Heavy Sigh

WHY can't Mike and I see eye to eye on house locations or styles? I'm NOT a stubborn person. I'm really not. I'm usually quick to see the other side and can make changes to keep the order and be happy with it.
When it comes to this topic though...I'm finding myself as stubborn as Mike.

More of my Briarcliff Gal

I'm doing more and more research on Briarcliff and the more I read the more I like. The school system is stellar it's close to the city, it's a safe affluent neighborhood and it's a hop skip and a jump to the Trump Golf Course. (Not that I play or anything but still...) It's just a great area

Pleasantville NY

We'd found one beautiful gal in Jersey City (not my grand dame) but it's just out of our price range.
So Mike and I are back looking in the Pleasantville, Briarcliff Manor area.
I've already showed you guys the one in Briarcliff Manor but this one is in Pleasantville. It's 2572 sq ft 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom. Asking price is $450,000. She feels to me like a beach house or a Fire Island house. Maybe it's the siding and the colors. I like her though.

Now this gal...

I like her. She's got moxie. She's sassy. She would wear neon pink fishnets to the Opera. How could you not want a house that has a library?
$199,000 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom 2555 sq feet.

How sweet...

Truly a diamond in the rough, this late 1800's home offers a phenomenal opportunity to the lover of architecture & early historic homes. Located in a Hudson River Front Village within walking distance to the River & parks & views of the light house on a sought after street boasting some of the finest examples of architecturally impressive early historical homes. With little to no alterations done over the last century most of it's original detail & charm have been preserved. Over 3,000 square feet, a variety of wood floors, 5 fire places, pocket doors, some tin ceilings, & much of the plaster still in tact this home anxiously awaits a restoration's attention to be brought back to the beauty enjoyed in it's hey day.


I totally dig this dame...She seems to be a modest lady with some killer details. As with most of the homes I love, she needs some help to return her to what she should be.

Italianite Mansion

This lady is a total hottie!
Check her out!
She's in Claverack NY has 9 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms and is an impressive 4,800 sq feet. As far as I'm concerned she's a commutable 2 hours from Mike's office too! Asking price is $450,000. SOLD!

Oooohhhh....

So have you ever run across an amazing piece of real estate and everything is exactly as you want it and it seems perfect so you start to do the research about the area and find out it's uhm...less than desirable?
That's this house. 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms 4,000 sq feet for $399,000.
Isn't she amazing? Tell me walking down those stairs in the morning wouldn't make you feel just a smidgen better than everyone else in your life? Just the tiniest bit pompous and arrogant?
Poor girl...Such a looker stuck on the bad side of the tracks....

Briarcliff Manor

For MONTHS now I've been trying to get Mike to see the beauty and virtues of upstate NY. The other day he said "Maybe Westchester or White Plains" If he wasn't serious, shame on him because that mere suggestion is like a red flag to a bull for me.
I went hunting...
I went to school and kept my horse in Pleasantville, NY so I know the area. Pleasantville has a train station and it's an hour from NYC. It's a beautiful town with one just as gorgeous next to it called Briarcliff Manor.
I LOVED Briarcliff when I was up there. Huge old homes and a feeling of pride and community.
Found this baby girl. She's 2,155 sq feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Her asking price is $349,222.
Yes, her floors need to be redone, she needs a new paint job inside and out but I LOVE HER. Again, I see her for what she can be!
That window seat would be fantastic with a velvet leopard cover and some beautiful curtains and I can see a pit style sofa in the living room...I love this place...wonder if I can get Mr. Jersey Shore or die to go and see it...

Jersey City Grand Dame

Tomorrow I'm going to see this forlorn beauty. She kind of reminds me of Blanche Dubois. At one point she must have been a stunner but time and neglect have taken their toll on her and well...she's a shadow of her former self.
I have been blessed (or cursed) with the ability to see a place like this and see nothing but amazing potential and beauty. I see elements and pieces and see what it can be with a little bit of desire and love. (look at the windows in that pink room!) I see a house that has a history and isn't like the house next to it. I see individuality.
Mike on the other hand sees what it is. A house. A huge house that will cost him lots of money to fix and heat and while we are discussing it isn't Jersey City evil?
Sigh...I'm going to see her anyway and I'll come back tomorrow with more pictures. They are asking $950,000 for it but the appraised value is only $322,000 and change. She has 9 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and is an impressive 8,000 sq feet.
Maybe I can convince Mike to see her for what she is...Maybe I'll get a horse for Christmas too...

Suburbia Agony

Born and raised in NYC's Greenwich Village my best friend and I used to make fun of folks from NJ and the Suburbs. I used to tease my mother about growing up in the then WASP town of Radburn NJ.
Home ownership was never a goal or a dream of mine. I always saw myself in the city renting forever as my parents did.
Then I met my husband. He grew up in a town on the Jersey Shore in a house with a yard and a driveway and a den.
He must have really loved me because after we got engaged he agreed to move to Brooklyn NY. We moved to a nice area at the tippy tip of Brooklyn called Bay Ridge. Great huge 1 bedroom apartment. His mother cried when he visited her because he was so far away and the city was so dangerous. His father refused to cross the bridge and called it Beruit rather than Bay Ridge. I did my damnedest to try to make them see I hadn't sent their son to the 7th circle of hell but I'm afraid they smelled the sulfur on me no matter what. They were suburbanites and couldn't understand why anyone would not want what they had. A very nice house in a very nice neighborhood.
Fast forward to 9 apartments later and 2 kids and a dog and we are now living in Hoboken, NJ in a 700 sq foot apartment that despite my self denial mantra really is just too small for our family.
So we have decided that perhaps it is time to take the leap into what his parents have and what I never though I'd want....suburbia.
This blog is my journey house hunting and trying to find my place in the world of cookie cutter homes and people...