Spooky Tree

Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, NY. Happy Halloween!

Preserving the Andrew Geller Legacy

Jonathan Pearlroth, owner of the Pearlroth House

A warm October evening in the city brought out a good-sized crowd to the Andrew Geller Architectural Archive Preservation Projectat DWR East 62nd St NYC. Many Geller homeowners were there to lend their support as well as architects, authors, academics and assorted enthusiasts.


Fun facts and memories were shared by the original beach house owners at the slideshow presentation of Andrew Geller's life and work. Afterwards I met Philip Monaghan and learnt that he used the reputed first gay porno film, which was shot in the Frank House, as a resource to restore it to its former glory.


Fundraising took the form of a Silent Auction (rear of photo) and an entrance fee for which there were door prizes. Ironically The Guy won Can't You Hear Me Callin' Blue Grass: 80 Years of American Music produced by Gregg Geller (left) that I mentioned here.


It was great to see so many fans of the iconic modernist architect and I was thrilled to finally meet Andrew Geller's granddaughter jewelry maker and rabbit rescuer Nancy Schindler (left). I've been a fan of her blog The Rabbit Muse for years. Though I'm sorry about taking the prize you had your eye on, Nancy!

For more information on the Andrew Geller Architectural Archive Preservation Project or to make a tax-deductible donation visit here.

Everything AND the kitchen sink

This bugs me on so many levels


Take the back wall: The sink off-centered between two windows - although the faucet seems dead centre; the tiny backsplash that serves no purpose. But most egregious to me is that the windows are cut off a few inches from their base. This looks odd from the interior and will look even more bizarre from outside. Believe me, I know; I lived this in the original kitchen, it's why I fought the carpenter to get zero backsplash on the new sink wall and at least my windows were sealed units.


Then there are the finishes. There is so much going on in this room: saltio floor, Calcutta Gold marble, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel, white and Anigre cabinetry, glass pendants, drum pendant, suspended pan rack and two kinds of wood furniture. Contemporary/traditional, cool/warm, square/rounded - this kitchen doesn't know where it's going.


Individually I love most of the fixtures and fittings but together it doesn't work for me. It's tagged as a Showhome Kitchen. Would you go for it?
via Houzz

The perfect place for a rock garden...

would be here or here but


who would have the audacious landscape design chops to build it right at the bottom of the beach access steps?


It adds a sense of danger to our daily walks - especially in inclement weather. But the kicker? That would be


this. I have nothing further to add.

Neutral Layers

Peeling bark


Hen of the Woods - the mother of all mushrooms


Tropical plants

All photographs taken on a beautiful Fall day at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, NY one of Long Island's famous Gold Coast Mansions, now a New York State Park.

Good for another 25

Another CFL downlight blew in the kitchen last week. They are supposed to last 5 years but we have averaged 18 months, not really good enough considering the price ranges from 5 to 9 bucks a pop. I was so mad I decided we were going to try the Cree LED lights I posted about here, which come as bulb and housing in one piece. They are reputed to last 25 years - far longer than I expect to be living in the US, let alone this house - and take no more than a few minutes to swap with the old cans. We set out to buy one as an experiment - if the unit was as easy to install as the video promised we'd replace them all. By sheer good fortune, we found out Home Depot is having an eco-friendly sale so those $50 lights were only $35 each. If the trial LED fit, I'd go back and buy the other thirteen.


We watched the video, read the enclosed instructions, turned off the power and went for it. The old housing had a plate we had to take out, and The Guy had to undo the wires to take it off but that was the only scary part of the process. He scewed the new housing on to the old socket, pushed the unit up until it clicked in place. Then we turned on the power and stood by. Unlike the other LED lights I bought for the mudroom the Cree Ecosmart are instant on and have a nice bright light. The best thing is that bulb is enclosed behind a diffuser so that lightbulb isn't noticeable. We were sold.


The most difficult part of the LED downlight changeover? Getting our hands on fourteen light bulbs. It took four trips to three different Home Depots in two counties to garner all thirteen.


I delivered the first nine home and by the time I got back with the final four The Guy had walked the dog and installed all the downlights. All. By. Himself. No drama, no emergency call for help. Who is this chap and what has he done with The Guy?


Twenty minutes later we had three piles of trash - plastic, cardboard and original plates and a kitchen with one-style eco-friendly lighting.


Thanks to Cree Lighting and The Guy we can enjoy a maintenance-free lighting system in the kitchen and see what we are doing without getting overheated... like painting the walls and ceiling!

Big Blue Bay

Fall on Long Island's North Shore: The water is crystal clear and the sky as blue as the fencing that's been bobbing around the Bay for the past few weeks...

Andrew Geller Fundraiser

Andrew Geller, renowned architect of mid-century houses (including this one) and the Hunt House (pictured above) has had a long and prolific career. Besides his private commissions he also worked as Vice President to industrial designer Raymond Loewy and over the years accumulated a wealth of sketches, blueprints, models and photographs. The first fundraiser to help catalogue and preserve this body of work was held back in the summer and out in the Hamptons. Now Fall is here so we'll be heading into the city next week to
DWR NYC East 62nd St for the second Andrew Geller Architectural Archive Preservation fundraiser. It sounds like a fun evening - quite a few Geller homeowners will be attending, there will be door prizes, a silent auction, refreshments and a lecture and slide show of Geller's life and work by his grandson documentary filmmaker and historian Jake Gorst.

photo coutesy of Jake Gorst
Andrew Geller is not only an iconic architect but also a painter. This watercolor will be one of a number of items in the silent auction.

photo coutesy of Jake Gorst
as will this unique Mondrina handbag


Door prizes include this Box Set: "Can't You Hear Me Callin' Blue Grass: 80 Years of American Music".

For more information about the project, please visit AndrewGeller.net

What: Andrew Geller Architecture Archive Preservation Project Event
When: Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 7-9:30pm
Where: @ DWR NYC-East 62nd St
27 East 62nd St.
(between Madison & Park)
New York, NY 10065
Phone: 212.888.4539
Fax: 212.888.4609
Entry: $10
Refreshments will be served.

Big, Bold & Blue

I would. Would you? Ghislaine Viñas, Benjamin Moore's Hue 2010 Residential Award Winner designed a townhouse in Tribeca that's full of bright color. See the entire townhouse here.
via Herman Miller

The following morning...

courtesy of Nadine, James and the ever-delightful Olivia and Jackson the cute felt tie and fab retro mid-century owls on an oven mitt, perfect for the new kitchen.


We had a fun evening but they bought so many gifts we had to stash some for next time. There's cake in the refrigerator, folks - don't cause a stampede! Also, how about them upstate apples?

Windowdrama

It took four entire months to convince the carpenter that not having a backsplash was a viable option for the kitchen renovation. That's not four months for the project by the way, that took six months from the moment Contractor 1 mismeasured the windows to last Friday when Contractor 2 finally gave up trying to convince me that a windowsill four inches up the window was the way to go and put in what I'd asked him for on June 15th. To allay his fears over the whole water/wood issue I sent him up to the guest bathroom to see what three years of continuous water have done to the window in the shower - it looks as good as it did the day I finished the polyurethane coat - no damage at all. He still wasn't happy so I showed him my inspiration shots:

image by Caesarstone

image by Caesarstone

Eventually, after going back and forth for months with the countertop fabricator and much muttering under his breath he agreed to trim out what I wanted. And what did he say when he stepped back and looked at the work? "That turned out really well..."

new kitchen window

Weather Wednesday

Listing to Port

Console Lust

LOT61 Lola Credenza via Design Public. I have just the place for this...

Outlets (or Sockets) & LEDs

We decided to replace twenty-three electrical outlets along the baseboard - all the new baseboard, around the first floor - because nothing says tacky like forty year-old black 'n' greasy outlets on spanking new baseboard. We could do this ourselves but we decided to get the electrician in. I keep referring to them as sockets and he's all "What? Oh, you mean outlets". Every. Single. Time. I swear if he does it one more time I will refer to it as the "female electrical connector". My only revenge is that it's him lying on the hardwood floor sighing deeply and not me.


As a floodlight in the mud room had blown I decided to fork over the $50 to see what kind of light the LED would give me. I won't lie that there's a nano second delay but the light is so clear and bright it won me over immediately - the contrast with the first generation yellowish CFLs is astounding. So much so that I dove back to Home Depot to get two more. Unfortunately they only had one - so someone must be spending the fifty bucks for eco-friendliness. I'll have to increase my carbon footprint by driving to another store a few miles further or bite the bullet and order the fourteen bulbs online for the kitchen while I'm at it.

Cryptic

The message I received from The Guy this morning. Is it a subtle reference to a fiscal program? An invitation to join a secret society in Quebec or the equivalent of making a phone call with your butt?

Baseboards and rodents

Or the pretty and the pretty disgusting.
I joked about it being fall before we finished the kitchen but it's five months since I started moving things out ahead of demolition and yesterday the baseboards finally went back on. And then the contractor dude smelled what I've been griping about for the past few weeks and opened up the wall. Again. No sign of ratty or his corpse but plenty of urine soaked insulation and wallboard, all of which has been bagged and hauled out. We'll leave it open for a while to make sure the smell is gone and then we can patch it and get the room painted. And that will be the official end of the renovation.

Contrasts

Sunshine and dark clouds. Sand and trees. Beach chalet and new construction. Huntington Bay 2010.

Caffeinated

Seduction - I may have to invest. The SoftBrew coffee pot by George Sowden. More details here.

Touches of Gold

Well Antique Brass, really.

The new sconces arrived - after a lot of thought I finally went with the Jonathan Adler Parker Half-round Sconces for their retro design and gold tone that picks up the design and color of the rug, a couple of paintings and the original track lighting.

This room is going to look so much better with baseboards and a coat of Benjamin Moore Bronzed Beige. We're getting there!

That was then, this is now

It's raining, the lock on the new back door has failed (old lock, new door) and I'm waiting for it to dry out so I can install one the new one (actually bought in 2007. I knew it would come in handy one day). All the constant maintenance got me thinking about what I'd been up to in previous Octobers since we moved here. For example, a year ago we were anticipating the start of the big projects we've undertaken this year: remodeling the master bed, bath and the kitchen. While looking forward I was also ticking things off the to-do list and I'm pleased to report that with the exception of one of the replacement windows and the hall that will be decorated this autumn, we are back on schedule - we've even tackled the 2011 items and taken care of a couple things that didn't appear on that list.
It's not always about The Cool House and renovations, though. For three straight years I posted about things other than dust, debris and demolition. On this day in 2008 I was more obsessed about the Presidential election than the house, a year earlier I had been concerned about where I was going to eat in town and in 2006 we were mourning a truly great kitty.
In the early days of this blog I didn't write so much but the topics were confined to the house and the Incorporated Village. In October 2005 there was only one post. I'd finally finished the back stairs - only to have the big dog fall down and "distress" them for me. The flooring guy was supposed to fix those for me this summer but I guess the only way they will be redone is if I get down on my knees and DO IT MYSELF!
Finally, all the way back in October 2004 I was eagerly awaiting the berm that would keep the water running down the street from flooding our yard. And ironically, here I am six years later watching the remains of Tropical Storm Nicole pour down and the torrent of water pass by on its way to the newly installed drains at the end of the road. Progress!