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February 19, 2007
Taking the Edge Off a Rough Reno
Reading yesterday's Habitats column in The Times, it was hard not to feel like a complete whimp, not only because we don't take bourbon in our Sunday morning tea but also because we didn't camp out with no heat or running water in our house while it was being renovated. After picking up their three-story wood-frame house on Dikeman Street in Red Hook for $360,000 two years ago, LeNell Smothers and Benjamin Peikes ran in to some unexpected problems. “We had planned to live in one of the rooms while the work was going on, but we came home one day, and that room was gone,” Ms. Smothers said. After the frequent sewage floodings drove them out of an illegal basement apartment on Pioneer Street, the couple starting camping out amid the construction in their new home, a situation that was only made bearable at first by the fact that they had the use of a shower and toilet at Ms. LeNell's eponymous liquor store around the corner on Van Brunt Street. And now, with a wood stove and space heaters, things are relatively cushy. We were bummed that there were not more photos with the article. Perhaps LeNell and Benjamin will share some more photos with us?
Nothing a Shot of Bourbon Won’t Cure [NY Times]
Illustration by Douglas B. Jones
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Comments
Good luck to them!
Posted by: Anonymous at February 19, 2007 10:13 AM
Guess I should be greatful for my heat and porta potty.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 19, 2007 10:24 AM
I loved this story--finally, a NYT reno story we could relate to (as opposed to the ones where the owners relax on their Wyoming ranch while their designer/architect team combine two Dakota triplexes into one 40,000-square-foot masterpiece, or they shack up in a nice hotel while their fab brownstone is gutted). They even went us one better--even when we had no heat/kitchen/shower, and were living thru demolition on-site, we always had running water...and still consider it a luxury...
Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at February 19, 2007 1:13 PM
Two years and still no heat? And no plumbing? May be they should drink less and read renovation blogs more ;)
Posted by: Anonymous at February 19, 2007 1:15 PM
Christ, I though I had it bad!
Suddenly the sawhorses in my kitchen sound glamerous.
Finally a reno I can relate to.
Posted by: ImNotYourDaddy at February 19, 2007 2:13 PM
I enjoyed it too. It makes the steel shelving unit with my power tools, paint, denatured alchohol and sandpaper, among other things, which seems to be a permanent kitchen fixture now, look positively glam.
Maybe I should break out that bottle of over-proof Jamaican rum I've been saving for a special occasion. Strong spirits seem to allow you to put up with quite a bit. I lived with a horribly scary bathroom that defied description, but it was usable (barely). Don't think I could rough it as long as this couple is doing. Good luck to them!
Posted by: Crown Heights Proud at February 19, 2007 3:47 PM
Yup, this sounds very familiar. My husband and I are living in our house while we renovate it as well. Our friends and family enjoy reading about our crazy adventures on our blog. Feel free to check it out, http://journal.halcyonniche.com/
Posted by: Katherine at February 19, 2007 7:34 PM
Anybody have any info. on raising chickens in the city? How loud and dirty and annoying is it? Would your neighbors just hate you?
Posted by: Anonymous at February 19, 2007 9:11 PM
is that tobias funke?
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 1:40 PM
I lived in my renovation long enough to get my wilderness badge and a good collection of stories, but not long enough to get fired from my day job as my dress for success look gradually began to deteriorate. It is a damn good thing I didn't take up drinking bourbon because that would have been the end of me.
I wish them luck.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 1:47 PM
We looked for houses in Red Hook starting in early 2005, and found nothing like this for under $800k.
So, $375k for this in 2005?
What's with the 2002 prices, 3 years later in 2005?
Did they know the owner directly, or something (and was the owner grossly uninformed about prices)?
It is LeNell, however, so whatever the case, I'm happy this great deal went to good people.
If you haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting her store, you will be hooked (so to speak) the minute you walk in, and doubly so the moment you speak with her or anyone else there.
Anyhow, just stunned that anything could be found there in 2005 for those prices.
Posted by: doh at February 20, 2007 7:17 PM
I personally would never buy anything from that wine store after i heard the owner make a racist remark about the people in the projects. I guess bad thing do happen to bad people.
Posted by: Anonymous at June 14, 2007 1:58 PM
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