This is a lovely house. I like the open common room. But I’ve always found it strange that the Times lists furniture prices. I’m looking at how nice a room looks and the photo caption directs me to the cost of a chair. Weird.
1
What a bunch of stuff.
Everyone who has commented, negatively here, must disclose, with photos, their kitchen countertops as a better idea.
Form follows money, that's it.
1
Excellent, simple clean design! I would be tempted to give up Brooklyn and move in year round. The train to Grand Central can be a convenient commute:)
Note to the haters, why do you care how they spend their money? You have no idea how much they participate in charities and what their careers involve. Infectious Disease is a field of medicine that is much needed and under appreciated.
5
LOVE it! I just don't have an extra $1 mill, and if I scream I want the neighbors to hear so someone helps me. It's a bit too isolated for me but kudos to them, very nice job.
4
Here are two well-educated, intelligent, hard-working people who live in Brooklyn Heights but want a house in the country. What’s wrong with that? They’re spending their own money to enhance their lives and that of their daughter. I see absolutely no reason to criticize them. By the way, I think their house is beautiful.
12
Standing-seam metal roofing's a notorious material – drive around any typical city, and you'll see a million different ways it has been misused.
So it's heartwarming to see a professional tame this material with such elegance.
5
$5,400 for an armchair?
5
Do most readers of the NYTimes have a spare million for a weekend home? Who is this article for? How is this the news that fits to print? Yeah for the .1%!
6
The wife is a medical doctor specializing in infectious disease. Get back to us when you're half-dead from coronavirus and need emergency medical care.
8
@A .... because it is fun & entertaining to dream....and then play the Lotto
"Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind." --Buddha
1
Why all the hate? It seems every time there is an article about someone's new home or renovation here a bunch of commenters must chime in about the perceived wealth of the owners and how much everything cost.
In a section about new homes and renovations, you can expect to see things that are costly. Construction is expensive. That is just the way it is.
As it happens, I find this house kind of boring, frankly, but if the owners are happy with it, good for them.
12
Classy. Timeless. I'd never leave.
13
Why does anyone need to escape Brooklyn Heights? Or Cobble Hill? Or Boerum Hill? Or Fort Greene? Or Carroll Gardens? Those are all spectacularly beautiful walkable neighborhoods that most people in NYC would love to live in without feeling any need to "escape."
6
Because while they love where they live, they also like the country or seashore? And are hardworking and/or lucky enough to be able to afford both?
In Flatbush, we have a lot of cars with Pennsylvania license plates.
Are you going to say that hardworking black people shouldn't own a second home in the Poconos?
5
Breathtaking location. Mazol tov.
9
Wow! What a beautiful and inviting house. The NYT home choices don’t usually resonate with me but this one did.
8
With their $1,000,000 trophy house, this couple 'appears' to be altruistic. Are they more inwardly selfishly focused or more outwardly humanitarian focused?
Will they:
1. Allow NYC homeless to use their house on weekdays?
2. Save the planet by installing solar panels and driving a Tesla ... or just use that bike?
3. Will they plant a garden on all their property and donate the food to the poor?
4. Will they let Obama use their place? Probably not since it's not on a golf course or close to a Five Guys.
5. Teach their daughter to be just like them (materialistic and isolationist)
1
@Oscar Mayer That's a bit unfair. Don't ya think? Wow!
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@Oscar Mayer Oh come on, you sound ridiculous and also very bitter.
9
this is probably one of the most boring designs of a home on the planet - what a waste of time and energy - really sad that architects are so overrated
5
@Andre What? Some of the comments made here are mean and somewhat whacky. A little more sunshine might help.
6
Many couples do not make it through a big remodel project. It is a real tester.
Congratulations!!
8
Stop this. If you want to do something work on parks in Brooklyn but please spare us your house in the country. Lets change the conversation here and promote community building and community projects not weekend homes for those who can afford it.
7
Ahh, yes, the Kent high mountains. Beware, that's where the rattlesnakes are. Even the locals are wary.
2
Brooklyn to Connecticut? Good grief.
4
I used to live in New Milford, CT. a bit below Kent. I was a year 'round resident. On the weekends and in the summer, the New Yorkers would come up and disturb the peace and tranquility of the area. They would jog around the lake (Candlewood) and take their boats out. It would be zoom, zoom, zoom on the lake. We would never go to a restaurant or food shopping on the weekends, it was just too crowded. Then, on Sunday night, we would watch the parade of cars, going back to the city. In the winter, I would get a ton of calls, to "check on my place, get packages, how is the snow up there? etc." Yes, I hope the enjoy their house in Kent but also not bother the locals to do chores for them during the week or in the winter months.
4
@gracie15 I used to be a weekender up in New Milford Ct and loved the neighbors and friends that were happy to dine with us when we came up, go out on our boat or check on the house in a snowstorm. The area seemed to need the added influx to keep the local businesses humming. This would include the local gym, hardware stores and local restaurants. And the local hospital expanded to address this and is now affiliated with one of the finest health systems in the world. Perhaps keeping this in perspective will lighten up your resentment of second home owners in your neighborhood!
1
The designer is an architect and the spouse a medical doctor. They own a home in Brooklyn Heights, an upscale section of Brooklyn, have designer furniture, Saarinen chair, Nakashima table, etc., and they needed to "escape" from the city. I agree with one of the comments - escape from what? They had the time and money to make this project happen. It is a lovely house, aesthetically pleasing with the outdoors and I wish them well, but I would rather see people with less resources use their creativity, ingenuity, and physical hard work on less money to build something as spectacular.
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@Diane Steiner I knew someone would have to get on their soapbox about how other people should spend their money.
15
As a New England native and Mainer, I always look at the energy efficiency. Was there a process to weigh the energy costs of this place?
I agree with the other poster who pointed out that many times the proud new builders find themselves selling in a year or two. We'll see.
Finally, they need a lightning rod. Do they have one?
8
Really love this. We looked at Kent CT to buy and we didnt like the houses there at the time -- which are either old and need 300k of updates or cheap ranches from the 70s with no view. The location of this house is splendid though I do wonder how they got the electrics to 8 acres sitting ontop of the tallest mountain in Kent (that process could not be cheap). The metal roof was smart to do. The non-grouted putdoor tile also very smart. Grout would have cracked in a year in that climate. I dont envy the window cleaning but who cares with that view!
9
Unless old houses have water damage, mold, or rotten beams, you don't need $300,000 to fix them. A simple, low-tech kitchen and utilitarian bathrooms -- eschew the granite and marble in both locations -- will yield traditional, age-appropriate interiors. Plaster, paint, deal with the wooden floors -- and you're there.
Chimneys can be re-lined later.
Just remember, eventually other things will need to be repaired or replaced, but that's true of any house, even a new one.
18
tbh a low tech kitchen when completely remodeling doesnt make sense to many people. You have to do those things during the model -- not later as you suggest. Dont get me started on electric and pipes.
3
I said re-lining the chimney can come later. I did not say that redoing the kitchen should come later.
I also said that when remodeling an OLD house, it's best to eschew marble or granite kitchens because they are not appropriate to the house's vernacular aesthetic. Both are costly and, at least for me, both ruin the aesthetic integrity of the house.
It's like breaking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room.
I know about kitchen and bathroom renovations and what they entail. I was referring to costly and inappropriate glitz.
2
It's a nice house. But if one of the owners wasn't an architect, would they be able to afford it? Architects get substantial discounts on everything from contractors to furnishings. So what this family paid for the house is a fraction of what the rest of us would have to pay.
18
@BA, I am a residential architect. Maybe I am doing something wrong but don't find getting deals/discounts to be a thing. In fact often the opposite. If I was to develop a house for myself or to sell, especially one like this I wouldn't expect to save any money. I would expect to spend a little extra time on design and obviously bring that skill/saving to the project, but that is about it.
14
@ben: You're doing something wrong.
2
@BA $780,000/2200 sq. ft. - They paid about $350 per square foot which I think is about right for decent quality construction in the NE. No? I'm not sure about any discounts but him being an architect might have helped them from getting reamed.
6
According to the article, these people spent years "searching for a weekend house that could serve as a rural escape from their home in Brooklyn Heights."
This never makes sense to me, because it indicates poor understanding of one's priorities (and I'm sure tons of you are going to crab at me for saying this, but I don't care).
IMO, if you NEED to ESCAPE from where you live, maybe you're living in the wrong place.
If you need to be in a rural place, maybe you shouldn't have your primary home in the most urban place on earth: NYC! In this case, all it took was years of time, an architect as spouse, and about $1 million dollars. And now they miss doing a project.
Missing doing a project reminds me of sort of people who buy an expensive property, live elsewhere for years while it's renovated at enormous expense, and shortly after the project is finally done, they put it on the market b/c they've bought *another* expensive property that needs a lot of renovation. It seems that many people don't really know what it is they're searching for, in life and in real estate.
36
Could it be that NYC is where they need to be to make their money (and enjoy its food, sensational schools, and culture)? And why not, if one can, have the best of both worlds: city and country?
To each his own!
I love this house. It’s relatively modest and personal.
41
@L
Oh, c'mon...I have a home on the mainland and am buying one on a nearby beach. I will alternate 2 weeks at each. First, I need a home on the mainland for storms, online delivery (the beach is 4x4 access only), mail, and access to medical facilities. The beach is for solitude and natural beauty. Before you accuse me of elitism, both properties combined cost less than the house featured in the article. If I lived in NYC, I would definitely want a getaway. The CT home is beautiful but they have NYC jobs and their daughter is doubtless enrolled in a NYC school.
22
@Robert Watsong: NYC is certainly where they need to be to make enough money to live the two-house lifestyle, especially if the second home is in Kent, CT.
Yet if this family lived ONLY in Kent, CT, they could live on far less money - which would make it unnecessary for them to have high-powered, stressful NYC jobs.
And given that NYC has so much to offer, why are they busy trying to "escape" on weekends?
I personally do think NYC *is* fabulous, and thus I can't imagine why anyone who lives here needs to "escape."
7
Certainly a dream house to visit in rural CT and a home in Brooklyn , is something magical for those at the top who are part of the 'professional' class where income oppertunities are expanding.
But the life styles for most older and less educated people is rapidly declining,
Add to this the destructive Fed policies under current admin. , to unfund long planned public works projects which would provide middle class incomes to 10's of millions across the country, and you have today a shrinking industrial base performing 'Band-Aid' repairs to its obsolete infrastructure.
We need to do better , vote in November.
25
@Steve Crouse This is a pretty house in a pretty location and they seem like nice people. Articles such as this on the lifestyles of folks with more than 1 home stand a pretty good chance of push back nowadays. My hope is this. No matter which community people with means live in they make an effort to give to that community of their time and money to people less advantaged than themselves.
2
@Alice
I agree Alice, my point is aimed at the continous collapse of Fed. financing to rebuild infrastructure ( including NE) and the loss of jobs for many who have left the area for that reason.
There are too few projects like this being planned.
Vote for whom? I think you’re implying to vote for someone to take their property away. Perhaps, come the revolution, I can liberate this home for the people. And by people, I mean me. Much more just.
It's a nice project but what is really exciting is that the teenage daughter was wearing a NASA sweatshirt! Way to go! Things like that give me hope for the future.
(I'm not sure Christopher Alexander would agree with the house placement, but the nice thing about making your own home is making your own decisions.)
23