{"id":30534,"date":"2017-11-01T16:25:48","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T20:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=30534"},"modified":"2017-11-02T17:22:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T21:22:03","slug":"restoration-re-use-old-buildings-provides-character-neighborhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2017\/11\/restoration-re-use-old-buildings-provides-character-neighborhoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoration And Re-Use Of Old Buildings Provides Character To Their Neighborhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
153 Regent St. in Saratoga Springs is now the home of drb Business Interiors.
\u00a92017 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Maureen Werther<\/p>\n

In a region where new office buildings, apartments, condos and mixed-use structures are rapidly taking over the landscape, there are still residents and business people committed to restoring and stewarding the buildings that are part of the rich culture of the region.<\/p>\n

In 1904 a stately brick building was erected at 153 Regent St., just a few blocks east of Broadway, to house the YWCA. The building was later purchased by Skidmore College and became part of its downtown campus, serving as a student union and a gymnasium.<\/p>\n

It remained part of the campus until Skidmore migrated north, leaving the Regent Street building to sit idle, gradually falling into disrepair. Sometime in the early to mid-1970s, the city of Saratoga approached a local businessman and asked him if he would buy the property and refurbish it. He agreed, provided the city would allow unrestricted use of the building. He also required that those terms would be transferable to successive owners.<\/p>\n

When Dorothy Rogers-Bullis and her husband, Dan Bullis, bought the building in 2013, the building had changed ownership multiple times. The couple, who own drb Business Interiors\u2014a commercial design and furniture business\u2014thought it would be a good place to showcase their office designs.<\/p>\n

They immediately began the renovation process, \u201cand we haven\u2019t stopped,\u201d said Rogers-Bullis. The first job they tackled was\u00a0the roof.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater poured into the building every time it rained,\u201d she said. Walls, flooring all had to be ripped out and re-constructed. The entire plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems had to be replaced. The couple acted as general contractors and designed the entire building themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what drb Business Interiors does. We know how to design and build business spaces,\u201d said Rogers-Bullis.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rory O\u2019Connor stands inside 199 Milton Ave. in Ballston Spa, a building, a Victorian home he refurbished that he said was once \u2018the ugliest house in Ballston Spa,\u2019\u00a0\u00a92017 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The space that was once locker rooms and showers now houses Saratoga Co-Works and Bloom Exercise Studio on the lower level. The main level contains the offices of drb Business Interiors and Allegory Studio. The upper level has two completely renovated apartments.<\/p>\n

For Dan and Dorothy, the arduous work has been worth the effort. They have created a beautiful professional business work space for small businesses to grow and flourish, as well as helping to restore the beauty and integrity of the surrounding neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Rory O\u2019Connor is another individual who takes pride in his stewardship of 199 Milton Ave. in Ballston Spa. He is the owner of Saratoga Real Property and has been in the real estate business for 30 years. During that time, he has bought and sold literally hundreds of residential and commercial properties. But when he entered 199 Milton Ave. in 2006, he was struck by its beauty and potential\u2014both of which seemed to have been ignored or gone unnoticed by others in the community\u2014 which was probably easy to do.<\/p>\n

In Ballston Spa, the expansive Victorian home handled by O\u2019Connor had been re-sided with white aluminum siding that had not aged well, and the second floor looked like it was totally devoid of windows. There was orange shag carpeting in some of the rooms, and other rooms had plywood on the floors to cover areas that had been damaged in a fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the ugliest house in Ballston Spa,\u201d he said. But O\u2019Connor recognized the bones of the building, along with the detailed and precisioned woodwork throughout, were beneficial. Most of the original lighting fixtures were still hanging from the ceilings and the stained glass in the windows, as an imposing front door, were enough to make him see the potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a dream of re-purposing it and creating something of value for the village, as well as for myself and my business,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt the building deserved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-story structure was built in 1890 by a wealthy attorney named Jesse L\u2019Amourleaux. While waiting for the mansion to be completed, L\u2019Amourleaux lived next door in a home that is now the rectory of St. Mary\u2019s Catholic Church. On the other side of 199 Milton was the building L\u2019Amourleaux used as his law library.<\/p>\n

When the home was complete, it was a massive three-story structure. An old photograph of the home shows a cupola on the third floor and a large veranda. Unfortunately, the third floor was destroyed in a fire and O\u2019Connor could not justify the costs of completely rebuilding it.<\/p>\n

Upon L\u2019Amourleaux\u2019s death, the home was inherited by the local Presbyterian church, who used to house retired ministers until around 1950. It was then sold to the Franklin Order of the Masonic Temple.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we began remodeling, the first thing we did was tear off the aluminum siding,\u201d said O\u2019Connor. What they found were openings for windows on the second floor. O\u2019Connor replaced 42 windows.<\/p>\n

The entire second floor had been converted into a cavernous room, roughly 120 x 50 feet, which had heavy burgundy drapes, matching burgundy velvet theater chairs and three altars where Masonic rituals were performed.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor was fortunate to have help from the Ballston Spa historian at the time, as well as help from the late Irena Wooten who was related to L\u2019Amourleaux and who gave O\u2019Connor a trove of pictures, architectural drawings and other information about the home.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor acted as general contractor and hired carpenters, who worked to duplicate as closely as possible what the home looked like in the early 1900s.\u00a0 The project took one year to complete.<\/p>\n

The framing around the windows have been restored with Victorian decorative trim and all the original lighting fixtures have been converted to electric. The wooden staircases and adjoining trim are the original quarter-sawn tiger oak and the fireplaces and stained glass have all been carefully maintained and restored where necessary.<\/p>\n

Today, in addition to serving as home to O\u2019Connor, the building has 11 professional suites of varying sizes. There is a shared conference space and a large parking lot in the rear, both of which are included in the rent \u2013 as are the utilities. O\u2019Connor noted that there is currently office space available. However, it is a one of a kind property and he does not expect the spaces to be vacant for long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maureen Werther In a region where new office buildings, apartments, condos and mixed-use structures are rapidly taking over the landscape, there are still residents and business people committed to restoring and stewarding the buildings that are part of the rich culture of the region. In 1904 a stately brick building was erected at 153 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":30459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nRestoration And Re-Use Of Old Buildings Provides Character To Their Neighborhoods - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2017\/11\/restoration-re-use-old-buildings-provides-character-neighborhoods\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Restoration And Re-Use Of Old Buildings Provides Character To Their Neighborhoods - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Maureen Werther In a region where new office buildings, apartments, condos and mixed-use structures are rapidly taking over the landscape, there are still residents and business people committed to restoring and stewarding the buildings that are part of the rich culture of the region. 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