Merchant's House Museum

New York, New York

Now's the time to visit the Merchant's House Museum in NoHo.  According to the Sunday New York Times an eight story hotel is about to go up next door and if the house shifts just a quarter of an inch during construction extensive damage could be caused to the house's plaster moldings.

I thought of visiting several times in the last 3 years but waited because there was always some part of the house closed off for renovation.  Maybe that was the pre-emptive work that the article talks about.

The Merchant's House is one of 23 member sites of the Historic House Trust of New York City.  The Trust's website gives you an introduction to their homes and a link to individual websites.
http://www.historichousetrust.org/item_list.php

Take a look at the Times article and if you're interested let me know.  We can visit together before the the ceiling starts falling down.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/nyregion/two-goods-reasons-to-visit-noho.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A9%22%7D

$6.2 M Rehab

 "Historic Houses of NY State, A.G. Smith, Dover Publications, 1997.


This is going to be one long period of delayed gratification!  Many house museums are closed during the winter months.  I understand that.  Heating costs to keep the few cold weather enthusiasts from freezing solid to the floor boards would be astronomical.

But when Sagamore Hill closes on Dec 5 a three year $6.2 million dollar rehab will commence. A much smaller exhibit will be housed in another building on the property.

Sagamore Hill is the 28-room Queen Anne shingle-style mansion in Oyster Bay on Long Island, NY that Teddy Roosevelt built and used as the summer White House during his presidency from 1901-1909.  The home is now part of the National Park Service holdings and has not had any major renovations in more than 50 years.  The electrical, heating, security and fire safety systems will all be upgraded.  A new roof, gutter and drains will be installed.  Exterior work also includes restoration of 78 windows and doors, porches and siding.

To protect the home's contents everything must be packed up, stored and catalogued on a computer spreadsheet.  Workers began this herculean task nine months ago.  There is one particular prize possession not yet protectively shrouded and put away for safe keeping - the 10-foot-elephant tusks inlaid with silver ornamentation.  Any suggestions on the best place to keep these babies for a few years?

Got Plans this Weekend?

What are you doing this weekend? Live close to New York City? Love architecture, culture, learning or outdoor activity?

It's Open House New York (OHNY) weekend and the Historic House Festival.

The 9th annual OHNY weekend will be held Saturday Oct 15 and Sunday October 16. The event showcases hundreds of New York City's most architecturally and culturally significant spaces and places, many of which are not usually open to the public. They'll be site talks, tours, performances and family activities.

Especially appealing: OHNY just announced two days ago that the newly renovated, and not generally open to the public TWA Terminal at JFK will be open on Sunday from 1-4 P.M.

This year the Historic House Trust has partnered with OHNY and will hold its annual Historic House Festival on the same weekend. The theme for the Festival is NYC Never Tasted So Good: Celebrating Culinary History and Contemporary Food Trends. Each of the 23 historic house in the city's five boroughs will be holding food themed tours and entertainment.

Want to fit your exercise workout into the weekend? Try the bike tour of Queens stopping at all of the Trust homes and cool eating spots.

A weekend packed with fun activities. Will the weather cooperate?

Check out these websites.

http://www.ohny.org/

http://www.historichousetrust.org/page.php?p_id=100