Real Housewives: Simon and Alex's Renovation Revealed!

Well I always knew that our style of decor would draw nothing but controversy. Firstly the colors as captured above are not accurately reflected. Mr B took these images last night with a little digital point & shoot with a flash and that combined with the color adjustment on your individual computer monitors heavily distorts the actual color. This is not a complaint about Mr B's photos, just a comment to take into consideration when viewing them.

For those that seem to hate our house largely based on their hate or disdain for us I would say that while, yes we chose to appear on this show, it is VERY hard to get an accurate picture of any of the people who appear on it. For all of us, the best & worst aspects of our lives are the scenes that make it to air and it is very hard to capture the totality of who we are based on a few selected minutes of us each week over a 12 week period.

We will be posting many before, during & after pictures on our own website over the next few days for those that are interested.

The parlor level was completely renovated with all new plumbing, electrics, HVAC, new structural support I beams, a completely rebuilt extension rear wall, a new kitchen & 1/2 bath, as well as new flooring & sheet rock in a 9 week period between Sept 4th 2008 & November 1st 2008. We managed to keep all the original moldings as well as the original pocket doors and the tin & plaster ceilings. The ceiling rose in the living room is made of wood and that we kept as well.

For anyone who's renovated in NYC to achieve all of that under the glare of cameras in a 9 week period while complying with all NYC building codes, inspections and so on is remarkable and I am not afraid to say that! :D

Our main contractors, the Pinnacle Group did a sterling effort as did the electricians, plumbers/HVAC guys, steel & roofers, Kitchen cabinet manufacturers and so and and so on. Without their commitment to get this job in 9 weeks there is no way we would have finished in time.

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at April 29, 2009 1:42 PM

fsrq - I am not going to get in to a back & forth as this is a Brooklyn Real Estate blog and is not the forum for it. Additionally to do so via the written word is also not the best way to communicate.

You are certainly entitled to your own opinions based on the show as I am mine.

If you see us at a future Brownstoner gathering (Alex & I attended the last one) I am certainly prepared to discuss it with you in person.

best

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at April 29, 2009 2:05 PM

Billyboomer - It's not an either/or question! We go to/have both. ;-)

Posted by: 99luftballons at April 29, 2009 4:11 PM

Boroughbred,

Well I've got to say that the show has succeeded in bringing out these passionate responses in many viewers - and you're one of them. If all that was shown was just bland people doing bland things there would be no audience and therefore no show. Thanks for watching and ensuring that our ratings are sufficiently high enough to warrant a 3rd season so we can come back & continue to annoy you! ;-)

Heather,

Yes, the kitchen cabinets as well as all the cabinets & flooring in our bedroom are Bamboo.

All ceilings and moldings are original as far as know; we have no reason to believe they were added later.

All furniture in the living & dining rooms is from Maurice Villency and all the fabrics on the sofas & dining chairs is eco-suede, which is made from recycled plastic bottles.

All lighting; sconces, chandeliers and table lamps in the living & dining rooms were bought on the Bowery & were made by http://schonbek.com/

More before, during & after pictures are up on our own website http://www.McCordvanKempen.com

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at April 30, 2009 11:09 AM

bxgrl & Mrs Limestone

We've had 14 months of reading, & hearing of some really vile things written about us (and our children). Going through a process like this does wonders for one's self esteem. Alex & I are both very happy in ourselves and there is naught that any one, who doesn't know us, can say about us that gets us down.

We have met several people who, based on the show, absolutely hated us and without exception those who've talked to us with an open mind have left with a completely different, and better, impression of us.

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at April 30, 2009 1:54 PM

Mellie

In the kitchen all you can really see is the fridge, range & hood in stainless steel. Yes we could have put cabinet doors on the fridge but I couldn't see the point.

Also as I kid I learned the expression to never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at April 30, 2009 11:04 PM

Sushi,

Although we've been blamed for appearing on a show that is contributing to the decline of Western civilization, your post is the first I've seen conjecturing whether we might be affecting property values too! ;-)

As to the timing - it is true that having to have the parlor level complete for the last of day of filming (Nov 1, 2008), concentrated the minds of EVERYONE working on the job to make that deadline, but who wouldn't want a drop dead finishing date. Having one really made the work drag out less than it would have otherwise and probably knocked three to four weeks of a normal schedule.

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at May 1, 2009 9:50 AM

Just going through this to answer or respond to specific questions/statements. If I have missed any let me know. ;-)

@ cobblehiller at April 29, 2009 10:39 AM

We didn't have a sit down per se but we did refuse, this season, to do anything that wasn't real to us, unlike we did, on occasion, last season. Like everything, you live & learn and we certainly did from Season 1.

The comment about the 15th choice school was an exaggeration and at the time it was made our eldest son wasn't even attending that school. Despite being zoned for it he was wait listed and was attending another neighborhood school. Of course, by the time that scene aired he had changed schools and everyone's reaction was that it was a slight against his current school. Not sure that makes it any better but it is the truth.

@ Posted by: Architerrorist at April 29, 2009 10:44 AM

It definitely was on the wishlist. When we sold our Co-op in PS (which was zoned for PS321) and moved to Cobble Hill we absolutely were aware of the school zoning of the houses in which we were interested. Due to the current economy there are many NYC parents who wish they'd now paid more attention to school zones when they bought.

@ Posted by: sbuffon at April 29, 2009 11:19 AM

Last I checked our youngest son Johan doesn't have a French name. Both our sons were named in honor of my Father who died when I was just 5 years old. He was Dutch and his name was Francois Johan Walter van Kempen.

@ Posted by: Carol Gardens at April 29, 2009 12:23 PM

Thanks for your comment about sticking up for Brooklyn. A lot of people outside NYC and let's face it a lot of Manhattanites too, have this warped view that NYC=Manhattan. We certainly have been able to spread the word across the country about Brooklyn & are not ashamed in the least to live here. We moved from Manhattan in 2001, first to Park Slope & in 2005 to Cobble Hill and can never see us moving back to Manhattan. Those that don't know these areas have no idea how villagy they really are yet only a very short distance to Manhattan.

Oh & btw this thread didn't out me as 99LuftBalloons, I did that a month or two ago when Alex & I attended the last B'stoner gathering on Atlantic Ave.

@ Posted by: Ringo at April 29, 2009 12:41 PM

Opening the house up to local blogger scrutiny is nothing compared to the close to 2m people who watched this weeks episode! ;-)

Not sure why you'd think we about to sell our house. We're not and if we were why would we have decorated in such an individual style?

You're 'somewhat reliable source' is very wrong. We own the entire house and have done so since June 2005. NYC finance and property records are there for all to see and I have laughed several times at the misinformation posted by those who have looked at those sites and got it completely wrong and then posted their incorrect reading of those sites as 'fact'.

And lastly maybe we should host the next Brownstoner gathering at our house for you all to see it in person as there seems to be incredible interest it in and us!

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at May 1, 2009 11:35 AM

@ Posted by: salvpar at May 4, 2009 3:32 PM

what kind of contingency did you have? - None.

However given a choice of having 2m+ people see your finished work versus having them see your house unfinished because deadlines were missed is a pretty powerful incentive.

Our main contractor, The Pinnacle Group ( see http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2009/04/alex_and_simons.php ) worked wonders.

The risk they took was that they had to rely on all my other contractors to do their work as well as delivery of everything I ordered; kitchen cabinets, appliances, steel doors & windows, furniture, light fittings etc etc.

It truly was a team effort but having a drop dead date when TV cameras were involved made us all concentrate on that date. It was exhausting but we made it.

Mind you I would rather have an exhausting 9 weeks than a drawn out nine months.

Simon van Kempen

Posted by: 99luftballons at May 4, 2009 5:22 PM