Reader Ned sent us this photo of an unusual house on Ellsworth, just short of Cortland. Is it a remodel in progress?
I’m hoping not. I’m hoping it’s some amazingly, magical hermit, who will grant you access to his house by letting down a golden ladder of Bernal baby hair.
There you go. THAT is Bernalwood thinking in action.
Bernalwood 
I think that’s a family flip. My wife and I walked by a few weeks ago and the fellow sitting in the driveway told us he was redoing it for his son. Doesn’t look like much has been done in the past couple of weeks from this view
House is now for sale at $1.195m. Doesn’t look like the “for his son” story, does it.
Is it just me, or does that house look VERY earthquake-shacky?
Also: Damn shame to see those horrible aluminum windows hacked into place of the originals.
Yes, those windows are truly ugly. So many houses are ruined by putting in cheap and inappropriate windows…
Sure it seems as though a bit of work is needed. But the electrical looks strong, and the pigeon hole upstairs is probably functioning really well for the Spring bird bloom. A trampoline over the cracked sidewalk/driveway/foundation would serve a twofer, insuring you don’t fall in the hole and providing bounce for access to the front door.
I have been walking past this house taking interest for the last couple years. Over a year and a half ago, it still had stairs and a facade ( not in great condition but… better than now). Since then i have seen workers working on the house maybe 8-10 times. It seems to go dormant for a while with no work and then a couple days or weekends you would see workers. I assumed that they were going to replace the stairs first or if not, cut in the new door, but it seems that lately they have been working beyond the facade so it just looks like it has been sitting there over a year with no access to that 2nd floor door. I imagined a pole jump or stilts maybe to get in. Maybe a little pully system to hoist you up? Anyway, i have had a while to come to my own creative solutions to this stalled out project. If you say a parent is re-modeling it for a child… that is just about the only thing that actually makes sense that i have heard or thought of! THANK YOU!! 1 more mystery solved! 🙂