Michael Sporn Animation

Daily post 02 Nov 2013 10:57 pm

Can the old neighborhod get scarier?

on 04 Nov 2013 at 12:35 pm 1.Eddie Fitzgerald said …

Nice! I like the high staircase with its gauntlet of ghosts. Lots of New York houses have raised first stories…I wonder why that is. Maybe it was to make it easier to slide coal into the basement when houses used to be heated that way. I also like the little Disney princess.

My favorite is the one of the house with the twisted hedge and sunburst gate. The way it’s framed makes it look like an update of Grant Wood’s American Gothic, sans the couple in the foreground.
on 05 Nov 2013 at 7:24 pm 2.steve said …

In answer to the “raised first story” question, the building code requires that building foundations extend below the frost line. This is to avoid foundations being subjected to freeze-thaw cycles; at least a portion of the foundation never freezes. In NYC that depth is 42 inches. Builders have to comply, but they don’t want to expend the additional costs of excavating any further than they have to. Also, having a space more than 50% below curb level would be a cellar, rather than a basement and would not be considered habitable. And instead of creating a mere 3 1/2 ft high crawl space, they raise the first floor enough to have a full height, habitable space.