Starting out
The view from our porch
The house when we first got started
PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE
My poor husband, well he wasn’t even my husband yet at this point. So really just poor Josh. Sometimes I wonder if he looks around at his life and wonders how on earth he got roped into this.
The “this” I’m referring to is the enormous undertaking of renovating my family home in the Catskills. I believe that anyone who visits this area of NY will find that it is beautiful and magical. From the tales of Rip Van Winkle to crisp clear morning light to the snow covered mountains there are a million reasons to fall in love with this place. For me specifically though, it’s a place that means home and family and for that reason I have a very deep connection to it.
My three times great grandfather (I think- different family members tell different versions of this) came to the Hunter Mountain region over 150 years ago and purchased the property that our house still stands on today. Over time two original houses burned down and the 200+ acre plot dwindled down to the 56 acres we have today, but the 3rd house that was built in 1880 is still standing. By the time Josh and I got to it the “standing” was really more accurately “leaning” but the beauty of the old farmhouse was still very much intact.
My mother had made a valiant effort to revive the house but between crooked contractors and her own job in Florida it became clear that she couldn’t do everything that needed doing, particularly from that far away.
Enter- Alyssa and Josh. I’d like to be very clear here; we had absolutely ZERO experience in construction when we decided to take on this project. It had to be a combination of boredom, curiosity and plain stupidity that made us think we could handle the job. We wanted an escape from NYC and both of us had an itch to get away from our phones and computers to actually physically build something. Regardless of how it started- I think we can both say that we’re glad we did it (most of the time).
It was the view that really got us- there’s nothing like it almost anywhere else in the area. I think the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words hold true in this case. We stood on the porch with our back to the house that was falling down and we both dreamed about sitting there in the summer with a glass of wine and Murph (our dog) watching the sun go down. We had no clue what it would take to achieve that- but we’re here to tell you about it now!
Our friends and family always compare us to Chip and Joanna (which we LOVE) but I’m here to tell you that there’s a lot more beer and bickering involved in our renovation life.
We’re learning a lot about renovations, design, the Catskills and marriage as we make our way through this process. We hope you enjoy it with us!
The Citiots
This is what the real mountain top people call those of us who only visit from our urban homes. We’re generally considered to spend too much money and have no useful knowledge about every day tasks. Josh and I are out to prove them wrong, and sometimes right.
