Category Archives: Bedford Corners NY

A Rustic Zero Energy Home | Bedford NY Real Estate

On the edge of Eagle Mountain Lake, just northwest of Fort Worth, Texas, sits  green builder Don Ferrier’s latest masterpiece — a zero energy home.  Sandwiched between trees and shrubs, the house is a rustic, two bedroom home  with a deep front porch. The exterior siding and interior beams are made of  reclaimed barn wood, giving the home a classic, aged look. This house, which  Ferrier calls the “zero energy casita,” looks like it has been here for years.  In fact, it’s a brand new, eco-friendly home thanks to the insulation, wind  turbine and many other influential features that leaves him with no energy  bills.

Ferrier is no stranger to green home building. His first green building was  an earth-sheltered home that he built in 1982. By 1985, he was designing green  homes and using structural insulated panels (SIPs), which are energy-efficient  building panels that are made by sandwiching pieces of polystyrene between two  pieces of oriented strand board (OSB).  He still uses these today to make  all of his buildings energy efficient.

“I stumbled into it and I can’t take credit for being a visionary,” he  says.

“Once into building green we were totally on board and passionate. I love it  that we have made such a positive difference in so many folks’ lives.”

In 2004, he founded Ferrier Custom Homes with his daughters and long-time  construction supervisor, Tom Grywatch. Ferrier went on to build the first LEED  platinum home in Texas, won the 2007 Green Building Advocate of the Year award  from the National Association of Home Builders and was named one of the “Godfathers of Green” by the Dallas Builder Association. Ferrier Custom Homes  only builds custom homes and the company is involved in the entire process. “Proper planning and design are essential to high performance building,” Ferrier  says.

When designing the zero energy casita, Ferrier’s No. 1 challenge was the hot  Texas climate. Ferrier designed the casita to be air tight and well-insulated by  using SIPS and low emissivity (low-e) windows. Ferrier also chose a galvanized  metal roof (because its silver color will reflect up to 73 percent of heat from  the sun), and installed a radiant barrier, Tyvek Home Wrap, to keep heat and  water out.

Because the house is tightly sealed and well-insulated, it holds in heat  extremely well. That’s an advantage in the winter, but during the summer it’s a  potential problem. However, the large front porch is designed to delay the sun  from hitting the windows until late in the day. A 50-foot oak tree and 40-foot  shrubs around the house also help block the sun in summer and keep the house  cool. Because of the hot climate, Ferrier also decided to install a high  performance air conditioner. He chose an air conditioner with a 16 seasonal  energy efficiency ratio (SEER), which measures the equipment energy efficiency  during the cooling season. This is higher than both the national requirement of  13, and Energy Star standard 14.

According to Energy Star, the average, non-Energy Star home in North Texas  experiences 13 air changes an hour, and the average Energy Star home has six air  changes an hour. Every time the air conditioner turns on in an hour indicates an  air change. In contrast, the tightly insulated zero energy casita, experiences  only one air change an hour. That improves the efficiency of heating and  cooling, but to be sure the home gets enough fresh air, it also has a fresh air  intake.

Ferrier knows the importance of good air quality, so a HEPA air filtration  system and central dehumidification system were also installed. He was careful  to use products without volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde, so  the interior was painted with low- or no-VOC paint.

But to be a zero energy home, it must contain a source of power. Wind energy  was a natural choice for Texas, which has the most wind power potential of any  state, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. To utilize this  energy, a Skysteam wind generator was installed in the backyard of the  casita.

In addition to using recycled construction materials, 80 percent of the  construction waste from the casita was recycled. Tree trimmings were reused as  mulch for flower beds and newly planted trees.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/print.aspx?id={C04A19FF-F4F3-45CE-A035-58565FDEFA6A}#ixzz2f9n98hf3

13 natural remedies for the ant invasion | Bedford Corners Homes

 

Little tiny ants have been spotted in our new home, and many people are suffering the same fate across the country. As much as I love spring, I don’t like bugs — especially bugs that can infest a house. Last week I asked for some advice in how to deal with ants naturally as I didn’t have time to research it myself since I just moved this weekend. I got such good advice, I had to share it with the readers here at MNN as well.
Some of these measures are deterrents. That is, they deter the ants from coming in your house. This seems to work well for those with a mild problem. Others found that they needed to use a method that kills the whole colony of ants. I’ve compiled the comments and suggestions by category, allowing you to compare the different methods a little more easily.
1. Lemon juice
Teresa: We just spray around the openings with pure lemon juice … and it always works for us … something about the acid messes up their sense of tracking…
2. Cinnamon
Shayla: We use ground cinnamon around where there are coming it. It works really well.
Peggy: We spray cinnamon essential oil all around the doors, windowsills, floors, etc. keeps them from coming in. I put the sugar water and borax OUTSIDE!
Letia: Another vote for ground cinnamon. Easy to clean up afterwards and worked great for us!!!
Jean: Cinnamon and cloves. Makes your house smell nice and the ants just hate it sprinkled right in their path.
Patricia: We also use cinnamon oil. We draw borders around everything with a Q-tip dipped in it. They won’t cross it.
3. Peppermint
Heather: My mother-in-law has success with peppermint essential oil around windows and doors (any entries). Plus her house then smells awesome.
Julie: Dr. Bonner’s liquid soap in the mint aroma. Mix 1 to 1 with water in a spray bottle. Spray on the ant invasion and watch them suffer.
4. Borax, water and sugar
Kristi: We use borax, sugar, water and a touch of peanut butter. It takes a couple of weeks but really works. We used it last year in our old house and are implementing it again this spring in our new house. Pesky ants! Here is the site where I found the recipe:http://naturalantkiller.blogspot.com/
Christy: I second Diana’s comment about borax and sugar. I’ve made a thin paste before with water, sugar and borax, then spread it on little pieces of thin cardboard or stiff cardstock and placed them near where it seems they are coming into the house. They’ll eat it and take it back to their colony (just like the Terro liquid you can buy). The paste will dry up in a couple days, so you’ll have to make more. But I think I only had to do it twice before they were gone.
Chookie: What worked for us was a mixture of borax and sugar in water. Several years ago, we lived in a house where there was an ants nest in the walls. Removing it would have meant virtually demolishing the entire front wall of the house (not practical!), so instead, after a year or two of having flying ants swarm into our bedroom every year we decided to go on an ant killing spree. Conventional ant killers didn’t work. Borax and powdered sugar didn’t work. But adding water to the borax and sugar mix to make a thick sugary borax-y syrup DID work…. the worker ants took it back into the nest and it positioned the queen – result = no more flying ants. OK, so borax does need to be kept away from pets and small children, but it is relatively safe beyond that as it is only toxic if you eat it. my solution was to put it somewhere where the kids and the cats would not reach it but the ants could.
BeverlyC: We live in China and had a HORRIBLE ant problem in our house. Tried cinnamon, black pepper, vinegar, etc. etc. We were concerned about the borax because we have guests in and out regularly and the little children are often, well, naughty and undisciplined. When someone suggested Terro liquid ant bait and we found it was just Borax and sugar, we asked someone to bring us some. We could pick the traps up and put them away when company came and put them back out after they left. They worked wonders!!

RFK’s sex diary: His secret journal of affairs | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. grappled with what he called his biggest defect — “my lust demons” — while keeping a scorecard of more than two dozen conquests, according to his secret diary.

The thick, red journal was found in their home by his wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who, distraught over their impending divorce and Kennedy’s serial philandering, committed suicide last year.

A copy of the 398 pages, reviewed by The Post, details RFK Jr.’s daily activities, speeches, political activism and the lives of his six children in the year 2001. But they also record the names of women — with numbers from 1 to 10 next to each entry.

Modal Trigger

RFK’s dirty diary

The codes corresponded to sexual acts, with 10 meaning intercourse, Mary told a confidant. There are 37 women named in the ledger, 16 of whom get 10s, since sexual activities are really popular and that’s why men look for sexual satisfaction in women or even in toys, like the new range of sex robots which are made specifically for this.

On Nov. 13, 2001, RFK Jr. records a triple play. The separate encounters — coded 10, 3 and 2 — occur the same day he attended a black-tie fund-raiser at the Waldorf-Astoria for Christopher Reeve’s charity, where he sat next to the paralyzed “Superman” star, magician David Blaine and comic Richard Belzer.

It was a hectic month for Kennedy, who traveled to ­Toronto, Louisiana and Washington, DC — and listed at least one woman’s name on 22 different dates, including 13 consecutive days.

Most women are identified only by first name in the ledger. They include a lawyer, an environmental activist, a doctor and at least one woman married to a famous actor. He also found out that there are also so many horny contacts online looking for naughty fun.

A Post reporter who questioned Kennedy Friday about the diary was first met with six seconds of stunned silence.

“I don’t think there is any way you could have a diary or journal of mine from 2001,” Kennedy then said. “I don’t have any comment on it. I have no diary from 2001.”

The diary is laced with Kennedy’s Catholic guilt over his infidelities, which follow the same pattern of affairs pursued by his uncles, John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, as well as his own father.

On days without a woman’s name, Kennedy would often write “victory.” This meant he’d triumphantly resisted sexual temptation, according to a source close to Richardson. But for those days when he couldn’t resist such temptation, he would do everything to quench that. If you’re like him who thirsts for earthly desires and if you want some real fun, you need to find a Kinky Bitch as they are the ones that will do literally anything!

“Despite the terrible things happening in the world, my life is . . . great,” he wrote on Nov. 5, 2001. “So I’ve been looking for ways to screw it up. I’m like Adam and live in Eden, and I can have everything but the fruit. But the fruit is all I want.”

The 59-year-old son of the assassinated US senator was so tortured by his desire that spending a month in jail in Puerto Rico was a welcome respite.

“I’m so content here,” he writes during his July 2001 incarceration for taking part in protests of the US Navy’s bombing exercises in Vieques. “I have to say it. There’s no women. I’m happy! Everybody here seems happy. It’s not ­misogyny. It’s the opposite! I love them too much.”

Yet Kennedy adds, “I love my wife and I tell it to her every day, and I never tire of it and write her tender letters.”

Nine years later, Kennedy and his wife separated when he filed for divorce. And on May 16, 2012, Richardson, 52, committed suicide by hanging herself in an outbuilding on the couple’s Bedford ­estate.

Kennedy’s cheating had become a huge issue in the marriage.

Richardson told a friend that her husband noted the names of his romantic conquests on pages in the back of his journal under the preprinted heading “cash accounts.”

The journal begins with word that Richardson is pregnant with the couple’s fourth child.

The couple had known each other since Richardson was 14 and a boarding-school roommate of Kennedy’s younger sister, Kerry. They married in 1994, weeks after Kennedy divorced his first wife, Emily Black, with whom he had two children.

Richardson was pregnant with their first child, Conor, when they married. They moved into the 1920 clapboard house in Westchester County.

Modal TriggerKennedy, an environmental lawyer and board president of the nonprofit Waterkeeper Alliance, spent much of his time traveling to give speeches, according to his diary.

He had recently been weighing a possible Senate run for New York, before Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped into the race. Richardson stayed home with the children.

The beautiful brunette struggled with depression and alcoholism. Her husband described her at her funeral as “fighting demons.”

The couple was not yet divorced when she died and were bitterly arguing over issues involving custody and finances. Kennedy had temporary custody of the four children and was dating actress Cheryl Hines.

A sealed document in which Kennedy portrayed his wife as an abusive alcoholic who beat him up and threatened suicide in front of the children was leaked to the press.

Kennedy said in the affidavit that by 2001 he had “lost hope” in his marriage and was “committing numerous infidelities to keep my sanity,” according to a published report.

RFK’s sex diary: His secret journal of affairs | New York Post.

U.S. homeowners underwater on mortgages falls in Q2 -CoreLogic | Bedford Corners Homes

Rising home prices drove down the number of U.S. homeowners struggling with underwater mortgages in the second quarter, leaving 14.5 percent of residential properties with a mortgage in negative equity, a report from CoreLogic showed on Tuesday.

The rate was down from 19.7 percent in the first quarter, 22.3 percent a year ago and 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, which was the most since CoreLogic began keeping statistics earlier that year.

Negative equity, another term for underwater mortgage, refers to properties whose value is less than what is owed on the mortgage.

Negative equity rates spiked in the aftermath of the housing crisis, which began in earnest five years ago and set off a multi-year free-fall in prices. But recovery in the sector over the past year has helped improve some homeowners’ standings.

There were 7.1 million underwater homes in the second quarter compared with a downwardly revised 9.6 million in the first three months of 2013, CoreLogic said.

According to the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas, prices were up 12.1 percent in the 12 months to June.

“Price appreciation obviously had a positive impact on home equity over the first half of 2013, especially in the second quarter,” CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi said in a statement.

About 3.5 million homeowners regained positive equity in the first half of the year, the report said.

Nevada had the highest percentage of properties in negative equity in the second quarter at 36.4 percent. Rounding out the top five were Florida, Arizona, Michigan and Georgia.

 

 

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/09/10/usa-housing-corelogic-idINL2N0H513I20130910

8 Fabulous Faucets for All Kinds of Bathrooms | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Bathroom sink faucet options are limitless, and choosing one can be overwhelming. There are lot of different factors to consider, and every house has different needs. Do you need a faucet that’s easy to use for all ages? Is space an issue? Or perhaps budget?
Check out these eight types of faucets to get an idea of what to look for when you’re shopping for your bathroom.

modern bathroom by maestrobath

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1. Waterfall faucet. With its clean lines and minimalist approach, this faucet lends itself to a more modern style. It’s most commonly constructed out of metal and glass.
Some waterfall faucets have beautiful colored designs throughout the glass, which give the bathroom a cheery feel. Others have LED lights, creating a colorful display when the water is flowing.
2. Four-inch-spread faucet. A great budget option, 4-inch-spread faucets (measured from the center of one handle to the center of the other) offer value and functionality. Not only do they come in almost every shape, size and color, but they are also a good space-saving option for smaller vanity areas and can be used in almost any application.
mediterranean bathroom Mediterranean Bathroom

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3. Eight-inch-spread faucet. One of the most popular styles today, the 8-inch-spread faucet (also measured from one handle center to the other) comes in many styles and materials. From metal to marble to crystal, the options are almost endless.
You can find an 8-inch-spread faucet in popular finishes (such as brushed nickel, oil-rubbed bronze and the ever-popular gold)  and some not-so-popular ones (such as polished nickel and matte black).
eclectic kids Eclectic Kids

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4. Single-lever faucet. Single-lever faucets are very easy to use and are a great option for all styles of bathrooms. They come in a variety of designs from traditional to contemporary.
Single-lever faucets are a popular option because of their simple design and the multitude of colors and styles available.
rustic bathroom by Peace Design

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5. Wall-mounted faucet. Wall-mounted faucets offer the same functionality as countertop-mounted faucets without taking up any counter space. They  also provide a great focal point whether you are mounting them on a sink or a backsplash.
Wall faucet styles range from minimalist to traditional, and many different colors and finishes are available

Early Bedford Town Primary Election Results | Bedford NY Homes

The results are in for several primary elections in Bedford races for supervisor, town clerk, town justice and councilman.

Unofficial results suggest that incumbent Erik Jacobsen topped Judy Aydelott for the Independence Party nomination for town justice with 68-percent of the vote and the Conservative Party nomination with 70-percent of the vote.

All other races in Bedford featured candidates running unopposed.

Mary Beth Kass and incumbent Francis Corcoran are the Conservative Party nominees for councilman. Don Scott is the Conservative Party nominee for supervisor. Lisabeth Boo Fumagalli is the Conservative Party nominee for town clerk.

Chris Burdick is the Independence Party nominee for supervisor. Simone Shaprio is the Independence Party nominee for town clerk.

As of Wednesday morning, 88-percent of the vote had been tallied.

The Daily Voice will update results as write-in votes are tallied.

Booming markets see lag in construction activity | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Markets that are seeing the greatest rebound in home prices are also seeing the biggest lag in construction activity, the latest data from Trulia (TRLA) revealed.

Asking home prices rose 11.0% on an annual basis and 1.2% on a monthly basis in august. However, when taking a deeper look at the data, it is obvious that construction activity isn’t back to normal levels quite yet.

In 2013, construction permits are running at only about 60-70% of their average level between 1990 and 2012. Las Vegas, Sacramento, Riverside-San Bernardino, Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills and Detroit are among the housing markets where asking home prices increased more than 20%. These markets saw construction activity at less than half the normal level.

According to Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko, there is a very obvious explanation for this: Investors and builders have bet on different markets.

“Investors have bought in the boom-and-bust metros, helping push prices up more than 20% year-over-year in Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Detroit,” said Kolko. “Builders, however, are betting on markets that avoided the worst of the crash, like Boston, much of Texas, and the expensive California coast, where job growth is strong and few homes are vacant,” he added.”

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26659-booming-markets-see-lag-in-construction-activity

Bedford Begins Process To Fill School Board Vacancy | Bedford Corners Real Estate

The Bedford Central School District has begun the process of filling the vacancy on the school board.

The board is filling the vacancy left by Lee Goldstein, who resigned because her family is moving to Connecticut. The school board said applications are due Sept. 13.

There will be a special election for the seat May 20. Goldstein was elected to the school board in 2012; her three-year term expires June 30, 2015.

The board will conduct interviews at Fox Lane Middle School Sept. 18. The meeting will be open to the public and televised on BCSD-TV. The district said they are asking community members to submit questions or topics by Sept. 13

The board is expected to make an appointment Sept. 25. To be eligible for the position, an individual must be a qualified voter of the district  and have lived in the school district for at least one continuous year. At a minimum, service on the board requires preparation for and attendance at bi-monthly meetings. In addition, board members serve on at least one board subcommittee, which meets monthly.

Interested individuals may obtain an application on the district’s website www.bcsdny.org or may contact Carole LaColla, district clerk at 914-241-6011 or via email at clacolla1777@bcsdny.org.

Susan Wollin, president of the school board, said she is confident the process will choose a worthy candidate. This is the third time the board has filled a vacancy during Wollin’s tenure.

“It’s very similar to the process we’ve used in the past,” Wollin said. “We hope to appoint somebody based on the outcome of the meetings.”

The board last filled a vacancy in 2011 when Mark Chernis resigned to avoid a conflict of interest with his employer and the district.

The Bedford Central School District is comprised of the towns of Bedford, Pound Ridge and Mount Kisco.

 

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/bedford-begins-process-fill-school-board-vacancy

 

Bedford Corners NY Weekly Real Estate Report | RobReportBlog

Bedford   Corners NY Weekly Real Estate Report9/9/2013
Homes for sale43
Median Ask Price$1,495,000.00
Low Price$525,000.00
High Price$12,000,000.00
Average Size4927
Average Price/foot$478.00
Average DOM167
Average Ask Price$2,610,686.00

One Fifth of Top Markets Rebound to Peak Prices | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Some 19 out of the top 100 markets show a complete price recovery in July from the peak-to-trough decline amount attributable to the housing bubble – up from the 16 that showed full recovery in June.

Six of these markets again belong to the state of Texas, and two belong to Oklahoma, according to the Homes.com Rebound Report.  Some 41 markets showed more than a 50% rebound – up from the 38 in June.

The Homes.com Rebound Report uses the Homes.com Local Market Index data back to 2000, but it focuses on the period from 2005 forward when identifying peaks and troughs to isolate the impacts of the Great Recession, a recently marked global economic decline that also correlated with the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble.

The Homes.com Local Market Index report tracks repeat sales of properties for both single family and multi-unit/condominium sales in separate indices for the top 100 Local Markets as determined by the U.S Census Bureau Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs). The Homes.com Rebound Report tracks how far each market has recovered from its peak-to-trough decline in index value attributable to the Great Recession, a recently marked global economic decline that correlated with the bursting of the housing bubble.

 

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/one-fifth-of-top-markets-rebound-to-peak-prices/