apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Oh, how I'd love to buy that place and make it my own...

I don't understand -- can you actually go into the homes? Is that part of a tour, or did you sneak in? I'd be surprised if that's allowed, but it's fascinating if it is!

Umm...can *I* live there? Looks great!

You MUST stop talking about Governor's Island, or everyone will ruin my "Sitting-on-a-Porch" Sundays.

Such a beautiful place. And amazing to see inside the homes.

fabframes - many of the homes are open for visitors to explore on their own. There are art installations EVERYWHERE (including in many of the homes).

It's a sad sight to see these empty :-(

It's so sad how abandoned they are. They really could use lots of love.

When are you going to do a post on the "New Antiquarians" Feature that ran in the House and Home section of today's New York Times? I am dying to see the reaction to that on AT.

i fell in love with these homes when i went this past weekend... but was it just me, or did anyone else feel like they were on the island from LOST?

KimbaBeast - totally eerie, yes. Governors Island is the best place to film a zombie movie.

GI makes me want to abandon my condo and squat. I love it.

I saw officer's quarters like these in San Fransisco near the golden gate bridge. They seemed to be inhabited. Why are these abandoned? Why can't they be used? Does anyone know more about the S.F. ones?

Dahlia--I lived in one of those old army dwellings one summer in the early eighties while it was still a base--my college friend's father was a retired colonel and the family lived there. It was an enchanted place, for its location and antiquity, although I spent most of my time walking from there to the wonderful neighborhoods on all sides. I heard it was donated to the city as a park, I believe. I'm sure Aters know more . . .

The Army gave it to the Coast Gaurd who sold it to the city for $1 a few years back...it's part of the Parks Dept and you can read ALL ABOUT IT on the link at the end of the post.

it's useless to let them sit there!
aren't they gonig to DOOOO Something with it?

Part of the deed to Governor's Island disallows permanent residency there - thus the Army base. From what I gathered during a visit 2 years ago, when many of the building were designated 'historic' it became the most expensive Army base to operate because of the requirements to maintain historic structures, so it was abandoned. It's a very cool place - I hope as the city decides on how to use it, they think outside the box.

Re the buildings in SF's Presidio:
Links to a couple of articles about them, from a few years ago

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/22/REGIELSI1B1.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/22/REGIELSHR11.DTL

Well, the major's giving the homeless one-way tickets out of town. . . . Anybody else wondering what I am?

haha, i JUST posted about a recent trip governor's island yesterday... i love that place: http://www.onmontague.com/2009/07/i-new-york-governors-island.html

I remember staying in the BOQ there with my dad when I was visiting colleges in Manhattan. It was amazing to be so close to the city, but in such a bucolic environment.

Later, I worked for a company with offices in the Presidio, and experienced the same feeling. After Clinton closed all those bases, many of them fell into disrepair or just got paved over. While there are serious environmental concerns on some decommissioned bases (jet fuel, other heavy industrial toxins), I like the idea of making some of these facilities open to the public.