We wanted to replace our 150 yr old family farmhouses with a newly built but authentic replacement "The Catskill Farmhouse". My wife and I are total rookies when it comes to the building trades, so we found John Shay’s website and set up a phone call. He blew my wife and me away on that 1st call. We hung up and said to each other, We just found our “old pro”. Boy, were we right. From our very first conversation until now, as we finish up with plantings and landscaping, etc. John has been fabulous. He told us at the beginning that you need to understand all the subcontractor trades, their methods and options/codes in order to manage them and he was right. He even overrode our architect’s plans w/better ideas as we went along, and knew how to get those approved. He constantly watched our pennies on this multimillion dollar project, which was ultra impressive. He made each sub submit bids, which immediately put them on notice that they had to be competitive. To say that John is demanding would be an understatement. But - he is ultra qualified, so the subs all respected that. We wanted to use as many vintage salvaged materials as possible from the original houses and barn, as well as pieces we sourced all over the country. Sinks, tubs, bathroom fixtures, hardware, and medicine chests, flooring, hinges, doors, transoms, lighting, staircase materials, bluestone slabs, beams, tons of field stones taken from original stonewalls to make walls, huge fireplaces, porch deck walls, etc - all vintage. It is much easier to use new materials, obviously, but John never once complained - he had a genuine “can-do” attitude throughout. The scope of the project grew as we listened to John’s recommendations, as everything he did was the right thing. I could go on much more, but then you might think that John is my brother-in-law or something. He’s not - he’s the real deal. Feel free to contact me for what will be an unconditional recommendation.

David C. Kerr