On 08Dec08, I had opened my apartment door, then was in the process of putting on my backpack and grabbing my luggage to head to the airport and fly to join a ship, when I hear a voice say “Built in’s” and two women walked right into my apartment. Real estate brokers.
Jessica tells me that she is listing the apartment next to mine for $400K. Then she looks around at my place and says, Wow, this is really nice, much nicer than the place next door.
Anyhow, that was that, I flew to Belgium and joined the Al Areesh for three months. And at some point during the contract it occurred to me that I could afford to buy this apartment if I sold my rental on LI, which I had finished renovating but didn’t have time to find a tenant before I shipped out.
So when I got home, I checked the NYTimes for the apartment, and lo and behold, it was still available. I arranged to see it, made an offer, and we settled on terms that were good for both of us. I put in some cash, seller holds a mortgage for two years while I combine the apartments, then refinance the whole shebang. I’m also grabbing about 33ft2 of hallway from the building.
Here’s a previous thread about my kitchen renovation. The combination is perfect in that all the work I’ve done in my studio stays, and looks fine … not one of those weird NYC apartments with long hallways and shaped like a shoebox with no windows.
here are some pics I made in Google sketchup: one is with the apartments combined but all interior walls removed from the new one, and the other is a potential layout. Can you give me some ideas and feedback?
Jonathan
Replies
Jonathan, nice to see you back.
Apartment looks like its going to be pretty big,nice
Vince Carbone
Riverside Builders
Franklin,NY
yeah, I'm going to go from about 280 ft2 to about 850 ft2.it's good to be home and not on a ship. Just made a pot of beef shank with vegetable soup. Yum.cheers
Jonathanfair winds and following seas
sounds real nice now.your making me hungry. Vince Carbone
Riverside Builders
Franklin,NY
Hah! You're doing what sailors always do--cutting up big spaces into small ones to control flooding. But I don't see any watertight bulkheads.... (;o)>
What would you lose if you tried to maintain the big, open space as a multi-function living/dining/library/office space?
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
My thoughts are that, someday I will probably want to sell, and two bedrooms are worth more than one bedrooms are worth more than studios. But I like the idea of the big open space, which is why I chose to segregate the rooms with bifold french doors, to give some of the "big space" feel, while also providing for privacy if I have guests visiting.But I'm not locked into any design just yet. In fact, I haven't signed the contract yet. It's been sent to my attorney on Friday, so that should happen early this week. I meet with a contractor on Tuesday to discuss the combination; he lives in the building, is actually on the board, does great work, and knows what the building requires to be done by licensed/insured contractor, and what can be left for me to do myself (I'm thinking that he captures the hallway/relocates the door, and builds the skeleton of the walls, electrical, hardwood floors, etc. and I build the built in bookshelves, all trim, paint, cosmetic stuff)How was the skiing this year?Jonathanfair winds and following seas
Excellent, until about a month ago when too-early rains followed by minus 20º snap-freezes turned the whole mountian into a giant iceberg.
We had a couple of days of spring skiing last week--which is more than enough for me; I hate skiing in slush--and today it's all frozen elephant snot again. Not that I like that either, LOL. I'm waiting for one last dump of real snow before I hang 'em up for the summer.
As to allowing resale marketability to affect your design decisions, my advice is don't. Yeah, I know a lot of contractors try to sell quickie kitchen and bath remods to people wanting to sell their homes as a way to boost the sale price ('you can easily recoup twice the cost of the remodeling, Ma'am!') but real estate agents I know well tell me the first thing most new homebuyers do is to remodel to suit their taste, even if the house has just been re-done.
If you leave that space open, it will look bigger to a potential buyer, and visual impressions of space are hard to beat for the NYC apartment shopper. To get them in to see it in the first place, you could always advertise it as a '1BR+home office 'expandable' to 2BR'.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
re: resale -- it shouldn't shape, but it can influence. I like big open spaces, but I for sure want at least one bedroom carved out, specifically as a guest room; I plan to continue sleeping in the loft bed in my current studio.So as I was playing with various designs, I tried the two rooms with the closet in the middle ... it seemed to be the best compromise design. It allows the entrance door to be where it is without having to travel down a narrow corridor to get into the main space. The bookshelved area is kinda like a library/foyer/mudroom.But I'm open to other ideas.Jonathanfair winds and following seas
can you put some dimensions on that model and repost some pictures of it?
the dimensions are not spot on, but close enough to get a good idea.fair winds and following seas
What would you lose if you tried to maintain the big, open space as a multi-function living/dining/library/office space?
something like this?
after battering this around for awhile, I'm leaning towards just keeping it open.fair winds and following seas
That's better.
Now all ya gotta do is put in a Murphy bed for guests, or lag some hooks into the overhead to sling a hammock from....
Jon, I forget where your aparment is; weren't you up on Riverside Dr. somewhere?
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
69th and Broadwayfair winds and following seas
Oh, nice! Walking distance to both Lincoln Center and the Park.
There used to be a great restaurant with wonderful blintzes on the south side of 72nd, west of Broadway. Right in the middle of the block, IIRC. Ate there many nights when I was driving cab in the early '70s. Can't remember the name of it anymore. Big place with a long counter and a lotta tables, too.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
closest thing might be the All State Cafe, which closed last year ... big rent fight with the landlord. Bummer too, 'cause I was friends with one of the barmaids, she'd hook me up with plenty of free drinks ... come to think of it, maybe that's why they went out of business.Cheers
JCfair winds and following seas
closest thing might be the All State Cafe,
Don't think that would have been it. It was one of those typically New Yawk Jewish delicatessen-restaurants, like you find down on Houston Street. Had a name like Schwartz's or whatever. No cute barmaids either; had a buncha 50-60 y.o. balding Jewish waiters, and one big, zahftig Jewish mama type behind the counter who'd give ya the evil eye if ya didn't finish yer plate....
'Whassamatta, honey? You don't like my blintzes tonight?'
Ah, well, too bad....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
The Sketchup drawings aren't entirely clear to me - where are your baths? Are they the small alcove-looking bits off the kitchen and bedroom?
What would be useful is a "before" 2D floorplan showing current layout, beds, baths, etc.- personally, it's hard for me to visualize alternatives for space usage otherwise..
Jason
here's the top view from google sketchup.fair winds and following seas
the small rooms are baths and a walk in closet.fair winds and following seas
I just got an email from the broker with the contract, which I will forward to my attorney tomorrow morning. And tomorrow afternoon I meet with a contractor, and have access to the apartment for a bit with him.
Been looking online for sources for bifold french doors, but nothing that quite meets what I'm looking for.
Here's a pic from a friends apartment of something that I'm looking for. Any ideas where to source it?
Jonathanfair winds and following seas
We're having some just like that made up for a client right now. Custom woodworkers are not too busy right now, in general. Or try Walzcraft.
Here's another layout idea, two views of the same layout.fair winds and following seas
Couple more questions....I've highlighted the bits I'm wondering about:
1) What's the structure in the kitchen that's highlighted?
2) Is there any reason you couldn't put the front door on the wall I indicated? I'm guessing there is, but I have to ask...
View Image
Jason
Edited 3/25/2009 12:39 am ET by JasonQ
can't put the front door where you've highlighted as it's the wall of another apartment. The structure is a loft bed in my current studio apartment, which I don't have the budget just now to eliminate or change.fair winds and following seas
I think your design looks great. Enjoyed viewing your first remodel when you worked on it back then. My only idea is, is there room for you to create a kitchen island/eating bar opposite your kitchen counter? Guess the lackof counter space is bugging me. More formal dining could possible take place in your new livingroom. (Think "Murphy "fold down" diningroom table.)
A while back, I lived in a 650 sf charming little old house. (2 bed/1ba with 3 kids, 1 boy, 2 girls, they have laws about that ya' know...) Anyway, I always wanted to build a loft bed in my livingroom. I was pretty sure I could disguise it from the front door, by using bookcases and my amoire (old house, lack of closets). Never got around to it though, just a make-shift murphy bed.
Good luck on your project, and I enjoyed you blog.
G
Ideally I'd lose the loft and the wall between the apartments, but a complete gut renovation is not in the budget just now. What I'm thinking is that, whatever I do now, it shouldn't be "undone" when I finally renovate properly. So by keeping the big open space I won't really lose anything. Here's what a future gut renovation might look like. The room with the french doors to the master bedroom is a bathroom, and the current bathroom would become a walk in closet with a washer dryer hookup.fair winds and following seas
Well, I'm off to the closing. Taking public transportation out to LI ... what a nightmare to take the bus in the suburbs.
Anyhow, I'll post some pics of the apartment next door when i get back (and have access). Still interviewing contractors. Headed to sea in a week. Life has been busy.
Jonathan
to clarify, the managing agent for the building is in Lake Success, so the closing is taking place out there. Totally inconvenient for us city dwellers.fair winds and following seas
http://picasaweb.google.com/thenauticalfile/59B?feat=directlink
here are some pics. Not easy to see what's what, though, other than that the place needs a lot of work. Since I have to tear down some walls, remove a sh!tty kitchen, I'm glad I'm not ripping out pristine work.
here's an annotated google sketchup of what I plan to do. Dimensions are very close to being spot on.
View Image
Jonathanfair winds and following seas
You will have a decent aptment size when you are done!
yeah, it's going to be great. And with the wide open room, it'll be a great venue for parties. I'm looking forward to having 30 people over for Thanksgiving.fair winds and following seas
OK, just banged some holes in the wall to see what was between the two apartments, and there is a giant fresh air duct and a 6" black iron pipe that will have to be boxed in. here's a modified floor plan.
View Imagefair winds and following seas