mansions | Ithacating in Cornell Heights

1325 Taughannock Boulevard Construction Update, 3/2016

25 03 2016

It occurred to me, while taking photos of the “Lake House project”, a mansion underway at 1325 Taughannock last weekend, that there’s a babbling brook just north of the garage, with a small waterfall.

It’s okay to be jealous. I am.

Since January, most of the wood shingle siding has been attached, although some of the Green Guard Housewrap is still visible. Some sections of the foundation and concrete column bases have been covered with stone veneer, but the large, partially chiseled rock on-site suggests some genuine stone is also being used (when one can afford to take out a $2.25 million construction loan for a single-family home, why not splurge). The front door is still a plywood sheet, but windows have been fully fitted from what could be seen from the road. A small section of the roof remains exposed felt paper, but will be finished with what are likely to be metal sheets, based off of New Energy Works‘ render.

Quoting a press release from New Energy Works:

“Settled on a cliff above Cayuga Lake, the Lake House project is a full timber frame home which will use over 500 timbers to create 4,880 square feet of living space for a growing family. The interior frame will be crafted of kiln-dried Douglas Fir, while the exterior will use fresh sawn Douglas Fir with kiln-dried curves. Two distinct bowstring trusses with steel bottom chords are featured in the kitchen to support the second floor above.”

Photos from the timber frame raising last summer can be found here. If anything, the side that faces the lake is even more impressive. Here’s a render of the “back side”, the view from the lake:

This will probably be the last visit. The house should be completed by the end of May, and it’ll be a little unsettling to take photos when it’s occupied. I’m not sure a feature in the Voice, even if permitted by the owner, would have the allure of “The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous“, or just piss readers off. At least two comparably grand lakeside homes are planned along Taughannock Boulevard and Maplewood Road.

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Tags: construction, mansions, photos, tompkins county
Categories : construction, photos, Tompkins County

1325 Taughannock Boulevard Construction Update, 1/2016

16 01 2016

Quick progress report on the multimillion-dollar lakeside manse going up at 1325 Taughannock Boulevard in the town of Ulysses. Since November, most of the roof has been shingled or finished with metal panels, and the newly-completed hand-laid stone chimney looks nice. The Green Guard Raindrop 3D housewrap is still showing in most places, but you can see wood siding on the side of the garage in the first shot, and what looks like wood shingles on the second-floor bump-out in the second photo. From the rendering shown at the project site and from Farmington-based New Energy Works’ website, it looks like many of their design use a combination of shingles and lap siding, which gives some visual interest to go along with the warm look of fresh wood. The housewrap has been furred out to prevent dampness and to attach the wood siding.

The construction loan paperwork says this project will be finished no later than the end of May, but it will likely be a little sooner than that. As I finishing up taking photos, a gentleman in a Honda pulled over to drop off some paperwork (before I asked if he was the future homeowner, I felt my face burning because I was worried it might be the owner asking who the heck was taking photos of his house), and he thought it was due to be finished by the start of May.

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Tags: construction, mansions, tompkins county
Categories : construction, Tompkins County

1325 Taughannock Boulevard Construction Update, 11/2015

11 11 2015

Single-family homes tend to be more of a featurette on Ithacating, rather then full-fledged posts of their own. Then again, most homes aren’t multi-million dollar lakeside mansions.

Looking at the house underway at 1325 Taughannock Boulevard in the town of Ulysses (pulling off of the road is a bit harrowing, given that it’s a 55 MPH zone on a narrow road with marginal visibility), the roof has been sheathed but not shingled, and Kingspan Green Guard Raindrop 3D housewrap drapes the exterior of the building. The black material on the roof looks like felt paper (also known as tar paper), which helps protect the roof from water that may get under the shingles form ice melt of gusty winds, and protects the asphalt shingles from resins in the wood decking. Felt paper also increases a roof’s fire rating and helps keep the house dry in case of rain during the construction period. Windows have been fitted, and masonry work on the chimney is underway. The timber frames stand out against the housewrap, but the actual finishing materials (wood, with wood and concrete or stone trim) should complement the timber frames nicely.

As previously reported, a construction loan for $2.25 million was filed on August 13th, with Tompkins Trust Company providing the financing. The property was previously home to two smaller lakeside cottages. the two small houses once on the properties have been demolished. The homeowner is a New York senior investment banker with ties to Cornell. The house is expected to be completed by May 2016.

New Energy Works, the project architect, specializes in timber frame structure, with offices in suburban Rochester and Portland, Oregon (the Pacific Northwest and the Appalachians are two of the most popular parts of the country for timber frame homes; in New York, it’s often coterminous with “Adirondack Style“). Locally, New Energy Works designed the Namgyal Buddhist monastery on South Hill, and the Ithaca Foreign Car (Ithaca Volvo) building on West State Street.