e caught up with one of our space owners, Tom Givone, a freelance copywriter who used his passion for restoring old structures to transform a farmhouse in upstate New York. He molded the original architectural elements with modern material and designs to create a beautiful and unique space. We asked him about his journey from writer to renovator and about how it feels to open up his floating farmhouse to a variety of amazing events.
SPLACER: Tell us a little a bit about yourself, you used to be an advertising copywriter, how did you end up being an architectural designer and builder?
TOM GIVONE: It all started with the purchase of a derelict 1882 Victorian Row House on a cobblestone street in Harlem. With more time than funds on hand, I started doing much of the work, especially grunt work, myself. I was a freelance copywriter at the time, writing scripts and such at various agencies, but could not wait to get back to demolishing walls, scraping floors, and bagging mountains of debris. And discovering buried pocket doors, hidden fireplaces, old ceiling beams, and a new calling in the process.
SPLACER: How did you find this floating farmhouse, and why the Catskills?
TOM GIVONE: A friend had tipped me off about all these marvelous 1800’s farmsteads going to seed in Sullivan County, NY, on the western edge of the Catskill Mountains. So I started poking around. I had resuscitated several old farmhouses in the area, experimenting with different designs and materials, before stumbling upon the Floating Farmhouse in 2007; a rambling wreck perched at the edge of a pristine Catskills creek, lapping against the crumbling manor home like an ancient moat. As was my habit, I left a note on the door, asking if the owner might be interested in selling. This one called me back.
SPLACER: Describe its initial state, what attracted you to it?
TOM GIVONE: The only accurate way to describe its initial state, as Donald Trump might put it, would be “total disaster;” rotted siding, missing window panes, 3 feet of water in the basement. Time goes to work on these old structures but, for me, years of decay and neglect just render them more compelling, more beautiful, more pure. The way I transformed the Floating Farmhouse, restoring the original architectural elements while folding very modern materials and design into the space, was really just an attempt to capture and express this deeply felt first impression, my love at first sight.
SPLACER: I read the renovation process took 4 years, what were the steps and did you seek inspiration from other architectural works?
TOM GIVONE: The demolition process was painstaking and time-consuming; more like an archeological dig, gently peeling back 150 years to unearth long-hidden original details like cedar roof shakes, wide pine floors and rough wall planks, and incorporate them into the home’s new design. Felling 11 ancient pine trees on the property and transforming them into period details like bead board ceilings and wainscoting took considerable time as well, as did bathing the kitchen’s 20’ high steel lattice window frames and pizza oven tower in acid for months on end to achieve just the right rusted patina. Inspiration was not drawn from other architectural works so much as dictated by the home’s spectacular scale and waterfront setting; a towering wall of skyscraper glass frames views of the creek, meadow, apple trees, and barns, and a grand covered porch cantilevers over the water, creating the namesake feeling of “floating” throughout.
The only accurate way to describe its initial state, as Donald Trump might put it, would be “total disaster;” rotted siding, missing window panes, 3 feet of water in the basement.
SPLACER: Tell us about the materials you’ve used during this process and the thought behind them.
TOM GIVONE: The design intent from the outset was to combine historic and modern architecture and materials in ways that might enhance the innate beauty of each by virtue of contrast with the other. To that end, I experimented with how opposites attract on both the grand scale, mixing ancient hand hewn beams, wide-plank floors, and original wavy-glass windows with vast swathes of skyscraper glass, corten steel, and polished concrete; and also the small scale, like wrapping an antique wood and copper soaking tub with laser-cut stainless steel in the guest bath.
SPLACER: What was the intention with this home, was it for personal use or did you have other activities in mind?
TOM GIVONE: As with the projects before it, the original intent was to rescue it from oblivion, restore the original details, reinterpret it with a modernist sensibility and, ultimately, sell it. But then the crash of 2009 happened. So I began offering the Floating Farmhouse for events and short-term vacation rental as a stop-gap measure, to keep it “afloat” until the market turned around. What I did not anticipate was how rewarding it would become to share the space, and by extension my life’s work, with others in such a personal way. It truly is a joyous place, and having others experience that same joy I felt upon first seeing it, in its broken and battered state, is a gift that keeps on giving. As my guests see it for the first time, so do I, again and again.
SPLACER: Do you host any events at the floating farmhouse? You mentioned you’ve had weddings, bachelorette parties, fashion shoots, corporate retreats, could you elaborate a little bit on them, and which one was your favorite?
TOM GIVONE: Yes, lots of weddings, bachelorette parties, fashion shoots, photography seminars, team-building workshops, you name it. We’ve had the entire meadow blanketed with fake snow in the dog days of summer for catalog shoots, and costume parties under a full moon. Never a dull moment.
SPLACER: What would be your ideal event at your space?
TOM GIVONE: Given the expansive, light-filled interiors and dramatic country setting, the Floating Farmhouse is a natural for film/photo shoots, weddings, retreats, and the like. But any event that is about dreaming big, building relationships, creating memories, and celebrating simple pleasures will find a home at the Floating Farmhouse.
