Several years back Gabe Cohen and Jolie Signorile caught wind that a beat-up houseboat was for sale. Desperate for a weekend ticket out of the city, the two, cofounders of Brooklyn design company Fredericks & Mae, recruited six friends and pooled their cash. Two months later the group stood on the roof of their new purchase as a hired tug pulled it from Saugerties, New York, down the Hudson to Rockaway Beach, Queens, where it’s now permanently docked.
Built as a party boat (with wine fridge, Jacuzzi, and washer/dryer) for a Goldman Sachs exec, it had later been stripped of its frills and used as a crash pad for the winter crew of the Clearwater, the historic Hudson River sloop. Gabe, Jolie, and gang, many of whom met as students at Oberlin College, came to the project prepped for teamwork. They ripped out the mildewed carpets, painted every surface, and furnished the boat with Craigslist finds and Fredericks & Mae’s own games and accessories (that’s one of their windsocks catching the breeze on the roof). It’s been more of an adventure than any of them could have predicted, but also more fun. And it’s only a subway ride away.
Photography by Douglas Lyle Thompson for Remodelista, unless noted.
![the houseboat, a sundance house barge built in \1986 on long island, 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-46.jpg)
![a curtained sliding glass door leads to the entry hung with a fishing trap. tha 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-21.jpg)
![the entry\2\17;s built in sofa. 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-19.jpg)
![all eight owners of the boat pitched in to paint, reupholster cushions, a 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-44.jpg)
![a built in daybed (with firewood storage) and a woodstove in the living room. 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-17.jpg)
![fredericks & mae houseboat douglas lyle thompson remodelista 9 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-9.jpg)
![jolie and gabe play backgammon on a board that they designed and built. weekend 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-40.jpg)
![the room opens onto the kitchen sectioned off by a bar. the rope chairs ar 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-14.jpg)
(Intrigued? Go to Steal This Look: The Affordable Summer Clubhouse for sourcing details.)
![the boat came with a burnt orange sink, so the group kitted out the kitchen wit 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-6.jpg)
![sophia and honora, two of the houseboaters, painted the wooden bar in a pattern 35](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-15.jpg)
![limiting the kitchen\2\17;s palette keeps the open shelves looking tidy. 37](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-7.jpg)
![another built in sofa–this one is on the starboard side of the living ro 39](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-43.jpg)
![every boat needs a whale; this one came from gabe\2\17;s grandmother& 41](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-42.jpg)
![stairs beyond the kitchen lead to the two tiered roof where big parties take pl 43](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-36.jpg)
![gabe and jolie on the top of the boat. 45](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-38.jpg)
![there are four bunk rooms—each sleeps two—and the group has a no 47](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-35.jpg)
![the captain\2\17;s room, on the roof, is the largest. \2\20;but,& 49](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-3.jpg)
![the additional three bunks are below deck. this one has a ceiling light made fr 51](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-28.jpg)
![a nautical poster tacked to the wall. 53](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-23.jpg)
![fredericks & mae darts, beach tennis paddles, and bocce balls. gabe and jol 55](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-27.jpg)
![a hudson\2\17;s bay blanket and rattan thrift store light in a 57](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-33.jpg)
![a corner of the room is decorated with straw hand fans and fredericks & mae 59](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-31.jpg)
![morgan evans, one of the houseboaters, drew this \2\20;visualization& 61](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Houseboat-drawing-Morgan-Evans-Remodelista.jpg)
![a tug called the patty nolan moved the houseboat (and new owners) down the huds 62](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Will-Van-Dorp-Tugster-Remodelista.jpg)
![the houseboat\2\17;s marina in the rockaways is surrounded by urban life 64](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-1.jpg)
![a fredericks & mae windsock flies from a fishing rod. 66](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Fredericks-&-Mae-houseboat-Douglas-Lyle-Thompson-Remodelista-39.jpg)
Find more sourcing information in Steal This Look: The Affordable Summer Clubhouse.
For more by Fredericks & Mae, see Back to the Future and A Modern Take on Worry Beads.
Interested in life on the water? Go to Houseboats to see A Mother and Daughter Afloat in Paris and Gardenista’s DIY Cobalt Blue Planters (Houseboat Optional).
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on June 25, 2014, as part of our Life Aquatic issue.
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