The DIY Network's Blog Cabin tv show took on renovating a dated ranch house in Bethel for its 2010 season. Work on the project has been underway all spring, and the results are pretty dramatic. The results air in a 7 part series, starting Thursday Aug. 19th at 10PM and running through Sept. 30th.
For a sneak peek at the renovation, check out the Blog Cabin website. That's where you can also enter to win this house, starting Aug. 19th. One of the big attractions of the popular Blog Cabin series is that one lucky viewer wins the house they build or renovate each season.
Catskill Farms was the lead designer and builder of the project, but the on-air is covered by teams of Blog Cabin personalities who drop in for individual episodes dealing with specific parts of the house, like the kitchen, the baths, landscaping, etc. I'm pretty sure Chuck Petersheim, the owner of Catskill Farms, gets some on-air time, though, because I noticed prior to this taping he took off a few pounds and got an upmarket haircut (lookin' good there, Chuck.) And that was no small feat, because Chuck's wife Lisa is a great cook.
The most exciting thing about this project, apart from shining a spotlight on Sullivan County, is that it shows what can be done to transform a plain, ugly duckling ranch house. City folks looking to renovate a country place generally think "farmhouse", but there aren't that many untouched farmhouses available, and often have significant drawbacks like low ceiling heights. There are more opportunities here in Sullivan County for the rehab-inclined to transform a dated ranch house, and this series offers a lot of inspiration.
If you want to do a drive by of the house, the address is 349 Happy Avenue in Bethel.
As you saw on Friday, regrettably, those pounds went right back on.
Posted by: Chuck | August 08, 2010 at 09:54 AM
Publicity can't hurt. In 40 years of being an Ulster and Sullivan realtor, I havn never seen a time with this amount of loss of interest in the Catskills.
Posted by: BF | August 11, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Well hopefully someone will win that will boost interest even more than the show has... like ME! :-) I could plant such a beautiful community garden there! It's absolutely breathtaking!! You guys are truly blessed to live there! Although I could never have seen myself living anywhere but in SUNNY San Diego, after seeing this property... there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
Posted by: JoJo | September 12, 2010 at 04:08 AM