Stacey Freed

When it comes to eco-friendly living, the options for your home are ever evolving. And new technology is making it easier for homes to be interconnected and smart, which can also make it easier to be green -- lowering energy use, saving money on energy costs and making your home comfortable, healthy and safer...

Steven Siegel's 15-year old Jack Russell terrier fell ill and had to be rushed to the hospital. AFter seeing several specialists, tests determined that Pumpkin was in kidney failure. "I gave her every bit of medicine [that] science could give us," Siegel says.
Nothing worked well...

The most stunning renovation in Rochester?
One-of-a-kind overhaul creates a kid-centric, California-inspired space for a well-traveled family

Every neighborhood has them: houses that need a little TLC. And then there was this Pittsford home, in need of much more than a little TLC.
Custom-built in the early 1990s, the house was overgrown on the outside, with makeshift tarps laid onto a leaking roof. Inside, a floor-to-ceiling aviary had been the home’s central feature, but it had contributed to the interior’s deterioration—and the birds were still in the cages when it went on the market.
Pass no judgment on the owners—things happen. But it would take major vision and commitment to turn the place back into a desirable home...

Last year, 16-year-old Colorado high school student Simon Katz ate s’mores, normally a safe treat for him, except that this one had Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in it and Katz, who was severely allergic to peanuts, went into anaphylactic shock and died. The year before that, 13-year-old Brandon Dixon died after eating a nut-based candy bar at his school in Harlem, New York. And two summers before that at a camp in California, Natalie Giorgi ate a Rice Krispie treat—something she thought was safe—but which had peanut butter mixed in so as to be undetectable. She too went into anaphylactic shock and died...
How are independent schools handling allergens in their dining operations to prevent tragedies, abide by the law and serve food that is both healthy and affordable?

In 10 years, the first of the 77 million baby boomers will turn 80. That’s the age, say those involved in senior housing, where the intersection of the built environment and health is critical—where many begin to feel frail and need more support. “The typical age of entry into [supportive care communities] is in the early and mid-eighties,” says Chuck Harry, chief of research & analytics for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC). “A decade from now is when we’ll really start to see the boom in that aging population. Many investors now are gearing up to identify how they want to participate in this sector.” The question, says Harry, is “What properties will be of interest to those people who are expected to be different from the current generation or the ‘silent generation’?”...

“It all started with a pet door,” Sherry Gregor recalls.
She and her husband, Keith, wanted an easy way for Max, a Staffordshire bull terrier, and Gusto, a Cane Corso, to go outside their Cincinnati home. One thing led to another, and now the living room is the dogs’ bedroom, complete with raised beds, a deck and pool access, storage for toys and food and a treat dispenser.
The Gregors are not alone. According to a recent survey by Houzz.com — an online platform for design and remodeling — more than one-third of homeowners have done some pet-related remodeling in the last two years, including upgraded flooring and reconfigured room layouts....

The braggable joys of a primo location. The convenience of being able to walk to get your soy latte or see that indie film from the Czech Republic. The frustration of multiple bids. The cost. Buying in the city comes with its own set of opportunities and challenges. But you’ll be prepared if you know a few things...

Loft living is booming in downtown Rochester, especially among millennials and baby boomers, particularly empty nesters.
Every related project that opened its doors in the last five years quickly filled up, and the vacancy rates are low....

It’s a Thursday evening at Wegmans on Calkins Road in Henrietta, and music is playing.
In the back corner of the Market Café, a band plays “West End Blues,” the Louis Armstrong classic. The frontman blows a trumpet while running his fingers along a keyboard; he’s backed by a drummer and a bass player. Couples twirl on what has become a dance floor, and a large crowd has gathered. The listeners show their appreciation with applause....

Ask designers what drives exterior home color trends and the answers include a combination of things: a home’s architectural style, its existing materials, locale, and of course the homeowner’s desires. Right now, says Amy Wax, an architectural color expert in Montclair, N.J., homeowners are feeling “confident and secure about their homes and are willing to take traditional colors and push them a step further.” The most requested color? Gray.

Sweaters in the oven. Shoes in the kitchen cabinets. Books in the freezer. New Yorkers pay a median $3,400 a month for their tiny apartments, so they’ve learned to get mighty creative when it comes to maxing out every square foot. Although your house may be much roomier than the typical NYC studio (thank God), you can banish clutter once and for all by pledging allegiance to these six savvy strategies...

Judy Miller and Goody Freed have enjoyed music and dancing for as long as they can remember.

Both widowed and in their early 80s, they met five years ago at a local senior center. He's a retired cameraman for CBS television in New York City and she's a retired homemaker. They live in suburban Rochester, New York, which it turns out is a good place for dancing...

Back in my Brooklyn neighborhood in the ’60s, there was “Sam, Sam the Bakery Man,” whose big blue truck brought baked goods to our block, and The Seltzer Man and the milkman and even a pick-up and delivery dry cleaner. (I was in college before I realized there were dry cleaners where you had to bring in your clothes.)

It was the ultimate in customer service, and it all went away eventually. But now a bit of it is back—not the seltzer, but the service.

Near Magog City, at the base of Mont Orford in Quebec, sits a small cabin in the woods. “It’s paradise,” says its owner, Andre Boisvert, who built the home in 2003 as a weekend retreat and moved in full-time five years later.

Andre, who owns a swimming pool and chimney installation business in Sherbrooke, Canada, was approached by a sales representative from a log home company who wanted to sell him a sauna. Andre was so taken by the beauty of the company’s homes he decided to work with the company to build them...