Crown Heights North Tour Open Thread
We were out of town, so we’re dying to hear how the First Annual Crown Heights North House Tour went on Saturday. So far, we’ve only gotten one email from a reader who attended. Here’s what she had to say: This was a different kind of house tour. It was not a tour to showcase…
We were out of town, so we’re dying to hear how the First Annual Crown Heights North House Tour went on Saturday. So far, we’ve only gotten one email from a reader who attended. Here’s what she had to say:
This was a different kind of house tour. It was not a tour to showcase the latest renovation. It, instead, featured the original details of most homes. Several of the homes were a bit run down in my opinion but others were knock-your-socks off worthy. In particular two Crown Heights sisters have the most complimentary taste. The pair, who split a home at 9 Hampton Place (one of CH’s most charming enclaves), have taken the homes original details and added some great antique pieces without feeling stuffy. On the top floor, there is a tin ceiling with a skylight and free standing counters and it is wonderful. In the apartment downstairs, the glass tile and a 1950s lime green stove are whimsical and stunning all at the same time. Lots of preserved wood work and exposed brick help unite the new and the old. Also loved 829 Lincoln Place (photo). It’s owned by a younger couple who have renovated but maintained many original details. The added a parlor floor kitchen with a great counter top made from recycled materials and have a hidden top story. It’s also extremely colorful but still tasteful. One suggestion to the planners for next year, ALLOW PHOTOGRAPHY…
Any other feedback?
House Tourers, (Re)Start Your Engines: Crown Heights Next [Brownstoner]
Photo by Krista Kujat for PropertyShark
“And if the person who didn’t like the tour, and thought it was unsuccessful, is real, and actually was there, I’d like to know, as one of the organizers, why they thought so. I’d seriously like to hear why you thought we didn’t put our best foot forward, and how you think we should have. What would you have had us do? I’m really interested in what you have to say. Details, not vague complaints. Well?”
I can’t speak for the earlier poster, but I sure as hell wouldn’t answer your snotty inquiry. Or rather, it answers itself. As an “ambassasor of good will” for Crown Heights, you stink! Crown Heights is a great place and it deserves better representation than this.
Also, looking through the comments above, I don’t see anyone alleging that people in Crown Heights are shills, delusional or criminals. I suppose some posts could have been deleted if they were over the line, but right now, at least, no one is making the kinds of claims you’re (over)reacting to. Someone simply said they didn’t care for the tour, and they were then immediately shouted down.
I can’t claim to know Crown Heights as well as many. I rented a place there for two years, though, and I liked it. As a place it is certainly above these kinds of petty, censorious tactics.
did anyone get pistol whipped or anything?
I don’t care if anyone loves Crown Heights or not. There are plenty of people who do, also those who don’t, for whatever the reason. To each his own. I’m not trying to convince anyone, I’m just an unabashed fan of my neighborhood.I love it here. I get upset when CH is bashed for reasons that are inaccurate and highly exaggerated, or when everyone who lives there is tarred with the same brush as being either a criminal, a delusional fool, or a shill for real estate concerns, or as a frightened protector of their real estate values. As if one or two opinions can change the value of real estate. How about us just being people who have worked hard to make a changing community the best it can be?
And if the person who didn’t like the tour, and thought it was unsuccessful, is real, and actually was there, I’d like to know, as one of the organizers, why they thought so. I’d seriously like to hear why you thought we didn’t put our best foot forward, and how you think we should have. What would you have had us do? I’m really interested in what you have to say. Details, not vague complaints. Well?
Co-Chair
people in crown heights seem more defensive about their neighborhood than any other i’ve witnessed on here before.
and that includes bed stuy…of which they are some pretty hard core boosters…
how about you pool your resources and start your own pr firm….?
might be a better use of time than trying to convince the rest to “love” it too.
Ever read a lukewarm review that makes you realize it’s precisely your kind of movie, even if the critics had their quibbles? Thanks to 9:11 poster and others, I am even more disappointed that I wasn’t able to do this tour! I’m done with forking over $25 (yes, for some of us that’s a big chunk) to see H&G showrooms or museum settings; the houses I’ve loved most on tours over the years are the ones that are “works in progress” or show the quirk, struggle, or unique life history of their owners. It’s a matter of priorities; I can be bowled over by somebody’s Viking range in the pages of a magazine, but I’m only dragging myself around a neighborhood if I can get a warmly voyeuristic peek into the kind of house journeys I can identify with. Next year, Crown Heights North for sure!
For what it’s worth, 9:11, my complaints weren’t inspired by the fact that the homes of the rich and famous weren’t on display. I want to see the homes of regular folk. I just think that some house tours are more successful than others, and I didn’t think that CH did a particularly good job IN THIS INSTANCE. I don’t think the community put its best foot forward. This does not mean that I think CH isn’t a fine community. It does not mean that I wish to insult the residents of CH or to say anything at all of a general nature about the community or its residents. I simply didn’t think the house tour was a success. If you’re unable to handle that, I fail to see how it’s MY problem.
thanks 8:41. sounds rather close. get up to grand army plaza a lot but haven’t really travelled too far down eastern parkway yet.
a few people told me to not go farther than washington when i was looking to move out here last year.
Ok, 8:35, who is probably also 7:02 trying a different form of attack. Since your damning with faint praise on this account is so vague and non descriptive, much like your diatribe at 7:02, I can only gather that not only were you not there, you probably don’t know a thing about the neighborhood, including where it is. You have no details as to why you think it failed, or what was wrong with it, or one detail about any house or street or person involved. You weren’t there.
I do wonder what people thought would be on this tour. Most people in this world, in this borough, even those better off, do not have rooms full of new furniture, the latest in kitchen appliances, or the services of interior decorators. I go to a lot of house tours, and I rarely see homes that look like the interiors of magazines. Most people just don’t live like that in real life, and many of those who do would never put their homes on any kind of tour, unless they were selling.
When we go to house tours, do we want to see only the homes of the rich, dripping with the things we will never have, or do we want to see what a little imagination, a can of paint and some existing architectural detail and much loved, and worn furniture can show? My favorite houses in all of the neighborhood tours I’ve seen over the years, have not been the poshest of the bunch. That’s only money. Nice, but so what? I like those homes who have used salvage, or art or paint, or something cool, no matter what is may or may not cost.I like the ones that are different or have fabulous detail. I think this tour was right on the money with all those details. Whether or not the owners have fancy kitchens, or tastes that match mine, or your own, really weren’t the point. Showing off a fine community was.
Co-Chair
Crown Heights residents have better things to do than trying to keep up with the Joneses. We set our own pace.