Park Slope House Tour Wrap
So how was the Park Slope House Tour this past weekend? We couldn’t make it but we heard from one reader who liked it. “They had a lot of old school period restorations with mucho detail, and the more modern renos were really well done,” she wrote. “They also had homes from all over PS,…
So how was the Park Slope House Tour this past weekend? We couldn’t make it but we heard from one reader who liked it. “They had a lot of old school period restorations with mucho detail, and the more modern renos were really well done,” she wrote. “They also had homes from all over PS, not just the primo landmarked areas.” Other reactions?
bupe,
I meant expensive TOURS. Look at some of the Manhattan tours here, especially the Greenwich Village one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/garden/30webtours-001-002.html
Whoops, thought I had erased the “seriously”, which was meant for a comment I didn’t make, after all. Carry on.
I expect Victorian detail and lots of Victorian decor in a house tour that takes place in a Victorian era neighborhood. I’d be really disappointed if there wasn’t any. But since I like that stuff, I had a great time. I loved Clem Labine’s house because of its excess and over the top exhuberance. I’ve seen the place in books and articles, and was thrilled to see it all close up. Would my house be like that, no, but he loves it, it shows, and I enjoyed walking through it. If I was casing the joint, he’d now be missing the light fixture that is over his dining room table. There’d be some missing Fortuny lights from a couple of other places, too.
I also loved the 14th St place. My least fave was probably the frame house, which was well done, just not my thing. Since I haven’t been to too many PS tours, everything was new to me, and I just enjoyed walking around a great neighborhood.
I really don’t think anyone cases houses on these tours. I agree with Bob. I even ran into Bob and his wife, coincidentally. As someone who has been on quite a few, and now runs one, the tours are full of old house lovers and people who want to get ideas for their own homes. The tours are resources, like for the reader who got the architect’s card, and just fun. I’m grateful to all who opened up their homes. It’s a lot of work, and a long day. Thanks.
Seriously
I enjoyed the tour, but the majority of the houses were not my taste. However, the house on 14th street was great! I talked to the owner who was an architect and got his card. I would like to work with him in the future (assuming I buy a fixer upper/needs work home).
This is the third year in a row I’ve done the PS tour and I think I need a break. I was grateful the organizers decided to have two South Slope properties on tour because they were a nice change from the Victoriana Overload of the North Slope. The 14th Street place was really creative and the 11th Street house was a great example of taking some chances with color in a modern way, and not thinking you need to go the full William Morris wallpaper/gilt/stencil route to use color in a rowhouse.
The shoes-off thing made me cranky. If you’re going to do it, (1) set up some folding chairs to make it easier; (2) open up more than just the parlor floor for viewing; and (3) let people keep their shoes on if you have hardwood floors or carpet. Get over yourselves, those surfaces are made to be walked on!
So, now on topic – we didn’t make it to many houses, but my partner LOVED the kitchen of the house on 14th street. I admit, some of the touches were great – the huge skylight, the library ladder, the way the trash-bin was set up.
I didn’t think the tour was that great. Some repeat homes and nothing really that interesting to me. The most interesting home was on Carroll with the American Basement. bessie2- the LI group is there every year, infact it is usually a much larger group with multiple buses, congesting the homes with long lines.
I don’t have issue with folks not wanting you to trasp through their homes with your shoes on but they should have provided those blue hospital booties, to cover shoes instead of having to take them off. infact one house had them and ‘forgot’ to give them out so by the time you got to the door your shoes were way down the stoop and it was too late.
I stand corrected if that’s the case, Bob and Kris. And not that I would go (and spend the money), but do these tours actually exist?
I think the Real Housewives of New York (ugh, can’t believe I just admitted to watching that) give the ‘lay public’ a good idea of what those houses are like.
Bupe, I think Bob means that the tours themselves cost several hundred dollars.