Category Archives: OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS

The Insider: Farmhouse Feel in Fort Greene

Posted on June 11, 2015 by

  Today, my column on Brownstoner.com, the Brooklyn real-estate website, is another wreck transformed — this one by architect Elizabeth Roberts with uncommon smarts and taste. Above, the dining room in a new two-story addition, seamlessly integrated with the garden. … Continue reading →

Posted in ARCHITECTURE, BROOKLYN, INTERIOR DESIGN, OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS, RENOVATION, THE INSIDER - BROWNSTONER.COM | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Paint Ho!

Posted on September 30, 2013 by

FIRST THERE WAS AEGEAN OLIVE, a green-brown (center top), as well as a brown-brown and a purple-brown. I stared at those three patches all summer. Then it became September, and a friend suggested we get on with it, and paint … Continue reading →

Posted in COTTAGE LIVING, HAMPTONS, LONG ISLAND, OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS, RENOVATION | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Old Houses Rule

Posted on November 8, 2012 by

I COULDN’T HAVE SAID IT better myself…and that’s why I’m lifting, wholesale, a sidebar that appeared in the November 5 issue of New York Magazine to counter-balance a real estate story on brand spanking-new condos. Under the headline “Old Rules! … Continue reading →

Posted in ARCHITECTURE, HISTORIC PRESERVATION, MANHATTAN, OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fixer-Upper: Telluride Miner’s Shack

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

OUTSIDE MY USUAL ORBIT (I’ve never even been to Colorado), but I enjoyed this renovation tale by a young newspaperman named Matthew Beaudin, who fixed up a late 19th century workman’s shack measuring all of 400 square feet, with the … Continue reading →

Posted in OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS, RENOVATION | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Cobble Hill ‘Before’ Tour

Posted on September 17, 2011 by

JULIA AND JOHN MACK have plenty to do to convert the 19th century Cobble Hill brownstone they bought recently for just under $2 million into the kind of home they want for their family of four. But before they do … Continue reading →

Posted in BROOKLYN, OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS, REAL ESTATE/INVESTING, RENOVATION | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Max and Lexy’s Kitchen

Posted on September 12, 2011 by

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT to report down in Philadelphia: my son Max and his girlfriend Alexis, who bought an 1870s house in Fishtown in June of last year, now have a beautiful, functioning kitchen. They’ve been working on it all spring and … Continue reading →

Posted in OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS, PHILADELPHIA, RENOVATION | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Look Book: White Wood Floors

Posted on July 25, 2011 by

GET READY to be blinded by the white… The photos in this post were among my inspirations in deciding to give my own worn tongue-in-groove floors, left, a whitewash. They may look OK here, but trust me, they’re bad in … Continue reading →

Posted in COTTAGE LIVING, HAMPTONS, INTERIOR DESIGN, LONG ISLAND, OLD-HOUSE MAKEOVERS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments