May 14, 2004
A New House
A builder named Dave Tilly is building a new house on Irvine Street in Old Greenwich that’s worthy of mention for a number of reasons. First is its design. While I mourn the loss of so many small cottages in town, buyers today want larger houses, and builders, if they expect to stay in business, must comply. That said, this house, to my eye, fits into the streetscape very nicely, neither dwarfing the cottage next door nor crowding its own lot. Tilly speaks of ratios and proportions like an old Greek architect, and he’s achieved it here. Second is quality. The poured foundation is set on a foot of gravel, with an air system underneath the concrete floor that creates a negative airflow, sucking out any damp air. The furnace is a new German design so efficient (97%, compared to the usual 85%) that its exhaust gets blown out via a fan – it is too cool to rise on its own. That’s just the basement. Upstairs, the sheathing is plywood, not oriented strandboard, the shingles are hand dipped, Alaskan yellow cedar which, unlike its less expensive cousin, eastern cedar, bleaches grey, not black. The fenestration is by Marvin, there is custom millwork and cabinetry throughout the house and, all in all, it’s obvious that the building is being erected by a fussy, detail-oriented perfectionist. The third reason to take note of this house is that forty percent of it is (gasp!) modular – built in a factory by Haven Homes and shipped to the site. Despite what you may have read elsewhere about the poor quality of such construction, the only differences I can see between a “stick built” house and this one are the speed with which the initial building blocks went up and the craftsmanship in this one: it’s far better than most stick-builts. In evaluating a home, its place of construction —factory vs. on site— is irrelevant; it is the quality of construction you should worry about because, as they say in the computer business, garbage in, garbage out. Dave Tilly’s house is a finely-crafted piece of building which will still look good decades from now.
To Market to Market
It was a busy week, notwithstanding its culminating with Mother’s Day, the slowest day, perhaps excluding Christmas, in the real estate year. Twenty-one residences went to contract, ranging from a high of $3.995 on down to a condo in Glenville for $365,000. Sixty-four new homes were listed: Conyer’s Farm, asking $19,000,000 headed the list while a $375,000 condominium in Lafayette Place brought up the rear. I was busy holding open houses for two of my own listings (I think it inappropriate to flog them in this column, but feel free to call me about them) so I only got to one of the new houses. I’m glad I didn’t miss this one, 189 Shore Road, listed by Janice Grijns and set on its own peninsula in Old Greenwich Harbor. It’s unique – an overworked term in this silly business but because of our coastal zone regulations there’s no way anyone could build this house today. About five thousand square feet of absolutely top-notch construction (my older brother helped build it in the late 70’s and told me tales of the builder/architect’s fastidiousness) with sweeping views over the cove and down Long Island Sound. It has a vaguely flying saucerish look and there were those of us who regretted its replacing an old PT boat turned houseboat years ago, but all is forgiven, as the house has mellowed into its surroundings and is now quite attractive. You’ll save on lawn upkeep —there is no lawn— but 1800 square feet of decking and a private dock provide all the room for outdoor entertaining you’ll need. There’s even a jungle gym set up on one of the decks for the current owner’s grandchildren (or perhaps the owners are defying the normal rules of aging). Janice calls the place “Sugar Island” because, she says, local history has it that the location was used to unload sugar in Colonial days. I doubt it — due to the difficulties of transporting it, sugar was usually converted first into molasses and then into rum before ending up here, just as Vermont apples were made into Applejack and corn west of the Appalachians was turned into whiskey —remember reading about the Whiskey Rebellion?— but never mind. Pour yourself a nice rum punch, put your feet up on the rail and enjoy the best view in town.
A builder named Dave Tilly is building a new house on Irvine Street in Old Greenwich that’s worthy of mention for a number of reasons. First is its design. While I mourn the loss of so many small cottages in town, buyers today want larger houses, and builders, if they expect to stay in business, must comply. That said, this house, to my eye, fits into the streetscape very nicely, neither dwarfing the cottage next door nor crowding its own lot. Tilly speaks of ratios and proportions like an old Greek architect, and he’s achieved it here. Second is quality. The poured foundation is set on a foot of gravel, with an air system underneath the concrete floor that creates a negative airflow, sucking out any damp air. The furnace is a new German design so efficient (97%, compared to the usual 85%) that its exhaust gets blown out via a fan – it is too cool to rise on its own. That’s just the basement. Upstairs, the sheathing is plywood, not oriented strandboard, the shingles are hand dipped, Alaskan yellow cedar which, unlike its less expensive cousin, eastern cedar, bleaches grey, not black. The fenestration is by Marvin, there is custom millwork and cabinetry throughout the house and, all in all, it’s obvious that the building is being erected by a fussy, detail-oriented perfectionist. The third reason to take note of this house is that forty percent of it is (gasp!) modular – built in a factory by Haven Homes and shipped to the site. Despite what you may have read elsewhere about the poor quality of such construction, the only differences I can see between a “stick built” house and this one are the speed with which the initial building blocks went up and the craftsmanship in this one: it’s far better than most stick-builts. In evaluating a home, its place of construction —factory vs. on site— is irrelevant; it is the quality of construction you should worry about because, as they say in the computer business, garbage in, garbage out. Dave Tilly’s house is a finely-crafted piece of building which will still look good decades from now.
To Market to Market
It was a busy week, notwithstanding its culminating with Mother’s Day, the slowest day, perhaps excluding Christmas, in the real estate year. Twenty-one residences went to contract, ranging from a high of $3.995 on down to a condo in Glenville for $365,000. Sixty-four new homes were listed: Conyer’s Farm, asking $19,000,000 headed the list while a $375,000 condominium in Lafayette Place brought up the rear. I was busy holding open houses for two of my own listings (I think it inappropriate to flog them in this column, but feel free to call me about them) so I only got to one of the new houses. I’m glad I didn’t miss this one, 189 Shore Road, listed by Janice Grijns and set on its own peninsula in Old Greenwich Harbor. It’s unique – an overworked term in this silly business but because of our coastal zone regulations there’s no way anyone could build this house today. About five thousand square feet of absolutely top-notch construction (my older brother helped build it in the late 70’s and told me tales of the builder/architect’s fastidiousness) with sweeping views over the cove and down Long Island Sound. It has a vaguely flying saucerish look and there were those of us who regretted its replacing an old PT boat turned houseboat years ago, but all is forgiven, as the house has mellowed into its surroundings and is now quite attractive. You’ll save on lawn upkeep —there is no lawn— but 1800 square feet of decking and a private dock provide all the room for outdoor entertaining you’ll need. There’s even a jungle gym set up on one of the decks for the current owner’s grandchildren (or perhaps the owners are defying the normal rules of aging). Janice calls the place “Sugar Island” because, she says, local history has it that the location was used to unload sugar in Colonial days. I doubt it — due to the difficulties of transporting it, sugar was usually converted first into molasses and then into rum before ending up here, just as Vermont apples were made into Applejack and corn west of the Appalachians was turned into whiskey —remember reading about the Whiskey Rebellion?— but never mind. Pour yourself a nice rum punch, put your feet up on the rail and enjoy the best view in town.
posted by Chris Fountain at 10:05 AM
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