Amazing! Love the checked dishes!

The house has great bones, but I'd have to redecorate! I've ordered a few things from their catalog, but most of their stuff is not my taste (which is why I would redecorate the house).

Didn't they move to live full time on their ferry boat?
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/08/20/25_pictures_of_the_most_unique_houseboat_on_the_hudson.php

I hadn't seen the house before. If you look past the furniture, the house itself is remarkably understated for them. The wall paper in the dining room and the paperdoll bathroom are over the edge, but the rest is a more restful kind of busy. :)

I have a Kleenex cover of theirs. Maybe something else I can't think of. The Kleenex cover is just large flowers. :)

Sorry, but I have never heard of them. I love the house, but I would need to take it down a notch here and there.

I wonder why it was so "cheap"? Heck I have relatives that live in more expensive homes that are just in subdivisions in Houston that just have normal jobs. That place is gorgeous, I do agree that the decor is too busy in certain rooms.

I've never heard of them, but enjoyed looking at the pictures. Hated the dining room, loved the sunroom and kitchen. The designers certainly like "busy". I took a look at gardening things on their online catalog, but found them all too busy too, which is kind of funny, because my husband claims I have way too much "stuff" out in my gardens!

Never heard of them either, and I also wonder why the house sold so cheaply. Like arkansas-girl said, there are houses around here that cost that much which are just in sub-divisions. Not my taste at all, the only room I could tolerate would be the kitchen. Everything else is way over the top, I can't imagine living in that much clutter. I like simple, understated designs.

Another who's never heard of them. I love the exterior of the house. The interior? I'd never be able to be comfortable with all that clutter and busy-ness!

I could live with the kitchen and sun room (probably would change it, though). I think they get too carried away with trying to be different, but then again, that's why they have that estate and I don't! Beautiful house and grounds. Not exactly what we call Merrill-Lynch sterile for selling purposes.

Plllog, that was interesting--thanks!

I wouldn't have heard of them myself if my cousin (who has painted occasional pieces in their style) hadn't told me about them. My grandmother had a saying: "'Everyone to their own taste,' said the woman as she kissed the cow." :-)

Not a big range here, from bizarre to ghastly. The bathroom with the hung dolls made my skin crawl. People must have a lot of time on their hands up there, snowed in during the winters. LOL

Prices must be really low there. However, I bet there is a ton of work needed under the 'skin' of this place. (Are those 7' ceilings?)

My house has 7' ceilings (and exposed beams), Chisue. What's your point? ;-)

I think they sold it because they ran out of space to "decorate". LOL
Not to mention the expense of keeping up that entire property.

From a close look at the structures...it looks like the buildings need some structural attention...like new roofs, etc. Just the cost for roofing the main house would probably be in the $50,000 - $100,000 range and I'm being very conservative. There's no telling what's under those shingles [as in further rot/damage]...which look like cedar to me. They'd have to be pulled off...any necessary repairs made to the main structure...new underlayment put down...all new flashing, etc...and then new shingles themselves. A very costly task!

The exterior framing around all the windows also looks like it may need some attention. It's an old house and it looks like owners have attempted to disguise it's structural repair needs with several coats of paint. That area of Upper NY State is brutal...weather wise...on properties.

All considered...I think they got more than a good price for it. The land is probably worth that alone. I don't know what the a new owner could do with it but I'd be sorely tempted to tear down the structures and rebuild. It would, undoubtedly, cost less to do that than resurrect what's there. Perhaps razing it is not a possibility if the site is listed as a historical piece.
I didn't see any reference to the yearly property taxes but I'll bet they'd give an ordinary citizen nightmares.

I was wondering how old the house is, to have only 7' ceilings. A house in RI that I sometimes visited as a child had 6' 6" ceilings. It had been a stage coaching inn before the Revolution. The ceilings were low to keep the heat in. When I knew the house it had no front stairs; a 19th Century owner had pulled them out and closed the ceiling over the hall to conserve even more heat! There were only the narrow, winding 'back stairs' going up from the kitchen. Ah, those New Englanders!

I first heard of Mackenzie-Childs when they had an Airstream trailer that they had decorated as one of the fabulous gifts in the Nieman Marcus Christmas catalog in 1996. Hand beaded walls and all.

Oh my word!!!! I have macular degeneration...and have difficulty seeing small details, etc. I wonder what those walls would look like to me...up close and personal. LOL

But aside from that...I can't begin to imagine the time and dedication it must have taken to create those walls. Not my cup 'o tea but I can certainly appreciate the art and artist's efforts. Wow!

Sue...that 19th century owner did about the only thing he could have done short of rebuilding....blocking off the stair well. Those lath and plaster walls are impossible to insulate in this day and age. All one could do was tear them out, put in insulation and rebuild the interior walls. Although, I did see the interior of one very old house in MA where the original builder had laid layers and layers of old newspapers against the exterior wall before he plastered...insulating in his own fashion. Not a very fire safe creation...but it probably kept the owners warmer than most through our nasty cold winters. Eventually, the whole house had to be restructured on the inside to make it safe...and warm. It wasn't an easy task and took scads of money.

I grew up in a hundred year old NE [Garrison design] house that was a little more modern than Susan's. By the time my parents purchased it [1945]...it had indoor plumbing...but the private "privy" was still part of the garage...just beyond the back hall mud room. LOL Insulation was non existent. But no beamed ceilings. Old NE homes are beautiful...but not at all practical energy wise.

I wonder who ended up with the Airstream.

Our house had an outhouse when we moved here (along with two indoor bathrooms), but we had to tear it down when we put in the pool. It was against the law to put it somewhere else for antiquity purposes (if that's the correct meaning of the word).

I wish I knew who built my parent's home...but alas...that's more than ancient history these days. Whoever they were...I think they must have had a bit of money. The house was built in the center of town and the privy was actually part of the garage...which was attached to the house. It was at the back of the garage floor space...artfully disguised behind a lovely door. It was a fancy two-holer. LOL My mother decided it made an excellent garbage can area. One metal can for each hole...which were dutifully emptied every week by the garbage collection man. That house had a myriad of spaces that delighted my young childish imagination. Originally...it had been heated...all three floors of it above the stone cellar...by coal. The furnace had been converted to oil by the time we inhabited it but the coal bin was still there and a neat place to play hide and seek during cold winter days. My! What a trip down memory lane this thread has instigated.

As decorators/designers I'd say they're more quirky than tasteful. I wonder if their "style", if you can call it that, might really be a joke on people who take them seriously? The boat shows the same clutter problem the house has.

The company went bankrupt over a dozen years ago and another concern picked it up, so their spin on how to be commercially successful would seem to have crashed. (info thanks to Wikipedia).

Interesting that their company went bankrupt. The prices on their website are astronomical (by my standards). Maybe someone with deep pockets might want one whimsical piece, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to furnish a house with their stuff. (Still, I'm sure it happens.)

I had to go look at some Shaker furniture to get all those patterns out of my head. :-)

I have one of their enamel mugs ...

http://www.mackenzie-childs.com/Table-Kitchen/Enamelware/Flower-Market-Black/Flower-Market-Mug---Black.axd

You can't drink coffee out of it because the metal gets too warm so I use it as a little planter on my kitchen table.

who knows why they dropped the price so much (in the beginning article it was over $900 grand...but even the most well decorated home can have structure, plumbing, ect, problems...and what was the final condition? did it include furnishings?

Susan, that house reminds me of Patsel's restaurant in Clarks Summit.

Ha! I knew Patsel's had a lot of art and hand-painted stuff, but I never made it there so I didn't make the connection. But I just looked at their website, and you are so right, Mare! A lot of people hated to see it close.

http://www.patsels.com/tour.php

I have a set of four of the Flower Market mugs in white. As Marie_Cate said, they get so hot when there is a hot liquid inside (coffee, tea, hot chocolate) that you cannot comfortably hold them. They are cute, though.

All this talk about MacKenzie-Childs and today when I went to play bridge, the hostess had a MacKenzie-Childs teakettle and the black and white checkered plates to go with it! How timely.

Georgysmom, that's funny . . . probably we'll all be seeing their designs all over the place now. I hope you and your partner won! :-)

A company that made tableware, including mugs, that can't be used for the intended purpose because they get too hot. A restaurant that on the "About" page had one paragraph about the food and six about the decor.

Both are closed, bankrupt or out of business. Tableware needs to be usable, restaurants need to attract customers by serving excellent and unique food.

A common thread that I see is that many people don't realize that appearance should never trump or compromise functionality and substance. I have a personal bias, I avoid restaurants whose websites highlight
anything other than the food, where it comes from, who prepares it.

I see the same thing often in new or remodeled kitchens where the layout and selection of features and equipment appears to have been done by an interior decorator and not someone who knows how to cook. Because the layouts and the choices appear to be completely dumb and inconvenient. Have you ever noticed the same thing?

I don't know why Patsel's closed, but I do know it was extremely popular. I suspect the owners simply retired, and didn't want to put their "baby" in other hands. That's my best guess anyway. I know many who dined there on a regular basis--and not for the decor.

The Mackenzie-Childs brand isn't "out of business" per se-- the bankruptcy was a dozen years ago, but their wares have never gone off the market. Their line was bought by a firm that had the wherewithal to handle the production and marketing. There are a number of stores, a lovely catalog and website, and department stores like Nieman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue carry the line. The business moved to Aurora long before the designers' farm was sold. (Article about sale: http://auburnpub.com/news/local/updated-buyers-of-mackenzie-childs-property-just-like-other-folks/article_2493296a-70a0-11e3-9080-0019bb2963f4.html)

Just because it's a mug doesn't mean that it's meant for coffee. Their enamelware is similar in styling to mid-20th Century enamelware, with the capping rims and all. Graniteware mugs get hot too. It's metal! It's not insulated. It's to be expected that hot liquids will make the mug hot and then cool off fast. OTOH, for glampling and picnics, if you don't want to deal with plastic or glass, what better? Try them for cider, or lemonade cooled in a mountain spring.

Susan, I didn't know that Patsel's closed. I was only there twice and it's been a long time. I didn't like the food much, but the experience was worth it. I took my young niece there and she must have taken 200 pictures.

To deal with coffee (of the "hot" variety) in a metal mug ...

... stick your hand down an (unoccupied) heavy sock - maybe one whose partner got lost.

Pick up the mug.

ole joyfuelled ... with fuelling help from hot coffee (seldom in a metal mug)

Patsel's food wasn't bad, just not to my taste, and as you would imagine, a bit pricey. It was quite a distance for me to go for a meal, but once I saw it I know I just had to take my niece, who was about 12, there, she loved it. It was like a fantasy.

It does sound like a bit of an adventure, especially for her age. Do you remember what you ate? I used to dine in Clarks Summit quite a lot, but mostly at Pepado, which closed after a fire, and the Ryah House--also closed now, but I forget why.

If I remember the 1st time I had some kind if seafood medley, with skimpy portions for the price. The 2nd time I had an artisan pizza with non traditional cheeses and other nontraditional toppings. It was a mistake to order the pizza knowing that I'm a pizza purist. I don't regret for a minute going there for either visit. I showed my niece something special and I also experienced it.

Mare, your comment reminds me of the skimpy portions at Pepado, another pricey restaurant. I used to joke that one shouldn't go there hungry. Maybe it's a Clarks Summit thing. :-)