Page 75 - Demo

PHOENIX FALL HOME SPECIALpeople g a sp , with an a v e ra g e 24 ft. brow nstone cornice running a t roughly $13,000. C urrently, P an g ia is w orking on his4a _14L %u201e t u v / u t L A p u i o i v c p i w u a i c v u u i a t u i *nice se v e ra l hundred feet long priced at m ore th a n $100,000. He is also in th e process of w orking on a copper brow nstone cornice th a t will ru n $24,000.It is h is attention to d etail and w illingness to ta k e on elab o rate p ro jects, he sa y s th a t in crease th e costs. While som etim es pieces m ust be h an d carv ed , o ther tim es a rotted piece of th e original can be salvaged, and a caste c a n be m ad e to provide a m old for the new cornice. %u201c R ight now we have about 80 m olds a n d from th a t we can m ake about 5,000 d ifferen t th in g s,%u201d P an g ia explains.In P a n g ia %u2019s m ind, th e d esire for a building topped by a cornice is based both on financial concerns a s well as a p leasu re factor. %u201c T he price of building can be discounted 50 percent for not having a cornice. It helps keep the p rice re sista n t,%u201d he says. The m o re personal asp ect, he say s is based on a p p earan ce. %u201c It looks rig h t. All th is a ttra c tiv e 19th cen tu ry a rc h ite c tu re is getting resto red because people a re having fun with it a s w ell as being a w a re of the v a lu e .%u201dF o r P a n g ia , how ever, th e business has sev eral appealing asp ects of w hich re sto ra %u00adtion is only a p a rt. C om paring it to his Wall S treet jo b and his fo rm e r em ploym ent a s a system s engineer for IBM , he m u ses,%u201cT here is a lot m o re self-reliance an d a lot m ore im m ed iate response to m y decisions w hether they a re th e rig h t decisions o r I really m a k e a m ista k e ,%u201d he says. %u201c You don%u2019t g et th a t kind of feedback unless you%u2019re a sm all o p eratio n .%u201dA nother dim ension of th e job th a t app eals to him com es on th e day of installation.%u201c You alm o st alw ays get a good cro w d ,%u201d he says. %u201c I t %u2019s good th e a te r. The tru c k a rriv e s, the rig g in g goes up. A crow d begins to form and th en th e cornice is erected . I like to get the a p p la u se ,%u201d he say s, laughing. %u201c I t%u2019s like being a p e rfo rm e r.%u201dP a n g ia Cornices is located a t 83 W ythe Ave. C all, 963-4)220.possibility. %u201c I %u2019ve gotten calls fro m Boston and San F ran cisco . Since the cornices a re built com pletely on the p re m ise s and they a re erected in one day, it%u2019s v e ry possible for us to do w ork in o ther c itie s,%u201d he says.%u201c They ju st need to p ay for th e tra n s p o rta %u00adtion c o sts,%u201d he adds.Although P a n g ia %u2019s previous experience did not directly re la te to business he launched, and he ad m its th a t before he bought the house in P a rk Slope, h isto ric renovation did not in te re st him trem endously. In the short period th a t he h as been involved in the co rnice building business, h e h as a m a sse d a g reat deal of know ledge and know-how on the subject. %u201c I w as alw ay s good w ith geom etric th in g s,%u201d he points out. %u201c When I sta rte d the first one, th e re w ere m an y details I w as unsure of, but I w orked th em out as I w ent along,%u201d h e says.C R EA TED IN FO U R W EEK S Today, P an g ia h as a sy stem w orked out th a t allow s for the construction of a sta n %u00add a rd 24 ft. brow nstone co m ice in th re e to four w eeks. He h a s c re a te d m olds th a t can be reu sed , and points out th a t typical c o rnices a re m erely a com bination of classical elem en ts th a t can be easily reproduced.%u201c I%u2019m not taking the c re d it for founding an a rt, b ecause w hat I am doing is putting to g e th e r existing elem en ts,%u201d he says, an d ad d s th a t since he began the business he h a s becom e m uch m ore attu n ed to arc h ite c %u00adtu ra l elem ents and th e ir historic context. %u201c I look a t the w ork of the an cien t G reeks and R o m an s,%u201d he says. %u201c I look a t it and observe it and re la te to it.%u201dThe first phase of constructing a co m ice is an a r t history lesson of so rts for P an g ia. %u201c People com e to m e and th e re is a whole block in tact with cornices except for m y c u sto m e r%u2019s house, w hich does not have one,%u201d h e explains. %u201c I go w ith a tape re c o rd e r and ta p e m e a su re an d w ork out th e angles, sizes, proportions and m olding v ery often to be ex act a s possible to theneighboring house,%u201d he says. If the neighboring houses do not provide an a p %u00adp ro p riate exam ple for the building, P an g ia sa y s he looks elsew here in th e city for a m odel to use. In this m a n n e r, he constru c te d a com ice for a building in M anhatta n based on a cornice th a t he saw in Carroll G ardens.%u201c This is such a classical kind of thing.I %u2019m not trying to b reak new ground. I %u2019m try in g to put things up th a t w ere once th e re o r belonged to the period, he explains. In one of his recen t p ro jects, th e new W yckoff H ouse on W yckoff and Sm ith S treets,P an g ia w orked from an original photograph of the building snapped in 1890. Although faded and sm udged on detail it still provided enough inform ation for a replica. %u201c E ven if I h ad n %u2019t h ad the p ictu re, a t this point, I could build som ething th a t would h av e looked like it w as o riginal,%u201d P an g ia says.COST CAUSES GASPSThe cost of the cornices m a y m ak e som eMichael Pangia and his crew of Anthony Mionaesi, Mark Sclafani and Mitchell Siri. (Phoenix/Koch Photo)The Sm allest R oom In The H ouse D oesn Y H ave To Be The M essiestAsk m ost people w hat the m o st im p o rtan t room in th e ir house is, and th e y point to a sm all th re e by four foot sp ace ja m packed to the ceiling. It%u2019s th e closet an d inevitably, a p a rtm e n t seek ers on th e se a rc h for a dw elling tra v e l around w ith re a l estate agents poking th e ir h ea d s into th ese sp aces, perusing the storage potential. As w ith m ost asp ects of city re a l e sta te , th e d em an d fa r outw eighs th e supply.P e rh a p s because th e re is only a finite n u m b er of closets av ailab le in N ew Y ork City , a response phenom enon h a s sprung up in re c e n t y e a rs. S tores began to open th a t dealt exclusively w ith closets a n d sto rag e space. D esigning av ailab le sto ra g e space seem s to be the an sw er for th e d e a rth in closets, coupled w ith finding th e rig h t shelves, b ask ets and h a n g e rs to store your clothes.L ast y e a r, when M ichael G oellner m oved to B rooklyn H eights from M an h attan , he noticed im m ediately th a t closets w ere not being serv iced in the a re a and decided to fill th is hole in the re ta il w orld of Brooklyn H eights. %u201c I didn%u2019t see a C onran%u2019s or a P otte ry B arn o r an ything,%u201d G oellner say s sitting in his sto re, Closet W orld, on Clark S treet. In th e y e a r his business h a s been in existence w ith its d iv erse supply of clothing h an g ers, sto rag e b a sk e ts and shoe ra c k s, he says sa les have been v e ry good, proof th a t he w as rig h t about the need for organized closets in Brooklyn.BASKETS SELL BIG%u201c R ight now we a re having th e busiest tim e of y e a r. People a re changing from th eir su m m e r w ardrobe to th e ir fall w a rdrobe and everyone needs b ask ets right now ,%u201d he says. The b ask et sy stem s he says are a big seller m ost of the tim e . A nother big seller he points out, a re th e 21-pair shoe rack s and th e tie ra c k s.%u201c People w ant to be o rg an ized ,%u201d he say s to explain the sudden in te re st in closets a c %u00adcessories. %u201c These things put everything in their place. T h ere%u2019s a place for shoes, a place for p an ts, a place for sw eaters and a shelf place for sto ra g e ,%u201d he sa y s, pointing to one of his m odel closets th a t is installed in the store. %u201c Some DeoDle buy all the storage things not because it%u2019s really needed, but because they can h av e everything in its place and people like th a t,%u201d he says.The m ore pressing problem w ith storage he say s, how ever, a rise s not only from a lack of closet space, but a lack of spaceCloset World owner Michael Goellner stands before his display of clothing hangers thatprovide a method of hangingfor every particular customer,children included.(Phoenix/Koch Photos)alto g eth er. %u201cW hen I lived in M an h attan in a six ft. by eight ft. room , you didn%u2019t w ant to put a big d re sse r in th e room an d ta k e up a lot of sp a c e ,%u201d h e explains. %u201c It%u2019s v e ry sim %u00adple if you can h av e a b ask et system in your closet th a t takes th e place of a d re sse r and opens up a lot of sp ace in your a p a rtm e n t,%u201d he say s.A lthough m any closet businesses today charge fo r consulting serv ices and design services, G oellner offers th is free of ch arg e. His experience in design com es fro m his stay in M an h attan , w here he designed his own clo set with th e pro d u cts th a t he now sells. To outfit a la rg e w alk-in closet, how ever, with all th e sto ra g e am en ities, runs a b o u t $600, G oellner says. A large jo b he is now w orking on involves 12 closets a n d will cost $2,500.DOUBLES TH E SPA CE%u201c B asically w hat it does its double your closet sp a c e ,%u201d he say s. %u201c The n am es th a t we c a rry a r e getting to be v e ry well know n and people a r e fam iliar w ith those n a m e s,%u201d he says.Although storage im plem ents m a y seem lim ited in diversity, G oellner offers products th a t range from b asic show er caddies to install over th e nozzle to keep sham poos and so ap s organized to a w all ra c k for an iron. %u201c I c a rry k id %u2019s h an g e rs and few people c a rry a selection of kids h a n g e rs,%u201d he say s, pointing to a m a ss of h an g ers m a n u factu red in kiddie size. He also offers a v a rie ty of shelving, kitchen shelving and plastic h an g ers th a t he sa y s a re an im provem ent over w ire hangers.%u201c P la stic hangers keep th e h an g ers from jum ping on each o ther and th erefo re your clothes do not get a s w rinkled,%u201d he explains. His o th er products, he sa y s a re also p ra c %u00adtical. T he Elfa b ask et he c a rrie s, he says originated in F lo rid a and with open w ire allow ing for free circulation of a ir. A belt and p u rse hanger is available for notorious loose b elt problem .G oellner view s his business in v ery p ra c %u00adtical te rm s. The products he sells a re m ore a serv ice for keeping people%u2019s lives in order th a n frivolous luxuries. %u201c You can keep everything stored in your closet and organized and you can see it,%u201d he sa y s pomting to h is m odel closet. And th at a p p a re n tly is w h a t the recen t closet craze is all about.G o se t World is located at 67 G a rkS treet. Call, 330-0465.October 9, 1985, PHOENIX, Section II, Page 15m