One such business is TeCroney Dairy Apartments.

The apartments, owned by Nelson TeCroney and his wife, Linda, originally started out as a dairy farm, one of many to be found in Clymer. It was not until after the family sold its cows and were stuck with an empty barn that the idea for the apartments came about.

“After we sold the dairy, the barn sat idle for a couple of years,” TeCroney said. “I worked part time for a neighbor contractor, Rob Reinwald. One day when we were coming back from Erie our conversation went to what we should do with the barn. Rob said, ‘Put apartments in it.’ I went home and suggested it to (my wife), Linda, and she thought it was a good idea. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather. After that the project became ‘We.'”

Construction on the apartments began back in 2007 when the TeCroney’s hired a contractor they knew from coaching Babe Ruth baseball, Kim Olson, who lives in DeWittville. Olson then recommended RW Larson to do a structure feasibility study.

The entrance and mailboxes to the TeCroney Apartments are pictured.

The final installment on the apartments was the elevator that was added in 2019, and put in by Ryan Olson, son of the original contractor and who the TeCroney children played Babe Ruth baseball with 25 years before.

“The Olsons wrote the capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and placed the period at the end,” TeCroney said.

Financially, the TeCroney’s took their plans for the building to several bankers, all of whom turned them down. Even after getting three lines of credit and using their own assets as collateral, they still were not able to borrow for the second and third floor.

“Fortunately, the Lord had grown a very nice 85 acre woods on our property,” TeCroney said. “This, plus our kids’ willingness to invest in their inheritance and doing most of the construction ourselves, allowed us to be able to finish this project.”

In the end though, the TeCroney’s realized that the bankers’ refusals actually helped them.

The TeCroney Apartments are pictured. Photo by Sara Holthouse

“The bankers had made it difficult, but they actually did us a favor,” TeCroney said. “It took more time, but we now have far less debt than we had figured on in the beginning. Not a nickel of grant money went into this project.”

Parts of the apartments are made up of items from around the town. Some parts, such as the kitchen cabinets on the first floor, are made from boards from the inside of the old barn. The second and third floor cabinets are made from cherry and maple wood that the TeCroney family took from their own woods. The stairways are also made from wood taken from the woods, with ash treads and cherry risers. The railings on the stairways are stainless steel, and used to be the barn’s old milking pipeline. The third floor is also in the middle of what used to be the hay mow, with the beams and floor joists coming from Norway Spruce planted by TeCroney’s uncle, Bill Wiggers, in the 1930s as an FFA project.

The tile found in many areas of the apartment building came from Clymer Central School.

“About t12 years ago the seniors had their senior auction,” TeCroney said. “After (the school) got done with building on the addition, they had a lot of tile left over, and they sold that at the auction. We bought a ton of it.”

Because of the inclusion of barn posts still in the wall and the addition of spray foam insulation on the wall from the original barn walls, with a 2-by-4 framework, many of the apartments have very thick walls, leading to the need for rather big window sills. The window sills were made from scrap left over from Countertop Solutions, another small business in Clymer.

“That gives us a chance to have some really nice window sills,” TeCroney said.

People began moving into the apartments back in 2010. Today, Frank and Peg Bull, who live on the first floor, are the longest standing tenants.

Frank Bull originally lived in room 102 when he first moved in by himself; he then moved to 101 when a bigger room became available; room 104 when Peg joined him; and finally 106, which is larger, making it easier for the pair to move around.

“I’ve been here for going on 10 years now,” Frank Bull said. “Linda and Nelson (TeCroney) are by far the best landlords in the world. Out of everyone I’ve met, they are by far the best. Originally in this apartment, Peg couldn’t use the shower with her powered chair. Nelson and Linda came over, took out the shower door, made the shower larger and tiled the whole thing, and solved our shower problem.”

Since Frank Bull moved in, back when the first floor was not finished yet, the TeCroney’s have added a car port, one for each apartment, that includes a storage space and netting above to protect cars from bird droppings. The other addition that the Bulls noted was that of the elevator.

“Peg went from doing flowers outside to not being able to walk,” Frank Bull said. “Now with her powered chair she can go into the elevator and go from the first to third floor and visit her friends up there. Our social life is now significantly better.”

The Bulls have nothing but praises for their landlords, who also have since moved their fridge and shelves for them for a more convenient way out of their apartment, and also added a piece of foam to the corner of the shelves to prevent anyone hitting their heads. Also, with a number of older, retired tenants, TeCroney came up with a system in case of any hospital emergencies.

“If I have to go to the hospital, Nelson and Linda (TeCroney) are there,” Peg Bull said. “We had a time where Frank fell, and they came up with a system to get him on a gurney and get him out of the apartments to the hospital. On Christmas and Thanksgiving they bring us meals, including dessert and everything. I really can’t say enough good things about them and this place.”

For the Bulls, their favorite aspect of living in TeCroney Dairy Apartments is its history.

“This apartment is where they used to keep the bulls,” Peg Bull said. “And our last name is Bull. So, we’re the Bulls and we live in the bull pen.”

Altogether there are 15 apartments, with about 20 people living there, according to TeCroney. All apartments are currently rented or occupied. All the apartments are a little bit different but there are three efficiency apartments, eight one-bedroom apartments, three smaller one-bedroom/hobby rooms, and one full two-bedroom apartments.

TeCroneys had planned on building the apartments for older, single, retired people who were looking to downsize their homes, or who would benefit from downsizing to a place as good as or possibly better than the one they were living in.

“Before we started we went mentally around town and identified those people who may benefit from downsizing, or maybe those who go to Florida in the winter time, though we never had anyone move in here who does that,” TeCroney said. “We ended up with a pretty good mix of young and old tenants though.”

Its location within town is also appealing.

“You know, in the real estate agency they say ‘location, location, location,'” TeCroney said.