The Encore is now under contract for 2013-2014.
The Encore
A brief history on this one:
In the winter of 2010-11, Charlie came to me and said “We need to do one more apartment project.” My reaction was along the lines of “over my dead body” but the man employed logic backed by column after column of mathematical support, and so here I am, writing about our FINAL apartment building. I am calling this one “The Encore” for reasons that anyone with a modicum of musical background can explain: after the encore, the instruments get packed and the musicians go home. Charlie has PROMISED that this one is our absolute final addition to Ithaca Artisan’s apartment roster, and if he has any other fancy ideas along those lines, I swear that I shall pack him up and drop him off in the middle of the Sahara Desert… Not that this would scare the man. This one of the reasons he wanted to do this place… so he could afford to do the Marathon de Sables, in Morocco (More about the MdS: http://www.saharamarathon.co.uk/about.html)
The Encore is our tenth building, which we finished up in May 2012. We used the tried and true floor plan of all our places in Ellis Hollow and nestled it between our first two buildings in Freeville. Its address is 407 Main Street Ext., Freeville. We have come full circle, in a manner of speaking, ending where we started out, but with a building that showcases all that we have learned in our years at this business.
The Encore’s floor plan is identical to Ellis Hollow apartments, and although it does not have the elaborate “from Tompkins County tree to finished product” history that The Magnum Opus has, it nevertheless showcases Charlie’s impressive capabilities as a builder and incorporates Tompkins County lumber in its interior trim and porch details. Furthermore, it has bamboo flooring in place of carpeting. Bamboo is a sustainable “green building” material, a grass rather than wood, with all the advantages of wood flooring and none of the chemicals or allergen trapping properties of carpeting. Although our original plans were for Charlie to build the kitchen cabinets ala Magnum Opus, we were in a race to finish up before the arrival of a new member of our family, our son Ben and his wife Zoe’s firstborn, due May 5th 2012. We decided to go the route of buying vs. building these from scratch, just so we had the luxury of spending time with them unfettered by the chaotic final rush that always accompanies finishing a building project in advance of the first tenants moving in.
April 29th, 2012 News! It's a girl! Mckenzie Asha, 7 pounds 13 ounces. Now we were all sleep deprived as well as scrambling madly to finish up, but what a sweetie she is.
Some pictures and floor plans:
