Buy Bing’s* Hudson Valley House and Make Holiday Inn Real

A colonial farmhouse in the Hudson Valley that, realtors say, was once owned by Bing Crosby is for sale for just under $1.5 million.

The New York house is not far from the Connecticut border, within reasonable commuting distance of NYC, and includes a barn and rentable cottages, so you could recreate the whole Holiday Inn fantasy for real.

8 Turner Mews, Hopewell Junction, NY.
Kick your cares down the stairs and come to Holiday Inn. Source: hookedonhouses.net.

The house is described as “a 1700s pre-revolutionary mansion which has undergone several major renovations. Originally built as a Dutch Stone House in 1743 it was made into a brick colonial in 1772. Then it was made into a Gothic Victorian at the turn of the century. Its final major renovation was as the center piece of an outstanding 600 acre beef farm owned by Bing Crosby.”

But wait – did Bing actually live there?

Harrison Ford’s Childhood Home Is For Sale Near Chicago

Harrison Ford’s childhood home, Park Ridge, Illinois. Source: realtor.com/Century 21.

The circa 1920s Tudor-style house that Harrison Ford lived in as a child is for sale in Park Ridge, Illinois, (not far from O’Hare International airport, if you want to fly in to take a look at the place) for only $400,000. The yard needs work, but, contra the realtor, there’s no apparent need for a gut rehab – though there’s no photos of the 1.5 baths, so who can say how bad they might look. The rest of the interior, however, does seems to postdate the 1940s-1950s, when Ford lived there (the reports are vague about exactly when the Ford family lived there). Harrison’s bedroom was the one with balcony, according to Architectural Digest. The basement, where Ford’s father accidentally cut off his own finger, is still unfinished. Ford graduated from nearby Maine East High School in 1960 (a few years after actress Karen Black graduated, and just before Hillary Rodham Clinton attended), and left Illinois to head north to Ripon College in Wisconsin, and then west to California.

Architect Louis Kahn’s “Clever House” For Sale in New Jersey

We don’t usually deal in real estate, but a striking house designed by architect Louis Kahn has just come up for sale. Kahn designed nine houses that were built around Philadelphia; this one is in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The Clever House is named for the clients/owners, who sought out Kahn after seeing his Trenton Bath House (according to Curbed).

Clever House, Cherry Hill, NJ.

Yes, it needs work (but a couple hours of raking would make the outside look so much better), but it’s under $300,000 and the property taxes aren’t too horrible (for New Jersey). And gotta love the cinder block style on the inside.

Photos are from the Real Estate Listing.

More on this house and all of Kahn’s other residential projects here.