbing onto the ear of our dog Dizzy. The sun is coming down strong. The forest’s behind us. My mom is sitting on a log across from me, looking at the mountain. My father moves the camera further and further back into the woods. and eventually the whole scene is concealed by branches.

I think this is the reason we found this house.

For those moments in the sun, with the mountain right there looking down at us. It’s the silence, and the silence is what makes it home. That’s what a home is for all of us. A place to sit on a log and stare.

We spend all our time looking toward the future. The next step is always looming over the step that’s being taken. Home provides time for leisure, which our Protestant fundamentalist ancestors in this country actively fought against. I appreciate this little hovel tucked away in the Catskills because it gives me time to think, quietly, without the weight of the world on my shoulders.

hewn rustics and acres of forest, and packed-in three-room interior — a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room, two floors traversed only by a rickety old ladder — that I grew up. All very different from our pared-down industrial loft in Brooklyn.

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Ulster Publishing Co.

Rattus rattus redux Sue Pilla remains confident she’ll eventually win the long war

I

“

t’s going to be a very violent night,” I gleefully told my daughter over the phone. That was a few days ago, when I felt confident I was going to win. Unfortunately, my newly declared war on the four-footed creatures who had prolifically invaded our home hasn’t gone so well. The saga continues.

But let’s back up here for a minute. I was prepared. I had had it. I had previous experience. I had been to the hardware store,, investigated every possible ible poison, and which h traps were available,, I had interviewed thee person on the street,, faced my shame fulll on, and felt prepared..

These weren’t mice. e. us They were rats: rattus ats, norvegicus, brown rats, the common rat, somemetimes called Hanoverr rats.

A rat by any other name is ce. They are a more than a nuisance. g, they are ugly, menace. They are big, they are destructive, invasive and pero. Now. vasive. They had to go. oblem before. The We’ve had this problem last time, after dealing ng with it for what seemed likee months, ublic, wrote I threatened to go public, and published a story ry about the ordeal entitled “Rattus rattus” and declared to my loved ones, ’ writing Rattus Rattus “If they come back, I’m Part II.” Well, they’re back, and I’m going to tell the story here with the hope that anyone else out there in the immediate vicinity will feel a sense of camaraderie, drop the shame, and face the problem square on. Let the battle begin!

Let us have a brief discussion of some of the tricks of the trade. There are always those traditional old-fashioned wooden traps with springloaded devices that activate a kill bar — small for mice, and giant-sized for rats. You can buy them at your local hardware store in two varieties. The newer design has a little yellow plastic bait platform attached, an innovation they say is meant to make baiting the trap easier. These have proven to be simply no good in my book. They are tricky to load. If you’re not extremely careful, you’ll get your finger snapped in the process either of loading them or placing them.

After I lodged a complaint on a return trip to the local hardware store, one of the clerks confessed that a co-worker “had to modify them to

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make them work.” My frustration was validated. I wasn’t incompetent. I’d bought a number of them and sat with my son trying to set them for over an hour before we gave up in despair. The metal release arm of the device just didn’t want to stay affixed in the right position on the little plastic baitholder.

Eventually we were successful baiting a couple of the old-fashioned kinds of traps without the yellow plastic addition that I had found hanging around the basement workbench. Still, the first night of the battle yielded no casualties.

I

t also turned out on my hardware store foray that many of my favorite poisons, traps, and baits of choice over the years — products manufactured byy d-Con — had been cancelled by the EPA, which says that the products are not safe for pets and children. Bait stations are now required to protect children, pets and other wildlife from accidental ingestion of your poison of choice. The little green pellets of yore that so many of us were familiar with and relied upon are gone. Never mind that mice and other rodents mistook them for food and often pouched the pellets in their cheeks, depositing them in for future use in linen closets, at the back of desk drawers, and even in the piano, to be discovered during one of those rare but necessarily deep spring cleanings. All I knew was that they worked.

I was determined to give n e w technology a try.

Enter the new products: more expensive l green b k and d plastic-lidded l l dd d rectangular bait bl blocks traps. One product, manufactured by Tomcat and labeled “Mouse Killer I - Mata Ratones” looked promising. They even came in a rat-sized version.

We tried both the mouse-sized variety and the ratsized version. Then someone mentioned that you don’t have mice if you have rats, because supposedly the rats eat the mice. It’s a law of the jungle.

The package stated that the refillable station and bait blocks were enough to kill up to twelve rats and reassured us that our pet(s) would not be at risk. We optimistically set out the traps in an area where there was nightly evidence of the creatures. No luck. We waited and tried again.

Repeatedly and faithfully checking the still empty traps in the morning. Failure. The traps remained empty.

My brother in Detroit, however, waxes euphoric about the bait blocks, “I drill a hole in a coffee can just large enough for the mice to get in, then I tie the bait block in the can with a piece of string so they can’t take the block out,” he explained. “They

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have to eat the bait inside the can and usually die in there. I’ve caught a lot of mice that way. It really works.” He was gloating over his sense of oldfashioned ingenuity.

A

nother friend, having left the area for warmer climes over a decade ago, suggested after I recently posted about our predicament on Facebook that I run out to the very local (and now-defunct) hardware store in Boiceville to purchase something called “Worfarin.”

That sounded an awful lot like Warfarin the blood thinner, I shot back.

A quick search of the Internet revealed that in 1945 the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation ((WARF)) patented p g version of the drug a stronger dicumerol, naming it Warfarin. At that th time it was considered too strong to be used in humans but it made a terrific rat poison or rode rodenticide. Later, the drug was tweaked for human use u and has become the most widely used oral an anticoagulant in the US. Interestingly enough, I’ve yet y to find this poison on the shelves of our local stores, though the human variety does grace the shelves of our medicine cabinet.

Yet another creative suggestion, m made by a visiting friend, was why not try death by drowning?

All one has to do is get somethin something like a sheetSimply fill rock bucket and a tub of peanut butter. but the bottom of the bucket with water, wate smear peanut butter just below the lip of th the bucket, and footing in their viola! The little guys lose their fo gluttony, fall into the water, and aft after a nice swim drown. My friend said they had enj enjoyed tremencaptured dous success with this method, having ha and killed approximately 40 or so mice over the winter months. work on the big Did it wo guys, I wondered? Only time will tell. We’ve purchased the supplies but have yet to set this plan into action. Maybe tonight.

This whole experience has given me pause. So far I’ve failed miserably to contain this current epidemic, and now it seems the little buggers are beginning to (shudder) procreate. Perhaps the fault lies with our very old Catskill Mountain farmhouse, but this does feel like a personal failure. It’s been next to impossible to find and seal all the entry points. I’ve diligently searched out all the nether regions and done an inspection inside and out. There are so many little hideyholes!

Late at night, I hear the pitter-patter of little feet in my walls, and I know it’s them. They leave evidence of their nightly rampage on the kitchen floor, in hard-to-reach nooks and crannies, and even a cupboard or two. It’s a plague.

Meanwhile, we’re planning to plug any entrance holes we can find after we’re sure we’ve eliminated our unwanted house guests. If we can’t get the problem under control in the very near future, we can always try professional exterminators.

With renewed vigor, I make a silent vow. Eventually, I’m going to win this battle. I swear it.

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Spring Home Improvement part 2

Wiring, HVAC, tax concerns and curb appeal in the Airbnb age

17, 2016 22 | March Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

Wired or wireless?

Terence P. Ward reminds us how to calculate the best choice for us

W

ith the surge of mobile devices across America, it’s sometimes difficult to recall that Internet connectivity once depended upon wires snaking through walls to allow computers access to the information superhighway. As a well-placed wireless router should be able to take care of everything without the hassle, the prevalence of smartphones and tablets might make the idea of running those wires — whether in new construction or old — seem an antiquated

idea. However, there are reasons why installation of computer cables might be worth the effort.

Despite impressive increases in speed, wireless is still usually much slower than what’s possible with a machine plugged into a standard category six Ethernet cable. Wireless N, the fastest standard that most routers now support, is either 300 or 450 megabits per second (mbit/s), depending on how many channels the hardware has available. Compare that to category six cable, which moves data along at a full gigabyte per second.

An iPhone 6 can actually be faster than even that blazing clip, because it’s got the zippier AC wireless standard, but that’s only helpful if it’s connecting to a wireless AC router. For most uses, that difference is probably not going to make a difference. For anyone in the habit of uploading or downloading very large files (such as full-length

movies), it can mean the difference between minutes and hours for the transfer. Even a home that’s wired with older cable has sufficient speed for most personal needs, such as streaming House of Cards while talking on a voice-over-IP phone.

Whether the connection is wired or wireless, however, the real constraint on speed is going to be the hardware plugged into the other end. A five-year-old laptop isn’t going to make the most of a state-of-the-art router, even under the best of circumstances. A rule of thumb for both wired and wireless is to buy the fastest that is affordable, because then it’s available when the technology in the household catches up.

The advantages of a wireless network are all about convenience: no need for a cable to plug a device into means no real limits on where those devices can be used. However, the growing use of these networks means that wireless conflict is a very real thing. Routers can conflict with nearby networks, other wireless devices, or even cordless phones. This is much more of an issue in areas with very high population, such as New York City.

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Ulster Publishing Co. Those frequencies are measured in megahertz or gigahertz, and that information should be on the box the device came in.

If that’s not available, an online search should turn up the specifics.

One way to avoid a conflict entirely is to look at the FAQ of a particular device on a major retailer such as Amazon. Chances are that someone else has already asked if this device is compatible with something already in your home. Purchasing hardware that’s designed to work together all at the same time is also a solid strategy. Most wireless routers do operate with multiple channels, and it’s possible that switching to a different one will also resolve a conflict.

of wireless router are easy to find on the internet.

Plugging in larger hardware items which are unlikely to be moved such as televisions, as well as associated devices like a Roku or an Xbox, will improve the reliability and eliminate wireless conflicts with those devices.

While the additional speed for

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ired connections never have that sort of conflict, which can simplify the problems of troubleshooting in the connected home. Plugging a cable into the back also provides a more reliable connection. One that doesn’t have the same kinds of security concerns as wireless does. No one can hack into a wired system without physically plugging a device into it first, so

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there’s a benefit to using cable to hook up computers with sensitive data stored on them.

Wardriving, the act of cruising around in a car while using software to detect wireless networks, is a pastime for some people. Many people do not use sufficiently secure passwords to protect their networks. In the article “The Most Popular Bad Passwords of 2015,” Dice.com published a listing of the ones most often cracked. They include qwerty, qwertyuiop, password, passw0rd, 12345 (and all the way up to ten digits), master, welcome, football, baseball, and new for this year starwars. In addition, the default passwords for major brands

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a category six cable might not ever be needed, cables make a network more robust and allow for flexibility in how the network is ultimately used.

That’s why it can make sense to put those wires in, particularly in the case of new construction.

While it may not make sense to lay cable throughout, adding it near where the Time Warner connection comes into the home and anyplace where a desktop computer is likely to be set up, is worth the time and expense in the long run.

The decision to wire for Internet connectivity should include several factors, such as how long you’re likely to live in the home, whether large file transfers are likely to be part of the paces that the technology will be put through regularly, how expensive it will be to run the cables (particularly if the walls aren’t being opened up, or built new already), and whether the building materials in use leave some spots without reliable wireless access.

A frank conversation with all family members about their technology usage -- as well as privacy concerns -- should disclose if there are compelling reasons to run those cables, even if it means drilling a few holes to do so.

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17, 2016 24 | March Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

Heating your home Andrew Amelinckx gives you advice on how to calculate your best options

T

his winter El NiĂąo has helped stem the need to heat your home very much, except for the few brutally cold days interspersed with the balmier ones. But this is the Hudson Valley, after all, so dollars-for-donuts next winter may hold a very different outlook.

That’s why it’s worth looking at the many options out there when it comes to keeping you and your family comfortable until the warmer weather decides to stay (and the time comes when you’ll be trying to decide the best way to cool your place).

There are a variety of ways to heat your home, from geothermal to natural gas to fuel oil to wood to air-source heat pumps (like a central air conditioner but for heat). According to a Stanford University study from 2012, the most common heating method in the U.S. was natural gas, representing around 50 percent of the market, followed by electricity, LPG (propane), and oil. The most popular delivery systems were furnaces and boilers. So which should you choose? That answer depends on a number of factors, such as initial layout costs, long-term savings, where you live, and even your stance on environmental issues.

Dewitt Archibald, who has been in the heating and air conditioning business for 35 years — and whose family’s business in Kingston, Archibald Heating & Air Conditioning, has been around since 1938 — tells me that at the end of the day consumers need to consider the return on investment and the unit price of the type of energy they will be buying when deciding to install a new system. “There are economic balance points you have to look at. If you’re going to be in the house for awhile when you decide to change out your equipment, you’re going to want to go for a more efficient unit,� he says. While there will be an added expense at the outset, you could see a return on your investment in five to eight years. For new construction, he says you should be thinking even more long term, and that a geothermal system, with the cost tied to your mortgage, might be the way to go.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, between 2007 and 2012 Americans spent about $700 annually on average to heat their home using natural gas and around $1700 on fuel oil. To be fair, since that time the price of oil has gone down dramatically. In our region the average price of fuel oil dropped by 23 percent between March 2014 and March 2015 and by another 34 percent from February 2015 to February 2016. Of course what goes down can come back up and vice versa.

One way out of the cycle, or at least a way to reduce your dependence greatly, are renewable energy options.

I

f you are the type of person who thinks “carbon� when you hear the word “footprint� and considers being green something other than a reference to Kermit the Frog or St. Paddy’s Day, then geothermal or solar might be the way to

Above, Solar Generation of Kingston is one of many new companies working in alternative heating and electric systems around the Hudson Valley, as seen in this examples of local work from their website; left, Woodstoves have also gone through myriad changes in recent years.

go. Friends of ours just had a geothermal system put into their Greene County home. Michael Moy and Joseph Sniado tell me their motivation was to reduce their high propane bills, lower ongoing expenses, increase their home value, and help reduce their carbon footprint.

The geothermal system they had installed didn’t completely replace their older system, a high-efficiency Buderus propane furnace, since, says Moy, in colder climates a secondary system may be required for times when the temperature falls below what the geothermal system can handle. They tell me their geothermal system not only lowers their propane bill, but gives them the peace of mind of not having to worry about running out of gas in snowy and icy weather when deliveries might be a problem. A downside is the inconveniences that may crop up when having a geothermal system installed to a pre-existing home rather than having it installed before you begin building. “It’s a total mess that, in our case, made me want to leave home!� admits Moi. “The well digging required huge pits that had to be dug to hold the mud that was created. Long, deep trenches had to be dug from the wells to the house, requiring us to remove planting and landscaping. Then holes had

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to be bored through our concrete foundation by a mason that created clouds of dust in our basement.� In the end, they feel, the investment will be worth it.

Like my friends, you don’t have to rely on just one type of system to heat your home. Archibald tells me he has three, an air-source heat pump, a high efficiency oil-fired boiler and a high-efficiency wood stove. He has a temperature controller that can select when to use the heat pump or oil boiler. When it gets really cold out he tends to run the wood stove.

Wood burning and pellet stoves were recently hit by some heavy federal regulations. Last year, the EPA banned the manufacturing and sale of about 80 percent of woodburning stoves in the U.S. because they didn’t meet their new emission guidelines, according to Forbes magazine. The agency’s new list of all the woodburning stoves that meet the new standards is available on its website.

Wood boilers, while relatively inexpensive, offer similar problems. Newer models have lower exhaust emissions than older varieties, but even so, some municipalities in the Hudson Valley have restricted their use or banned them. Make sure you are allowed to have one before you install it.

Archibald says part of the problem is their relative inefficiency. They are typically “grossly oversized� for the house so they never get up to full temperature, causing them to smoke a lot.

No matter which way you choose to heat your home, the USDE suggests some simple ways to cut your heating costs in winter. Their ideas include raising your shades and opening your curtains during the day to let the sunlight naturally help heat your home; using a programmable thermostat in order to automatically lower the temperature when you are away or asleep; weathestripping the spaces around your doors and windows; setting your ceiling fan to spin clockwise (to push the rising hot air back down); adding more insulation to your walls and attic; and making sure your fireplace is clean and in good working order.

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Ulster Publishing Co.

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your hudson valley real estate specialists Thinking of Building?

Secluded 7-acre Woodstock Estate features architect designed cedar contempo 3-bed main residence with open plan living/dining, new chef ’s kitchen, stately 2-bedroom guest house & new 2-story garage with studio. Just moments to the heart of Woodstock…….............……$877,000

A live/work dream! Exquisite 150 yr-old barn reimagined in Arts & Crafts Style. 10,000 s/f w/open post & beam gallery/loft spaces. Luxury PH w/screen porch, wood stoves, vaulted ceiling, wall of windows, and a cupola that streams light into space.

Plus 1BR apartment….........$777,000

Private 4 bed, 4.5 bath Woodstock contempo. Landscaped 3.4 acres, large pond, decks, hot tub & screen porch.

Great room w/soaring ceilings, media room, family room. Gourmet kitchen w/high end appliances. Master suite, each bedroom has en-suite bath.

Finished lower level…...........$585,000

Chic, renovated contempo w/mtn views. Minutes to town. Great room with a wall of windows. New gourmet kitchen w/stainless appliances. Master suite on own floor. Baths have Resto ration Hardware cabinetry. Bluestone patio, all new Pella windows, new woodstove, generator............$489,000

Prime Woodstock Acreage! 5 acres on quiet and pretty Elting Lane, rough drive in and electric nearby. This is an area of fine homes, and just a short stroll to Yankeetown Pond. Five minutes to center of Woodstock..$99,000

Private 6+ acre Saugerties lakefront parcel with panoramic mountain views. Multiple building sites. Enjoy canoeing, kayaking, fishing, & skating on your own private lakefront.

Survey & BOHA.........$139,000

Wonderful 48+ acres in highly desired Woodstock location.

Multiple building sites & old logging trail roughed in. Build your dream Woodstock estate.

Two streams and level fenced-in meadow………….............$350,000

Stunning 40+ acres on one of Woodstock's most desirable country roads. Enjoy lake views just steps from property. Privacy, majestic mountain & valley views with clearing. Minutes to the village of Woodstock…..$449,000

This quintessential Woodstock 3 BR, 2 bath Contemporary is the perfect weekend getaway. Just a short drive from NYC to the top of paradise.

Totally renovated, this Contemporary boasts a gourmet cooks kitchen in a bright beamed great room with woodstove………..................…$475,000

Totally renovated Woodstock 3/2 contempo is the perfect weekend getaway. Gourmet kitchen open to bright beamed great room with woodstove. Private, new master suite w/vaulted ceilings, new bath and private balcony. Screened porch, hot tub, cedar decks.…................$469,000

Charmingly restored 4 bed/2 bath 1888 Farmhouse. Privately sited 5+ acres w/heated in-ground pool, stone paths & bordering stream. Wideboard floors, exposed beams, wood stove, sun room & rocking chair porch. Separate 700 s/f studio w/heat & power. Great for yoga, artists, musicians…$450,000

Attention investors & entrepreneurs!

3 unit converted factory close to Phoenicia. Post & beam building w/HW floors, chestnut trim, exposed beams, new windows, roof, systems. 800 s/f PO, reno’d 2200 s/f loft, storefront, 1200 s/f yoga studio, gardens, stream, & waterfall...$449,000

1870s Quarryman's cottage high above Plattekill Creek. Stylish renovation combines modern touches with the beauty of a hand built home.

Old growth pine floors, modern kitchen. New deck overlooks stream.

Detached garage studio w/electric & water line. Possibilities!...…$275,000

A perfect weekend retreat, only about 2.5 hrs from NYC. This cozy home has tons of charm. Country eat-in kitchen, large dining room, 2 brick FPs and wrap around patio & deck. Just sit back and take in the mountain view. Updated with 200 amp electric, windows, roof, kitchen & bath……...........……$164,900

This charming and sturdy 2 bedroom 1 bath Cape was lovingly built and cared for by the original owners. The bricks were hand selected and the custom kitchen cabinets were made from hand hewn wood from the family’s sawmill on Band Camp Rd. Great Saugerties location...$162,000

Charming Farmhouse minutes to Phoenicia & short drive to slopes.

Seasonal mountain views. 3BR, 1.5 bath, spacious country eat-in kitchen with new flooring & SS appliances.

FDR, LR w/wood stove. Over sized laundry room. Well worth the TLC needed. Small workshop too…$139,000

Become part of the Tiny House Movement! Bright, affordable cabin on beautiful Silver Hollow w/stream.

Don't let size fool you, this house packs a punch w/updated custom features & makes the most of space.

New well, septic, windows & metal roof. A must see!...................$129,900

Great renovation project. Lots of potential in this 3BR, 2Bath Cape on 2+ acres w/in-ground heated pool and stone patio. Formal LR, built ins, HW floors, brick FP, great room. Lots of windows bring natural light all day.

Extensive decking with pergola at back of property ensures privacy…$310,000

info@halterassociatesrealty.com | www.halterassociatesrealty.com 3257 route 212 | woodstock, ny | 845-679-2010

17, 2016 26 | March Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

LAND LOTS O LAND Building your own home? Resales are Scarce! $69,000 Esopus 2 level acres with mountain views $129,000 11 rolling acres with lots of road frontage $159,000 31 virgin acres of privacy & wild life

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REPRODUCTION ANTIQUE STONE home and outbuildings, with commercial possibilities - The charming look of antiquity from 18th century and the ease of modern convenience coexist at this painstakingly rebuilt gem on 4 park-like acres with a stunning clear POND & breathtaking Mohonk views; Abundant originallooking details include: 3 fireplaces, massive beams, wide board floors, and period hardware. Modern conveniences include: kitchen, baths & all systems. Extra details incl: cedar roof, stone patio, screened porch, two terrific barns and pond house. Gardiner HC Zoning.

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Offer applies to fixed rate home purchase applications received between 3/1/2016 - 5/31/2016 and must close by August 1, 2016. Not valid for pre-qualifications, refinances, home equity products, construction loans or mortgage applications received prior to 3/1/2016. Offer may not be combined with any other offers or discounts unless otherwise noted. Offer may be withdrawn at any time.

Cozy bedding, loads of art, and a nice DVD collection and want from a country getaway.

Harry Matthews channels his inner innkeeper

I

never planned on being a landlord, a minor hotelier, or as a friend recently put it one of the “petit bourgeoisie.” But how much of what we plan for our lives ever turns out as expected?

For me, not much.

I have had the occasional friend who seemed to so strictly follow their well-plotted course of action-from college to work to the perfect family that diversions, the kind that seem to have defined my life, were not an option. Not only did I find this hard-nosed go-gettedness in life difficult to fathom, but out of a natural distrust of such for-

March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

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LOCAL EXPERTS

the VILLAGE GREEN REALTY

rant rethinks ter (airbnb)

Which projects improve the value of your home?

CALL FOR EXPERT ADVICE

PHOTOS BY HARRY MATTHEWS

d some local guide books are all most short term visitors

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mulaic living ended up distancing myself from these types.

Not that my style of wandering, irresponsible never-kept-a-job-for-more-than-a-year-or-a-girlfriend-for-much-longer lifestyle was so appealing.

But it’s undeniably what happened to me. And thankfully it seems to have happened to many of my friends as well.

For years I wondered if I would ever settle down, keep a job, get married, and have kids. Now, as I write this nearing my 50th year I can proudly say that I’m sort of married, mostly settled down, and have five cats, which don’t really count as kids other than because of how much we love and spoil them.

In hazy self-imaginings I knew that I always wanted to own a home. What I envisioned was closer to what Grizzly Adams or Jeremiah Johnson lived in, by which I mean rustically set in a hid-

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17, 2016 28 | March Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

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den wood, removed from the prying eyes of roads and neighbors. That I would ever own a place that would “welcome” strangers as guests, and that I would be the one doing the welcoming was beyond the ken of my often shortsighted vision.

When in 2010 the property we were renting came up for sale, and through the wily help of some better-credited relations who desperately wanted to see me settled, we were able to buy it.

The place was at one time a working farm that had been transformed many times over the years, but now consisted of the main house, two little cottages which had once been a horse stable and chicken coop, a few other outbuildings in semi-advanced states of disrepair, and a rustic cabin that sat by a little waterfall on the banks of a creek.

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o say the cottages were cute would be akin to saying Donald Trump was a humble guy. But unlike Trump they had potential.

They were mostly insulated, had running water and electricity. But they were dark and in desperate need of attention, miles from what they could be. And that they were both occupied presented a landlord-like challenge of authority I hardly knew how to deal with. But by the end of the first year the tenants had moved out, and for once the property felt like ours.

It was around this time that we heard of airbnb.

Far from being the worldwide phenomenon it is now, it then seemed a little-known entity and a bit of a risk. Friends cautioned us about not throwing all our eggs in one basket. But this was the “coop,” as we had started calling it, and eggs in a basket seemed more than apropos.

I don’t believe my partner or I have a single business-minded cell between us, but fortunately airbnb takes care of the business side of things making it very easy for people like us to set up and run. What we did have to do was turn the cottage into the kind of place we would want to stay, and thus set about injecting our personalities into every inch of it. We painted everything, redid floors, changed windows and doors and soon had it looking pretty good. We then filled it with art and antiques that we found at yard sales, books and DVDs, bought loads of sheets and towels, cleaning supplies, a new vacuum cleaner, pots and pans, hooked up a WiFi signal, got Netflix on the box, and set up a listing on the airbnb site.

Within the first two days we got a hit, and the next weekend we had our first guests. Looking back on it I probably overdid my hosting a bit; from too much food in the fridge to a drawn-out introduction to the place when they arrived that I think might have taken them aback. I mean they were young, naive, as inexperienced with this new web-based service as we were, and only two hours out of the safety of Brooklyn. Now in the wilds of an artist’s compound in upstate New York who knew what could happen?

But it all went off without a hitch, and soon we were fielding weekly requests to book our little cottage. With each booking we learned something new, whether from little mistakes we made or how we could better someone’s stay. We soon realized that we didn’t like the one-night rentals we had started out offering and instituted a two-night minimum. With the one-nighters we were working too hard for people that were often just passing through and needed a place to crash.

In the early days we would leave expensive chocolates on the pillows until one couple didn’t notice our little gift and “accidentally” had carnal relations on them, smearing Godiva all over an expensive bedspread. Now we leave only the basics: fresh-ground coffee, a selection of teas, creamers, sugar, salt, and spices, oil and vinegar, and the occasional welcome bottle of Prosecco on the kitchen counter. The rest is up to the them.

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he reviews were soon pouring in, and thankfully they were good. For whatever reason, our little property on our little back road resonated with people, and they kept coming. In the four years we’ve been doing this we’ve had couples return time and time again, thinking of the coop and our farm as their upstate home.

My partner Catherine says I was born for this kind of work, in response to which I flail about in horrified vehement protestations, fearful that the petitbourgeois title might just fit. In truth, I love it all.

In this time it has all become second nature.

I send a standard welcome email the day before guests arrive, and nine times out of ten I’m here to meet them in the driveway. Interestingly, I’ve found that one of my newly acquired talents is the

March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co. ability to size up potential problem guests more quickly than ever. When we began doing this I would agree to everything and everyone — the Bill Clinton of home-sharing, if you will.

“You want to bring your not-yet-housebroken rescue puppies with you? No problem! You and your boyfriend want to bring an extra ‘friend’ along who just happens to be an amateur cinematographer? Come on, the more the merrier!”

(There was a story going around recently of a New York man seeing his airbnb-rented apartment as the setting for a low-budget porno.)

When I now get a booking request with too many questions or too many requirements I gently tell them it’s probably not a good fit. When I go out to meet a couple and they react awkwardly to my oft-boisterously welcoming hello, I know to just give them the basic rundown of the place and leave them to themselves. But just as often I’ll stand in

the driveway with newly arrived guests, petting their happy-to-be-out-of-the-city dogs, talking up the many things to do in the area, from hiking trails to great restaurants to music venues to art openings. They in turn might tell me about how much Williamsburg has changed, or that they someday want to do what we’ve done, that is move upstate.

Probably 90 per cent of the thousands of guests we’ve hosted have been really nice, friendly likeminded people. As we keep our prices affordable, we rarely attract demandingly fancy types.

Our main draw I believe is that we have a beautiful, down-to-earth, remote-feeling yet near-toeverything cottage in a chilled-out garden setting.

The secondary and I think slightly more important attraction is that we allow guests to bring their pets. This has become a mainstay of our business, and our clientele are very grateful that we do it. Over and over I watch couples pull in, get

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out of the car, open the back door, and out jumps a scruffy and seriously happy city dog, at last in some real country with a thousand smells to roll in, places to run, and things to pee on. In greeting them I will often pay more attention to the canine guest than I do their humans, because our place is as much about them, their adventure, their time in the woods, as it is their humans. And long after their trip is over I imagine that dog might be found out on a walk rolling in some foul-smelling muck in the Sheep’s Meadow or Prospect Park fantasizing about that trip upstate, all those beguiling smells, or that deliciously cool swim in the ever-bubbling creek out back.

And maybe the dog will look imploringly at the couple, who in turn might look at each other and sigh, “It looks like someone needs a trip back up to the farm.”

Woof.

Energy-saving upgrades Violet Snow describes the federal programs available to homeowners

are asked for documentation If all these details seem overwhelming, you can approach the subject more gradually with a ten-minute surhe federal governvey of your home ment is so committed through Hometo promoting energy efselfe.com.

On ficiency in the U.S. that your computer or in 2016 it is offering smartphone, you tax credits for recent or click on a graphic forthcoming upgrades to appliances that considers the and windows, installation of sustainrooms of a house able energy sources, and other enerone at a time, gy-saving changes. To see where you asking multiplecan make the biggest differences in choice questions saving money and earning tax credabout the status its, there’s a new online tool called of different appliHomeselfe that helps inventory your ances and struchouse and then reports on the postures. Is your resibilities. frigerator Energy “The University of North CaroStar certified? In lina did a study,” said Ameeta Jain, what condition co-founder of Homeselfe (which she are your winpronounces “Home-self-ee”). “They dows? What is the found that when people do make fuel source of your energy efficiency upgrades on their primary heating home, they’re less likely to default on system? Informathe mortgage, and they end up savtion is also coling money on energy bills. Everyone lected about the can benefit, not just the affluent. And size of your home nobody wants to spend money on and the amount of things they’re wasting.”

WIKICOMONS your current utilThree different federal programs Tax write-offs, and the energy savings they’re designed to lead us to, are often as key a means to ity bills. reward homeowners for saving enerhome improvement projects as aesthetics.

At the end of the gy on existing homes (as opposed to tour, a report is new construction). The Nonbusiness generated, listing the potential changes you could naces and boilers; and, for electric heat customers Energy Property Credit offers a tax credit commake, how much each would save annually on only, home sealing. prising ten percent of the cost of qualified energyenergy, and what rebates are available from your The Residential Energy Efficient Property efficient improvements. Qualified improvements utility if you should decide to make each change.

Credit is a federal program under which homeinclude adding insulation, upgrading to energyHomeselfe will even provide names of qualified owners may receive a tax credit of 30 percent of efficient exterior windows and doors, and installand bonded local contractors to perform the work. the expenditures made for qualified solar electric ing certain roofing materials. This credit does not Homeselfe is powered by Jain’s employer, Ensystems, solar water heaters, fuel cell power supextend to installation costs. Additionally, a credit ergy Datametrics, which provides energy efficienplies, small wind turbines, and geothermal heat is available, including the costs of installation, for cy software used by over 150 utility companies to pumps. The credit for fuel cells is limited to $500 certain high-efficiency heating and air-conditionperform energy audits. Through these audits, Jain for each half-kilowatt of capacity, but the amounts ing systems, as well as high-efficiency water heatsaid, “An amazing amount of energy and money of the other expenditures eligible for the credit are ers and stoves that burn biomass fuel. There is a is being saved by making simple changes like not limited. The credit is available for property lifetime limitation of $500, of which only $200 switching light bulbs. I wanted to bring the techplaced in service through December 31, 2016. If may be used for windows. Qualifying improvenology to all residents, so people can rate their the amount is more than the homeowner owes in ments must have been placed in service between own homes. It gives you an understanding of your taxes, the remainder can be rolled over to the next 2006 and December 31, 2016, in the taxpayer’s home, and helps you think about energy and how year. principal residence, located in the United States. to save on utility bills. It’s also useful to see which Homeowners may also receive up to $300 in tax All materials must be Energy Star-rated or meet changes save more money.” credit for a new Energy-Star-rated water heater; specific energy-saving criteria. Some utility comAccording to Jain, carrying through on Homeselfe’s ten percent of the cost of new insulation and air panies also offer credit for such upgrades. Central recommended energy upgrades has been shown to sealing, up to $500 (not including installation Hudson, for instance, will provide a reimbursesave families up to 30% on energy bills. Such changes ment of $450 for installing a heat pump water fees); or ten percent of the cost of new Energycan also increase the value of the home. heater and up to $300 for high-efficiency central Star-rated windows and doors, up to $200, not air conditioning. Other Central Hudson rebates including labor.

For more information, see http://www.homeselfe.

To apply for any of these programs, use tax form cover air-source heat pumps for air conditioning; com. Central Hudson’s rebates are listed at http:// 5695, and be sure to keep your receipts in case you refrigerator and freezer recycling; natural gas furwww.savingscentral.com/rebates.

T

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Central Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Belvedere Castle in New York City is a perfect folly, built for nothing but fun and fantasy and making it a perfect walkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destination.

In praise of folly Paul Smart contends that wacky creations have a long and useful legacy

I

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found a simple key to traveling, both alone and with family: find things that are magical to discover. Search out a wacky garden filled with huge topiary of massive beasts, pagodas in strange places, giant tin creatures, and objects whose commercial uses have long disappeared.

Or anything that looks even faintly like a castle, be it a gussied-up hotel or some derelict gatehouse in a field. Even oddball treehouses can fit the bill if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got the right mood percolating in the car as you head out for your next such magical stop.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking about a form of architectural wonder once known as Follies, started around the time of the Renaissance in 16th-century Europe, when some people found themselves with more money and creativity than they knew what to do with productively. The movement blossomed into an early peak in France and other northern Europe-

an nations just before the Age of Revolution (and possibly one of its causes, according to some).

Examples? How about the Bormazo Park of the Monsters in the Lazio hills north of Rome, where Pier Francesco Orsini lamented the loss of his beloved wife by commissioning wild statue-buildings and grottoes that felt like hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entry to visitors. Or Prussiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Frederick the Great, a century and a half later, creating a series of faux-Roman edifices at his reservoir/water park, Ruinenberg, that became instantly even more ruinous because of the inadequacies of his technicians.

Later, French royalty added to the allure of their chateau estates by erecting pagodas, faux-medieval villages, and even more Roman ruins, many modeled after what appeared in commissioned landscape paintings of the day. A correlation between Marie Antoinetteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s particular fondness for what her people labeled â&#x20AC;&#x153;fabriques,â&#x20AC;? hugely expensive facsimiles of rustic villages where she and her often foreign-born friends cavorted in designercreated versions of peasant wear, well prior to her beheading less than a decade later.

In England, Scotland and Wales, where active revolution was dealt with overseas rather than at home, the Continental idea of follies took hold

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March 17, 2016 Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co. quite a tradition of such follies here, too. And we are finding that as incomes rise, or at least as time and energy levels among newer propertyowners increases, the phenomenon seems to be growing.

While the most recognizable follies in the state may be the faux-Belvedere, Bannerman’s Island and Boldt castles, the grand estates along the Hudson. also have their share of cool items to draw attention, from faux ruins and rustic cottages to the very look of Frederick Church’s Olana, Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, or anything Andrew Jackson Davis or Richard Upjohn designed, the latter also responsible for his massive “folly gate” to Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, now the home to its own flock of South American parrots. Ever been to Gomez Mill’s wondrous watermill, seen the old watchtowers on wooded estates around Cornwallville, eyed and tried the brick in-ground version of the Hampton Court maze outside Arkville, or seen the stupa on Lost Clove Road near Big Indian?

Local cemeteries are filled with odd follies, as

WIKICOMONS

Architectural follies have included the Killiney Hill Obelisk in Ireland, known as a "famine folly." with a flurry of construction of more ruins, Egyptians temples and pyramids, Oriental fantasies, grottoes and even cavern systems with faux-rivers Styx. In Ireland, a different form of folly was built as means of rich landlords to provide aid to those suffering from the Irish potato famine by providing work while not depriving normal laborers of their regular jobs. The results included roads to nowhere, odd walls here and there, and even piers and bridges stuck out in the middle of bogs.

What does all this have to do with home improvement in the Hudson Valley? Well, we have

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are many of our back roads where one can witness the ever-growing tall wall started by a lone rockworker in Lake Hill, or the stone beds and chairs outside Woodstock, or up in the high clove behind Elka Park on Greene County’s Mountaintop?

Newer follies we know about, but are pledged to keep anonymous and unplaced until their ownercreators can figure out how to get them okayed by local code enforcers and planning boards. These include an entire property of trash structures joined together by a winter-ready “rocket-stove” system of stone and metal vents, a tree-home that doubles as a camera obscura poised over a stream in the woods, another tree-house bedroom accessory structure to a riverside cabin, stone-constructed pools within actual mountain creeks and waterfalls, and one man’s rising carved tower of sculpted tree trunks.

Architect Andre Tchelistcheff has built a hillside sauna overlooking mountains and river, while the legendary Steven Holl’s T-Space is a gallery with-

17, 2016 32 | March Home Hudson Valley

Ulster Publishing Co.

out electricity, situated on a property of other architectural experiments. Numerous hunters, over the years, have spent years amending their secret tree stands and duck blinds into their own follylike yet sturdy-as-ruins homes away from home.

And what, really, are public sculpture gardens but a version of these same trends, made obvious when a John Kahn or Tom Gottsleben or others around

our artist-rich landscape festoon their own homelands with everything from Easter-Island icons to massive cairns, rock pilings, and massive carvings meant for nothing much more than an enlivening of their private worlds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is Folly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that, in a several dress, governs cities, appoints magistrates, and supports judicatures; and, in short, makes the whole course of

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manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life a mere childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s play, and worse than push-pin diversion,â&#x20AC;? wrote the Reformationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great essayist Erasmus in his influential satire/ criticism, In Praise of Folly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The invention of all arts and sciences are likewise owing to the same cause: for what sedentary, thoughtful men would have beat their brains in the search of new and unheard-of-mysteries, if not egged on by the bubbling hopes of credit and reputation? They think a little glittering flash of vain-glory is a sufficient reward for all their sweat, and toil, and tedious drudgery, while they that are supposedly more foolish, reap advantage of the othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; labors.â&#x20AC;?

In the United Kingdom these days there exists a non-profit, The Folly Fellowship, dedicated to heralding and best-defining architectural follies. Here in our state, the Architectural Society of New York holds an annual Folly competition whose winners get built at the Socrates Sculpture Park in New York City each summer. Its deadlines are in late January.

Advice for creating such things? Think them through as fully as one can. But keep them private, unmitigated by othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; opinions and suggestions.

And be prepared for mistakes ... as in my own attempts using rotten wood, since fallen, or a bathtub I once placed in the yard to view sunsets from, forgetting how horrible it is to back oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s butt into cold water, no matter how hot the day, or body.

But finally, realize that despite other definitions for the age-old term folly, these things are serious, both as manna for oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own property and as attractions for othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; journeying.

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