Architectural Antiques

Walking home from school with Oscar yesterday, eating our Tasti DLites, we stopped into an architectural antiques store (W. 24th between 7th and 6th ave). What fun! I can't help but think this kind of store with reclaimed lumber, lighting, fireplace mantles, tiles etc. would be a fantastic business for the Adirondacks. Not only that, it is "green"and would make me happy to allow builders and homeowners to use some of these recycled materials, in lieu of shiny new ones. I am the lazy environmentalist. When there is an easy option to be better, I tend to take it, but I certainly don't proactively change things that make my life less convenient. It astonishes me that there isn't more pressure up in our neck of the woods for green building. Surely, this should be one area in which people should appreciate protecting resources, yet cookie cutter log home after cookie cutter log home gets built. They are beautiful and I often yearn to be inside with a roaring fire, a nice port, and a british accent. Nevertheless, there seems to be no options to try anything differerent.

One of my very good friends (and one of the smartest, coolest chics I know), is having great success with her green technologies home construction business, Pragmatic Construction in Milwaukee. After living in Milwaukee, I know that it is a progressive city but geez, it shouldn't be that far ahead of upstate NY. If it can work there, it can work in the Adirondacks. Anyone, anyone?

This is one of the, oh I don't know, 673 business ideas I fantasize about opening up there. If you are a business owner in the Saranac Lake area, please don't steal my ideas until I get to open at least 459 of them.