Wades Beach: Out of the Ashes

On the ferry from New London to Orient Point, hauling back items for the new house, June 2009.

This summer was kind of drag so there were not any real updates to the blog about the new house rebuilding. Chrissie and I went east about once a month for various reasons, and stayed in our neighbor’s house. A weekend in June was the biggest day of the whole process, which I was too wiped out to really recount at the time. But now that the demolition has taken place, the real work can begin.

June 13-14 we had the madness of a two-state trek. The story started on Friday night, when we drove from New York to Holbrook, Long Island. We stayed the night at my godparents’ house, which is 50 miles from the Upper West Side and 30 miles to Riverhead. In the morning, Saturday, we drove to Riverhead and picked up a 28-foot truck at U-Haul. Chrissie followed me in the car as I drove the truck on the North Fork to Orient Point. She parked the car and we drove the truck onto the ferry.

We took the ferry across the Long Island Sound to New London, Connecticut. It was kind of nice to ride in the sunshine, but I knew we were facing a bitch of a day ahead. So we had a lot on our minds as the 90-minute ride took off. We got to New London and then the craziness started. We picked up three workmen who work for Irreplaceable Artifacts, part of Evan Blum’s Demolition Depot empire. The foreman rode up front with us, as we had the two other guys bounce around in the back. I know. Stupid. About 40 minutes later, we got to our destination in Middletown, CT.

At the store, we had to get busy. We had purchased many items from Evan and now we had to collect them and get them back to Long Island. In the basement was the “door vault” which is 10 times bigger than the one in Harlem. We were buying interior doors for the house, about 20. All are oak and came from an apartment house on the Upper West Side (probably near us). We were choosing bedroom, bathroom and closet doors. Almost all have the original brass hardware and glass doorknobs. The bathroom doors have etched glass in them. We sorted out the doors we wanted, and the workers hauled them up to the truck.

On this trip we also picked up a fireplace mantle. It is really nice, and came out of the demolished Bowling Mansion in Greenwich, CT. This took almost the whole day, but we were not done yet. We got in the truck, loaded up our guys in the back, and headed back to New London. Evan has another warehouse there, and we had more to pick up! First we loaded up a really nice bookcase, which came out of a house in Queens. It will take up about 10 feet of wall space once it is assembled. That fit in the truck. However, we could not fit in our major purchase of the weekend: an entire kitchen.

From the same house where the fireplace came from, we got an entire 1940s kitchen, the cabinets and the stainless steel counters. It was a damn bargain. When I opened up the cabinet drawers, the tableware and serving utensils were still in there. When we got to the warehouse in New London, we figured out the truck was too small to fit the kitchen cabinets and the stainless steel countertops and sink, which is massive and is all one piece. We also bought two round windows, which will fit into the eaves, but we left them there.

We drove to the ferry with the spoils, and hopped on. The truck rode on the back as we retreated to the bar onboard. Almost two hours later, we drove onwards. Our plans changed because originally we were going to take all of this stuff to Shelter Island, and put it into our pod. But we knew: (a) this would not fit, and (b) two ferry round trips in one day would be insane. So we drove the truck to Southold, to a storage facility. They were closed.

We parked the truck in their lot for the night, and drove the car back to Holbrook, where we stayed a second night. It was exhausting. The following morning, Sunday, we drove back from Holbrook to Southold, which is over an hour away. We rented a 10x30 room and threw all the doors and bookcases inside. Locked up and drove home.

But it’s not over yet!

A month later, we went back to Southold and met a moving company. These guys brought over the kitchen counters, cabinets, and some other junk. We met them at the storage place as they offloaded.

So to review: we have a storage facility in Southold that has portions of the new house. We have junk in storage in our basement on West 99th Street. We have 15 boxes in our apartment. But don’t forget the pod on the front lawn of the old house.

Now you see why I didn’t blog about this last summer: it was too painful.


Aboard the ferry to New London from Orient Point.


The warehouse in New London, where the kitchen was stored.


The kitchen cabinets in the warehouse.


Chrissie inspects the new counters, Southold, July 2009.


Our storage space, full of doors and an entire kitchen.

Labels: Plans, Possessions

The team: Chrissie with architect Robert Brown (center) and Tor Torkelsen (builder) inside what remains of the old house.

Yesterday we made the most progress of getting the house built in months. We went to Shelter Island and met with Rob (architect) and Tor (contractor) at the house. We also looked at two other houses these two have designed/built together. We are in a happy state of mind now.

We started the day at the house, which is a burned out shell since the January 2008 fire. It was pretty gloomy, of course, being in the house. Combined with the pouring rain, the cold, and the mucky-muck of the interior, it was not too bad to have a meeting there. We only stuck around for less than 15 minutes. One thing I asked is if we need to move the pod away, to a greater distance from the house. Tor said it could be moved. I am worried I'll have to take all the crap out, move the pod, and then have to load it up again.

Our first stop was a beautiful five-bedroom house less than a half-mile from ours that these two finished recently. The owner showed us around. It looked fantastic. She also raved about how great they are. This was not an entirely new house, it was an addition plus a lot of renovation. It was a good chance to see the way these two worked. Tor explained to us novices about the wood, the materials, the techniques. It was fantastic.

Next, we went to the other side of the island and saw a house that is still underway. It too is a major operation. This house was more our style: a beach cottage. It was a great experience to see how both Rob and Tor interact and showed us what they did on the job, both the things that went right, and things that turned out differently than planned.

We also got to review our Demolition Depot list with Rob. It was so great to hear him say that he liked the things we picked out. I'll write another update about what we are getting from Demo Depot.

Chrissie and I drove back to the city after having a big lunch at Pat and Steve's. We feel really good about the process now, and can't wait for the next step: Demolishing the old house. Stay tuned!

More photos from yesterday:


Nothing is left inside the old house except beams.


This is where the fire originated, the fire box.


"And I want to be in here by Labor Day!"

Labels: Construction, Plans

On Monday this week Chrissie spent the whole day in Greenport at our architect's office. We had meetings with 4 potential contractors, spaced 1 hour apart, at 1, 2, 3 and 4 pm. By the end of the day, we were ready to jump into Long Island Sound.

We got the 4 bids in on March 16. We asked all 4 to come back and revise them, and try to bring the numbers down. Three of the four guys did. So then it was just up to the personal interviews. I looked at the bid process just the same way as I look at my regular job, which is a project manager. But I must say that the architect-builder approach is light years more orderly than publishing projects.

The interviews went well, and for the last few days we waited on the contractors to get back to us. We had it narrowed from four to three, with two favorites. However, the guy we liked the most coming out of the day was the one we went with. I will tell you more about him after the contract is signed. He is from the area and has been building houses for decades.

So now we have the plans and the man to build the house. Chrissie is working on the financing plan. I am still going back and forth with Demolition Depot, to see what exactly we can use from an old house for a new one.

If this proceeds according to plan, we might be able to start the new house in April. The first thing is to demolish everything that is left of the old house: we are starting from scratch. It is sad, but there is nothing we can use from the old house in the new house. Not even the wood, which is fire-damaged.

Since the fire in January 2008, it has been a very long road to even get to this point. But knowing we have a guy who will have a hammer in his hand to build the thing is a huge deal for us.

Labels: Construction, Contractor, Plans

We had a big Saturday out East this weekend, with lots to report on building the new house. We shot out early to Greenport for a meeting with Rob Brown, our architect. He had the latest set of plans to show us, and we were knocked out. We are getting very close to bidding this out to contractors, so this set was important. It was a relief just to see highly detailed plans of each room.

We reviewed the electrical plans for each part of the house. Some of the decisions we made are going to impact the overall design and look of the interior. For example, the basement isn’t going to have any fluorescent lights, which are kind of traditional (or typical) in every American basement. We are going to use some type of directional lighting, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. These use 75-percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.

But the big decisions are going to be on the main floor.

The plan now is for exposed-beam ceilings throughout the first floor (except for the two bathrooms). This will mean we will be looking up at the floorboards above the rooms, but we’ll get special nice-looking planks so it will look good. We’ll have directional lighting with exposed conduits, and ceiling fans throughout.

One thing I learned was that glow-in-the-dark light switches are actually required for all enclosed spaces. When we did our apartment renovation last summer, the contractor installed light-up light switches in several locations. I always assumed he was being nice to us; now I learn it is a law! They look great and now we’ll have them in the new house. Other electrical decisions were made about wall sconces, ceiling fans, and where the cable TV will be located.

We also talked about salvaged items we’d like to buy from Demo Depot: windows, doors, cabinets, and lighting fixtures. Some of these I’ve already written about. We want to see about the stainless steel sink that is 106 inches wide; it would sit on a custom-built wood cabinet and be the place where I plan to wash 100,000 dishes for the next 50 years. The round windows are in the plans. So are some doors and the cabinets (for the kitchen island). We are allowing for a couple of special surprises; stay tuned to see if those come in.

On the way home we thought of a couple more things to ask Rob about, so we called him this afternoon (a conference call, double-team style). The most important is the fireplace. Since this is where the fire started and caused us so much grief, we were initially only going to have a gas fireplace. Just turn on the switch, and instant fire. However, we loved having a wood-burning fireplace so much, and making a fire, cutting firewood (really, I did that). Just the whole process of stoking a roaring fire is something I’d really miss. In the old house, Chrissie’s parents installed a manufactured steel assembly, which was bolted together and placed over a “fireproof” firebox. We learned this was not really the best method, as this is where the embers escaped from and caught the walls on fire last year. So… Rob says the only truly safe choice is what everyone going back to the Pilgrims used: bricks and masonry. His ballpark estimate is this could be around $15,000 to build a brick fireplace. Is that too much to pay for the enjoyment of a roaring fire on a cold winter’s night out on Shelter Island? And what if the fireplace mantel was once in a suite in the Plaza Hotel? Even better!

Labels: Electric, Fireplace, Plans, Salvage

Last weekend was the one-year anniversary of the fire. We didn't really talk about it or dwell on Jan. 18, 2008. It is just such a drag that there isn't anything left to say about it except one thing: let's get going and build the new house.

Next weekend we are going to meet our architect, so we took some time to shoot up to Harlem and visit one of our favorite places, Demolition Depot. When we recently visited the sister store in Connecticut, Irreplaceable Artifacts, the owner, Evan, told us about a giant stainless steel sink that might work for the kitchen. And it came out of one of Donald Trump's houses. Let's go! So the mission of the day was sinks, doors, and windows.


(Above) This the 106-inch long sink, but not stamped TRUMP. We like it. It would go in the kitchen.


(Above) There is a whole room of old tubs, many from hotels. We will probably get one from this collection; we are doing three bathrooms. The 7-foot ones are much more expensive than the others, but it would be cool to get one.


(Above) An antique crapper? There is a lot to choose from. Chrissie remarked that a new American Standard might make more sense. But to sit on something 90 years old would be cool too.


(Above) We need three bathroom sinks, and a pedestal sink would be really nice. The black one would have been great in our apartment, but we needed a vanity underneath it.


(Above) This is a real good candidate for a sink that would go onto a vanity.


(Above) These round windows are also candidates to go into the eaves. We have to check with the plans to see if this will work out. It would give us more light in the bedroom.


(Above) Welcome to the door vault. There must be more than 1,000 in here. All kinds to look at. We need multiple kinds of doors.


(Above) We fell in love with this set of doors. We need a matched set for the downstairs bedrooms and closets; these would be so nice. But what's up with the heavy bolt on that door?


(Above) Hopefully this is not the last you will be seeing of these double doors, which would work in the sun room. We have to price these babies out.

So it was a productive couple of hours in Harlem. We saw a lot of great things that would make nice finishes. It kind of takes your mind off the fact that nothing is built yet. Going out to see the architect and reviewing the "last" set of plans before they go to the contractors for bids will be a huge step.

We are also continuing our education about how "green" we can go. I've been reading up on solar panels and alternative energy, and we're looking at any ways to build the house, cut energy costs, and save money.

Seeing a tub that may go into your bathroom is nice, but actually sitting in it in the house would be 100 times better.

Labels: Bath, Kitchen, Plans, Salvage

This is one of the windows we liked at Irreplaceable Artifacts.

It is time to pick up the blog again because we have been making progress on the house. Let me catch you up on the past few months and weeks of what has been happening since May. It is hard to believe that January 18 will be the first anniversary of the fire.

We had to fight with the insurance agency for most of the summer about our settlement. We definitely did not get as much out of the claim as we wanted. I feel like we got a pretty fair settlement for the personal property (the contents) but not for the house itself. At some point we just had to move on, or else we’ll be stalled forever. Could we have maybe gotten more if we’d used an independent adjuster to fight for us? Maybe. And maybe not. We’ll never know. But we moved on.

About four weeks ago we went out to Greenport to meet with our architect, Rob Brown. He is so awesome and we left there really happy with the latest set of plans. We are now refining the set we got earlier in the year from him.

We also learned on this trip the sad news that we are going to have to more than likely demolish the remaining parts of the house. Since the fire, it has stood empty, just a frame, the shell of the old house. If you drove by the house at 15 mph you would think there is a real house there, except for the giant tarp on the roof. The windows are not boarded up; the glass is still in them. But if you look closer, you’ll see it is just a ghost of what Chrissie’s parents built in 1977. Rob said that since a lot of the wood is fire-damaged, it wouldn’t be feasible to build onto a damaged house. We also must jack the house up to pour a foundation (incredibly, it only has a dirt foundation, and we are going to pour concrete to have a full basement) and a contractor may balk at raising up a damaged house. So it makes sense to just wipe the lot clean and start from scratch with a whole new house.

However, the basic footprint of the house is remaining the same, it will not get any wider or longer. We are going to go up a level, from a ranch to a two-story. The second story will have one new master bedroom, bath, and a study/den. And a walk-in closet for my T-shirt museum. I would like this lined with cedar to protect my valuable 1980s rock ‘n roll concert tees! A benefit of having a second story is that we will get water views of the bay, something that was lost when the homes across the street were constructed twenty years ago.

We did spend quite a bit of time talking about being “green” and the possible use of solar energy. Even back in February we considered it. Rob told us about the cost, possibly $50,000, to install solar panels on the roof to collect energy and generate electricity. However, there are state and federal tax credits that can knock a lot of that down. How much remains to be seen, but we are still investigating that. We probably will not collect rainwater from the roof, for two reasons: this is a weekend house, and we get our water from a well. But in the coming months you will hear more about us trying to save money and help the environment at the same time.

Probably the best time we’ve had lately was going to Connecticut for an entire Saturday and paying a visit to Irreplaceable Artifacts, the sister shop to Demolition Depot in Harlem. We had purchased several things for our apartment at Demolition Depot, such as bathroom fixtures, a glass-paneled door, and a beautiful mirror. But the location in Middletown was supposed to be much larger and have more stuff. We also got lucky and got a whole afternoon with the owner, Evan Blum. He is a legend in the business, and has been doing architectural salvage in the area for more than 30 years.

We brought our plans into the shop and met with Evan. He looked them over with a trained eye; he knows his stuff. We then went room by room in the plans and looked at possibilities in the collection. It was so amazing—and a lot of fun—to imagine these pieces that at one time were in homes in places like Greenwich that could be used on Shelter Island. Chrissie fell in love with a light fixture that has an owl motif. I was thrilled to hear about an entire oak-paneled room—saved from a house in Queens—for our planned reading room/sun room. We looked over doors, windows, cabinets and more. It was a good exploration trip to see what they had. I posted the finds here.

Our next step will be to go to Greenport and see what the new plans look like. We need to price out the cost of the items that Evan has located, and then start the process of bidding the job out to contractors to build the house.

We hope to have good news soon about when this can happen.

Stay tuned…

Labels: Construction, Plans, Salvage, Solar Heating