R.H. BLACKBURN & ASSOCIATES, Inc.,   REAL ESTATE
Main office:  17 Broad Street, Kinderhook NY 12106
518 758-1788   Fax 518 758-6211  blackburn@berk.com 
Branch offices at Hudson, Catskill and Athens

Our Services

Our Services are for buyers and sellers, but also owners, visitors, and the curious.

1. We have specialized knowledge in architectural history, period houses and landscape and garden design. You may have seen publications by Roderic H. Blackburn on these subjects in The Magazine Antiques and in the recent Rizzoli architectural book Dutch Colonial Homes in America, and our co-authoring of A Visible Heritage, Columbia County, New York - A History in Art and Architecture. You have this knowledge at your service for finding, fixing, or selling your home.

2. We help buyers and sellers understand the distinctive qualities of period homes of the 18th and 19th centuries which set them apart from others and thus command special interest and value. Twenty-five years of knowledge as a consultant on house restoration is available to our clients.

3. The most frequently asked question is "where do we find contractors to work on our house?" Our firm has developed a database of all the contractors in and near Columbia County, over one thousand, with their special skills (building, restoration, painting, electrical, landscaping and maintenance, and dozens more). We are adding recommendations from home owners. This database is available to our clients exclusively.

4. We maintain a resource library on all things having to do with country properties. Maps (topographical, tax, zoning, soil and wetland) are available to clients for inspection. We also have town zoning and subdivision regulations and maps for many purposes (topographic, tax, zoning, wetland). You may peruse the best books on American architecture, gardens, and landscape design.

5. For home owners we are available for consulting services on historic design of houses, gardens, and landscapes, and through our associates: furnishings, interior design, decorative treatments, and house histories and genealogy by acknowledged experts in their fields.

6. To help sellers and buyers realize the potential of their homes, we produce architectural plans and elevations as part of our real estate services. These may express the original design of a house as a guide to its restoration.

7. Our primary activity is helping discerning buyers and sellers meet each other. Depending on client needs, we can serve as either a buyer's agent or a seller's agent. Because of our knowledge of period houses and land we encourage prospective buyers to call us for advise on the pleasures and pitfalls of buying a country home. Like your lawyer or accountant, a buyer's agent is there to help protect you from unforeseen conditions and issues which older houses often have. Our resources are the many references, links, library, and professionals you may need.