Spring 2022
HUDSON VALLEY/BERKSHIRES/CATSKILLS
ON THE
Cover
Estate of Mind COLDWELL BANKER VILLAGE GREEN REALTY Cover Story on page 60
Chubby Chairs
The rounded, bubbly forms of Jackrabbit Studio
Wright at Home
Designer Russel Wright’s Historic Dragon Rock in Garrison
Passive House Guide Housing tech on the forefront of eco-conscious construction
Welcome Home To Endless Possibilities!
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Selling your home can be the most important transaction in your life. Who you trust to represent you in that transaction can make all the difference. SO
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This year we have moved our team to Corcoran Country Living. The Corcoran Group is one of the most well known and respected firms in NYC and the nation. We strive to provide the highest level of service to our clients. We guarantee to bring our creativity, energy, experience, and integrity into every property we represent. Our listings are our signature and you can be assured we go to great lengths to present them in their best possible light.
Give us a call today to talk about what we can do to help you! 1-833-WOLF-DEN T H E W O L F T E A M C AT S K I L L S . C O M ©2022 Corcoran Group LLC. All rights reserved. Corcoran® and the Corcoran Logo are registered service marks owned by Corcoran Group LLC. Corcoran Group LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.
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Corcoran Country Living proudly welcomes The Wolf of Woodstock, Rich Vizzini and his Team to our Woodstock office.
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©2022 Corcoran Group LLC. All rights reserved. Corcoran® and the Corcoran Logo are registered service marks owned by Corcoran Group LLC. Corcoran Group LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.
upstate HOUSE
| SPRING 2022 • 3
The entry porch to the tasting room at Seminary Hill Cidery in Callicoon, the first Passive House-certified cidery. Photo by Brad Dickson Images PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE p. 45
DEPARTMENTS MARKETWATCH: HOW’S BUSINESS?
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In a sellers’ market, buying a house takes a pioneering spirit.
SPRING 20 22
FEATURES 26
8
THE MAKER: JACK R ABBIT STUDIO
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THE SOURCE: CREEL & GOW
Brett Miller’s intuitive furniture designs feature rounded, chubby forms that are at once elegant and cartoonish .
HOME PROFILE: STABLE TR ANSITION
By Mary Angeles Armstrong
It’s a classic story: Girl meets house. Girl falls for house. Girl completely underestimates the renovation task at hand. Designer Hadas Dembo spent over two decades transforming a former stable into her dream home in Hillsdale. 37
Jamie Creel and Marco Scarani ‘s curiosity shop—think taxidermy and exquisite objects from across the world—takes root in Millbrook. 19
THE SOURCE: JOHN ROBSHAW SHOP
Textile designer John Robshaw’s new retail spot in Falls Village, Connecticut features an ever-changing collection of home goods.
HOME PROFILE: WRIGHT AT HOME
By Joan Vos MacDonald
In her recently published book, Russel and Mary Wright: Dragon Rock at Manitoga (Princeton Architectural Press), Jennifer Golub profiles the Mid-Mod designer power couple and the landscape-driven home they built in Garrison that’s now on the National Register of Historic Places and operates as Manitoga/ The Russel Wright Design Center, a museum and trail system on 75 acres that’s open to the public.
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The median home price is up 13.4 percent in this classic mill town. 24
ESTATE OF MIND
With over 30 acres of open rolling meadows and landscaped trails, a pond, tennis court, and three houses able to accommodate almost two dozen people, this estate in Saugerties was tailor-made for those looking to enjoy the splendor of nature. Sponsored House Feature
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AREA SPOTLIGHT: NEWBURGH
There’s more than architecture to love in this Orange County city. 72
TOOLS FOR CHANGE
Library of Local and Toolshed Exchage bring back the commons. 70
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AREA SPOTLIGHT: SAUGERTIES
THE MARKET I N D E X O F A DV ER T I S ER S / MAP OF THE REGION
PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE 45 The Passive House construction standard is the most rigorous,
energy-efficient set of performance-based building technologies currently available. We highlight the innovations of the technology and provide resources on the regional level.
upstate HOUSE
| SPRING 2022 • 5
M A RK ET WAT CH
How’s Business? EDITORIAL
I
sold my Town of Poughkeepsie home a little over a year ago, smack dab in the middle of the seller’s market, when homes were selling for way over the asking price and sellers were getting multiple bids. And even though the world was shut down, the Hudson Valley was busy attracting more hospitality businesses so that when the doors opened again there would be ample tourists flocking to the area. It worked. But it’s a year later and I’m a year older enjoying my new digs. What’s happening with the real estate market now and what’s changed? We checked in with two local real estate experts to let us know how business is going, if it’s still a competitive seller’s market, and whether the hospitality industry really was helping the real estate market. Andrew Gates, associate broker with Houlihan Lawrence in Millbrook, says that the current real estate market is still hot and the agency has just finished their biggest two years ever. “This was significantly better than the last peak in 2007,” he says. Gates explains that it’s still hard to talk about today’s market without mentioning the pandemic, because the pandemic is accelerating existing trends. “But there are other factors, including the ‘sickof-the-Hamptons factor,’ such as the Hamptons’ exorbitant pricing, which was a real thing even prior to COVID,” he says. “Our market is still 99 percent driven by demand from New York City. You occasionally will see California and sometimes Long Island and northern New Jersey, but we’ve always been a trickle-down market for New York.” The Hudson Valley has also become an increasingly popular tourist destination, which, in turn, is driving more residents to the area. “Hospitality is an introduction to the area for a lot of people, the first point of contact,” says Gates. “These places are really lovely and beautifully done, have great food, and are in beautiful settings. And many are cool and trendy, so the visitors will then go on to become buyers.” “Phenomenal” is how Jennifer Grimes, a licensed broker/owner with Country House Realty in Grahamsville and owner of Red Cottage vacation rentals, refers to the real estate market. “This area has become so desirable that it has fostered new businesses and attracted commercial enterprises to such an extent that there is an influx of employees to work in those businesses and an influx of tourists coming to enjoy those businesses,” she says. As a result, Grimes explains that the towns are now scrambling to understand how to react to the influx of tourists and residents. “It creates situations that now require town planners to recognize and address thoughtfully, not just for immediate discussion and action, but to give some thought to whether this is sustainable.” Grimes explains that certain areas in the Hudson Valley were not as well-known pre-COVID, and took a longer time to catch up to the better-known towns.
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“I’m really looking at Sullivan County, the last county to the party within two-and-a-half hours of New York City, and the rate of hospitality growth has been astronomical,” she explains. It also has incredible natural amenities on par with the Mid-Hudson Valley and eastern Catskills, and it’s been the recipient of much fawning media coverage. Grimes explains that with the advent of second homeowners putting their properties in the rental pool, vacancy has dropped dramatically. “The level of occupancy of our region’s homes has skyrocketed and, with that, so have the issues that towns are grappling with, like parking, which are symptoms of popularity.” Gates says his primary business is the luxury market, which is attracting many second-home buyers. “I put ‘luxury’ in quotations because it could be under a million dollars, like a beautifully decorated antique farmhouse for $600,000. I’ve seen bidding wars as much as 30 percent over the asking price for properties up to the $5 million price point.” Going forward, Gates says that lack of inventory will continue to drive a seller’s market. “I would strongly encourage sellers who are already planning on selling about two to three years from now to move their timeline up to take advantage of market conditions,” he says.
“Be willing to roll your sleeves up and stop thinking that you’re going to buy your dream house.” —Andrew Gates What about buyers? Gates says that most buyers are looking for turnkey properties, so those properties will attract bidding wars. “And those are the properties that are in scarce supply,” he says. “Think out of the box, and look for a house with a problem, like wall-to-wall carpeting that you can rip up or a light remodel and stop thinking that you’re going to buy your dream house. Be willing to roll your sleeves up. If you are willing to buy something that needs some updating, or is historic, but hasn’t been updated, is on large acreage or is in northern Columbia County, or Greene County, then you’ll find homes in places that are great places to live.” Even though the real estate market mirrors what it was last year and the year before that, it looks like there’s more activity on the hospitality and commercial fronts, which are bringing even more potential residents to the area. The Hudson Valley has become one hopping place to live. It will be interesting to see how it continues later this year. —Lisa Iannucci
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Brian K. Mahoney brian.mahoney@chronogram.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR David Clark Perry david.perry@chronogram.com DIGITAL EDITOR Marie Doyon SPONSORED CONTENT EDITOR Ashleigh Lovelace CONTRIBUTORS Peter Aaron, Winona Barton-Ballentine, Emma Cariello, Anne Pyburn Craig, Lisa Green, Lisa Iannucci, Joan Vos MacDonald, Hannah Van Sickle, Nolan Thornton, Will Solomon PUBLISHING COFOUNDER & CEO Amara Projansky COFOUNDER Jason Stern CHAIR David Dell Upstate House is a project of Chronogram Media.
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THE S O U RCE
The showroom at Creel & Gow features a curated assemblage of exquisite objects from all corners of the world, including a pedestal-mounted zebra.
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CA BI N ET O F CURI OS I T I E S C REEL & GOW By Hannah Van Sickle Photos by Zach Troost
J
amie Creel’s earliest international travel falls outside the purview of the average tourist. Looking back, he points to three months spent in Kenya when he was a teen as likely the best trip of his whole childhood. “When I was a kid, my parents would pretty much send me away every summer,” he recalls. An ardent interest in far-flung locales ensued when he began planning his own itineraries—spanning the globe from the Galapagos Island to Mozambique, and myriad destinations in between. A penchant for collecting followed suit, and Creel & Gow—the stylish Manhattan boutique whose well-curated assemblage of fascinating and exquisite objects from all corners of the world—was born in 2012. Last year, to the delight of locals and visitors alike, Creel and partner Marco Scarani brought their cabinet of curiosities to the Hudson Valley, where a second iteration of Creel & Gow is now flourishing in Millbrook.
“The things that interest me are things that aren’t found anywhere else here in the United States,” Creel explains of a varied inventory running the gamut from 19th-century glass eglomise French apothecary jars to a full-length Coney Island carnival mirror. And everything in between. It’s part Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop and part museum, inspired by an intention that the customer’s shopping experience mimics Creel’s own sourcing in the field. “You kind of stumble across things when you come into my store,” he explains. And you’re always going to find something you’ve never seen before. Take the custom-mounted silver and carnelian headdress from Turkmenistan ($1,600) or the full-sized taxidermy nyala (a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa) that will set you back $4,800. This pursuit of rare finds, one Creel admits is “less about the object and more about the hunt for that object,” has become a full-blown passion project turned profession. While certain
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standalone items seem ostensibly fit for royal folk, the whole gestalt—arranged thematically to include oceanic, mineral, nature, decor, jewelry, and art de la table categories—is not only satisfying, but has also filled an otherwise vacant niche in Dutchess County. There are plenty of objects under $100, from hollowed ostrich eggs and diminutive rock crystal bowls to brass boar-head bottle openers, carved tiger’s eye camellias, and signature calendula- and tea-scented candles. Forging connections has been a mainstay of Creel’s business. He’s spent two decades working with an atelier in Rome on the shop’s signature silvered shells—including stunning salt cockles and place card holders in varied hues—crafted in the same family-run workshop that does restoration work for the Vatican. Ditto goes for his sourcing of gold-flecked lapis lazuli, both natural and carved specimens, from the Sar-i Sang mines in Afghanistan. Creel grew up in Long Island’s Locust Valley and spent weekends on the family farm in Millbrook. Despite what might be considered geographically provincial beginnings (he and Scarani currently split their time between New York City, Paris, and Morocco), a soft spot for the Hudson Valley remains. “This area was always my happy place when I was a child, and it’s nice being here again,” he says as the first anniversary of Creel & Gow’s June 1 opening in Millbrook looms. “It became a COVID project, really,” Creel says of the somewhat serendipitous decision to open a second shop—one sparked by his brother’s acquisition of the building at 3424 Franklin Avenue, after the decades-old Twin Brooks Gardens 10
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succumbed during the early days of the lockdown. “They used to do flower arrangements for my mom all the time,” Creel adds wistfully of another landmark from his childhood. Much to his delight, landscape architect Anthony Bellomo’s new garden shop and plant nursery, Orangerie Garden + Home, is in residence under the second half of the very same roof. No matter the goal—whether looking to embellish one’s home with originality or find a distinctive gift for discerning individuals—Creel and Gow is packed to the proverbial gills with rare minerals, coral, unusual decorative objects, and exotic accessories perfect for perusing. The Millbrook shop expands Creel and Scarani’s vision for the home beyond decorative objects to include antiques from around the world and an exclusive line of rattan furniture made in Tangier—a fitting homage to another place they call home. The walls are adorned with original artwork, the floors piled with Moroccan and Mauritian carpets, and soft furnishings—including tabletop linens designed by Scarani (a native of Cannes who speaks four languages and casts his chic, multicultural style upon any interior he touches)—keep company with fabrics sourced from cultures spanning the globe. Need help finding this otherworldly destination? Look no further than the iconic red phone kiosk—plucked straight from the streets of London, post World War II (but not by Creel, he found it in Texas, of all paces!)—standing sentinel outside this not-to-be-missed design emporium. CREELANDGOW.COM
The library at Creel & Gow, complete with French terracotta dog.
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“Mathias Weiden Barn”, Narrowsburg, NY SOLD. Represented seller and buyer.
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| SPRING 2022 • 1 1
T HE M A K ER
B E HIND THE C U RVE JACK RABBIT STUDIO By Will Solomon
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F
or Brett Miller, furniture design is primarily an intuitive process. “I don’t try to get too complicated,” says Miller, describing his approach at Jack Rabbit Studio. “I try to make things that feel good and look good and are interesting to me, and hopefully they’re interesting to other people, too.” Miller’s feel-first approach is likely informed by the spontaneous way he arrived in the field. “I got into furniture design through trial and error,” he says. Originally migrating to the Hudson Valley to farm, Miller eventually moved into metal fabrication, and finally into furniture making. In 2017, he opened his own studio, making the project full-time the following year.
The pillar sofa, black walnut seat with plaster back and bases and a bouclé cushion. Photo by Matthew Johnson
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The Bolo Settee, made with mohair cushions, locally sourced black walnut, and studio-made lime plaster with stones from a Catskill limestone quarry. Photo by Love House Below: The Primary Chubby Chair made with poplar wood and lacquer paint with bouclé cushion. Photo by Matthew Johnson.
His striking designs are easily recognizable: His furniture is often described as “chubby,” and the chairs, benches, tables, and other pieces he makes have a round, bubbly, almost cartoon-like quality. Miller emphasizes that this bold style is not the product of profound artistic conception; rather, it represents a natural evolution for him as a designer. “My initial inspiration for the round [pieces] was just the tools I had when I started,” he says. “One of my first tools was a lathe, and so I started turning round cylinders out of six-by-six pine lumber that was lying around, to experiment with. I just thought it was cool—I didn’t have any real plan. It just kind of happened.” While Miller primarily uses wood in his furniture, he has recently begun experimenting with lime plaster, lending pieces a Mediterranean quality. He creates the material from scratch, sourcing the limestone from a quarry in Catskill. “It’s a really cool process,” he says. “You cook [the limestone] to a certain temperature, then add water, spin it, and it undergoes a chemical reaction and forms lime putty. And then it can be mixed with sand and used as plaster.” While lime plaster is sometimes used in furniture and sculpture, it is more common in larger structures. “I was interested in it from an architectural standpoint,” says Miller. upstate HOUSE
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“Growing up in Southern California, [thinking about] Spanishstyle architecture with stucco and terra cotta and exposed beams and things like that, I started wanting to play with [those elements] a little bit.” As with all aspects of his approach, this use of unconventional shapes and materials has necessitated experimentation. “There’s a reason why traditional woodworking has existed for so long—because it works,” he says. “There’s a reason they didn’t make super funky shapes and weird, rounded, wavy objects out of solid wood, because wood doesn’t lend itself to that. I’ve been having to figure that out, seeing what works and what doesn’t.” Miller is grateful for the attention Jack Rabbit Studio has attracted in recent years. In 2018, he was picked up by digital design magazine Sight Unseen and included in their American Design Hot List, which he says provided a major boost to his business. In the years since, he has sold furniture to both commercial clients—including Google’s new Chicago office, and a since-shuttered design cafe in Brooklyn called Relationships— and to homeowners, largely through Love House, a design showroom in Greenwich Village. While his furniture is not currently on display in the Hudson Valley, he hopes to change that soon—and for now, 16
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invites interested locals to visit him at his studio in the Greene County hamlet of Leeds. He describes how the creative energy of the region has been integral for his development as a designer. “My whole journey into the Hudson Valley and into the furniture world has been one happy, lucky streak,” he says. “Obviously, there are tons of incredibly talented designers and artists in the Hudson Valley, and so when I started meeting people it was like a light bulb went off. I thought: This is what I want to do, this is what I’m meant to do, this is what I should’ve been doing all along, these are my people—I feel rooted to the Hudson Valley.” As he continues to develop new designs, an element of spontaneity persistently informs the process and path. “The statement on my Instagram profile is ‘Don’t overthink it,’” says Miller. “For me, it all goes back to feel and intuition. How does an object make you feel? Because ultimately, I think everyone wants to feel good in their space, with the things that they have and surround themselves with. For me it’s more of an emotional concept, I guess.” “That’s the playful attitude I try to bring to my work, rethinking what furniture is, what it looks like, and how it feels.” JACKRABBIT.STUDIO
Brett Miller in his Leeds studio. Photo by Kyle Knodle
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TH E SOURCE
A PA S S AG E T O I N D I A JOHN ROBSHAW SHOP By Lisa Green Photos by Rachel Robshaw Table setting with block printed Irsa placemats and napkins by John Robshaw Textiles.
W
hen John Robshaw was a student at Pratt, one of his professors sent him to India to “smuggle” back sequin gowns from Mumbai. That was his introduction to the world of Indian textiles, but it wasn’t the glittery stuff that kept him going back. Robshaw fell in love with the country’s block printing traditions. With his fine arts degree in hand, he attempted to make a living as a painter, all the while collecting textiles. Though Robshaw’s paintings may have had great artistic merit, it was the textiles he’d been amassing that really wowed design professionals. Eventually, the fine arts gave way to travels abroad and serious immersion into the art and craft of block printing. Robshaw studied and worked alongside local artisans in Central and Southeast Asia, honing his skills and blending his painterly eye with an age-old tradition. Now a leading textile designer, Robshaw’s signature style is woven into an ever-changing collection of home goods. Recently, he moved his showroom, bringing the color, texture, and techniques of the Southeast Asian decorative arts to Falls Village, Connecticut. The John Robshaw Shop is housed in a traditional farmhouse at the crossroads of Routes 7 and 126. Inside, you’re transported into a universe of swirly prints, paisleys, medallions, and other rhythmic patterns; bedding and tabletop textiles with hand-stitched edging and
embroidery; vintage treasures; and antique and upholstered furniture that put you in another world. If you like color and texture—and value craftsmanship—this is your nirvana. Robshaw’s had a home in nearby Sharon for a dozen years, and considered moving his showroom up from New York for a while. Not only would letting go of his city real estate save a chunk of change, it would relocate his space to a designer-focused neighborhood populated by Bunny Williams (her shop, 100 Main, is also in Falls Village); Cora Ginsburg LLC, an antique costume and textile dealer in Sharon; and, famed West Cornwall-based antiques dealer and garden designer Michael Trapp (among others in the design field). When Robshaw learned that Trapp’s New England farmhouse was for sale, he saw his opportunity. While he had to make some adjustments, the space’s very non-New England interior, with the whitewashed columns and arched doorways established by Trapp, is a fitting echo of the aesthetics from which Robshaw’s products emanate. The property also includes a barn where Rachel Robshaw, a photographer and the designer’s wife, conducts her photo shoots. Despite not traveling to India since the start of the pandemic, Robshaw has continued to put out twice-yearly collections. He designs the prints in New York, then sends them to Jaipur, where block makers carve the patterns into hardwood upstate HOUSE
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845.679.9979
John Robshaw, founder and CEO of John Robshaw Textiles. Top: Robshaw’s new spring collection bedding. Aasira duvet and shams, Layla quilt in indigo, Turvi decorative pillow on bed. Shot in the John Robshaw Shop in Falls Village, Connecticut.
and the hand printing ensues. The magnitude of the labor intensity and craftsmanship is hard to fathom, but the evidence of it is piled high on shelves and tables in the warren of rooms in Falls Village. There are nubby, handstitched quilts, throws and sheeting, woven pillows, tabletop items, rugs, curtains, and wallpaper. Robes and pajamas sport playful elephant and palace prints. Elephants, in fact, are a common theme, making appearances in the decorative pillows handpainted by artisans in Jaipur, some of which, Robshaw says, take days to complete. A wall sprinkled with turbans pre-tied with Robshaw’s prints form a whimsical constellation above one of the show beds, proving there’s nothing you can’t decorate with a bit of handblocked cloth. Robshaw’s furniture—daybeds, a swivel chair, ottomans, room screens, and other silhouettes—can be customized with any of his fabrics. He also imports antique cabinets, teak with bone inlay he’s found in New Delhi, and embellishes an already magical environment with vintage treasures collected hither and yon. Admitting that he is a pattern and color junkie, the prolific Robshaw’s output is vibrant and exotic, inviting and homey. If you haven’t wanted to make your own journey to India prior your introduction to Robshaw’s textiles, you will now. Until then, a trip to the John Robshaw Shop in Falls Village will more than suffice. JOHNROBSHAW.COM upstate HOUSE
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SAUGERTIES A Classic Hudson Valley Mill Town By Anne Pyburn Craig Photos by David McIntyre
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sawmill had been operating in what is now Saugerties for around a quarter century already when Sir Edmund Andros seized it from Amorgarickakan Esopus chief Kaelcop in 1677, acquiring for the English Crown a choice location indeed: a pretty hillside joining Catskills to Hudson at the mouth of a substantial creek. In 1710, the British government provided the settlement with a ready-made population of skilled workers, shipping immigrants from Germany’s Palatine region onward to this part of the Hudson valley to make naval supplies for the Crown’s fleet. (Not a century later, during the Revolutionary War, ungrateful British sailors would anchor here and set fire to sloops and a few farms, leaving five days later after General Burgoyne’s Saratoga surrender.) In 1811, the hamlet contained a whopping 21 houses and was mostly owned by Robert L. Livingston. Around 1825, Henry Barclay, a businessman and friend of Livingston’s, decided he’d rather be an upstate industrialist than a New York City importer and dammed the Esopus to power an ironworks and a paper mill, importing engineers and techies from overseas to oversee the latest methods, creating what was then called the Village of Ulster. 22
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Barclay’s mills would change hands many times over the decades before finally closing for good in 1969. By then, the Band had already released the born-in-Saugerties Music from Big Pink and the monolith at Harvey Fite’s Mayan-inspired marvel of dry-laid bluestone, Opus 40, had been standing for five years. Saugerties has long had a gift for making room for the latest while remaining indubitably Saugerties. International horse show folks have been based here since 2003, bringing with them the potent economic lift of Horse Shows in the Sun. Upriver, a major film studio, climateforward and woman-owned (one of whom is Mary Stuart Masterson), opened in 2020 and is bringing yet another, and the community has opened its arms, not for the first time, to the many newcomers collaborating on the current reinvention. The Scene Laura Huron, owner of Bosco Mercantile, had never given upstate life a second thought—she was having too much fun as a bicoastal vagabond between New York and San Francisco and summering on Fire Island, but a stop in Saugerties changed all that. “I had no idea a place like this existed,” she says. “I ended up here for the
weekend and was just wandering around, and I was charmed in the way these villages can do. So beautiful! Everyone was so friendly. I went into Dig, the dress shop Daisy Kramer Bolle had at the time, and we got to talking about my dream of opening a home store. She was just so welcoming and warm and helpful.” That was about five years ago, and Huron says she’s still impressed by her new home. “There’s a fantastic arts nonprofit, Shout Out Saugerties, that started with just a couple of weekend events in the summer and now has a full year of programming— during the pandemic, they’ve organized all sorts of safe outdoor events so people could get together, hosting movies and plays. This spring, they’re partnering with Opus 40 on a sculpture event all through the village. I don’t think I realized when I moved here how many truly wonderful arts people of all kinds were already embedded here, and then just in the last five years, even before COVID, we’ve just had a tremendous influx of people coming here and getting involved. Huron says there are hardly enough hours in the day to partake of the options, but she’s trying. “I love the restaurants—Miss Lucy’s, Olsen and Company—they opened right after I did,
THE FACTS ZIP CODE: 12477 POPULATION: 19,138 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $57,928 PROXIMITY TO MAJOR CITIES: Saugerties is 110 miles from New York City and 45.3 miles from Albany. TRANSPORTATION: Saugerties is located on the NYS Thruway at Exit 20, and there are daily bus runs to Manhattan and Albany via Trailways; you can hop on an Amtrak half an hour away in Hudson. The nearest airports are Albany International (50 minutes) and Stewart International in New Windsor (also 50 minutes). NEAREST HOSPITAL: HealthAlliance Hospital of Kingston is 14.5 miles to the south. Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck is 13.5 miles away via the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. SCHOOLS: The Saugerties Central School District serves 2,608 students at its high school, junior high and four elementary schools. Nearby private options include Woodstock Day School and Hudson Valley Sudbury School in Kingston. POINTS OF INTEREST: Saugerties Lighthouse B&B, Opus 40 Sculpture Park, Cantine Field, Diamond Mills Hotel, Dutch Ale House, Saugerties Village Beach & Playground, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Esopus Bend Nature Dallas Gilpin, managing partner of Shale Hill Hospitality Group, which operates the Dutch Ale House on Main Street. Opposite: The historic Saugerties Lighthouse is a popular bed and breakfast.
Preserve, Saugerties Antique Center, FedOn Lights Antiques, Pop Vintage Antiques, 11 Jane Street Art Center, Emerge Gallery and Art Space, Inquiring Mind Bookstore and Gallery, Olsen & Co., Bosco’s Mercantile, Treasures In
they’re Saugerties born and bred and they’re wonderful. I love the walks and hikes nearby. We put together a merchants’ group to plan some events and boost commerce, and we’d talk it over at the Dutch Ale House over cocktails and knitting, just great fun.” She’s already been to three films at the Orpheum Theater, recently reopened by Upstate Films, and Huron is looking forward to another summer of outdoor performances and markets and canoeing and kayaking from the village beach. And she’s come to love the neighbors she shares them with. “During the pandemic, multiple mutual aid programs sprang up to make sure everyone that needed rent or food was taken care of, and it was really inspiring to see,” Huron says. “And the people who’ve relocated here are on board with that—they’re supporting local vigorously and loudly.” The Market “Things are still pretty crazy,” says realtor Scott Helsmoortel, who’s been selling homes in Saugerties for over 15 years. “There’s not a lot of inventory, and when something does come
up that’s priced correctly, showings get snapped up and there’s a feeding frenzy. It’s a problem. We just put a house on the market in Barclay Heights, not luxurious, needed some work—the kind of house that three years ago would have taken a while to sell. Five offers and three days later, it’s pending.” It’s a familiar situation all over the Hudson Valley and beyond these days, and Helsmoortel’s advice may sound familiar, too: “Have your finances and preapprovals all lined up. Be diligent in your search, and be ready to rock.” All of that said, at the time of this writing, Realtor.com was listing smallish two- and three-bedroom saltbox and ranch homes in outlying neighborhoods between $100,00 to $300,000. Their data reflects that the median home price in Saugerties in December of 2021 was $359,000, a year-to-year increase of 13.4 percent. “The frenzy is across all price ranges,” says Helsmoortel. “Million dollar homes, $250,000 homes, they’re all selling. Eventually, something’s got to give—I don’t know what, but everybody’s got to live somewhere.”
The Rough, Green, Miss Lucy’s Kitchen, BlackEyed Suzie’s Upstate, Love Bites Cafe, Rock Da Casbah, Brine Barrel, Ginza Asian Fusion, Ohana Cafe, Upriver Studios
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COM M U N IT Y
NEWBURGH
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ewburgh has struggled with a perception problem. Visitors would often hurry through on their way back to New York City. A slew of vacant buildings—though often architectural gems—turned people off. A complicated history of racialized urban planning led to what local real estate broker Sarah Beckham Hooff calls a “poverty silo” that has lasting effects. When Hooff hired an out-of-towner to install her oven, he was afraid to come to Newburgh and park his truck on the street. But these days, Newburgh is seeing a liveliness and an understanding that just because an area has seen decline doesn’t mean it always will. Many of those vacant buildings are getting snatched up in a hot real estate market. Property values are up almost 20 percent. Hooff describes a city where neighbors comment on how big her kids are getting or bring her her keys when she accidentally leaves them in her car. “If you’re going to get hooked on Newburgh, you’ll live in a beautiful house, but you’ll also know how it feels being a member of a community where people are around,” she says. “You’ll get to know the lady at the corner store, and she’ll know that you like bananas or whatever it is. It’s a cool city beyond the buildings.” 24
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Something Different By Kendyl Kearly Photos by David McIntyre
Before Cher Vickers became the executive director of the City of Newburgh IDA in 2018, she was already a passionate advocate, covering the city’s on-again, off-again resurgence in her blog Newburgh Restoration, since 2008. Vickers is pleased that friends now want to come visit her in Newburgh instead of the other way around. “It really does feel like we’re at pinnacle time here in the Hudson Valley where I personally feel an excitement and growth about the region in general that I never experienced in my teens and 20s. People didn’t come up here then,” she says. The city is full of history—George Washington’s military headquarters stands over the Hudson, and the East End Historic District is an ode to a range of architectural styles dating back to the 1850s. But developers and investors are also pouring new energy into the city. Vickers says there’s a saying: “If you’re trying to describe Newburgh, don’t. You’ll always hear something different.” “[Newburgh is] three square miles, but you go two blocks up, and it’s a whole different vibe,” Hooff says. “You can have a posh mansion or live on Liberty Street by the corner store. Broadway is super interesting and diverse. There are a ton of different languages spoken. You can live a lot of different lives in Newburgh.”
The Scene When Philippe Pierre started investing in Newburgh real estate and restaurants, it didn’t cross his mind to live anywhere else. “It’s not a bedroom community,” he says. “The waterfront attracts people far and wide from Dutchess and Orange and Ulster counties. I think that’s a different clientele than who would come to Liberty Street.” Many small businesses congregate on Liberty Street and are filling some of the previously vacant spaces, even during the pandemic. Toasted restaurant opened in May, Crab-A-Bag seafood eatery celebrated its grand opening in December, and Newburgh Yoga Shala nabbed a spot on Liberty and Renwick. In February 2021, a pair of business partners launched joint clothing stores, Estilo Muñeca and Kabil & Noil. “There’s a trend of abandoned spaces that were uninhabited and unavailable to the public for a long time becoming places of public engagement,” Vickers says. “You would have thought COVID would stop that and end up with more empty storefronts. It actually hasn’t been the case. We’re seeing more places opening up and being more available to the public.” On Grand Street, the old Masonic Temple is slated to become a boutique hotel, and on
THE FACTS ZIP CODE: 12550 POPULATION: 28,866 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $41,769 PROXIMITY TO MAJOR CITY: Newburgh is 69 miles from New York City and 80 miles from Albany. TRANSPORTATION: Newburgh is located at the crossroads of Interstate 84 and the New York State Thruway. There are four commuter bus runs to and from Manhattan each weekday, and the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry connects to Metro-North’s Hudson Line. New York Stewart International Airport is located six miles outside the city. NEAREST HOSPITAL: Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital is within city limits. SCHOOLS: Newburgh Enlarged City School District serves 11,557 students in grades K-12 at its seven K-5 elementary schools (including one with a pre-K center), two K-8 schools, two middle schools and one high school. The district offers CTE and P-TECH programs that allow interested students to graduate with college degrees. Mount Saint Mary College and a SUNY Orange campus are located in Newburgh. Liz Neilsen and Carolina Wheat in Elijah Wheat Showroom, their contemporary art space on Front Street.
POINTS OF INTEREST: Washington’s
Opposite: Liberty Street has seen many new businesses and residents in recent years.
Headquarters, Downing Park, Newburgh Free Library, Newburgh Vintage Emporium, Atlas Studios, Thornwillow Press, 2 Alices Coffee Lounge, Newburgh Brewing Company, Ann
the waterfront, the recently opened Primo restaurant boasts more than 170 outdoor seats alone. “It’s a pretty cool thing to be here and have four different taco places,” Vickers says. “We have options here. I’m only a 5-to-10minute drive from everything. When people move upstate, they think it’ll be 30 minutes to the supermarket.” The small business community rallies around the Newburgh Illuminated arts festival, which Pierre says is the best business day of the year for his Liberty Street restaurant Ms. Fairfax, and the Shop Small campaign to support downtown. The Market Newburgh’s interesting real estate market is part of what made Hooff want to become a realtor in the first place. She explored gorgeous buildings in need of some care. “It was like a fairy world of real estate opportunity,” Hooff says. As developers sweep in, fewer of those buildings are fixer-uppers, but prices are also going up. The median home sale price has climbed to $280,000, according to Redfin. “There’s a surge in demand for housing in Newburgh and a search for affordable housing
pretty much like the rest of the world,” Pierre says. “There have been a number of larger-scale developments that have been proposed and are in the works.” Sure to shake up the market is the new good cause eviction law that took effect at the beginning of 2022. The idea is to protect tenants, but Hooff says the measure could speed up gentrification. Landlords might be less willing to take a chance on prospective tenants who are right on the edge of income requirements. The city has also been simplifying some of the bureaucracy around building and renovating, Hooff says. Building permits used to take four to five months to process, but now you can get one in a week. The Architectural Review Commission, which can make or break a project, has become more transparent over the years in its effort to preserve Newburgh’s signature architectural character, according to Pierre. “It’s fun to see so many people putting the love of a homeowner into a building as opposed to the love of an investor,” Hooff says. “Not to say that smart investors don’t take care, but we’re seeing not just building renovations but true restorations.”
Street Gallery, Waterfront Trail Urban Walk, Motorcyclepedia Museum, The Wherehouse, Blacc Vanilla Cafe, East End Historic District, David Crawford House, Newburgh Armory Unity Center, Dutch Reformed Church, Newburgh Colored Burial Ground
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HOUSE PRO FILE
STABLE TRANSITION A designer blends the classics with the contemporary in Hillsdale.
By Mary Angeles Armstrong Photos by William Waldron/OTTO
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Above: A set of sheer linen curtains “cuts the sun in the heat of the day,” she says, “and also acts as insect repellent in the evening”— all without screening in the porch. Opposite: The pool and pool house were recent additions to the property, but homeowner and designer Hadas Dembo wanted it to look as if it had always been there. Terraced landings and stone walls were added to articulate the grounds as the pool sits below the house. Antique copper pots with exotic plantings anchor the foot of the pool.
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n 1987, designer Hadas Dembo stumbled onto her ultimate passion project. Cycling the hilly backroads of Columbia County, she and her husband chanced upon a decidedly rustic cottage. The cedar shake-sided saltbox was easily overlooked, aside from the For Sale sign in front. It didn’t exactly exude curb appeal. “Unruly shrubs and vines largely obscured the exterior of the house while the interior proved inviting to spiders, raccoons, and countless other creatures,” recalls Dembo. Built in the 19th century, the structure was originally a horse stable (the original farmhouse had long since burned to the ground). In the 1920s, a trio of ladies recast the space into a women’s-only summer cottage, with no electricity or running water, but with the luxury of an added three-seater outhouse (which is still standing). In the 1950s, the cottage underwent a rudimentary modernization. “The home’s third owners added some plumbing, which consisted of small copper pipes that ran exposed along the walls to the kitchen, primitive electricity and a solitary, tiny bath on the first level,” explains Dembo. Based in Manhattan, Dembo and her husband had already fallen for the hilly countryside east of the Hudson. “My inlaws owned a house in Ancramdale and my husband had been spending weekends there since he was five,” she says. As a couple, they’d visited regularly and had already contemplated getting their own place. The gussied-up-but-overgrown horse
stable was actually the first house they’d considered buying. “Then we thought, well we better go check out other places,” Dembo remembers. “But there was something about the house that spoke to me. We were instantly smitten by the unspoiled state of affairs.” It’s a classic story: Girl meets house. Girl falls for house. Girl completely underestimates the renovation task at hand. Girl then spends the next 30 years transforming it into a comfortable, eclectic space with modern amenities that nevertheless retains the simple honesty of the original structure. Setting the Scene In many ways, the evolution of the 1,700-square-foot home and surrounding five-acre property mirrors the trajectory of Dembo’s career. Originally an English major with a passion for film, Dembo first worked in magazine publishing. “As a director of photography, it was my job to come up with creative ways to illustrate stories,” says Dembo. “And the stories I worked on weren’t always so easily illustrated. I did travel, fashion, culture, arts, and even business articles.” The experience developed her skill set for creatively telling visual stories. It also gave her a deep appreciation for weaving and layering myriad details to create rich mise en scenes. “I like for things to look as though they just happened, which of course they never do, but that’s the trick,” she explains. “It’s a lot like upstate HOUSE
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Opposite: On the second floor, a sitting area furnished with a vintage French daybed, antique Persian rug, and vintage Turkish floor pillows serves as the family den.
Above: In the original stable, a vintage French chandelier hangs where there was once a hayloft. The tabletop is a marble fragment from a chocolate factory in Vermont and the table’s legs are vintage machine legs.
cooking—you can have a lot of ingredients you like, but they have to actually work together in the end.” (Mise en Scene is also the name of Dembo’s interior design firm.) Meanwhile, Dembo began decorating homes on the side, mostly focused on renovating Manhattan apartments. Shortly after buying their upstate weekend getaway, Dembo and her husband started a family. “When our two kids were little, we couldn’t do too much to the house,” she says. “We cleaned it up a bit—I mean, it was a mess—but we couldn’t do anything major.” What they did do was spend weekends exploring the area’s treasure trove of art, antiques, and second-hand finds. “We went everywhere,” says Dembo. “We went to tag sales, we went to flea markets, we went to all the big antique shows, and we visited the Brimfield show in Massachusetts three times a year.” She also developed relationships with local artisans, which she began utilizing for her growing design business in Manhattan. Eventually Dembo left the publishing world behind to focus on interior design, relying on her ever-expanding mental Rolodex of upstate vendors. “This area has such great resources,” she says. “I use a lot of people up here, including local upholsterers, metal workers, and carpenters, and get window treatments made locally as well.”
barn boards,” she recalls of the original structure. They also rewired the electrical system, embedding it in the walls, and upgraded the ancient plumbing. When it came time to rework some of the interior design, Dembo was able to put both her creative skills and her connections to work. “The creative opportunities afforded by an old house with intrinsic charm and history were both alluring and challenging,” she explains. “Since the stableturned-house was an ever-evolving place, I didn’t feel the need to recreate a period piece—instead I filled the home with my scavenger finds.” After years of scouring upstate tag sales and antique fairs, Dembo has “a huge mental database of where things are,” she explains. Still, she never gets attached to any one idea when she begins a project. “I usually have a good starting point of what I want,” she explains. “However I don’t get buttonholed into an idea. I’ll go out looking for something— let’s say a dresser made of a specific material for example— but then I find something totally different that’s even more interesting than my original idea. It’s part of the evolution of a project to keep an open mind.” Dembo believes the downstairs barebones kitchen and mudroom had originally been an outdoor area enclosed by previous owners. To reinvent the space, Dembo sourced reclaimed 18th-century Belgian bluestone tiles originally used as ship ballasts to cover the kitchen and mudroom floors. “Each is about a hundred pounds and were used in the hulls of trade ships traveling back and forth from Indonesia,” says Dembo. “Some still have shells embedded in the surface.” To keep from getting “too cute” with the antiquated floors, Dembo included a suite of stainless steel appliances and paired them with contemporary counters and light fixtures.
The Kismet of Great Design As Dembo and her young family got to know their own house, they slowly made improvements geared toward more comfortable living. “At first we were do-it-yourselfers, as we had some basic skills,” Dembo says. However, as they did more extensive renovations, they called in outside help. They began by insulating the walls. “Beneath the cedar shake were just
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Above: The home’s original fireplace was built with fieldstones from around the property, and the beams were made from felled trees. Opposite: The main bathroom, a recent addition on the second floor of the house, was built using old materials—reclaimed hand-hewn chestnut beams; antique steel window; French panels as closet doors; antique French cement tiles on the floor; antique French chandelier—and outfitted with contemporary fittings: Dornbracht bath fixtures and an MTI tub. The walls are tinted plaster.
Graceful Ageing The home’s latest remodel project is the capstone—both literally and figuratively—of the cottage design. Enlisting the help of local architect Kate Johns, who specializes in seamless additions and restorations of historic properties, Dembo reimagined both the interior bathroom situation as well as multiple outdoor spaces. After years of living with the original downstairs bathroom, Dembo decided it was high time for an upgrade. “The bathroom opened right into the kitchen, which I hated,” she explains. “Especially living with kids, the door was always open.” Dembo and Johns flipped the bathroom entrance so that the room is now entered through the mudroom. The bathroom’s original door sill was repurposed as a shallow pantry. They also removed the room’s bathtub to create a spacious powder room. A new expanded window adds light and air to the space and wooden floors reclaimed from a bowling alley, laid in a herringbone pattern, add an elegant update.
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Hadas Dembo with Mookie at the entrance to the property. The cobblestone driveway and repurposed boathouse doors set the tone for the property inside. Above: Stone walkways meander through apple and magnolia trees and an extensive vegetable garden.
Upstairs, the pair pushed out the sloped saltbox roof to create an ample, light-filled primary bathroom. Here, Dembo’s signature style of synthesizing contemporary features with antique finds is finely displayed. The room features a modern sink with a stone backsplash and ample glass shower, but the floors are finished with vintage French encaustic tiles. A freestanding MTI tub with a Tara faucet from Dornbracht looks out to the gardens through refurbished vintage windows, found locally. With John’s help, Dembo also designed a covered porch at the rear of the home utilizing reclaimed mushroom boards for the ceiling. While Dembo admits that she’ll always find something new to “fiddle with” on the property, she thinks her passion project might have reached an interesting stopping point. “After more than two decades—it seems impossible now to fathom how one can possibly spend so much time on so small a space—our dream has finally come to fruition.” 32
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ARCHITECTURE INTERIOR DESIGN
new york city millbrook, ny jansonscuro.com jansonscuro
REMODELING?
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Contact Recovery & Donations Specialist, Freya, to learn more! 718.635.1312 | Freya.Bromwich@cetonline.org centerforecotechnology.org @freestylerestyle freestylerestyle.com 917. 282. 9764
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DREAM DESIGN
Tips for Kicking Off the Kitchen Remodel You’ve Always Wanted
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iving your kitchen the glow-up it deserves is an exciting endeavor. It’s a chance to modernize the look of the room, upgrade appliances, and finally get the one thing every kitchen always seems to need: more storage space. Remodeling your kitchen can also be a surprisingly personal process. After all, the kitchen is the heart of your home—a gathering space where your friends and family come to chat, enjoy your latest culinary creations, and make memories together. To top it all off, a remodel is an investment of money, time, and faith in a designer. That’s why it’s important to work with the right team who can turn your dream kitchen into reality, and as Kim Williams, SVP of Retail Operations at Williams Lumber and Home Centers says, “nail it right the first time.” With eight convenient locations, including two kitchen and bath showrooms in Pleasant Valley 34
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and Rhinebeck that feature over 20 kitchen design displays, ranging from traditional to ultra-modern from quality manufacturers like Omega, Schrock, and Crystal, Williams Lumber and Home Centers has been a go-to for home improvement in the Hudson Valley since 1946. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, here are a few tips from Williams that will help you achieve the kitchen of your dreams. Starting the Design Process No matter the size or scale of your remodel, it often can be difficult to know where to start. “We understand that most homeowners will design a new kitchen only once or twice in their lives,” says Williams. “Our most important job is to educate consumers about their choices so they can select what works for them both functionally and aesthetically.” The Williams and Home Centers design team utilizes computer software to help individuals
visualize what their final kitchen will look like, and the same designer who works with you at the showroom will also come to your home to assess the space. “Every individual and every situation is unique,” says Williams. “Our designers know the important questions to ask, and when to listen.” According to Williams, design revisions and changes of heart are very common. Working with an experienced designer who can offer unexpected solutions will give you the support you need to make the choices that are right for you. Before you start, Williams recommends writing down everything you love about your existing kitchen and everything you want to change. “Think about your lifestyle and what you use your kitchen for, including your family size, how much you cook, and how often you entertain,” she says. Identifying your exact needs will help you and your designer streamline your project goals, especially if you’re operating on a tight budget.
Functionality Is Key Now that you’ve identified the problems in your existing kitchen, it’s time to create a design and incorporate the right kind of products to solve them. The best design solutions focus on making better use of the space that you already have. Constantly staring at a kitchen table that’s never in use? You might be better off adding a kitchen island or peninsula, says Williams. Both options can add functional counter space while still creating a natural gathering space that allows for additional seating. If your counter is cluttered with bulky appliances, now is the time to give them a new home. Microwaves can be incorporated into the hood above your range, or neatly tucked away in a wall or base cabinet. Incorporating pull-out storage solutions into cabinetry is also a great way to increase accessibility. Pull-down pantry shelves, slide-
out trash and recycling bins, and lazy susans or swing-out shelves in corner cabinets will help you spend less time peering into the back of your cabinets wondering what you stored there and more time using what’s inside. Choosing Your Color Palette Since the kitchen is the room in your home that usually has the most activity, the colors you choose will have a big impact. Your cabinets, countertops, appliances, and wall color should complement each other and your overall aesthetic vision for your home. Also consider that modern open-plan kitchens flow to and from other parts of the house, in which case your design choices should also work well with adjacent rooms. Many home improvement companies, including premium paint brand Benjamin Moore and cabinet manufacturer MasterBrand,
introduce new featured colors or finishes each year to help homeowners identify the palettes currently trending in the interior design world. “Think of color trends as a brainstorming aid, a prompt to help you reimagine your space in a new way,” says Williams. “Trending colors are exciting for a lot of people, but many also prefer to choose timeless colors. It’s totally up to the individual.” If you’ve got your heart set on an on-trend wall color like a moody blue-gray or soothing, earthy green, cabinet manufacturer MasterBrand also offers custom color capabilities in many of its lines that allow you to create a complementary color scheme or to achieve that sleek monochromatic look. And of course, there’s a reason white never goes out of style—it’s a clean, classic look that’s sure to weather your new kitchen’s years ahead. WILLIAMSLUMBER.COM upstate HOUSE
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ART FORMS ARCHITECTURE Grigori Fateyev, RA Principal email: gf@aformsa.com phone: 413.429.5302 instagram: @art_forms_architecture
291 River Street, Troy 142 Grand Ave, Saratoga Springs 518.587.7120 | phinneydesign.com
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A full service architectural design firm located in Hudson valley / Berkshire region
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N o w o p e n i n R h i n e b e c k @ M o n t g o m e r y Ro w A n e w d e s i g n s h o p f ro m t h e t e a m at S t u d i o S F W O p e n W-S u n o r b y a p p o i n t m e n t [ e ] h o u s e @ s t u d i o s f w. c o m [ p ] 8 4 5 . 5 1 6 . 5 1 6 2 Fo l l o w u s @ H O U S E S F W o r @ ST U D I O S F W
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H OUSE PROFILE
Mary and Russel Wright, photo for The Guide to Easier Living, 1950. (Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center.)
WRIGHT AT HOME Dragon Rock at Manitoga By Joan Vos MacDonald upstate HOUSE
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Dragon Rock, Life magazine, c.1962 (Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center.)
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Martha Graham Girls, a landscaped grove of gray birch trees that move like modern dancers in the wind, c.1980 (Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center.)
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parks must have flown when Russel Wright met Mary Small Einstein at Woodstock’s Maverick Festival in August of 1927. The couple eloped only a month later. The festival’s woodland setting also engendered a lifelong love of the Hudson Valley and would later inspire the design of the couple’s iconic home, Dragon Rock. Photographs of the festival, a regular fundraiser for Woodstock’s Maverick Art Colony, evoke the woodland revelry of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The festival was attended by thousands of visitors, who often arrived in fanciful costumes and felt free to celebrate in unconventional ways. “Dionysian” is the word Jennifer Golub, author of Russel and Mary Wright: Dragon Rock at Manitoga (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021), uses to describe the festivities. “I think it was a celebratory space of inclusion, of free play, where the creative spirit could really flourish,” says Golub. “And I think Russel and Mary were both artists who came from very uptight families and they were being groomed for lives that didn’t feel authentic to them.” Russel, who would become one of America’s foremost industrial designers, produced events for the festival’s Quarry Amphitheater, performances set in an abandoned bluestone quarry with planks for seating. Mary, a designer, sculptor, and businesswoman, attended the festival with avantgarde artist Alexander Archipenko. Mary was raised to be a debutante and Russel’s family wanted him to be a lawyer, but neither was interested in a conventional life.
After marrying, the couple formed Wright Accessories, a successful home accessories design business. Russel is best known for his American Modern design, the most widely sold American ceramic dinnerware in history, designed for Steubenville Pottery, as well as his American Modern flatware designs for John Hull Cutlers Corporation. The furniture, dining accessories, lamps, glassware, rugs, and textiles he designed were instrumental in encouraging Americans to embrace Modernism in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Not only did Russel’s designs become popular but the couple influenced the lifestyle decisions of a generation with their best-selling book, Guide to Easier Living (1950), which describes efficient home design and management while rejecting the confines of conventional gender roles and class. In addition, Mary founded America Designs Inc., an organization that supported the works of American industrial designers. A Little Woodstock in Garrison The Wrights’ love of Hudson Valley landscapes eventually led them to buy a 77-acre plot in Garrison. They named it Manitoga, after the Wappinger tribe’s word for “great spirit.” The site was an abandoned quarry, reminiscent of the Woodstock site where they first met. “They fell in love with that part of the world and felt an affinity with nature, that particular landscape,” says Golub. Russel and Mary were very much partners in both the design business and the vision for their upstate HOUSE
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Margaret Spader and Russel Wright, Life magazine,1962 (Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center.)
Manitoga home, a fact Golub says may be overlooked when Russel Wright’s work is lauded. “Women at that time were not to be architects,” says Golub. “They were not to be designers and they expected to take secondary roles behind men. That doesn’t take anything away from Russel. He was a formidable designer and Mary obviously recognized the enormity of his talent, but she played a very large role in identifying and developing the site. Very sadly, she passed away before the home was built. It’s actually Russel himself, who in her obituary and in lectures, goes to great lengths to ensure she’s acknowledged and how much authorship she had in the development of the home. I felt it was my duty to bring that to light.” A Celebration of the Natural World When they purchased the property, the quarry was filled with rubble and the surrounding site thickly forested. Stones cleared out from the quarry were used in Dragon Rock’s construction. Boulders were moved to support the house, while rocks from the site were used inside, serving as walls, fireplace surrounds, and flooring materials. A tree from the property provides a ceiling beam support. “It’s designed in full appreciation of that natural world,” says Golub. Perched on a quarry bluff, Dragon Rock is situated for the best possible views of the surrounding wilderness. A glass facade makes the most of those views, particularly a waterfall
which pools below, as well as the rolling forested hills beyond. The home’s interior reflects the colors and textures of the surrounding forest—warm browns, vernal greens, and the pale white of winter—with hemlock needles pressed into plaster walls and butterflies seemingly floating within acrylic panels. “I almost feel like the garden was designed as rooms and the house was just another room, an enclosed room,” says Golub. “It’s just one more station in the sequence of outdoor rooms, so it’s absolutely a celebration of the natural world.” After Mary died in 1952, Russel eventually moved to Manitoga full time, so he could spend more time with his daughter. “Annie was only two when Mary passed away,” says Golub. “He lost his wife, he lost his best friend, he lost the mother of his child, his partner, his business practice. The guy really had a very difficult transition. Then I think Russel came out on the other side of this and said, ‘Okay, I am pulling through this my way.’” He eventually completed the home’s construction with the help of architect David Leavitt and, until his own passing in 1976, Russel shaped, repaired, and reclaimed the surrounding woods, taking on an unparalleled feat of landscaping and conservation. “That became Russel’s labor of love for the last 20 years of his life,” says Golub. “From the time he closed the design firm, after Mary’s passing, and he relocated to Dragon Rock full time, that was his fascination.” upstate HOUSE
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Home as Theater Golub’s book describes the care with which Russell executed his stewardship of the land. He dammed the quarry to create a swimming hole and rerouted a stream to create a waterfall. He removed vegetation to reveal distinctive boulders, pruned branches of stately hemlocks, and created sequenced spaces reminiscent of a Japanese villa garden. He installed simple bridges and carved out meadows. He cleared trees along the trails originally created by the Native Americans who once hunted in the area. Golub sees the house and grounds as Russel’s defining production, “live theater on a massive scale,” and his care of the woodlands with its hemlocks, mountain laurel, dogwood, black huckleberry, and lowbush blueberry as a pioneering blueprint for environmental practices. “What was beautiful was that Russel developed a sustainable practice,” she says. “He didn’t import anything foreign. He worked very strictly within what was indigenous and natural to the site. It was more like being a land steward. He knew his property well. He celebrated it and worked to enhance it.” Manitoga was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. It is one of the few 20th-century modern homes with an original landscape that is open to the public. Golub was so impressed by her first visit to Manitoga that she felt compelled to write about it. She had already written a book about modernist architect Albert Frey after discovering how little was written about his work. “It was a very similar feeling when I arrived at the grounds of Manitoga, before even arriving at the home, because the property was so spectacular,” says Golub. “And highly referential to Japanese gardens. The central water feature, the way the landscape reveals in certain places and conceals in others, and the different textures underfoot as you approach, are all very intentional while being very natural. I never experienced anything like it, other than the imperial villas in Kyoto.” Upon visiting the home she learned that the last publication about Russel Wright’s work was an exhibition catalog for a 2001 show at the Cooper Hewitt. It was long out of print. “There’s a whole generation of people for whom there is literally nothing in print about one of the seminal designers of the United States,” says Golub. “Appreciating that there needed to be an inquiry into Mary and what her participatory role was, I felt like I was answering a call. It wasn’t something I set out to do. It was something that compelled me.” Golub hopes that her book prompts readers to visit the site and that the beauty of the site stirs their spirits. Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center celebrates the Wrights’ design philosophy and work through tours, programs, events, and free year-round access to woodland trails. “They are really looking at programming to keep the site energized and fresh,” says Golub. “It’s such a jewel for the community. It should be a real source of pride.”
Top: Serving pieces: Spun aluminum, bamboo, birch, and cork, 1933 (Wright Auctions of Art and Design) Bottom: Residential divided vegetable bowl, Melmac, c.1953 (Russel Wright Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.)
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PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE 2022
The Gallatin Passive House project, designed by North River Architects is comprised of two structures: the main, two-story primary living portion, which has been newly built atop the site of a former horse stable, and an 18th-century Dutch Colonial barn. Photo by Randazzo & Blau
The Passive House construction standard is the most rigorous, energy-efficient set of performance-based building technologies currently available, centered on creating ultra-low-energy buildings that have a minimal ecological footprint. A philosophy that took root in the wake of the energy crisis in the 1970s and `80s, Passive House has gained considerable traction in our climate-conscious times. The Passive House concept—which can reduce heating and cooling energy consumption of buildings by up to 90 percent—represents today’s most compelling option for counteracting climate change in the built environment. Since the first Passive House was built in the Hudson Valley in 2010, architects, builders, and home buyers have embraced the technology, which will be further spurred on by the ambitious goals of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Upstate House’s second annual Passive House Guide highlights the innovations of Passive House technology on the regional level, showcasing leadingedge architecture and building techniques. For more Passive House resources, see page 56 or visit Upstatehouse.com.
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I SING THE BUILDING ELECTRIC 47
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GALLATIN PASSIVE HOUSE PROFILE 48
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OLIVE PASSIVE HOUSE HOUSE 52
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SEMINARY HILL CIDERY PROFILE 56
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PASSIVE HOUSE RESOURCES 58
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PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE
I SING THE BUILDING ELECTRIC Passive House Meets the Moment in NY BY LISSA HARRIS
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he writing is on the wall: Sometime in the next few years, New York State contractors will probably stop building new houses to be heated with gas and oil. As politicians hammer out the fine print on the 2022 state budget, one of the key budget battles looming is over a ban on fossil fuels in new construction—and with most of the state’s Democratic legislators on board with some amount of climate action, the fight isn’t over whether to do it, it’s when. Governor Kathy Hochul has said she wants a ban to take effect in 2027. State legislators sponsoring the proposed All-Electric Building Act—Emily Gallagher in the Assembly and Brian Kavanagh in the Senate—want to see that happen sooner, starting in 2024. New York City is already moving on that front, with the recent passage of a local law that begins phasing out gas hookups in new construction in 2024. It looks like a phase-out of fossil fuels in new buildings is coming sooner or later. Either way, Hudson Valley Passive House design expert John Loercher needs to scale up his business—and fast. “A few months ago, we started to hear all these statements—like [Hochul’s] State of the State address, talking about a much more aggressive rate of decarbonizing,” Loercher says. “Frankly, I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to figure out a new business model here, because there’s just not enough professionals right now to handle that sort of volume.’” Loercher is the founder of Northeast Projects, a Passive House design company based in the Columbia County town of Hillsdale. He’s also an instructor for the national Passive House Institute US (PHIUS), and serves as a volunteer for their local Hudson Valley chapter. According to data from NYSERDA, energy use from building heating and cooling currently accounts for more than a third of New York State’s greenhouse gas emissions. If it becomes widely adopted, Passive House design could give a boost to New York State’s decarbonization goals, in more ways than one. As more industries start to make the transition to cleaner sources of heat and power, inefficient buildings are becoming more of a problem on a society-wide scale—and not just because they create greenhouse gasses. The more energy our buildings waste, the more industrial electrical infrastructure we will eventually have to build in rural upstate New York. “If, at this very moment, we were to snap our fingers and take every single home that’s on gas and heating oil off of those fossil fuels and put them on electric, our grid would break down. It wouldn’t be able to handle that,” Loercher says. Over the next few decades, New York’s climate law will require every state agency to work toward the goal of shifting away from fossil fuels, methodically wringing greenhouse gas emissions out of every sector of the economy. If all New York had to do in the next few
decades was replace half of the infrastructure of its electrical grid— the half that’s currently powered by fossil gas, and the transmission lines designed to carry power from fossil-fuel plants that will no longer run in the future—that would be a huge task in itself. But the job is far bigger than that. Electric vehicles are taking to the roads in increasing numbers, creating new demand for electricity. In homes and buildings, electric-powered heat pumps that double as air conditioners in the summer will gradually begin to replace oil and gas furnaces, a technology shift that promises to raise the efficiency of home heating and cooling dramatically, but also to put greater pressure on the grid. By around 2040, analysts at the New York Independent System Operator predict, New York’s peak levels of electricity use will no longer be in the summertime, when millions of old and inefficient air conditioners are on full blast, but in the winter, when heat pumps are working hardest. 2040 is also New York’s target date for a zero-emissions electrical grid, given legal force by the state’s 2019 climate law, and meeting that goal will require a massive buildout of new renewable power as well as new transmission lines to carry it to areas of high demand. The higher that winter peak gets, the more zero-carbon power New York will have to build to make sure the lights stay on in the coldest part of the year. “What ‘Passive House’ is trying to do is meet the grid in the middle,” Loercher says. “By building to the Passive House standard, you get a significant reduction in primary energy use.” Energy efficiency is getting more attention from state policymakers lately. In the early days of the passive house movement in the `80s, Loercher says, it wasn’t uncommon for a well-designed Passive House to save 90 percent on energy bills compared to a similarly sized conventional house. But as modern building code catches up with the physical realities of climate and energy, the gap between “regular” construction and Passive House design is narrowing, Loercher says. Another proposed bill that’s part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed executive budget, and that could be made into law this year, would tighten up building code and energy efficiency standards even further, bringing the state status quo a little closer to the lofty ideals of the Passive House movement. If rising standards for the rest of the construction industry eventually means the Passive House toolkit won’t be special anymore—well, that’s kind of the whole idea. Evangelists for the Passive House movement believe that with advances in building science as well as more widespread adoption, Passive House design will eventually “fulfill its promise and become the mainstream design and performance market standard in North America.” We’re not quite there yet in New York, but we’re getting closer.
“If we were to snap our fingers and take every single home that’s on gas and heating oil off of those fossil fuels and put them on electric, our grid would break down. It wouldn’t be able to handle that.” —John Loercher, Northeast Projects
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PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE
From Livestock to Living Room The Site of a Historic Barn and Stable in Southern Columbia County is Reborn as a Passive House BY PETER AARON
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ake a leisurely drive along two-lane Route 7 through sleepy Gallatin, in the southern quadrant of Columbia County, and you’ll be surrounded by evidence of the area’s vibrant agricultural past and present. Close to the New York/Massachusetts border and situated about 30 minutes by car from the buzzing hub of Hudson, Gallatin is connected to the Hudson River via a tributary known as the Roeliff Jansen Kill. The town was named for politician, diplomat, ethnologist, and linguist Albert Gallatin (“America’s Swiss Founding Father”), and the area it lies in was settled in the 1740s by Scottish immigrant farmers whose crops supplied New York City. While many of the historic farm buildings that were built in Columbia County over the ensuing centuries still serve their intended agro-industrial purposes, in recent years several have been remade into beautiful homes that incorporate sustainable, forward-thinking Passive House technology. A stunning local example of such innovation is the Gallatin Passive House, a residence designed and built by the award-winning Hudson Valley firm North River Architecture & Planning. The 3,400-square-foot Gallatin Passive House project is fully net-zero-energy- and Passive House-certified and comprised of two structures: the main, two-story primary living portion, which has been newly built atop the site of a former horse stable, and an 18th-century Dutch Colonial barn, which has been fully renovated and retrofitted to become a year-round multiuse events/work/recreation/ storage space. The two buildings are connected via the glass-walled “skybridge” that links the second floor of the main dwelling to a stair landing that descends into the 25-foot-tall, open-timber barn; the area beneath the elevated conduit, a semi-enclosed breezeway, accesses 48
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a covered porch space that’s perfect for outdoor dining and gatherings. The property’s original farmhouse now functions as an adjacent guest quarters; an on-site pool house with a wood-fired sauna also predates the new construction. Begun in June 2020, the bold rebuild and renovation was originally set for eight months but ended up being stretched to 10 months, due to COVID delays. The wait, though, was worth it—especially for the resident family, who throughout the process remained unwaveringly dedicated to North River’s design vision and the shared philosophy behind it. “It was an ambitious project, for sure,” says North River’s principal architect, Stephanie Bassler. “But when they came to us, the clients were very clear and committed in their minds about [embracing] the ethics of managing their human impact on their environment by constructing an energy-efficient building.” Bassler, who is currently vice president of the Hudson Valley chapter of the Passive House Alliance and developed the Passive House-certified Women’s Leadership Center at the nearby Omega Institute, became interested in Passive House design nearly 20 years ago, when she was living and working in New York City. “A lot of newer design in New York was disregarding the effects of having poor energy efficiency,” explains the architect. “The clarity of the intention of Passive House was very appealing to me and inspired me to make a break: When I moved to the Hudson Valley in 2006 with my family, I decided to focus on energyefficient design.” Completely offsetting the home’s energy costs, a well as, of course, rustic-elegant design and maximum comfort, was paramount to the client—along with another factor: self-
Above: The simplicity of the stucco-clad home intertwined with the history of the original barn, restored and reimagined into an extension of outdoor living space. Randazzo & Blau Photography Opposite, clockwise from top: The interior highlights layers of craftsmanship, including a Henrybuilt kitchen, custom millwork and furniture by Jack Decker of Vernacular Design, custom oak lighting details in the ceiling, and custom steel upper cabinets from Sandro Niessen from Orchard Group. Randazzo & Blau Photography The intersection between the 18thcentury barn and the stucco-clad Passive House, with a custom steel stair fabricated by Benson Steel. Scott Ruel Photography Chris Ruel, a partner at North River, was invited to speak about architecture to a group of students at Rondout Valley High School. As part of the experience, the students printed a model of the Gallatin House on a 3D printer, to be placed into a site model built by North River. Photo by North River
PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE
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sufficiency, which is another staple element of North River’s work on its Passive House projects. “The location of the house is pretty remote, so it’s designed to be climate-resilient and can function off-grid completely, if necessary,” says North River’s senior designer, Peter Reynolds, who has 30 years in the architectural field and has overseen sustainable private and public projects that include new dormitory and academic buildings on the Bard College campus and at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck. “The active solar panels on the barn supply the battery unit, which can run the entire house’s electrical system fully for up to two weeks.” Once it had been determined that the original, spartan horse stable was too small to be adapted for the needs of the family of five and their occasional guests, a unique design that builds on the concepts of North River’s Flexhouse III model was selected for the site (materials from the dismantled earlier structure were reutilized whenever possible; handhewn timbers from the stable, for example, live on as rustic, steel-reinforced interior elements of the barn). The cleanlined, three-bath house has four bedrooms on the second floor as well as a flexible common space that lends itself perfectly to homework by day and entertaining by night. The home’s open-flowing first floor is bright and spacious-feeling, thanks to the large, triple-glazed, screened M Sora windows, which maximize the warmth from the sun in the winter, and floor-to-ceiling, 24-foot lift-slide glass-panel doors, which offer sweeping views and give occupants the feeling of being outside while they have the comfort of being inside (the doors can be opened completely in the summer, for maximum airflow throughout the house). Sleek built-in storage units on both floors optimize living space. In strict keeping with net-zero parameters, North River’s design minimizes thermal bridging to prevent energy loss. For a Passive House-certified seal, the new structure’s 50
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standing-seam metal roof incorporates tight outer sheathing and zip sheathing at the ceiling level, while the stucco-sided, two-by-six-framed walls utilize DensGlass sheathing, furring strips, and Polysio insulation; both the roof and the walls are also packed with cellulose insulation, which is composed of chopped-up newspaper. The concrete slab floor includes eight-inch rigid insulation and a vapor barrier, which eradicates mold by forcing moisture to the outside of the building. The structural designs permit future modification of the internal plan with minimal cost, allowing the implementation of new Passive House developments as they become available. “We’re in the business of creating efficient, sustainable homes to last the next 100 years—and giving new life to historic buildings whenever we can,” says North River partner Chris Ruel, who worked on the project with the company’s junior and senior project managers, Caleb Killian and Biagio Gugliotta; interior designer Amy Baratta; woodworker Jack Decker of Vernacular Design; energy consultant John Loercher of Northeast Projects; and structural engineer Bill Scribner of Kaaterskill Associates. “With our readapting the barn and connecting it seamlessly to the new structure we built, this project was definitely more complex and ambitious than others we’ve done,” says Bassler about the property, whose permaculture garden further reflects the client’s commitment to a sustainable lifestyle. “NYSERDA [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority] is involved with every project we work on, and the Passive House Alliance is always pushing for more financial incentive programs to help clients who want to build or adapt existing homes to become more climate-sustainable Passive House units. Currently NYSERDA is offering incentives of up to $4,500 per unit, so now is a great time to consider a Passive House.”
The oak of the covered roof areas comes to life with warm evening light, allowing the exterior to flow seamlessly into the living spaces inside. Photo by North River
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PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE
Passive Perfect
Alessandro Ronfini’s Olive House BY JANE ANDERSON PHOTOS BY WINONA BARTON-BALLENTINE
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hen architect Alessandro Ronfini and his wife, set designer and art director Astrid Chastka, started talking about building their own home in 2017, they decided to use Passive House standards to maximize efficiency. Olive House, Ronfini’s first Passive House project, was certified by Passive House Institute US last summer (it was also awarded Best Young Professional Project 2021 by PHIUS), and the couple—along with a newborn—are finally able to enjoy it. Ronfini, who studied architecture in Italy before designing for firms in Copenhagen, prefers to think outside the norm: The result is a two-story, boxy, black house with an angular wooden bite taken out of it. “The design was inspired by a geode or a beaver biting into a tree—that sense of something being carved into,” Ronfini says. “I wanted the exterior to be like a monolith, while the interior is light, bright, and warm.” Olive House, in the Olivebridge woods of Ulster County, sits near a picturesque pond. “The pond sits east, and I needed to orient the house more toward the south to maximize the southern exposure,” says Ronfini, founding partner of DEMO Architects in Brooklyn. To allow the house to benefit from both the correct exposure and a beautiful view, a plan was formed: Angle the house 30 degrees southeast, then carve a 23-degree wedge out of the end of the house, much like you’d slice a wedge-shaped serving from an oblong cake. That wedge is a glass curtain wall that soars from the ground to the top of the two-story building, directing the view from the main living area to the pond.
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Mindful Construction The bulk of the 1,500-square-foot house is enveloped in black standing-seam metal siding, chosen both for solar gain and its predicted 30-to-50-year longevity. The wedge, a covered patio area adjacent to it, and the entire northwest side of the house are sheathed in Siberian larch. “I wanted to use untreated wood, but I didn’t want cedar,” Ronfini says. “Larch has a warmer color, and it’s denser and easier to work with.” No worries about shedding water, either: When larch is planed, Ronfini explains, the pressure and heat create a natural waterproof layer, like crystallized sugar. The bedrock at the homesite was shallow enough that the slab foundation could be pinned directly into it—a strong yet surprisingly expensive process. Threshold Builders, out of Kingston, pre-built the house’s walls in panels offsite. From the inside out, the walls started with two-by-fours that run from the foundation to the roof, supporting the roof as well as the walls themselves. Over that, five-eighth-inch ZIPsystem wall sheathing creates the main air and moisture barrier. Next came TJI joists—engineered-wood beams, similar to an I-beam, with a top and bottom with flange, and plywood in between—packed with dense-pack cellulose insulation. The insulation is held in place and protected by Pro Clima Intello Plus, an airtight membrane. Then, furring strips were laid, and the exterior was finished with either standing-seam metal siding or the Siberian larch. Any window and door edges were carefully taped with airtight Vana tape, per Passive House standards.
Passive House Institute US awarded its Best Young Professional Project 2021 to Olive House, built in Olivebridge by architect Alessandro Ronfini of DEMO Architects.
Ronfini and Astrid Chastka designed and built Olive House as a weekend getaway. The heart of the home is a two-story curtain wall of tripleglazed glass.
The heart of the home is the stick-built curtain wall. Tripleglazed glass rises two stories, framed by that glowing Siberian larch. A similar but smaller rhombus-shaped window mirrors it on the opposing edge, affording light and ventilation to one of the three bedrooms. The interior of the curtain wall comprises wooden mullions that are wide enough to serve as seating and shelves as well as provide some shading when the sun is at certain angles. Although the angle of the carved-out wedge was designed to minimize solar gain in the summer, additional shade was needed. So Ronfini installed exterior roller shades that work well, but cannot withstand winds greater than 25 mph when extended. In retrospect, Ronfini says, he would have preferred interior shades: As the house is a weekend home for Ronfini and his family, the exterior shades need to be rolled up when the family is away. Homestretch, Then a Snag Installing the wall panels built by Threshold onto the foundation took just three days, then work began on the roof. A ridge beam is supported by three steel beams that run all the way from the foundation. Rafters were made from TJI joists with ZIPboard and taped edges. Over that, 10-inch foam insulation was laid that had OSB (oriented strand board, an engineered wood) glued over it as a nailing surface. Solitex, a wind-tight, breathable membrane, is the underlay between the OSB and the standing-seam metal roof, to allow condensation to drain off. Ronfini masterfully designed the corners and edges of the entire exterior to allow rainwater to fully drain down to the ground and avoid visible gutters.
Once the home’s envelope was installed, Ronfini expected that work on the house would proceed full-steam ahead. Then COVID-19 hit. Ronfini and Chastka were left to install the larch siding, the red oak floors, and window casings themselves, with the help of friends. Resourceful Practices The interior of the house is light and bright, and comfortable thanks to a Zehnder ventilation unit with a preheater for the supplied air. The home runs on electric, and uses about 7,000 Kwh/year compared with the 13,000plus Kwh/year that would be expected in a traditional build of that size. The compressor is stashed in a covered side of the house, under the primary bedroom’s balcony and next to an outdoor shower. As the home is not a full-time residence, Ronfini installed a tankless electric water heater instead of a full-size water heater or traditional heat pump. Mini Split untis provide additional heat and air conditioning, too. Thanks to its Passive House construction standards, the Olive House consumes about 80 percent less energy than a traditional build. Ronfini and Chastka tried to recycle furnishings when they could, such as sourcing a retro 1960s pink lavatory sink for one of their two bathrooms from Zaborski Emporium in Kingston. Another unique build was the dining table: When the ridge beam for the roof was miscut, the waste was used for the table’s legs. The home’s decor leans toward the minty, pastel themes of that Mid-Mod period, with a soothing blue kitchen, a pink-
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and-yellow bathroom, and living room furniture that speaks “The Jetsons,” with curvilinear edges and stick legs. The kitchen island that holds the sink is an oval, formed by adding plywood curves to either end of an IKEA stock cabinet. Undercabinet lighting brightens the prep area around the main bank of sleekly designed light blue cabinets. An office is tucked in a loft under the eaves, carefully positioned to avoid the sun’s glare on computers but still allowing a view of the pond. Also upstairs: a 117-square-foot bedroom with the wedge window and a 335-square-foot bedroom with a door out to a small balcony. Downstairs, the two-story-tall, open living/ dining/kitchen area is bathed in light, and supplementally warmed with a wood stove. A third, 133-square-foot bedroom and a bath are at the opposite end of the house. Ronfini and DEMO Architects are working on other projects now, but the Olive House remains special for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that he’s actually living within his creation. “If someone is curious about the work we do, I can say, ‘Stop by, come see it. Look at what went right, and what we would change,’” Ronfini says. “They can see our attention to detail, first-hand.”
From top: Floors and stairs throughout the home are a mix of concrete and red oak. Red oak was also used in the window casings. This pink lavatory sink—a vintage find from Zaborski Emporium in Kingston—complements the vibrant yellow tile in one of the house’s two bathrooms. Overhanging eaves of Siberian larch form a protected balcony off the primary bedroom as well as dry space for storage. 54
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NEW ENERGY WORKS MAKING HIGH-PERFORMANCE HOMES EVEN EASIER TO BUILD
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ne of the best ways to reduce the energy use of a building is in the planning, materials, and construction of the thermal envelope. With a high-performance envelope, you get fewer drafts, less outside noise, a more responsive heating and cooling system, and cleaner indoor air quality—all of which is better for the environment and for you. New York-based New Energy Works has been at the forefront of high-performance building technology since it introduced its Matrix Wall™, a pre-panelized and energy-efficient wall system originally designed for its custom timber frame homes, over 30 years ago. Now, the company is bringing a fresh approach to its process by introducing “High Performance Made Easier,” or HPEz™, which uses digital design and semiautomated tooling off-site to create a building enclosure that arrives at your job site ready to set, fit, and finish. ”It dawned on us that there was a more efficient and controlled way to build high-performance enclosures than the traditional on-site way,” says Luke Nagle, construction manager with New Energy Works. “That led us to go to Europe and see their methods and bring back the things that make sense. And this off-site process makes a ton of sense; allowing for more builders to be able to bring high-performance to their clients, with better quality.” Creating the envelope off-site allows New Energy Works to build in a climate-controlled
environment, reduce material waste, and increase the accuracy and efficiency of enclosure production. “When you’re working with high-performance components like exterior insulation and WRB [water-resistive barrier] membrane and rainscreen, you can get a much higher level of efficiency in the shop, out of the wind and dust and rain and with big machines to do the heavy parts,” Nagle says. “Our goal is to partner with builders and designers so they can bring this enclosure to their clients.” Even better for any builder or homeowner, HPEz™ cuts framing time on the jobsite roughly in half, and reduces the carbon footprint of both the overall project and the completed building. “The quality is high and there’s a real time advantage,” says New Energy Works engineer Bryan Bleier. “Everything is square and true and perfect; computer control allows for tolerances of about 1/32 and the results are a lot more airtight. Having pieces arrive onsite and ready to go makes installation far quicker.” “It’s basically another set of tools that reduces the manpower needed onsite and lends itself to custom homes,” says Nagle. “Our engineering group can turn any set of plans into a panelized product. Our goal is to create partnerships with New York and New England builders and designers that produce high-performance, energy-efficient buildings and allow them to increase their enclosure’s performance in a way that can become widespread.” Newenergyworks.com/high-performance-enclosures A collaboration between PASSIVE HOUSE ALLIANCE and upstate HOUSE | SPRING 2022 •
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PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE
Fermenting Change Seminary Hill Cidery BY NOLAN THORNTON
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n the Sullivan County hamlet of Callicoon lies something truly special: the world’s first certified Passive House cidery, Seminary Hill. The brainchild of Susan Manning and Douglas Doetsch, the cidery was in the planning and propagation stages for almost a decade before it opened its taproom and restaurant in 2021. The couple’s deep commitment to sustainability led them to plant heirloom varieties of apple trees in their holistically managed orchard, as well as to employ the Passive House standard for their 9,300-square foot facility. The construction process was a collaborative effort between River Architects, New Energy Works, and Poughkeepsie-based Baxter Builders, who oversaw the construction. Architect James Hartford of River Architects designed the building, and New EnergyWorks built the heavy timber frame and high-efficiency enclosure system. The frame and enclosure system provided by New Energy Works forms the basis of the passive design. “We really speak the same 56
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language and have the same ethos as Seminary Hill Cider,” says Eric Fraser of New Energy Works. Despite its background in sustainable construction, this is one of the first times the New Energy Works team has had the chance to work on a Passive House. “This project was one of our first opportunities to be involved with a Passive House, so it was very special,” said Fraser. “We learned a lot, as I’m sure did everyone who worked on the project, about making a Passive House, and a beautiful one at that.” The building offers sweeping views of the Delaware River Valley, with a production facility on the ground floor and a 4,000 square-foot restaurant and tasting room above. The outer layer of the cidery’s first floor is clad in stone, while the second floor is paneled with larch wood reclaimed from the underwater pilings of the original Tappan Zee Bridge. Roof-mounted solar panels generate the facility’s energy. Condé Nast Traveler describes the setting as “James Fenimore Cooper’s America with a dash of Tuscany.”
A nighttime view of Seminary Hill Cidery in Callicoon, the world’s first certified Passive House cidery. River Architects designed the building; Baxter Builders built the structure; and New Energy Works built the heavy timber frame and high-efficiency enclosure system. Photos by Brad Dickson Images Opposite: The tasting room is light and airy, opening up to views of the organic orchards and across to the Delaware River. The handmade tiles and zinc bartop give a bright look, constrating with the solidity of the heavy timber construction. The interior paneling is made from reclaimed larch timber, pulled from the Hudson River during the demolition of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Rising to the Challenges “Our work takes us all over the country, so we’re always on different special and unique sites like Seminary Hill,” continues Fraser. New Energy Works has offices in Portland, Oregon, and Rochester, and they cater to everywhere in between. It’s no surprise why, considering that their work is not only beautiful but sustainable and built for the long-haul. While New Energy Works was on site, they handled challenges quickly and efficiently. “A good project always has a certain number of challenges that make you think and scratch your head, and you hope the end result always meets those objectives and then some,” says Fraser. “Things like controlling the air tightness are decisions and discussions that are critical to building a high-performance building; then ratchet that up another notch when you’re making a Passive House.” There are certainly a number of challenges that arise when creating a structure with such little environmental impact. Easy decisions become complex ones, and complex decisions become vexing ones. “I think through the vision of the architect and the client, we met those challenges,” Fraser says.
For, James Hartford, the architectural solutions for these challenges were personal. “I grew up in the Hudson Valley and spent a good amount of time on farms exploring old dairy and orchard barns. The simple structures with their ingenious timber framing were really inspirational to me, and the use of the region’s hilly topography in creating access at two levels came into play in the design of the cidery,” says Hartford. “The tasting room and events space are approached from above, off the public way. It takes advantage of the views while screening the working spaces below. This is an agricultural/industrial process, and keeping the flow separate from the public approach is important for safety and for the public’s experience.” He and his team are no strangers to the challenges faced in creating a Passive House. “Passive House is a medium we work in all the time and find the challenges to be good but manageable,” he says. “There is no going back for us.” Some of the PHIUS-certified components include triple-pane windows and high-performance doors to capture solar energy and effectively heat and cool the building. The airtight enclosure prevents air loss
and improved building durability by preventing the transport of moisture into the building. The cidery also uses eco-conscious cider production: The water used to wash fruit and equipment comes from a greywater management system on-site; lighting and signage are dark-sky compliant; and the production space is built into the hillside as a way to naturally maintain cold temperatures needed for storage and fermentation. While Hartford designed the building, and worked hard along with the general contractor to meet the unique technical challenges of incorporating Passive House technology and a cidery in one building, Fraser and his team faced their share of challenges as well. “We didn’t want the internal space to be interrupted by large timber collar ties, so we created these stiff timber elements using different joinery techniques than we would normally use,” says Fraser. This level of thought and sophisticated attention to detail helped make the cidery into the beautiful and inviting space that it is today. And unlike most Passive House structures, Seminary Hill is open to the public for tasting and tours.
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PASSIVE HOUSE GUIDE
PASSIVE HOUSE RESOURCES Passive House Principles
Benefits of Passive House Construction
Super-Insulated Building Envelope
Long-Term Cost Savings
Continuous insulation around the entire building reduces energy demands and increases comfort. Because of the increased ability to retain heat through the building envelope (or block it in warm weather), the size of the heating/cooling system is significantly simplified and reduced.
High-Performance Windows
For single-family residential homes in the Hudson Valley (climate zones 4a, 5a, and 6a), triple-pane windows are usually necessary. In addition to better insulated glass, Passive House-approved windows reduce drafts through improved air-tightness when they are pulled closed.
Airtight Building Envelope
The building envelope is extremely airtight, preventing infiltration of outside air and loss of conditioned air. A small change in the airtightness of a building makes a big difference and it’s accounted for from the beginning of a project. While the current building code already requires air-tightness verification, the Passive House standard is far more stringent.
Balanced Ventilation
Most homes do not have a system for delivering fresh air for healthy living. We have relied on air leaks at gaps that allow outdoor air to move in or out, such as leaky windows and doors, recessed lights and other openings, and where the house meets the foundation. These unintentional gaps also allow moisture movement, are a pathway for bugs and rodents, and introduce dust. Passive buildings use heat recovery ventilation systems (HRV), or, more commonly, energy recovery ventilation (ERV). In an ERV, exhaust air is replaced with outside air, but the heat and moisture of the air leaving the building pre-conditions the incoming air. The result is fresh indoor air with only minimal energy penalty. Incoming air is filtered, so if the windows stay closed the home will be surprisingly dust-free.
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Even as building energy codes require higher insulation levels and greater air-tightness, the Passive House standard provides a 40 percent to 90 percent reduction in energy consumption when compared to a code-built home.
Reduced Carbon Emissions
Less energy use translates directly to less carbon emitted into the earth’s atmosphere. According to the AIA Architecture 2030 plan, the building sector accounts for roughly 40 percent of our total global carbon emissions.
Increased Durability
In the old way of building, we created a leaky building envelope and then oversized our heating equipment. When the building envelope is sealed and super-insulated, the movement of water vapor can no longer have a direct avenue to dry out and can no longer cause serious durability issues.
Improved Thermal Comfort
Thermal comfort is determined by the surface temperature of a surface. If it is within seven degrees of the living area, most people will find that to be very comfortable. Every interior surface in a Passive House is verified to fall within this comfort criteria.
Superior Indoor Air Quality
A requirement for Passive House certification is a balanced ventilation system. These systems, known as HRVs or ERVs (heat/energy recovery ventilators) bring fresh air in from the outside, move it throughout the house, and then expel the stale air to the outside. In the process, the air is filtered with a MERV 13 filter (minimum requirement) which has proven to drastically reduce allergens and other particulates from the air we breathe.
The Path to Net Zero
A prerequisite for Passive House certification is the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home program. Whether renewable energy is immediately installed on the project or not, it is engineered for the smallest energy demand possible so that net-zero energy consumption can easily be achieved.
NYSERDA Building Better Homes Initiative In partnership with the New York State Home Builders Association and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, NYSERDA has established the Building Better Homes: Emissions Free and Healthier Communities program. This first of its kind program will partner with home builders and developers to advance carbon-neutral home and neighborhood development across the state. The initiative is part of an over $30 million multi-year investment to decarbonize single family home new construction. Homebuilders can apply for funding up to $250,000 to decarbonize their building practices to build high-quality, reliable, and sustainable carbonneutral homes. Later this year, NYSERDA will launch a program educating homebuyers on healthy and emissions-free home construction.
Passive House Alliance–Hudson Valley Passive House Alliance–Hudson Valley is the local chapter of the nonprofit Passive House Alliance US in the Northeast. It provides a robust membership-based network with members throughout North America and provides training, resources, marketing, and advocacy support to its members throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New England. Its mission is to contribute to a low-carbon future through education, training, and advocacy for the Passive House standard and make it the mainstream standard of building in the Hudson Valley and beyond. Local Hudson Valley Passive House-certified consultants, builders, and verifiers can be located on its website: Pha-hv.org.
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LEADING THE CHARGE CENTRAL HUDSON INCENTIVIZES CLEAN-ENERGY OPTIONS FOR YOUR HOME THAT SAVE MONEY AS WELL AS PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.
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reserving our natural resources through energy efficiency is a hot topic lately. And if you own a home, the link between conserving energy and saving money is impossible to ignore. In the Mid-Hudson Valley, turn to Central Hudson for tips and incentives for optimal savings and comfort. “Central Hudson is proud to help our customers conserve natural resources and protect the environment through our full suite of energy-efficiency programs,” says Charles A. Freni, President and CEO of Central Hudson. “Thousands of customers have already seen how these programs can pay for themselves while helping New York State achieve its nation-leading clean energy goals.” From easy do-it-yourself options to larger projects, there are many ways to save money while making your house more comfortable and energy efficient.
LIGHTING
Lighting is one of the easiest places to start saving energy. According to Energy Star estimates, upgrading just six incandescent light bulbs to LEDs can save up to $90 annually—and LEDs last 15 times longer. To help make upgrading possible, Central Hudson offers reduced pricing at local retailers.
WATER CONSERVATION
Look for water fixtures with the WaterSense label, which are 20 percent more efficient and perform as well as or better than standard models. Switching just one older showerhead to an efficient model can help a family save up to 2,900 gallons of water annually. Central Hudson offers reduced pricing for name-brand water fixtures at select local retailers.
SOLAR ENERGY
If you’re looking for the benefits of solar without the installation costs, you can subscribe to a share of a local solar farm through Central Hudson’s Clean Energy Marketplace and save 5 to 10 percent on annual electricity costs. The marketplace helps customers navigate community solar options by location and compare savings.
RECYCLING
If it’s time to upgrade to a newer, more-efficient refrigerator or freezer, Central Hudson will pick up your old working unit for free, pay you $100, and properly recycle it. Central Hudson will also take unwanted air-conditioning units at the scheduled time of the refrigerator or freezer pick-up. Newer models can save up to $80 on annual operating costs.
AIR QUALITY
Customers save instantly on select Energy Star certified air purifiers with reduced pricing at local retailers. Energy Star models are 25 percent more energy efficient than standard models, saving consumers about 120 kWh per year.
HOME SEALING
Central Hudson’s partner, Sealed, offers professionally installed insulation, smart-home technology, and air-source heat pump upgrades that balance indoor temperatures all year. Money saved covers the cost of upgrades, so there is no need to pay upfront. See if your house qualifies.
HEATING AND COOLING
Smart thermostats save an average of $131- $145 per year in energy costs, according to Google Nest. Instant $50 rebates, courtesy of Central Hudson, are available at select local retailers. If your HVAC system is more than 15 years old, or if you’re looking for efficient options, consider:
Natural Gas
Converting from oil or propane to natural gas for heating can save money in the long-term, and according to the National Association of Home Builders, can increase your home’s resale value by about 4 percent. Fuel prices have increased this year; however, according to the Energy Information Administration, natural gas prices still favorably compare to oil and propane. Central Hudson offers rebates up to $1,800 on energy-efficient natural gas appliances and free conversion estimates. See if it’s available in your location.
Heat Pumps
Air- or ground-source heat pumps are cost-saving, energy-efficient alternatives to traditional furnaces and air conditioners. These two-in-one systems provide both heating and cooling for year-round comfort. Central Hudson helps customers cover the investment of installing a partial or whole-home heat pump system with rebates and incentives that can easily add up to thousands of dollars. In addition, customers can take advantage of a $1,000 instant rebate on heat pump water heaters. For additional savings, check for state and federal tax credits. To learn more about Central Hudson’s energy-efficiency programs, rebates, special pricing, and tips on how to save energy, visit CentralHudson.com/incentives. Rebate amounts subject to change.
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S PO N S O R E D HOUS E FE ATURE
ESTATE OF MIND A COUNTRY SANCTUARY PHOTOS BY WINONA BARTON-BALLENTINE
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t’s not often that a property can lay claim to the gentle rolling hills of the Hudson River Valley and the soaring mountain views of a secluded hamlet deep in the Catskills, but 1 and 3 Starjem Drive in Saugerties certainly deliver both in spades. With over 30 acres of open rolling meadows and landscaped trails, a six-acre pond, full-size tennis court, and three houses ready to accommodate almost two dozen of your closest family and friends, this grand country estate was tailor-made for those looking to enjoy a life of leisure and quiet contemplation among the splendor of nature. Upon arriving at Starjem Drive, you’ll pass through a pair of stately brick pillars, bearing left through a wooden gate mounted between bluestone columns until you find yourself at the top of the property’s long, meandering driveway. Laid out before you is a oneof-a-kind vista of meadows and ponds that gracefully unfold as you drive up to the main house, with Overlook Mountain rising in the distance behind.
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The Main House Built in 1977, the 5,804-square-foot, three-story home is grand yet rustic, clad in cedar shakes painted in a warm umber hue. The rambling, two-wing layout includes six bedrooms, six baths, and a host of other rooms that provide space for the owner’s personal and business endeavors, including a home gym, office, and music room. The light-filled entryway opens to a staircase that spans the home’s three stories. Take a half-flight up to the main level, and you’ll find the vaulted-ceiling great room, lined floor-to-ceiling in warm wood planks and charming terracotta tiles underfoot. A brick-lined, wood-burning fireplace marks a sitting area at one end of the room, and adjacent to that is a heated, three-season sunroom that looks west to Overlook Mountain and accesses the large second-story deck through sliding glass doors. On the other side of the great room is a dining area large enough for any holiday gathering. Tucked behind
This 5,804-square-foot, threestory home is a rural refuge with unparalleled views and plenty of space to roam on stately Starjem Drive.
here is another room (also with deck access) currently in use as a gym, but that could be an office, meditation space, media room, playroom, or more. A long sun-filled room with skylights above and a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows on either side connects the home’s two wings. The space is currently set up for casual dining, but could easily become a lush greenhouse room or a cheery kids’ play area. Located just beyond is the kitchen. Charcoal Caesarstone counters run along two walls, ending in a breakfast bar with seating for two. The cool tone contrasts nicely with the room’s white cabinetry and stainless steel appliances. A backsplash crafted from tin ceiling tiles adds sparkle and pizazz to the space, which is also brightened by two sets of casement windows. A butcher-block and stainless steel island offers plenty of storage, and its warm wood tone complements the terracotta floor beneath. The wine refrigerator, wet bar, double Viking ovens, caterersize GE Monogram fridge, and six-burner gas cooktop would entice anyone to whip up an impressive meal. Sliding doors across the kitchen lead to a screened porch that overlooks the solar-heated, inground Gunite pool and the six-acre pond beyond. Despite the home’s open, airy feel, there are still many opportunities for solitude and escape. The hall
just past the kitchen leads to a two-bedroom, one-bath mini-wing that’s perfect for kids or guests. Also on this side of the house is an open staircase that, like the one at the main entry, accesses both the main and lower levels of the home, as well as single rooms perched above on the third floor—a sunny home office with its own full bath on this side and a large music room on the other. Head down this staircase to the first level and you’ll find the owner’s suite—or, rather, oasis. The sitting area has its own zero-clearance, wood-trimmed fireplace where it would be easy to imagine spending quiet, cozy evenings here snuggled up with a glass of wine and a good book. The room has a three-sided bump-out of windows that ensconces the king-size bed and affords a 180-degree view of the property—including Overlook Mountain—right from your pillow. The ensuite bathroom is finished in moody charcoalhued quarry tile. Set against a mirrored wall is a large, white jetted tub that rises up on a platform finished in the same tile, with a spacious, glass-enclosed walk-in shower opposite. Also on this level is an organizer’s dream: a hallway entirely lined with built-in drawers and closets. The hall leads to a large playroom, two more bedrooms each with ensuite baths, and a climate-controlled storage room that offers access to the pool outside. upstate HOUSE
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The Pool House “Resort-like” doesn’t even begin to describe the property’s amenities, beginning with the inground saltwater pool. A wide flight of rustic bluestone steps leads from the main house down to the pool deck, also tiled in the same stone. A wood gazebo— large enough for sectional outdoor seating—sits at one end of the pool area and offers a shady break during hot summer days. Opposite the pool, on the banks of the six-acre pond, is the pool house. Clad in the same painted shake siding as the main house, this one-bedroom dwelling is a tidy gem that offers solitude from the main house suited for guests or your in-laws alike. The entry leads right into a large bedroom with floor-to-ceiling windows. Behind that is a living area with a fireplace and more floor-to-ceiling windows, two of which are sliders leading to the large wraparound wood deck. The house is also outfitted with a mini-kitchen dressed in forest green paint and complete with a farmhouse sink and a retro-style, white Unique fridge. The Gate House Back at the top of the property is the gatehouse, originally a caretaker’s cottage. Currently in use as a popular five-star Airbnb rental, the threestory home sits on its own parcel of land and has a personality all its own. The house is sided in a cheerful blue hue with welcoming red doors at the entry and deck above. Its open-concept kitchen and dining space boasts all the modern farmhouse feels: white walls, wood floors, and a vaulted ceiling. All-new appliances—gas range, dishwasher, and French door fridge—were installed in summer 2020, and white subway tile in the kitchen keeps the space feeling crisp and clean. Also on this level are a living room and full bath, with two spacious bedrooms and a second full bath on the level below. Climb to the top floor and you’ll find the loft, outfitted with a king-size bed, built-in closets, and a window under the eaves that affords a million-dollar view of the land. The Grounds Wherever you roam, the property’s sweeping vistas provide a font of recreational opportunity. Landscaped with beautiful willows, arching magnolias, and towering pines, as well as decorative touches like a laughing Buddha statue, the 30plus acres are a gracefully manicured natural wonderland, complete with maintained walking trails, a large fishing pond, smaller ponds perfect for skipping stones, and plenty of places to picnic or just lie in the grass and while away the afternoon. For the more energetic, the full-size tennis court is tucked in the middle of the property, and there’s plenty of room to run or bike on quiet Starjem Drive, with access to world-class hiking less than a 10-minute drive away. When you’re ready to leave your peaceful seclusion and head out on the town, fine dining and culture are practically at your doorstep, with all that the everpopular village of Woodstock has to offer less than a 10-minute drive away. Whether you’re seeking a stately refuge all your own with unparalleled views and plenty of space to roam, or a centrally located spot to host all of your family and friends upstate, 1 and 3 Starjem Drive is sure to provide the experience of gracious country living at its finest.
1 & 3 Starjem Drive Saugerties $2,450,000 Laurie Ylvisaker, Associate R.E. Broker Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty
lylvisaker@gmail.com (845) 901-6129 Villagegreenrealty.com Less than a 10-minute drive from the center of Woodstock is this spectacular country estate on 30-plus acres designed to maximize glorious views of rolling meadows, a long curving waterway, tennis court, inground heated pool, and all the lawn, gardening, and
play space one could imagine. This offering consists of three homes, with one home, the Gatehouse, located on a separate lot outside the gated main entrance. The 5,804 squarefoot, six-bedroom, six-bath main house features a three-season heated sunroom, a generous screened porch overlooking the solar-heated swimming pool and six-acre pond, and extensive bluestone patio, as well as a media room, office, and music and exercise room. The ground-level primary bedroom has its own sitting area with fireplace and a luxurious bath finished in quarry tile, and opens to its own covered sitting area facing the pond and mountains beyond. Steps from the main home is the one-bedroom, one-bath pool house with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pool. At the top of the property is the Gatehouse, a three-bedroom, two-bath home currently in use as a popular short-term rental.
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You’re closer than you think to finding your dream
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63.8 ACRES
Hudson Valley Properties SERVING ALL COUNTIES IN THE MID-HUDSON VALLEY
$2,900,000 | Town of Newburgh | The Delano Family Estate Now available for the first time in over 60 years. This 9,007 sq.ft., meticulously maintained home has 6 bedrooms, each with its own fireplace and ensuite bath. Unique features include a 43 ft. library lined with original built-in walnut bookcases. Set on almost 2 parklike acres with views of the Hudson River, this estate is a perfect blend of old-world craftsmanship and modern comfort. Additional adjoining properties also available. MLS#6131003. Michele Rios m: 845.242.5762 | John Ruggieri m: 917.608.2980
$2,499,000 | Clinton | 215+ Acres This property has it all: views, pasture, forest, water, wildlife galore and an orchard, all bordering on Wappinger Creek. Falling within the Millbrook post office district, there is a site development concept for cluster housing along with a larger parcel division. Property crosses the Clinton/Washington line with quick access to surrounding towns and easy commuter access to Taconic State Parkway and Route 82. Perfect for subdivision or private estate. MLS#398262. Diana Wiemer m: 845.234.0038 | o: 845.677.3525
LUXURY HOMEBUYERS ARE MOVING INTO THESE UPSTATE MODERNIST HOMES. UNIQUE. CONSERVATION-FOCUSED. SUSTAINABLE. $1,469,000 | Pine Plains | Beautiful Building Site
$1,545,000 | Pine Plains | 106 Acres of Natural Beauty Plenty of room to roam on this gently sloping 106-acre property with several magnificent building locations. Wander through the incomparable beauty of open fields, lush pine woods and hardwood forests that open to far-reaching views of the surrounding farmlands and hills. Watch the sunset beyond your own tranquil pond on this idyllic property. An additional 101-acre parcel is also available. MLS#401637. George Langa m: 845.242.6314 | o: 845.677.3525
Picnic enveloped by the pastoral beauty of your own waterfall on this 101-acre property featuring pine groves, hardwood forests, open meadows, gorgeous vistas and a lovely pond. Venture into the woods and meadow on foot or horseback and return to your custom designed home tailored for the country lifestyle you deserve. An additional 106 acres are also available if you desire an even larger private estate. MLS#401639. George Langa m: 845.242.6314 | o: 845.677.3525
LIMITED LUXURY HOMES — One-of-a-kind modernist residences designed in response to natural land characteristics and built with sustainable materials + methods, for a re-imagined modern lifestyle. SPRUCE | $2,350,000 Town of Red Hook, NY
TO-BE-BUILT | 3-BEDROOM, 2.5-BATH HOME ON 6 ACRES
SYCAMORE | $3,325,000 Town ofNY Red Hook, NY TOWN OF MILAN,
TO-BE-BUILT | 4-BEDROOM, 3.5-BATH HOME ON 25 ACRES
LUXURY HOMEBUYERS ARE MOVING INTO THESE UPSTATE MODERNIST HOMES. UNIQUE. CONSERVATION-FOCUSED. SUSTAINABLE.
Contact Sean today to inquire about these and upcoming properties: Sean C. Eidle | Associate Real Estate Broker Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson Valley Properties m: 845.546.6077 | o: 845.876.8600 | seidle@bhhshudsonvalley.com
S3 Architecture
ALWAYS SERVING NEVER IDLE | CALL SEAN EIDLE M. 845.546.6077
BHHSHUDSONVALLEY.COM
upstate HOUSE
| SPRING 2022 • 65
314 Warren St., Hudson $1,295,000
200 Maple Ave., Germantown $675,000
s Germantown NY 4 BR/2 BA 1785 sf
Raj Kumar C: 201.689.0533 Annabel Taylor C: 518.763.5020
Lillian Lin C: 917.270.9336
s Ghent NY 5 BR/4 BA | 4960 sf 56.10 acres
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Pamela Belfor C: 917.734.7142
Rachel Hyman-Rouse C: 917.686.4906
www.fourseasonssir.com Formerly Gary DiMauro Real Estate Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. •
online at upstatehouse.com
s Rhinebeck NY 5 BR/4 BA | 6222 sf Swimming Pool
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Rhinebeck Village Luxury $2,995,000
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s Milan NY 4 BR/3.5 BA 2934 sf | 31 acres Accessory Structure
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Milan Contemporary Retreat $1,695,000 Perfect Country Estate $2,550,000
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Annabel Taylor C: 518.763.5020 Raj Kumar C: 201.689.0533
s Hudson NY 3 BR/2 BA 3044 sf
Tivoli NY • Hudson NY • Catskill NY • Rhinebeck NY • Kingston NY • O: 518.580.8500
Looking for record results?
Talk to the Hudson Valley’s top team. Backed by more than a century of collective experience and deep market expertise, the Clement, Brooks & Safier Team delivers stellar results for buyers and sellers. And we can show it: $110 million in closed or pending sales for the past 12 months, making us not just the leading team in Ulster and Dutchess counties, but the No. 1 Team in the entire Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northeast network from New York City all the way north to Rhode Island. We’ve already set sale-price records in multiple markets, including Kingston and Marbletown, for our seller clients. And for buyers, we’ve made deals happen – at prices that make sense – even in the most heated multiple-offer situations. Call or text 845.337.0061 to learn more and get the key to your best move yet. The CBS Team. Back row: Trevor Naumann, Real Estate Salesperson; Stephan Hengst, Real Estate Salesperson; Hayes Clement, Associate Real Estate Broker; Donna Brooks, Associate Real Estate Broker; Harris Safier, Associate Real Estate Broker; Robert Airhart, Real Estate Salesperson. Front row: Jesse Chason, Real Estate Salesperson; Patricia Dantzic, Real Estate Salesperson; Jamie L. Corts, Real Estate Salesperson; John (Jack) Kralik, Associate Real Estate Broker; Kate Terkelson, Real Estate Salesperson
Visit us at: www.greathudsonvalleyhomes.com
Great HudsonValley Homes
$3,300,000 | Rosendale | Lakefront Masterpiece Take refuge on your own 8-acre lake, one of the last ones still in private hands in the Hudson Valley. This 41-acre estate has 2 hand-crafted houses: the multi-level lake house overlooking the water, rock ridges and forests, plus the unique mahogany-paneled Admirals House, a wonder of design and efficiency, tucked out of sight for extra privacy. A one-mile road surrounds the lake and connects it all. 5 minutes to Kingston; 15 minutes to New Paltz. MLS#20213800. Robert Airhart m: 917.304.3864 | o: 845.340.1920
$2,550,000 | Gardiner | The Ultimate Live-Work Experience This is a rare opportunity to own almost 80 pristine acres near New Paltz, with no less than one-third of a mile of frontage on the most picturesque stretch of the Wallkill River. A long driveway, buried utilities and a spectacular state-of-the-art ICF house and studio (3,300+ sq.ft.) are already in place, ready for a variety of dreams, including expansion. It’s the perfect one-of-a-kind estate for an artist or collector. Hayes Clement m: 917.568.5226 o: 845.340.192 | Donna Brooks m: 845.337.0061 o: 845.255.9400
$2,300,000 | Stone Ridge | Historic Charm with Big Acreage “Rondale,” an iconic country estate situated prominently on one of the finest roads in Ulster County. A stately stone home and wood frame guest cottage are an entertainer’s dream (or, great for work at home). Features include a grand living room with high beamed ceilings, large wood burning fireplace, beamed dining room and library, acres of pasture land, clear pond, pool and terrific horse barn. MLS#20220199. Harris Safier m: 914.388.3351 o: 845.340.1920 | Sean Eidle m: 845.546.6077 o: 845.876.8600
$699,000 | Woodstock | Tranquility with Major Views Don’t miss this opportunity to feel like you live on top of the world! 65+ acres with potential views extending over the Hudson Valley. Calm and tranquil are words used to describe this area. Just minutes to the Village of Woodstock, shopping, restaurants, and no less than 3 ski areas within 30 miles. Property also features a right-of-way for the driveway entrance off Abbey Road. MLS#20212150. Donna Brooks m: 845.337.0061 | o: 845.255.9400
16 HURLEY AVENUE, KINGSTON, NY 12401
upstate HOUSE
| SPRING 2022 • 67
HUDSON VALLEY, BERKSHIRES, CATSKILLS
The Quarterly Magazine of Inspired Homes
Subscribe today Only $5 per single-issue OR $18 for a one year subscription! chronogrammedia.com/subscribe 68
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online at upstatehouse.com
1.
White Bridge Farm c1775 Old Chatham N. 7BR. 8BA. 160 acres. $15,000,000 Web# 21112461 Nancy Felcetto & Robin Horowitz 917-626-6755
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Regency Glamour Hudson NY. 3BR. 2.5BA. Hudson Modern. $850,000 Web# 21400833 Dale Stewart 310-867-0372 Samantha Mathis 646-620-5502
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c1830 Hudson River Estate Hudson NY. 4BR. 3BA. 39 acres. $1,795,000 Web# 21381606 Dale Stewart 310-867-0372 Samantha Mathis 646-620-5502
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Chic Modern Country Claverack NY. 4BR. 4BA. 16 acres. $1,875,000 Web# 20644918 Jean Stoler 518-755-4298
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Rare Hudson NY Carriage House Hudson NY. 6800 Sf. Mixed use. $1,048,000 Web# 20240609 Nancy Felcetto & Robin Horowitz 917-6216-6755
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Country Oasis Kinderhook NY. 4BR. 4.5BA. 16 acres. $1,285,000 Web# 21332825 Nancy Felcetto & Robin Horowitz 917-626-6755
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Solid MIid-60’s New Paltz NY. 3BR. 2BA. 15 acres. 3 acre pond. $555,000 Web# 21398562 Dale Stewart 310-867-0372 Simone Consor 214-588-2115
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Perfect & Private Country Escape Ancram NY. 3BR. 2BA. 1.6 acres. $495,000 Web# 21333396 Michael Stasi 732-241-1723
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116 Historical Acres Catskill NY. 4BR. 1BA. 325’ Creek Frontage. $795,000 Web# 20645544 Sterling Swann 518-929-7805
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Hillside Lake Direct Waterfront Wappingers Falls, NY. 4BR. 2BA. $325,000 Web# 21194064 Joseph Lorino 212-452-4513
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78 Acres Awaits Your Vision Claverack NY. Beautiful Views. $375,000 Web# 20373671 Michael Stassi 732-241-1723
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West Wind Hill Wassaic, NY. 6BR. 8BA. 66b acres. $6,900,000 Web# 21197812 Joseph Lorino 212-452-4513
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SPRING 2022 • 69 All information is from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. All rights to content, photographs and graphics reserved to Broker. upstate Equal HOUSE Housing |Opportunity Broker.
INDEX O F ADVERT IS ERS INDEX O F A DVERTI S E R S Adirondack Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
EvolveD Interiors & Design Showroom LLC . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Murray Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover
Art Forms Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Exposures Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
New Energy Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Athens Fine Art Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Finch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
New Energy Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Augustine Landscaping & Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty . . . . . . . . . . 66
PH Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Barbara Carter Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Freestyle Restyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Phinney Design Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
GH Builders Hudson Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Pinkwater Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hudson Valley Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65, 67
Glenn’s Wood Sheds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Pioneer Millworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Bloom Fine Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Halter Associates Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Quatrefoil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Brown Harris Stevens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Hammertown Barn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Rennie Cantine Overlook Benches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Cabinet Designers, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Herrington’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Roman Professional Engineering / Roman Driveways . . 42
Center For EcoTechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hudson Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Scott Swimming Pools Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . back cover
Central Hudson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Hudson River Valley Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Stinemire Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
ChoShields Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Hudson Valley Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Studio Cicetti Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty . . . front cover, 60-63
Hudson Valley Forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Studio SFW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Conklin Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Hudson Valley Green Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
vonDalwig Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Corcoran Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3
Janson Scuro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Whalen Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
CounterEv Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Larson Architecture Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Williams Lumber & Home Center . inside front cover, 34, 35
Country House Realty & Red Cottage Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Malcarne Contracting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
William Wallace Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Energy Conservation Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Mise en Scene Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
WJFF Radio Catskill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Pittsfield Kinderhook Coxsackie Windham
Chatham
Cairo
GREENE
MA Stockbridge
Hudson
Catskill
COLUMBIA
Hunter
DELAWARE
Lenox
Ghent
MASSACHUSETTS
Fleishmanns Livingston Margaretville
Shandaken Phoenicia
Sheffield
Saugerties Woodstock
Ashokan
Red Hook Millerton Kingston
Rhinebeck
ULSTER
CONNECTICUT
Sharon
Stone Ridge
Liberty
Millbrook
Hyde Park Fallsburg
DUTCHESS
New Paltz
Ellenville
SULLIVAN
Highland
Monticello
Salisbury
Kent
Poughkeepsie
CT
LaGrange
Thompson
Wappingers Falls Pawling Beacon
Newburgh Middletown
Cornwall-on-Hudson
PUTNAM
ORANGE Harriman
Peekskill
Warwick Stony Point New City
M A P O F TH E REG I ON 70
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ROCKLAND Nyack
Yorktown Heights
Croton-on-Hudson
WESTCHESTER Ossining Tarrytown
Danbury
No Way to Grow Up A conversation with students and teachers about COVID and schools In partnership with
THURSDAY, MARCH 10TH, 5-6:30PM
The pandemic has pulled America’s education system into an unprecedented crisis. Students are falling behind in school and missing out on key life rituals. Teachers, already stretched thin before COVID, must now also enforce evershifting health guidelines while dealing with staff shortages. Parents are frustrated and fearful. Rates of depression and anxiety in young people have skyrocketed. Can anything be done to navigate this emergency? The stakes seem clear; the solutions much less so. Many acknowledge the failures of remote learning and want to return to safe classrooms, but fewer agree on how that should be done. In this virtual conversation, we’ll talk with students and educators about learning loss and social isolation, the future of education, and what it’s like coming of age amid the cascading crises facing young people today. Speakers include: •
Dr. Karla Vermeulen, associate professor of psychology and deputy director of the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz.
•
Amayah Spence, a senior at SUNY New Paltz studying psychology and journalism, and the editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, the Oracle.
•
Sophie Frank, a senior at Onteora High School who has written for The River about virtual learning and teen mental health during the pandemic.
And more to be announced. Moderated by Phillip Pantuso, managing editor of The River, and Rayan El Amine, editorial intern for The River.
Registration Required
Scan with your phone to register
therivernewsroom.com/events
SPRING CLEANING AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE David Perry General Improvements INTERIOR PAINTING ORGANIZATION LIGHT REPAIRS
25 years of conscientitous service in Hudson Valley homes, studios, and workplaces. davidclarkperry@gmail.com Text: (845) 729-3096
upstate HOUSE
| SPRING 2022 • 7 1
B ACK PO RCH TOOLS FOR CHANGE
Toolshed Exchange Co-Founder and Head Librarian, Timothy Furstnau (right) with member. Photo by Angelina Dreem for Toolshed
O
n any given street, each house has some basic tools: a hammer, a wrench, a drill. Those small items are private property, just as much as the house is, and the homeowner uses them only infrequently. A drill is typically used a total of 13 minutes in its lifecycle. How much waste could be avoided if one drill was shared throughout the community? The idea of tool sharing took hold in the 1970s, and since then, communities across the country have opened tool sharing libraries. The idea is simple: instead of borrowing books, members borrow tools. “Libraries are totally democratic,” says Matt Stinchcomb, cofounder of Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley. “They’re of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The Library of Local and Toolshed Exchange are two Hudson Valley-based tool library programs similar in spirit—both seek to foster equitable, sustainable, and resilient communities—but different in method. To take part in the Library of Local, all you need is a library card. Currently four sites in the MidHudson Library System host collections, with 11 more joining in March. Kingston Library, Hudson
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Area Library, Mountain Top Library (Tannersville), and Morton Memorial Library (Rhinecliff ) all feature Library of Local tools, books, and seeds. Library of Local’s 2022 collection focuses on regenerative land use and climate activism. Activism requires education. To that end, the Library of Local is loaning AV equipment like portable projectors and PA systems to activists and educators. While fixing the climate crisis is important, adapting to it is as well. Library of Local’s seed selections allow members to grow their own food, a skill that will prove invaluable as the climate crisis worsens, Stinchcomb says. These seeds are plant breeds specific to the Hudson Valley. There will also be resources on how to start a pollinator garden. “Pollinator gardens help important insects, which helps the birds,” says Stinchcomb. “It doesn’t take long down that line to get to people.” While Library of Local helps members connect with the outdoors, Toolshed Exchange focuses on home improvement. Hosted at Basilica Hudson and founded by artists Edward Morris and Susannah Sayler, Toolshed’s exchange project provides members with access to a wide variety of tools.
There’s clearly a demand for this: the program began in June 2021, and there are already over 200 members. What started as a baseline collection has grown to offer everything from sewing machines to routers, sanders, and a variety of saws. Toolshed Exchange also partners with local nonprofits for workshops on topics such as weatherizing the home, providing attendees with specialized kits so they can put their new knowledge to use. “We want to be a resource for the good work already going on in the community,” says head Toolshed librarian, Timothy Furstnau. According to Morris, the next step is programs aimed toward workforce development. With the influx of people moving into the Hudson Valley and renovating their homes, a handyman is hard to find. These programs will help to spread those skills. “If you want to start being a handyman, a big barrier is not having the tools,” Morris says. With tool libraries, that wall can be broken down, one borrowed hammer at a time. —Emma Cariello LIBRARYOFLOCAL.ORG TOOLSHEDEXCHANGE.ORG
Photo by Murray Engineering
Scott
®
Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. has set THE STANDARD for pool design,workmanship, and state-of-the art technology since 1937. Selected by Discerning Builders, Architects, and Landscape Designers throughout the four-state region.
May we build one for you?
Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. • Woodbury, CT • (203) 263-2108 • www.scottpools.com