Tired of the old homestead? Get a new one – in just two hours.
That’s almost what the D’Amato family of Commack expects to get today when a huge crane lifts a Victorian-style, pre-fabbed modular addition to their old Colonial house. From about noon to 2 p.m., the 1,700-square-foot addition will be lifted up, bolted down and settled on top of the first floor.
“We’re going to set up a table and a tent maybe, depending on the rain, and just hang out,” Peter D’Amato, 38, an insurance agent, said as he checked up on wiring and other preparations at his house site.
The whole affair started Wednesday, when about five workers arrived to tear apart the second floor of the house and cart it away in three Dumpsters. Then on Thursday, the crew began putting up the framing that would connect the first floor with the mod addition.
Today, the new second floor, with tile, bathroom vanities and wood flooring picked by the family, should be ready for whenever the D’Amatos want to put paint on the walls.
In house terms, it’s almost instant gratification at a cost of about $250,000.
Peter and wife, Nancy, who have two children, Tyler, 7, and Hailey, 3, had been mulling the idea of a bigger house for about two years. After all, their house was from the 1960s, far from 21st century ideals of living.
“For the times, it’s not efficient,” the father said. “There wasn’t enough closet space, the rooms were not exactly sized properly.”
According to stories in the neighborhood, D’Amato said, the home was built by Abraham Levitt’s sons William and Alfred, and one son lived in the house for a short time while the other son lived in the house next door. Levitt and Sons built Levittown, the famously planned community that accommodated post World War II GIs and their growing families.
The D’Amatos went the pre-fab route because such units are no longer the boring and ugly boxes of decades ago. Plus, the couple didn’t want the hassle of months and months of construction.
The family has been staying with relatives during the holiday season. When they move back into their home of nine years, it’ll have gone from four boxy bedrooms to three spacious ones.
“I think I’ll feel real good about it when we’re in there,” Peter D’Amato said. “We have a large family and it’s going to be nice entertaining them in the new house.”