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Railroad Station Home
The New York Times 5.7.08

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It's rare when a home featured in The New York Times' special real estate section Great Homes & Destinations is small and makes clever use of a tight space. But this one does both. This former rail station (measuring just 753-square-feet) in Lenwade, England was renovated by Steve Sokalsky into a two-bedroom one-bath home for his family. The renovation included installing space-saving electrical outlets in the small kitchen...

 
 

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These hidden outlets can be pulled up from the kitchen counter to help power additional appliances. Check out all the pics and the complete story: A Home on the Tracks.

(Pics: Jonathan Player)

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kitchen, real estate, tools & electrical helpers, renovation

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Comments (8)

What a cute little cottage - and I love the Bathroom!

posted by bepsf on May 7th 2008 at 11:06am
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I adore that copper-colored work surface in the kitchen, and the ivory tiles in the bath ore lovely.

posted by Jenny B on May 7th 2008 at 11:33am
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Hey! I lived in an old train station in Kent, England! The architecture was grand and my address was 1 Railway Cottage. (There was only one, so having a number seemed kinda funny.)

You've made me nostalgic now!

posted by ridge_van_winkle on May 7th 2008 at 11:50am
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I like everything except the TV in the bathroom and I think the kitchen is a little too modern/trendy for the overall bones of the house. Although I do love the copper counters and the way the power outlets are hidden. It's really that stove hood I don't like.

posted by dblitz1 on May 7th 2008 at 2:59pm
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Love the disappearing outlet. Now there's an idea. Are they available in the States?

posted by quiltmaster on May 7th 2008 at 7:58pm
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Hi everyone, Steve Sokalsky here, owner and renovator of Lenwade Station! First of all let me say I agree with your comments. The kitchen was one of the first bits we done and as a result it didn't really fit in with the overall 'look' of the station. We are now planning an extension with a new 'traditional' kitchen with an AGA style hob in place of where the current wood burner is. In answer to the question about the pop up power ports, these are made by Evoline and can be purchased from Worktop Power which can be shipped to the USA and configured for USA plugs by special order I believe.

Also (as an ironmonger) I should point out that we sourced all the handles and knobs from Trade Handles a local supplier we often use.

Finally the copper worktops were created by hand using coper flake mixed with an epoxy resin. This was a very time consuming job that I wouldn't recommend!

All the best from the Station Master!!!

posted by Ironmonger on August 26th 2008 at 3:19am
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Cute! When I lived in Boston, I saw a rental listing for a little train station [on the edge of Malden, if I remember correctly]. We were really smitten with the idea of moving in although, when we checked it out, it really wasn't in a very walkable area. Nonetheless, we still reminisce about the life we could have had in it!

posted by visualingual on July 29th 2009 at 8:40am
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Here in Omaha, they're turning the former Burlington Station, a beautiful marble-interior building downtown, into "luxury" (read: I can't afford them!) condos.

http://www.burlingtonstation.com/plans.htm

I just wish they were further along with any of it to see some pictures of what it will look like...

posted by criv227 on July 29th 2009 at 9:32am
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