LIBERTY STREET, NEWBURGH NY
1865 townhouse building | 2,600 sq. ft. | 2 units: a 1 bedroom and a 2 bedroom
This is a three-story row house that is free standing.
It was acquired as is through a foreclosure.
This was a gut rehab. The goal is to get it to perform at or near passive house standards.
After 45 and 53 years of living in Manhattan, this would be our new home.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
The building presented the following liabilities —
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Inspection revealed that most of the plumbing and electric was substandard
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There were gas fired radiators in each of the rooms, a fire and health hazard
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Walls had been put up every which way in order to squeeze two 2 bedroom (!) units into the building
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Much of the original plaster had been patched or replaced with sheet rock or wood paneling
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Window panes were broken; one window had been replaced with vinyl.
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Floors covered with carpet, linoleum, vinyl, laminate and glue
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one chimney needs to be reconstructed.
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rear porch is poorly constructed
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Room addition has zero insulation
On the plus side —
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21 of 23 windows were historically intact
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It had a great back yard with nice pastorally urban views
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It is centrally located.
GALLERY:
BEFORE RESTORATION PICTURES
click to enlarge
The Liberty Street Project: building for Net-Zero ready
With Lander Street complete and successful, it was time for us to pull up the stakes from our Manhattan home of 4+ decades and move to Newburgh.
With this project, dwellstead resurrected Michael's general contracting and construction skills from his days in the med-70s to early 80s when he was doing a dozen commercial to residential loft conversions in Lower Manhattan.
Performance. Liberty Street became dwellstead's test to see if we can get a high energy performance at a price point that fit within the Newburgh market. Michael was inspired by Passive House, but the architects and plumbers he spoke to said it would be about $170 to $240 a square foot. In Newburgh, homes were not selling for more than $135 a sq ft.
Baseline EUI (Energy Use Intensity) for this type of building is 58.2. We have a tentative EUI of 14.23 which exceeds the AIA challenge of 17.5, and we did it for less than $100 in construction costs. All-in brings it up to $120 a sq ft, and net, after historic tax and energy saving credits brings it back down to $105 sq ft.
FEATURES
This building has a two-bedroom apartment on the main floor, second floor and attic, and a one-bedroom on the ground floor.
Features include:
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Inner storm windows
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wall r-value of 26
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attic ceiling r-value of 72
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ERV
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stainless steel kitchen appliances
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Hard wood floors
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Walk-in closet
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Home office
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9 foot ceilings
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wiring for cable TV, telephone and internet access
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a surveillance system
FLOOR PLANS
GROUND FLOOR - LOWER APARTMENT
MAIN FLOOR - UPPER APARTMENT
BEDROOM FLOOR - UPPER APARTMENT
ATTIC STUDIO/OFFICE - UPPER APARTMENT
GALLERY:
RESTORATION PROCESS
GALLERY:
(MOSTLY) COMPLETE
