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May 3, 2007

NB: House Tours and Brownstoner Party Sunday

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Just a reminder that both the Clinton Hill House Tour and the Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill House Tour are taking place on Sunday. We've gotten lots of rsvp's to the post-tour wine party we're throwing at Ici from 3:30 to 5:30 but there are still a few spots open, so shoot us an email to brownstoner.ici@gmail.com with the number of people in the subject line and names down below if you'd like to come.
May 6: A Busy Day for House Tours! [Brownstoner]
Brownstoner House Tour After-Party at Ici on Sunday [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:31 AM | Comments (18)
Categories: Events

Comments

$30 seems steep for a house tour. Why is it worth it? What more do you get than that from a couple of open houses on a Sunday afternoon?

Posted by: Anonymous at May 3, 2007 12:46 PM

I thought it was $20. House tours can be fun or a bust. They are fun when they show a variety of different styles and homes. One year the Clinton Hill tour ran the gambit of latest loft to formal high Victorian to detached Opera set designers to artist funky coop which has been worked on for 20 years. I thought last year's Fort Greene was kind of a bust because everything was very high end and just showed what money can create. Although some of the houses on a tour will be on the market shortly thereafter, many are not, and are just an opportunity to sneak a peak at the creativity of the neighbors. I find the SONYA art tour gives another such opportunity.

Posted by: putnam-denizen at May 3, 2007 1:39 PM

Anyone know approximately how much time one should budget for the Clinton Hill tour?

Posted by: Ms. Brooklyn at May 3, 2007 1:45 PM

Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Tour is $20

Posted by: Anonymous at May 3, 2007 1:51 PM

$20 more reasonable but still should be more like $10-15. Again, what do you get that you don't get on a Sunday afternoon at O.H.'s?

Posted by: Anonymous at May 3, 2007 1:52 PM

these events fund these neighborhood groups...would people stop complaining about 15 vs 30..either pay it and support the neighborhoods or dont

Posted by: Anonymous at May 3, 2007 2:03 PM

what anon 2:03 said. the money is used to support the neighborhood groups. they in turn use the money for neighborhood events and improvements.

if you think $20 or $30 dollars is a lot of money what are you doing at open houses anyway?

Posted by: Anonymous at May 3, 2007 2:51 PM

"...if you think $20 or $30 dollars is a lot of money what are you doing at open houses anyway?"

If I can afford to pay $2M for a townhouse, I should also pay $10 for a cup of coffee? Open houses are free of charge.

For the third time, what do these house tours have over open houses?

Posted by: Anonymous at May 3, 2007 3:40 PM

Uh, I think I answered above. Good House Tours give you a wide variety of lifestyles, sizes, architecture, etc. You can see how other people solved problems you might want to solve. You can see what it meant to be an artist couple buying in Clinton Hill in 1960, and what was important to them then. A good house tour includes places which violate every realtor's staging rules - places are eccentric, provocative, stuffed to the gills with an owner's life. Some of the houses are a train wreck, some make you laugh, some make you think that maybe life doesn't depend on what kind of dishwasher you buy. Many of them began as attempts by local groups to expose like minded folks to the possibility of living in a new area. They are really boring when they are what you seem to be worried they are - simply another way of marketing properties or showcasing a particular designer's product. Clearer?

Posted by: putnam-denizen at May 3, 2007 3:56 PM

Open houses are specifically for selling the house, an entirely different purpose and mindset.

A house tour, in the case of this one, gives you an opportunity to get inside places not usually open to the public, such as the Pratt houses, or the library. Also people are sharing their homes with a thousand strangers. It's their chance to show off, share techniques or craftspeople, and schmooze with like minded people. Attendees love to see inside homes they walk past and wonder about, look at how people decorate and renovate, and talk to people who share their interests. And, as several people stated, the bulk of the money goes to projects that the organizations sponsor, which they quite clearly state in their literature.

It's a social event for house junkies. I often meet the most interesting people along the tour route, and if it's a nice day, the whole thing is a joy. If that's not your thing, then stick to open houses.

Posted by: Brower Park at May 3, 2007 4:05 PM

Well said, putnam-denizen. I personally don't enjoy tours run mostly by real estate concerns. Very boring. My favs too are the homes packed with years of living, and the experimentation of those who have much more creativity than dollars.

Posted by: Brower Park at May 3, 2007 4:09 PM

Ici was once my favorite neighborhood restaurant in Brooklyn. One day during brunch I came in and things were out of sorts. To make a long story short, I had the single worst experience in a decade of New York City dining. Inexplicably insulting service that bordered on sadistic. I cared enough to send an email to the owners, two very decent and hospitable people. Never heard back.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 4, 2007 9:37 AM

Sounds like the Brownstoner crew should fit right in.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 4, 2007 10:07 AM

This is not the right place, but...

Is the tour a real tour, as in, a herd of sheep traipsing through the houses together in a designated order?

Or more of a self-guided thing, so you can skip to your personal faves, go backwards, ride your bike between the stops, etc?

Posted by: anonymous at May 4, 2007 11:13 AM

Its self-guided. You get a map with your tix.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 4, 2007 11:16 AM

Thanks, 11:16! I love Brownstoner.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 4, 2007 12:00 PM

Why possibly do I care about the t---? Who does not exist unless you respond. Who may be many people. Who probably posted 12:07 to create a game which doesn't need to exist. Just let it go, folks...

Posted by: Anonymous at May 4, 2007 12:23 PM

3:19 = example of post to ignore because it is nonsensical.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 4, 2007 9:55 PM

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