« Williamsburg Waterfront Warehouse Landmarked House of the Day: South Slope Brick »

September 22, 2005

Tracking 56 Cambridge on My Brownstone

56 cambridge
We were happy to see that the owner of 56 Cambridge decided to step it up a notch and continue the discussion of the renovation of his 1863 Neo-Tudor woodframe house. He's put up seven photos of the house in its current state (including this one of the temporary wood beams used to shore up the ceiling) and plans to keep us current as this exciting restoration progresses. Though we haven't figured out how to add a Comments section to My Brownstone, we'll do periodic posts here on the front page which should provide adequate room for discussion. We encourage other people embarking on renovations to follow suit and set up an account on My Brownstone.
The Haunted House [My Brownstone] GMAP
Starting Work at 56 Cambridge [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:08 AM | Comments (38)
Categories: My Brownstone

Comments

so what's the plan then with this house? is he taking it all the way?

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 11:24 AM

This will be some job! I would love to know your plans as well. Who will be the contractor, architect? Care to share????

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 11:27 AM

Uh, is there ANY part of that house that is actually salvageable?

Posted by: sandra at September 22, 2005 11:41 AM

I almost passed out when I saw that on My Brownstone. could. not. be. more. excited.

Brownstoner - now that you're pretty much done (we've been reduced to looking at your kids' shower curtain). You should pass the torch and turn the reno blog over to them.

That will be a truly mind-blowing renovation.

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at September 22, 2005 11:53 AM

A great idea to be sure, Hillbilly

Posted by: Brownstoner at September 22, 2005 12:10 PM

I'm with Sandra - this is probably the worst I've seen in a while. Can it really be salvaged? I almost lost my lunch over that bathroom. And how much did they pay for this? I hope they got a deal because this is pretty scary.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 12:18 PM

I admire the owners' courage in tackling this project and wish them bucket loads of luck -- or should that be dumpster loads? Everything is fixable if you can throw enough skill, hard work, creativity and -- yeh -- money at it. The day we took vacant possession of our house, rain was coming through the top floor ceiling in 4 different places so I've been there. Fingers crossed that the underlying structure isn't too shot -- joists, beams, foundation walls etc. This renovation/restoration is a public service to the block, the neighborhood and city as a whole. Truly, when private home owners undertake projects like this it enriches the fabric of urban life. Now, if we could just see more PUBLIC projects offering better housing and services for a broad range of city residents instead of selling our future to the Bruce Ratners of this world... Oops, I feel a rant coming on.

Posted by: Roz at September 22, 2005 12:58 PM

Definite props to the new buyers for taking this on, a definite plus for the block and then neighborhood. Good luck, and looking forward to the progress.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 1:03 PM

this is totally exciting! go haunted house!

who's the contractor?

Posted by: LG at September 22, 2005 1:22 PM

Will the owners have day jobs as they undertake this project??

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 1:34 PM

Those beams don't look like shoring to me. I'd say it was furring for a later ceiling that was put up to cover the damaged original. Looks like enough of the medallion is there to make a cast for repair. That's at least one salvageable piece!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 1:45 PM

On behalf of the neighborhood, kudos to the owners for taking on this project and letting the rest of us share in the progress - the old lady deserves that respect.

Does anyone know what happened to the neighboring house - the red one featured by Brownstoner earlier in the year, next door to 56 (which used to have shutters)?

Posted by: alex at September 22, 2005 1:51 PM

we have the same thing in our house except the drop ceiling is intact. when we took a look up there we were excited to see remnants of the old ceiling and a near salvageable medallion. the rest of our plaster has sustained too much water-damage to repair.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 1:52 PM

Holy haunted house, Batman! And I thought we had some rough stuff to deal with. I hope it all turns out great. Keep us updated along the way.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 2:01 PM

The red house with shutters was taken off the market and the owners have been renovating it themselves, presumably to turn around and sell once complete.

Posted by: Brownstoner at September 22, 2005 2:06 PM

You are right actually, those beams aren't remporary shoring, but an attempt at a drop ceiling from many years ago that wasn't ever completed. There is one other medallion that is completely intact, but other than that, there really aren't any other details left. This building was stripped of anything of real value some time ago. There is one marble fireplace that was left behind because it was broken in half when someone was trying to remove it.

I didn't put up any pictures of the temporary shoring yet, but I'll have them shortly if you'd like. The DOB permits will be posted on the building in the next few days, and I'll post the name of the architect and contractor (which are a matter of public record as they are on the permits) at that time. I just want to ask them if they mind me putting their name online before I post it here. Thanks for the encouragement on the house.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 22, 2005 2:10 PM

P.S. Did you notice that the building on the corner of Gates and Grand is starting to look like there might be some life there? There was a red pickup truck parked inside of the fence and some very contractor looking people trouncing around. Does anyone know the story of this house? It's five stories and looks to be more than 20 feet wide.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 22, 2005 2:21 PM

This is what I heard about it from a friend who lives just down the block. An older lady used to live in this house, and when she died, her mentally ill son inheirited the property. He lives in an SRO in Harlem and was not dealing with the property.

There were squatters in the place as recently as last year. But I guess someone finally convinced him to sell. It is an incredibly beautiful house, I just hope it wasn't too damaged/stripped in the interim.

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at September 22, 2005 2:33 PM

Shahn Anderson wrote: "P.S. Did you notice that the building on the corner of Gates and Grand is starting to look like there might be some life there? There was a red pickup truck parked inside of the fence and some very contractor looking people trouncing around. Does anyone know the story of this house? It's five stories and looks to be more than 20 feet wide."

That house was only empty for a few years--maybe 5? There have been workmen there sporadically for about a year.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 3:02 PM

The corner building has had a very small amount of sporadic activity over the past year, but mostly protecting itself from invasion by putting up a fence. The buildings permit just went up in the last couple of weeks and a professional crew has been working since then.

Posted by: Brownstoner at September 22, 2005 3:28 PM

I was truly amazed when I saw these pictures. Good Luck!! It should be very exciting and I'm sure it will be amazing when it's done. I wish more people had the nerve to do this, instead of demolishing the old and building new (and sometimes ugly). I think it will be a lot of work; we did renovations that weren't nearly as involved and it was hard. But you'll laugh when it's all done.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 3:49 PM

I'd definitely love to see this on my brownstoner though I'm thinking that with so much work ahead of them, if the owner(s) would have enough time to keep us updated periodically (and I'd understand if they couldn't) as everyone is clearly excited to see the progress and will no doubt be sitting on the edge on their seats awaiting the next update. it seems like a lot of work and we all know they already have a lot on their plates.

Posted by: blkbuttrflie at September 22, 2005 3:53 PM

I meant renovation blog (not my brownstoner)

Posted by: blkbuttrflie at September 22, 2005 3:54 PM

Again, my kudos to Mr. Andersen for taking this on! I think Roz put it best that renovating this house it a public service to the block and the neighborhood as a whole. You have my admiration and my gratitude. Best of luck, I look forward to tracking your progress from the street and the renovation blog, and I look forward to having a cold drink on your porch when it is done!

Posted by: Mr. Minerva at September 22, 2005 3:55 PM

Anon 3:49. It's not just nerve...a project like this needs deep pockets.

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at September 22, 2005 4:45 PM

Wow!! This really deserves to be documented by HGTV or Bob Villa or the like. You should really give them a call!!!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 5:19 PM

It's more the bank having deep pockets than me having them. Buying with a renovation mortgage allows you to buy with essentially the same amount down (percentage-wise) as when you buy any other house. Trust me, I had to put a lot less down to buy this, even at its $1,050,000 price than I would have had to put down on a $1,500,000 or $1,600,000 brownstone in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill.

I'm not saying it's cheap to buy in Clinton Hill, or that the amount of money it takes to buy a house these days isn't ludicrous. I'm saying that although it does take a little vision, it takes no more deep pockets than buying any other place.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 22, 2005 5:40 PM

I hear Mr. Andersen is actually going to live in the place while the reno is going on!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 22, 2005 9:56 PM

It's true, I will live there while it's being renovated... I also happen to be selling an equity investment in the Brooklyn Bridge to anyone who is interested... :P

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 23, 2005 12:16 AM

I hope you realize how hard it will be to live there. We thought we could live in our house too, but after two weeks we hightailed it out of there! We did a lot of renovations, but not nearly what you'll have to do. I hope you can live in constant dirt, dust & debris, you can't even get dressed in the morning, everything will be really dirty. Good luck!!!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 23, 2005 9:37 AM

Shahn,
The house is absolutely incredible and I imagine it will be quite a fun and challenging renovation project. Have you ever done this before?

I'm begging you, please keep us stoners in the loop. Seriously try to work it out so you can be the reno blog.

Also just curious, was 1.05 the sale price (then you have construction costs on top of that) or was that the total amount of your loan. I seem to recall that the property sold for significantly less at auction (6-800K). Did you buy it from a flipper, or did you actually get it at the auction?

I agree that if you can keep your construction costs under control, you got a pretty good deal.

Best of luck!

Posted by: clinton hillbilly at September 23, 2005 10:18 AM

I was joking, you couldn't possibly hope to live in this building while it is being renovated. There won't even be anywhere to stand. We have to tear up the rotting floors and put in steel i-beams to tie the whole building together.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 23, 2005 10:39 AM

I paid $1,050,000 and bought it from the person who bought it at the auction. He had been trying to demolish it to build condos. I believe the price he paid was $875,000. If I can keep the renovation costs down, it will be a fabulous house for the total cost. Clearly, there will be a lot of costs. New water main to the building, all new electric, all new plumbing, steel structural reinforcement, new floors, new walls. Hopefully LPD will allow me to build a decent size extension to replace and expand on the rotten one...

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 23, 2005 10:49 AM

Thanks for sharing with all of us. Best of luck.

Posted by: renogirl at September 23, 2005 12:06 PM


I dare ya to lick the toilet!

I'm almost done with a renovation almost that bad, and it hasn't been so difficult. When there's not much to save, it's much easier. Just tear the innards out and rebuild!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 23, 2005 10:46 PM

I'm disappointed that there have been no comments about the petrified rat. I need to get a renovation blog going so I can get readers' imput about all of the disgusting things I'm coming across...

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at September 24, 2005 12:34 PM

omg a rat! that's the worse I think that's the biggest problem. hehee yea the ceilling is being braced up and the bathroom is well... you know. not to mention all the other stuff that I was impressed with you enduring before but doing all that AND facing the rat makes you a superhero in my book :-)

rodents is where I draw the line!

Posted by: blkbuttrflie at September 25, 2005 9:43 PM

Very original content. I really like your site. while they only recover: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Charles_Mackay , It's impossible to experience one's death , By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail

Posted by: Paul Drake at November 15, 2005 3:12 AM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions