HOMESTEAD Kiyomi Troemner and Thom Blaylock are New York City residents who have decided to build a home in the Town of Liberty. Building permits in the county are way up due in part to the pandemic and to a sharp rise in real estate value. Amy Hines photo
Making a home in Sullivan
Many NYC transplants decide to build
By Nicole Davis | Manor Ink
Livingston Manor, NY – Thom Blaylock and Kiyomi Troemner hunkered down with their two children in small-town Livingston Manor from March through September this year. Fleeing COVID-19 and their small apartment in Brooklyn, they moved into a friend’s home at the end of a sparsely populated road in Willowemoc.
“This area has a huge sense of spirit and community,” said Blaylock. “We have decided to build a home here.”
“It is almost November, and people are not going home. There have been a lot of people who have decided to relocate here,” said Town of Rockland Code Enforcement Officer Glenn Gabbard. “Every vacant lot is under consideration.”
There has been a spate of housing starts this year. Gabbard reported at the Sept. 17 Town Board meeting that as many as 28 building permits had been issued. People, seeking to escape the threat of the coronavirus as well as the confines of cramped city apartments, are moving permanently to Sullivan County.
BUILD INSTEAD OF BUY With houses in short supply, homes are going up in the Livingston Manor area. They include several at Elko Lake and two on Goff Road in DeBruce – one nearly completed, above, and another whose foundation is currently under construction, below. Manor Ink photos
A home tailored to needs
The Brooklyn couple has purchased a six-acre lot on Breezy Hill Road between Parksville and Livingston Manor. Troemner, a licensed architect, and Blaylock, a New York University professor, originally considered purchasing a modular home. But they settled on a prefabricated steel structure that can be erected in fewer than three days. Known as a Quonset hut, the shell will be structurally calibrated for their particular site on Breezy Hill, and the interior will be designed by Troemner and outfitted locally. “It would be more fun for me to design something that is unique and tailored to us than to purchase something that was already built,” Troemner explained. “We are currently planning on having everything, starting with permits in place, by March.”
The enthusiastic couple have two little girls who love to explore and play outside. Since closing on the land purchase in early September, they have thoroughly enjoyed quality time spent with their daughters up on their parcel. “Just today we spent about five hours up on the land, and I was using a 60-year-old Swedish scythe,” said Blaylock. “I cleared between a quarter and a half of an acre. I love it – and it is excellent exercise and better than a weed wacker.”
‘Jammed with people’
“The increase in the number of residents is partially due to the gorgeous terrain, our unique downtown retail, social media and the popularity of the distilleries in the area,” said Code Officer Gabbard. “The pandemic is an additional reason why people are buying land here.” He added, “Livingston Manor is jammed with people and activity on weekends. Parking is hard to come by.”
IMPROVEMENTS Many current residents are renovating with an expectation to sell, says Code Officer Glenn Gabbard. Amy Hines photo
Within the first week of October, 14 more people obtained permits for new home construction, renovations or additions, with an estimated cumulative value of $2.8 million. “The most popular property is lakefront property which is being renovated from seasonal to year-round,” Gabbard noted. “Many current residents are renovating their properties to add more value to the land, and they plan to sell while the market is on the rise.”
Housing starts are a large part of the boom. “We are seeing new home construction ranging from tiny houses, consisting of 400 sq. ft., to large $1 million homes all over the region,” said Gabbard. Assessor Cynthia Theodore said she has issued ten permits for new home construction in Livingston Manor alone since January. Gabbard explained that new homes must meet exacting, high standards for energy efficiency and, on average, take eight to 16 months to construct.
A less stressful place
Since early October, Blaylock and Troemner have spent part of each week back in Brooklyn. Their children attend school in person part-time, and Blaylock’s teaching position also requires some in-person time. Their new home should be completed by next fall and they don’t yet know if they will move here permanently. “The city can, at times, be stressful and a difficult place to raise a family,” Blaylock confessed. Both he and Troemner grew up in rural areas that felt much safer compared to life in New York City.
The couple expects their humorous attitude and uplifting spirit will fit well with their Livingston Manor neighbors. The area’s thriving and unique community has experienced a boom, one that is likely to grow as long as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have an impact on New York City and the other urban and suburban regions to the south.
What is a Quonset Hut?
Lightweight prefabricated structures of corrugated galvanized steel, Quonset huts have a semi-cylindrical cross-section. The name comes from the site of their first manufacture at Quonset Point at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island. The US military frequently uses them due to their low cost and ease of moving. The Blaylock-Troemner home will be attached to a cement slab supporting raised flooring with thermal heating on the first of two stories.