Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

A SCOTTISH company aiming to tackle the major problem of charging electric vehicles for people without off-street parking options has raised 4.1 million to support development and growth of its flat and flush points.

Aberdeen-based Trojan Energy estimates 10 million people in the UK and 100 million in Europe park their vehicles on the street. It declared that switching to electric vehicles could potentially reduce European carbon dioxide emissions by more than 120 million tonnes annually.

READ MORE:Ian McConnell: Conservatives will be judged on unemployment misery from coronavirus crisis so they had better listen

The firm flagged its belief that, to date, councils have been reluctant to install on-street charging points because of their cumbersome size and space requirements on pavements. Trojan Energy notes its charging points are flat and flush to the pavement, removing the need to sacrifice pedestrian space.

It said: Users simply carry a charging lance in their vehicles and plug the lance into the connector point to start charging.

Trojan Energy has received 1 million of investment from business angel syndicate Equity Gap, Social Investment Scotlands SIS Ventures, Aberdeen-based Alba Equity and Scottish Enterprises Scottish Investment Bank arm. The equity funding unlocks a further 3.1m from state-backed agency Innovate UK.

READ MORE:Ian McConnell: Will anything make Johnson and Co. stop Brexit folly in its tracks?

The funding will enable Trojan Energy to advance testing and certification of its product, with the aim of installing the first 200 units for Brent and Camden councils in London by early next year. Trojan Energy plans to follow the roll-out of its on-street product with a similar driveway offering for homeowners, which it says will eliminate the need for posts or wall-boxes.

The company, while noting the UK remained its immediate focus, highlighted longer-term plans to export to other European countries, India and China, and its aim of capturing a large part of the emerging global on-street charging market.

Ian Mackenzie, chief executive of Trojan Energy and one of four founders who between them retain a majority stake in the firm, said: This is such an important milestone. Ever since we started this business, we have wanted to ensure that the benefits of the low-carbon transition can be realised by everyone and not just those with a driveway.

He added that the firm had "engaged in positive discussions with several councils throughout Scotland, all of whom are keen to see the results of the London roll-out".

Equity Gap director Fraser Lusty said: Trojan Energy and its strong Scottish team...have brought their expertise from the oil and gas sector to partner with industry, energy suppliers and councils to help accelerate the adoption of EV-usage in dense urban areas where the technology is needed most.

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'Milestone' in drive to bring electric vehicle charging to people without driveways as 'flat and flush' innovation wins funding - HeraldScotland

At the exact moment I wheeled the 2020 Telluride into my in-laws Eastern Washington driveway, the trip odometer read 2858.4 miles. The four-day drive spanned the continent, from Brooklyn, New York to Washington states far-flung farm country, with more than 45 hours of wheels-on-pavement drive time. The trip was a real white-knuckler, tinged with the urgency and paranoia only a pandemic could bring.

You can read all about that trip and its myriad foibles in the June, 2020 issue of Road & Track (which should have arrived in your mailbox by now). More specifically, I want to talk about the machine that conveyed me, my wife, and our cat and across the country safely: the 2020 Kia Telluride.

The Telluride is a three-row, unibody SUV that will cause Lexus shoppers fits. Its interior quality matches the midsize luxury SUVs from Japan (and most of the Germans), and betters them all when price is factored. Our top-of-the-line tester begs $46,860 from your wallet. Every penny felt defensible from the Tellurides cockpit. The drivers seat is supple, trimmed in soft leather, infinitely adjustable. A crisp ten-inch touchscreen anchors a simple, logical infotainment suite. Physical buttons flourish along the compact console. Materials lining the cabin feel upscale. Theres wireless phone charging, heated and ventilated front seats, acoustic glass to cut road noise, and probably a dozen USB ports. If the Stinger was a shot over the bow of Japanese luxury, the Telluride is something far greater: a direct hit.

On the first morning of our trip, I wheeled the Telluride out of Brooklyn and picked up Interstate 80 at the Pennsylvania border. The Telluride settled into an easy gallop, having conquered New York's cracked pavement in sublime comfort. The SUVs 3.8-liter, naturally aspirated V-6 hummed along the interstate, nearly silent, aided by a seamless 8-speed automatic. While the engine produces just 291 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 262 lb-ft at 5200 rpm (not huge grunt for a 4300-lb ute by 2020 standards), its a reminder of the playful joys of natural aspiration.

The Telluride shined on Americas interstates, with easy road manners and that smooth, quiet, efficient V-6 mill. By the end of our trip, I calculated 23.8 mpg. For a crossover with a curb weight cresting two tons, equipped with a luxurious and isolated cabin, thats impressive.

Other high points: The captains chairs in our top-of-the-line Telluride SX were brilliant. I cant think of another time Ive written about a second or third row in a review, unless the seats filling those rows were rigid as The Iron Throne. Im a tall-ish human, but the Kias second row is a happy place to be. Headroom, legroom, knee roomthe Tellurides first two rows have clearance and comfort in spades.

And we did more than drive the thing cross-country; my wife and cat and I slept in the Tellurides cargo area on the trip (avoiding contact, social distancing, long story). The third row seats fold flat. The second row chairs do, too, but youll need some luggage to fill out the gaps between the seats and create a seamless surface. Arranged thusly, theres room for a queen-sized memory-foam mattress pad, some food, and luggage. That allows comfort and isolation from the elements. If your version of camping leans toward #vanlife, this is a great option. (Consider a roof rack though, so the front seats dont double as food storage).

But my favorite of the Tellurides myriad features was Glenda. Let me explain. Some cocktail of relief and fatigue gripped our minds on the interstate just outside NYC. I set the Kias cruise control to cut the edge off the journey and noticed the steering wheel constantly nudging our Telluride back to the lanes center.

This cruise control wizardry is described by Kia in alphabet soup acronyms, but their net effect is miraculous: autonomous driving you actually want to use. My wife and I named Kias invisible hand Glenda. Its catchier than Highway Collision Assistant or Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance, and the name rolled off our tongues like a song when spoken with phony Oklahoma drawls. (I blame the accent on repeated viewings of The Tiger King.)

Glenda is damned good at her job. But not perfect. Especially approaching off-ramps, which shell dive toward if left unattended. This caused clenching incidents of a severity. We rebuked Glendas indiscretions loudly, full drawl: Gall dar-nit Glenda! Stay off the edge of the lane! When she straddled the center line for a quarter mile: Was that whiskey in your coffee this morning, Glenda? Or when she dove toward yet another off-ramp: WELL SHOOT GLENDA ARE YOU TRYINTA GET US KILLED?!

But ultimately, Glenda Take the Wheel became the journeys giddy refrain. For all the joking, Glenda freed up valuable mental bandwidth. My eyes searched the horizon for deer more often and scanned through corners for stalled cars, freed from the need to constantly consult the asphalt under my nose. We felt relaxed under Glendas watchful eye. Id say 90 percent or more of our 3000-mile trip was driven by Glenda. Of the autonomous driving suites Ive triedand I've tried them allI trust this one the most. Bless your silicon heart, Glenda.

In Car and Drivers review of the Telluride, they cite just one complaint: the Kias so good, theres almost nothing to complain about. Thats mostly true. For most Americans use casescommuting, family hauling, grocery-gettingthe Telluride will fit the bill perfectly and do it better than any other midsize SUV. But if youre looking beyond nine-to-five duties, I have just a couple caveats to the praise.

The first is power. On Idahos Fourth of July pass, the final physical hurdle to our Washington safe haven, the Tellurides drivetrain strained against incline and altitude. The transmission seemed unwilling to hang in a lower gear up the mountain pass unless you stomped the fast pedal waaaaaay down. Then the engine alternated between high-rev shout and relaxed burble, but never settled on either. It was one of the few times on our trip the powertrain felt out of sorts. The compromise here is longevity versus powerwe expect Kias V-6 to be very reliable in the long haul. But when the transmission is hesitant to downshift when you need a lower gear, or hold that gears when it finally does, you start to question that tradeoff, and often pine for a wallop of turbocharged torque.

Swapping the Telluride into Sport mode seemed to help the transmission hold gears longer, but ultimately didnt cure the drivetrains indecision or effort. Power lives high up along the Telluride's tachometer, where the engine sounds and feels least refined. If youre hauling kiddos up to a ski slope regularly, or commuting in a mountainous city, this might be enough of an annoyance to aim your dollars elsewhere. That lack of grunt also had me questioning the Tellurides claimed towing capacity. Kia says its SUV is good to tow 5000 lbs. I wouldnt push the limits of that figure if you're heading into the mountains.

Which brings me to my second niggle with the Telluride. This crossover is heavily marketed as an SUV. At auto shows, the Telluride pranced around on off-road sets to show off its theoretical prowess. That label comes with expectations of capability. Now I wont go into huge detail (again, read the June 2020 magazine piece), but I got the Telluride stuck in silt in North Dakota during some light off-roading. It was my fault. I didnt steer around some ruts when I should have, plain and simple.

But the experience opened my eyes. As versatile as mid- and full-size CUVs have become, they still lack the robust functionality of a true body-on-frame SUV. Firstly, any body-on-frame SUV would have had an easy spot to hook a tow rope. The Telluride has none.

When I got the Telluride buried up to its rockers in mud, I had to crawl on my belly and dig out a path for the tow strap to loop around the lower control arm once help arrived. I was covered in wet silt for the next hour as the sun went down. Im still digging the dried clay out of the pockets of my jacket nearly two months later. Really. A single removable panel on the Telluride's front or rear bumper, and a threaded hole to attach a tow eyelet, would have done the trick.

Would any other midsize CUV have done better to dig out of the silt? Maybe not. I suppose the lesson was cautionary: If you head off-road in one of these things, either bring better tires, a better driver, or a tow company on speed dial. Maybe all three, if you can. Because the Tellurides locking center differential did nothing to help free me from the mud. It simply allowed one-tire fire from both ends of the vehicle. Neither did the Kia's tires help. They tiptoed through a couple inches of wet snow in Livingston, Montana, but otherwise seem aimed at a life lived entirely on pavement. I'll always remember those tires whizzing against the North Dakota mud: the sound of disappointment.

The whole point of the SUV moniker is Utility. Many Americans actually utilize their SUVs. What does a Telluride owner do if they slide into a snow bank? Theres no locking front or rear differentials to save you. Unfortunately, an expensive tow may be your only option. Do you have cell service on the mountain? This lack of ultimate capability would be fine if Kia didnt bank on off-road imagery to garner credibility. (Remember this Super Bowl commercial where the Telluride, fitted with an aftermarket snorkel, fords water up to the waist?)

Still, these are less major complaints and more warnings. Buy the right tires for your Telluride. Assess trail risks better than I did. Go with God. The Telluride is still a versatile, comfortable, value-packed CUV. And an honest triumph for Kia.

Its handsome, too. After four days of nonstop use covering 2858 miles, wreathed in a layer of cracked mud like a crown, the Telluride had never looked better. I thought about why, even after being stuck in that North Dakota hellscape, I still liked the Telluride so damned much. No component on the thing is revolutionary. The engine is conventional and effective. The cars packaging, proportions, and design dont speak to the cutting edge. But this CUV is exceptional. Because theres a confidence about the Telluride. Its the first Kia product that, to me, stands solely on its own identity. Theres no wide Audi-chasing grille. No Tesla-esque tablet dominating the center console. Instead, the Telluride wraps a plush, intelligent, feature-dense cabin in confident, masculine sheet metal. Its not just the best midsize SUV on sale todayit has us wondering why the German and Japanese luxury equivalents cost so damned much. Whenever this pandemic mess ends, Kia should sell a million of the things.

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The 2020 Kia Telluride Is a Nearly Flawless Three-Row SUV - RoadandTrack.com

One TikToker, @Squiglez22, picked up over 70 million views cleaning her Grandmother's pool. Fans of the videos are obsessed, Kacyee Stroh of the High School musical series even commented "I am committed to this series!"

TikTokers behind the oddly satisfying videos are thrilled, but surprised their videos are getting so much attention.

Stuck in quarantine and without access to a gym, Eddy Deluca (@eddydeluca_) had nearly lost all motivation to work out. It wasn't until he stumbled across rusted workout equipment from a neighbor that Deluca realized all those nights he had spent watching DIY videos would finally pay off.

With little building experience, Deluca took action and started building a home gym, documenting the process for TikTok to see. The first upload of his four-part series received 2.5 million views and over a thousand shares in twenty-four hours. The videos aren't complex, but they are visually mesmerizing. In a 30 second time-lapse, Deluca is seen carefully submerging rusted weights through an acid wash, slowly scrubbing away the rust with a wire brush, and perfectly covering each weight with a new coat of black spray paint.

In another upload, he records the day-long process of building a bench press from scratch and even includes a moment for those looking for the oddly mesmerizing moment: peeling tape from a freshly painted piece of wood. The post has garnered dedicated fans, with multiple commenters writing "so satisfying!" and another writing "I don't even workout out, but I'm invested in this series!"

Deluca isn't alone in his overnight virality, TikToker @squiglez22 has taken the platform by storm with a series titled, "Cleaning My Grandma's Pool that Hasn't Been Open in 11 years." The series has tens of thousands of comments and over 70 million views, however, the biggest hits from the series contain what can only be described as the oddly satisfying. On a video posted on May 18th, she can be seen power washing mud from the bottom of the emptied-out pool. The series is resonating with users too, with one commenter writing "This is the most satisfying thing to watch." The series even garnered attention from Kaycee Stroh of the Highschool Musical Series who commented "I am committed to this series!"

Whether it's rust removal, washing, or painting, an entire genre has emerged, hypnotizing viewers with oddly satisfying videos of household and outdoor chores that leave us wondering why are we watching it?

Evan Malone, professor of Art and Film Philosophy at the University of Houston, describes the phenomenon as "bursts of cinemacity" in our everyday life. Malone watches these ordered experiences like watching a James Bond film, "Bond doesn't fumble through his pocket when he's looking for keys. He's very precise in his movements. When I clean things nothing works, I sit there scrubbing for minutes at a time. With pressure washing it just comes right off it's like the James Bond of cleaning." When we see dirt being washed from pool tiles we get to witness an ordinary action executed perfectly. "We don't think about aesthetics in our normal lives, and what art or an aesthetic experience does is this refamiliarization with the normal, it's an invasion of the cinematic in our everyday."

The phenomenon isn't limited to cleaning either: user Breanne Malonis (@bretomolonis) has been documenting a home renovation. The most popular videos in the series are usually timelapses of the step by step process of building furniture around the house. "The process of building a home and watching all of it come together from nothing can be very satisfying...every time we posted a before and after so many people seemed to be amazed by the process."

There are other elements at play in the success of oddly satisfying, yet ordinary, videos, according to Malone. Describing what psychologist and philosopher, George Herbert Mead calls "Symbolic Self Completion," Malone explained, "if I have all these things on my mental checklist of things to do around the house, I can get the satisfaction of crossing things off my checklist from watching videos...instead of just showing us before and after of rusty weights and then a gym, you can get the same sense of satisfaction and sense of self-completion watching each step as you would doing the whole project yourself."

This experience isn't just for audiences either, creators receive added benefits separate from shares and likes. Malone likens this to when someone posts pictures of themselves working out. "They take a picture of them at the gym on day one and people comment 'you go!' or 'that's awesome!', and in that moment you already have the benefits of working out. People are already congratulating you for your willpower so then you feel like you don't need to actually complete it, you've symbolically self completed."

Deluca, for his part, was shocked to see his videos gaining so much attention, but recognized the pleasure people derive from his videos and those like them, "it's a sensory thing, like cleaning the rust off the weights. I'm just like everybody else, I watch it, but I don't know what it is." He also added, "I think it's wholesome content and people like to see that you are working hard and putting effort into something."

With large parts of the world still stuck in quarantine, Malone wonders if all this attention might simply be a form of escapism. "The picture that is emerging from media studies and psych literature is that this is self-soothing the world is getting more chaotic, there is this desire to see something ordered and familiar, or more ordered." With uncertainty lurking, the hypnotizing moments tucked inside these TikToks holds a promise of order and perfection that keep us coming back for more.

Malone's simplest answer could explain why Emily Bennett (@emilyy.nicholee) was able to acquire over 400,000 new followers. Bennett used the quarantine as an excuse to turn her lakeside beach into a small oasis. The majority of the videos consist of tedious outdoor work: raking sand, pulling out weeds, and laying down bricks. "I think the series got popular because so many people are stuck at home right now. Everyone just wants to be able to get out of the house and be at the beach themselves, so seeing us at our little beach made people happy.

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Oddly satisfying home renovation TikTok's are going viral. This is why they feel so great. - Insider - INSIDER

SCHOFIELD, Wis. (WSAW) With all of the rainfall that happened over Fathers Day weekend, many homeowners dealt with water damage, which kept the restoration crews busy.

With everything from water intrusion to sump pump failures at peoples homes, it leaves a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

"You never know when mother nature is going to whip up a storm and once that happens the phone starts ringing," North Star Restoration Services Jay Cricks said. All hands on deck so to say, so everybodys working today.

Over the past weekend, North Star Restoration had nine water damage calls while K-Tech restoration saw around 20 different houses with water damage, and theyre all still working hard in the aftermath.

"When you have a large rush like this, every job can take from two to eight hours so people with limited crews out there they're trying to get to you as fast as they can," K-Tech Restoration Services President Craig Kersemeier said.

Kersemeier and Cricks said the best thing to do to prevent water damage is to check your sump pump regularly and to have a battery backup in case the electricity goes out.

If you do have a flooding problem in your home, its vital to take care of the issue before its too late.

"People believe that it's just the water that's in the carpet and they'd be surprised to know that for every hour that the water is sitting there, it can go up to an inch or so into your drywall or your paneling or things like so we dry the complete structure," Kersemeier said.

Other issues that could occur include electrical problems, damage to any items, and even some of the water could be sewage or animal waste, so its key to periodically check your sump pump.

If you do have a flooding problem, its important to remember to remove any valuables, bail any visible water, and ultimately call a professional restoration company to solve your problem.

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Restoration crews busy after heavy rainfall - WSAW

Sea Ranch | $549,000A newly remodeled 1979 house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a half-acre lot

The wooden exterior of this house is a hallmark of the homes in the Sea Ranch community, reflective of the surrounding redwood trees. In early 2020, the owners did a renovation that preserved the original open floor plan, while updating the kitchen and bathrooms.

Sea Ranch residents have access to three community centers with swimming pools, one of which is about a five-minute drive from this house, as is the Sea Ranch Air Strip. The house is about a mile and a half inland, and several hiking trails are within easy walking distance.

Size: 1,474 square feet

Price per square foot: $372

Indoors: Wooden steps lead up to the entrance on the porch (there is also a side door). The front door opens into a small foyer off the main living space. To the left is a sitting area with wood-paneled ceilings, wood paneling along the far wall, a cast-iron wood stove and a window seat tucked into a corner. Large windows offer views of a grove of redwood trees.

To the right is a dining area separated from the kitchen by a breakfast bar with wood trim. During the recent renovation, the kitchen was outfitted with new appliances and recessed lighting, as well as a wet bar and an open pantry.

To the left of the entry is a bathroom with a walk-in shower and a washer and dryer. Carpeted stairs lead to the second floor, which has two bedrooms: a guest room at the top of the stairs and a master suite with built-in shelving and a combination tub and shower with a tree-facing window.

Outdoor space: The deck, which looks out onto redwood trees, is accessible from the living room and from two sets of exterior stairs. The driveway, with space for two cars, can be partially obscured from the street by a wooden screen.

Taxes: $6,863 (estimated), plus a $240 monthly homeowner association fee

Contact: Hanne Liisberg, Liisberg & Company, 707-785-3322; liisbergandcompany.com

This full-service building is one of a number of luxury condominium high-rises near downtown Los Angeles. Originally built as commercial space in the late 1980s, it was converted into a condo with 228 units in 2006. Amenities include an outdoor pool and spa and an indoor gym and recreational spaces.

The building is a five-minute drive from a number of attractions: the Staples Center and L.A. Live complex; Grand Central Market, a more-than-100-year-old indoor food hall; and the Broad museum. City Hall and the downtown court buildings are 10 minutes away.

Size: 790 square feet

Price per square foot: $696

Indoors: The front door to the unit opens into a small entryway with a coat closet off the main living area.

The right half of the open-plan space is dedicated to the seating, dining and kitchen areas, with large windows offering views of downtown Los Angeles. A dining nook is tucked into a corner of the living area, while a galley-style kitchen with granite counters and new stainless steel appliances runs along the opposite wall. Between the kitchen and dining nook is space for a sofa and chairs, with a glass room divider separating this part of the unit from the sleeping area.

Behind the divider is space for a queen-size bed. On one side of the sleeping area is a closet; at the back of the room is a door to a spacious bathroom with a combination tub and shower trimmed in blue tile. The bathroom also has a washer-and-dryer hookup.

The flooring throughout the unit is bamboo.

Outdoor space: On the 17th floor of the building is the Sky Deck, an outdoor space with a heated infinity pool and spa, a barbecue, cabanas and an outdoor dining area, all with panoramic views of the city. Amenities on the second floor include a gym, conference center and media room. This unit comes with two unassigned parking spaces in the buildings garage.

Taxes: $6,986 (estimated), plus a $921.49 monthly homeowner association fee

Contact: Olivia Noh, Compass, 213-999-3068; compass.com

This house was built by Gordon Wiser, a contractor who worked on a number of large-scale Bay Area projects in the mid-20th century, including Treasure Island, the Carquinez Bridge and the Richmond Shipyards, a major local employer in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, the Richmond Shipyards are part of Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park, a 15-minute drive from this house. The 2,789-acre Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, a popular hiking spot, is five minutes away, as is the Richmond BART station, with trains running to Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco.

Size: 1,056 square feet

Price per square foot: $520

Indoors: A red concrete path winds from the sidewalk through a yard landscaped with drought-sensitive plants.

The front door opens directly into the living room, which has a wide, arched window facing the street, a fireplace trimmed in bricks painted robins-egg blue and original hardwood floors that continue throughout the house.

The living room flows into a dining area illuminated by an antique fixture. To the right of the dining room is a doorway to the kitchen, which has blue linoleum floors and a breakfast nook surrounded by a bay of windows. The kitchen cabinets are original to the house. A door in the kitchen leads to a lower-level garage with a washer and dryer.

A short set of stairs in the dining room leads to the second level, where there are two bedrooms and a bathroom with peach-colored tiles and a separate tub and shower. The guest room is large enough to hold a full-size bed; the master bedroom, across the hall, has a street-facing window. A linen closet is built into the hall between the bedrooms.

Outdoor space: A strip of grass separates the house from the back patio and garden, where there is space for an outdoor dining table. A previous owner planted raspberry bushes and citrus trees in the backyard, which also has a dedicated vegetable garden. The garage, attached to the house, holds one car.

Taxes: $7,137 (estimated)

Contact: Josh Dickinson, Zip Code East Bay, 510-323-3669; zipcodeeastbay.com

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

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$550,000 Homes in California - The New York Times

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Everyone in Greenacres knew the house because of the elaborate decorations home owner Inga Olson cooked up each Halloween.

In the annals of luxury real estate in Westchester, Scarsdale has a reputation as the king of tear downs, with wealthy buyers pulling down historic houses from the 1920s, 30s and 40s to build bigger dream homes in their place.

Many times with these old houses in Scarsdale someone gets their hands on them and knocks them down, saysAgnes Seminara-Holzberg, who is now representing Inga Olson and Brad Bodine, in the sale of their 1914 Georgian Colonial, which has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and 6,550 square feet of interior space.

Inga Olson grew up in this 1914 Georgian Colonial in Scarsdale. The home has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and 6,550 square feet of interior space. Every part of this house has a memory for me, Olson says.(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

It turns out that Olson grew up in the house, which is in the Greenacres neighborhood, and she and her husband had undertaken a major renovation and expansion of the old charmer in 2004.

HOW DID LARCHMONT GETS ITS NAME: Maybe from this property

LET'S GO RANGERS! Former hockey start once lived here

INDOOR DINING RETURNS: How will things look

Seminara-Holzberghas nothing but praise for the work the couple did on the house, as they doubled its square footage with a new master suite and open-plan family room/kitchen while keeping her father in his old master bedroom. They also added a new garage with a lot more space than the one designed to hold a Model T.

They adopted it, they modernized it, expanded it and saved it,Seminara-Holzberg says. But they stayed true to the older home and mimicked it in the 2014 addition its a house that has evolved.

This Scarsdale house was designed by Charles H. Cullen, the architect who designed the Scarsdale Golf Club.(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

Renovating an older house takes a lot more money than knocking it down and starting over, she adds.

For Olson, the decision to sell the home shes lived in since she was a toddler is both obvious and painful.

This house is humongous and the taxes are ridiculous, she says. It kills me I grew up in the house, raised my family here, took care of my parents here.

Every part of this house has a memory for me, Olson says. Its like pulling off a Band-Aid really slowly. I love this house, everything about it.

But their two children are now grown and the house is just too big for the couple, she says. Literally, we live in two rooms.

I mean, when it takes you 10 minutes to answer the door, you know its time, she adds with a laugh.

Richard and Maribeth Olson bought the house in 1962. Their daughter, Inga has lived here her whole life. She and her husband renovated and remodeled her childhood home.(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

The house was designed by Charles H. Cullen, the architect who designed the Scarsdale Golf Club and some of the buildings in the Gansevoort Market in Manhattans Meatpacking District.

Her parents, Richard and Maribeth Olson, bought it in 1962 when Inga was a year old. Her father was an art director and freelance commercial photographer whose clients include Kodak, Jell-O, Ford and Prudential Life Insurance. Maribeth was a fashion illustrator for the likes of Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bonwit Teller.

After she died in 2000, my dad asked us to buy the house so he could stay there, Olson says. They kept him in his original bedroom until his death in 2012.

This Scarsdale house was designed by Charles H. Cullen, the architect who designed the Scarsdale Golf Club.(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

The first thing we did was a complete renovation of the original house, starting in 2002, she says. It was in such bad repair, including rotting beams from termite damage.

We did everythingnew plumbing, new wiring, all new windows, a new roof, new shingles, new walls, Olson remembers.

Richard and Maribeth Olson bought the house in 1962. Their daughter, Inga has lived here her whole life. She and her husband renovated and remodeled her childhood home.(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

One of her favorite rooms in the old part of the house is the glass sunroom off the living room. We used it more when I was growing up, she says. My father had a green thumb and he grew palm trees and lemon trees.

Shes also crazy about the elevator they installed because of her fathers hip replacement surgery.

Now my husband and I wonder how can we live anywhere else without an elevator, Olson says. When my dog comes back from a walk, he passes out in front of the elevator waiting for me to open it.

Architectural details in this classic Scarsdale colonial include crown moldings, dormers, original pantry cabinets, generously proportioned rooms, hardwood floors, 10- to 13-foot ceilings and French doors.(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

The house has an array of other amenities, including two fireplaces, a gym and sauna, a high-end audio system, a four-car heated garage, a covered patio and a second-floor balcony overlooking the large back yard.

Architectural details include crown moldings, dormers, original pantry cabinets, generously proportioned rooms, hardwood floors, 10- to 13-foot ceilings, French doors, wide doorways and beamed ceilings. The master suite has a walk-in closet and a spa bathroom.

Its just kind of sweet to live as an adult in the house you grew up in, Olson says. My son has my old room, my fathers room is now the guest room.

She remembers her old tree house, sledding in the back yard, always taking the stairs to her room two at a time, and the way the upstairs floorboards creak when you step on them in a certain way.

When I grew up, you played outside, so I knew the ins and outs of every yard in the neighborhood, Olson says.

For a number of years, everyone in Greenacres and surrounding towns knew her house as the Halloween House because of the elaborate decorations and scary live-action drama Olson cooked up.

Im guessing we got around 750 to 1000 trick-or-treaters, along with two Scarsdale cops to direct traffic in front of the house, she says.

The house is quite near the Greenacres School and walkable to the Hartsdale train station,Seminara-Holzberg says.

Prices in the neighborhood and the houses immediate vicinity tend to be $2.5 million-plus,she says.

At 0.61 acres, its the sixth-largest plot of the 25 Greenacres homes currently on the market,Seminara-Holzbergsays.

Unusual for Scarsdale,she says, the house has three complete levels that are all above ground, with no true basement.

Meanwhile, given Scarsdales history, Olson worries about the future of her wonderful old home. Im afraid that whoever we sell it to will tear it down.

This home in the Greenacres neighborhood of Scarsdale is known as the "Halloween house" for its annual decorations. It is on the market for $3.4M(Photo: Kyle Nolon/VHT Studios)

75 Huntington Ave., Scarsdale

Price: $3.4 million

Estimated annual taxes: $50,108

School district: Scarsdale

MLS: 6039854

Contact:Agnes Seminara-Holzberg,William Pitt and Julia B. Fee Sothebys International Realty

Bill Cary is a freelance writer who lives in the Hudson Valley.

Homeowner Inga Olson and her family are the current owners of the home. Inga grew up here and provided some interesting history of her family home's prior owners:

Mary and Sumner Ross Hollander (around 1915-1920): The couple werethe first owners of the home and was used as their country estate. Sumner'sgrandfather foundedL.P. Hollander, a large furnishing goods firm in Boston. The senior Mr. Hollander sent his grandson to New York City to runits department store at 3 E. 57th St.

Robert andMarion Wormser (around 1920-1936). They were the second owners. Wormer'sdaughters were socialites and there are fun articles about the parties they attended. One daughtermarried Lyman Bloomingdale, one of the brothers who founded the Bloomingdales Department store. (The Bloomingdale estate was just up the road from our house) another sister married a Guggenheim.

Harold and Beatrice Shevers (around 1936-54). Harold Shevers wasPresident of the Apsey Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Franklyn (Dyke) and Catherine Brown (around1954-1962). Dyke worked as the Vice President of the Ford Foundation, and later started the Athenian School near San Francisco.

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Scarsdale's 'Halloween house' is for sale; same family lived here since 1962 - The Journal News

GREENVILLE It has been a labor of love.

And Greenville resident Roberta Aubuchum has almost completely restored the Zachary Lansdowne house a historical landmark on the corner of Third and Locust in Greenville.

Many may be well aware of who Zachary Lansdowne was others may not.

I had no idea (who Zachary Lansdowne was) when I bought the house, Aubuchum said. I just needed a big house with tall ceilings. My sister told me to talk to Fred Hoblit. That he was interested in selling the house.

It didnt take long for Aubuchum to look into the history of the historic house.

I have always been into genealogy, she said. I have my familysgeneology back to the 1700s in France. I would go to the courthouse, museums, cemeteries anywhere you would go to get information.

Born in Greenville, Lansdowne was appointed to the United States Naval Academy September 2, 1905 and commissioned Ensign June 5, 1911.

He subsequently served on the destroyer USS McCall (DD-28), and in the Ohio Naval Militia. After completing his aviation training, he became Naval Aviator 105.

Lansdowne was assigned to duty with the Royal Naval Air Service during and after World War I, to study dirigibles. He was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished serviceas one of the crew of the British airship R-34, which in July 1919, made the first successful nonstop passage from England to the United States.

He married Margaret Kennedy Ross (September 30, 1902 June 9, 1982) on December 7, 1921 in Washington D.C. They had two children. She remarried after Lansdownes death.

On February 11, 1924 Lansdowne took command of the rigid lighter-than-air ship, USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), and was killed when she crashed at Ava, Ohio, September 3, 1925.

He was buried later that month in section four at Arlington National Cemetery.

But, Lansdowne knew before thee flight to Ohio that it would be a difficult if not impossivle one.

In fact, he refused when first given the assignment, saying it would be too dangerous with all the lightning storms in Ohio at that time of the year. After he was told he had to, Lansdowne went over all his final papers with his wife before leaving.

The crash of the Shenandoah was the trigger for United States Army Colonel Billy Mitchell to heavily criticize the leadership of both the Army and the Navy, leading directly to his court-martial for insubordination and the end of his military career.

Along with Landowne, 12 crew members also lost their lives.

Lansdowne was played by Jack Lord in the 1955 film The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell.

Since buying the house 20 years ago, Aubuchum has been restoring the house to as it was originally wherever possible.

I started 20 years ago and have been doing it ever since, she said. The big thing was I was battling cancer. Going through chemo and surgery, I would get a little done here and a little done there.

There is still some work to be done with the porch. I found what it looked like. I have the pillars, I just have to find a contractor to do the work.

The house is an amazing combination of items she has inherited from her family over the years and Lanstowne memorabilia as well and that includes the backyard.

It is (an amazing house), she said.The floors were all carpeted. I pulled it up to restore the hardwood floors. Almost all the glass is original. There are only three new panes of glass in the entire house. I am really pleased with the way everything has turned out.

Zachary was born in Greenville. The family lived here and then the Hoblits. I am the first non-family member to live here. At Christmas time, I will put 20 Christmas trees up.

Throughout the process, Aubuchum had one thing in mind.

I wanted to do something that would please the Landtowne family, she said.

And she has accomplished just that, with a labor of love.

Roberta Aubuchum has almost completely restored the historic Zachary Lansdowne house at the corner of Third and Locust in Greenville.

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Lansdowne restoration a 'labor of love' - The Daily Advocate

Two years ago, when the Pistons were looking to rebuild their front office, they requested permission to interview Troy Weaver, who was a sought-after assistant general manager with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder refused, and the Pistons moved forward with Ed Stefanski leading the front office, but they left the spot of general manager vacant.

Troy Weaver is the new general manager of the Detroit Pistons.(Photo: Detroit Pistons)

This time, they circled back. This time, Weaver was ready and available.

Weaver joins the Pistons staff with the task of reinvigorating a franchise that hasnt had a playoff win in more than a decade. When the season is scheduled to resume in July, the Pistons will be on the outside looking in, one of eight teams eliminated.

Although team owner Tom Gores and Stefanski have conceded that the Pistons are beginning a rebuild, Weaver isnt so quick to use that term.

This isnt a rebuild its a restoring. Theres been greatness here, Weaver said Monday in his virtual introductory press conference. The Motor City deserves a consistent winner back on the floor.

The Pistons and Weaver is a union two years in the making, as the Pistons had an unusual structure to their front office, with Stefanski as the senior adviser to Gores, but handling many of the responsibilities of a president of basketball operations and general manager.

With Weaver, the Pistons get an ideal candidate to usher them into the next phase of their franchise development, as Weaver worked with Thunder general manager Sam Presti to make Oklahoma City one of the pillars of the Western Conference, including four appearances in the conference finals and one trip to the NBA Finals.

Getting a fresh start with a rebuild with the Pistons is a challenge, but Gores said the Pistons went all out to get the best person for the job.

(Weaver) had all the track record and everything on his resume that made complete sense. We had actually tried to talk to Troy a couple years ago and Oklahoma City wasnt quite ready to let him go, so hes been on our radar for a while, Gores said. Ed has come in and done a great job of stabilizing our front office and cleaning some things up.

We just felt it was time to go big or go home lets just go get the best. We have a great coach ready to go and Dwane (Casey) and Troy have a great chemistry theyve built.

The timing of Weavers hiring and the Pistons emergence from two years of perilous salary-cap maneuvering along with a critical upcoming high draft pick and space under the cap makes adding Weaver a priority.

Weaver sees the fit as a good opportunity to use what hes learned under Presti to begin to lead in the Pistons front office and to use his experience to right the ship.

I just felt like I looked at where the Pistons were at this time, trying to surge forward and become a competitive team again. Ive been in those situations, when I first went to Utah after (John) Stockton and (Karl) Malone, Utah was trying to restore their franchise and I was a part of that, Weaver said. My last 12 years in OKC, we just built it from the ground up. My skills and my talents and leadership and training Ive had with the Jazz and Thunder actually made this a great fit for myself and thank God the Pistons saw it the same way.

One of the primary tasks for Weaver in his first weeks will be assessing the roster and deciding which pieces to keep. That starts with stars Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose. Both have had injuries, but the mix of veterans and young players can be a benefit.

You have two veteran big-time players that are looking to restore their careers: Blake Griffin, who is a perennial All-Star, and Derrick Rose. Both guys have had some injury history and theyre looking forward to building their careers back, Weaver said. That stood out and were excited to get them healthy and help us moving forward.

The second piece is the young players on the roster: Sekou (Doumbouya), (Luke) Kennard, Bruce Brown and Svi (Mykhailiuk) and (Christian) Wood. We feel like we have a good mixture of young guys with those two staples to start there.

The Thunder lose one of their keystones in the front office, but Presti was gracious in congratulating Weaver.

Troy has been an integral member of our organization since 2008. Aside from being a terrific basketball executive, Troy's personal values of honesty, unity, and hard work make him a great addition to the Pistons organization.

The Pistons could not have found a better person to lead and direct their franchise.

Weaver will guide the Pistons day-to-day operations and one of his first orders of business will be assembling the remainder of his staff, which will include adding at least one new assistant general manager, after the departure of Malik Rose. The NBA announced Monday that Rose accepted a position as vice president of basketball operations in the league office.

The Pistons are one of eight teams whose season ended because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will not be part of the 22-team restart that is planned for late July in Florida.

They finished the season at 20-46 and will have a likely top-five draft pick and possibly $30 million in salary-cap space when the offseason hits in October.

Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard

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New Pistons GM Troy Weaver: 'This isnt a rebuild its a restoring' - The Detroit News

A U.K. man will be spending the next 12 months behind bars for care-taking a commercial cannabis grow that is estimated to be worth about a half-million pounds.

A judge recently sentenced Flavio Picaku after he pleaded guilty to producing a controlled Class B drug, according to ITV News.

The plan seemed solid: grow scads of weed plants, 608 in all, in The Commercial Hotel in Pontypridd, which is in the process of being renovated.

But the entrepreneur missed an important detail, namely the intense smell of weed generated by the grow in the four-storey hotel. Nosy neighbours noticed, prompting complaints and a subsequent visit by police on May 31, ITV News reports.

There they found Picaku who was living in the hotel sans permission from building owners in one of the seven rooms that filled with 608 cannabis plants. But first officers had to use their feet to break through a glass panel and gain access.

The man was arrested. The plants, 16 to 52 kilograms of weed worth an estimated 638,400 and hydroponic equipment were seized.

Picaku reported to police that he was unable to find work, having illegally emigrated to the U.K. / Photo: Twitter, South Wales Police/ Photo: Twitter, New South Wales Police

Picaku reported to police that he was unable to find work after illegally emigrating to the U.K. from Albania. He said he accepted an offer to feed and water the plants in the already established grow-op.

Picakus defence barrister described him as paid gardener in the illegal enterprise, according to ITV News. But the sentencing judge noted he must have known it was a commercial operation given the number of plants involved.

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A man who house-sat nearly 640,000 of weed in a hotel under renovation is going to jail - The GrowthOp

To woo research scholars from across the world, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom of Deoband is working on restoring over 1500 rare manuscripts, some as old as 800 years, placed in its 150-year-old library.

These manuscripts are on various topics such as Unani medicines, law, history, religion, culture and Sufism.

They are very rare. A few are perhaps so rare that one will not be able to find another copy of them anywhere in the world. They can be a treasure trove for research scholars, said librarian Mohammad Shafeeq Qasmi.

The collection includes more than 100 manuscripts on Sufism, a handwritten Quran by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, a huge Quran and a 750-year-old Manuscript written by author Imauddin Zakaria about animals, said Qasmi, who took the degree of Fazil from Darul Uloom before joining as librarian here in 2015.

He said the idea of restoration of these manuscripts came from seminarys deputy vice chancellor Maulana Abdul Khalik Madrasi.

These were our heritage and a treasure for research scholars who could serve the society and the religion by incorporating knowledge of our forefathers and great visionaries in their research work, Maulana Khalik had said while ordering the restoration process.

Shafeeq and Maulana Madrasi then visited the National Archives of India to seek their assistance in restoring the manuscripts.

It was followed by Shafeeq and three other members of the library attending a seminar on conservation and restoration in Jammu.

The seminary then approached the Iran Culture House in Delhi, which is considered as an expert on restoration of such manuscripts.

They agreed to extend help but we refused to accept their condition of taking one copy of the restored manuscripts, said Shafeeq.

Seminary then hired some professionals to speed up restoration work and till now 50,000 pages have been restored.

A dedicated team is engaged in the process of restoring 150 to 200 pages every day, said seminarys vice chancellor Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani.

Seminarys media incharge Ashraf Usmani said more than 300 manuscripts got damaged over the period of time and we are hopeful that all these valuable manuscripts would be available for research scholars after restoration.

There are many libraries across the world with great collection of books but they rarely match the unique collection of books that we have. Research scholars come here from different countries, including England, middle east countries and almost every nook and corner of India because they can get valuable references from our unique collection of books and manuscripts, said Usmani while hoping the restoration of manuscripts would indeed be a great help for such scholars.

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A treasure house of manuscripts, Darul Uloom busy restoring them - Hindustan Times