Upstate House Winter 2023-2024

Winter 2023/24

HUDSON VALLEY/BERKSHIRES/CATSKILLS

ON THE

Cover

A Concierge Approach UPSTATE CURIOUS TEAM AT COMPASS Cover Story on page 36

ARTISTIC PUZZLE

An artist builds an ingeniously designed home out of used shipping containers.

A-FRAME OF MIND

A Catskill A-frame is a canvas for seasonal decoration in the hands of influencer Steffy Degreff.

CLEAN POWER GUIDE

New York is moving into an electricity-powered future.

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The outdoor dining room of the container home designed by Arnaud Cornillon.

Photo by Nils Schlebusch HOUSE PROFILE, PAGE 30

DEPARTMENTS WINTER 20 23

FEATURES 30

HOUSE PROFILE: ARTISTIC PUZZLE

By Joan Vos MacDonald

Arnaud Cornillon’s visionary journey from dreaming in a tepee to crafting an idiosyncratic home, navigating challenges, and redefining spaces using shipping containers, culminating in an artistic sanctuary and a thriving community hub.

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Sponsored House Feature BOOK: LIVING UPRIVER

By Jane Anderson

Barbara deVries explores the essence of living in the Hudson and Delaware River valleys through stunning visuals and compelling narratives in her new book, Living Upriver, which profiles the homes of creatives across the region.

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Interest rate hikes are pricing potential buyers out of the market.

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DESIGN: OLGA JOAN TEX TILES

Geometric patterns dominate the designs of Olga Joan’s home goods.

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HOME SERVICES: SNOW L AUGHING MAT TER

Jeff Eckes offers tips on winterizing your home.

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THE SOURCE: CASA ZIKI

An artist-forward, funky home wares shop in Woodstock.

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THE SOURCE: A TR ANSFORMED BOATHOUSE IN HUDSON

Two antiques dealers create an elegant showcase for their collections.

GROW TH MINDSET

In just five years since its founding, the Upstate Curious Team at Compass has created a winning strategy for an increasingly crowded and challenging real estate industry.

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MARKETWATCH: ANOTHER NEW NORMAL FOR RATES

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AREA SPOTLIGHT: GREAT BARRINGTON

This Berkshires town is quintessential New England chic.

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AREA SPOTLIGHT: POUGHKEEPSIE

The Queen City is bustling with new development projects.

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BACK PORCH: BUDDHA BOOTHS

Francine Steadman has created a mobile mindfulness retreat.

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THE MARKET I N D E X O F A DV ER T I S ER S / MAP OF THE REGION

DESIGN FEATURE: A-FR AME OF MIND

51 CLEAN POWER GUIDE

By Melissa Esposito

55 Electrif y!

Influencer Steffy Degreff employs her Catskills A-frame as a seasonal decorating canvas, transforming a drab cabin into an Icelandic-inspired oasis of color.

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Produced in partnership with Sustainable Hudson Valley, the 2023 Clean Power Guide takes a look at recent innovations in the fields of renewable energy and clean technology in New York and beyond.

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upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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M A RK ET WAT CH

Another New Normal for Interest Rates

By Lisa Iannucci

B

ritish real estate tycoon Harold Samuel was famously quoted as saying that the most important factors when buying real estate are location, location, location. Of course location is still important, but Samuel might tweak his quote today to inventory, inventory, inventory or interest rate, interest rate, interest rate.

Interesting Interest Rates “It’s a tough market right now,” says Steven Domber, president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson Valley Properties in Fishkill. “It seems like the interest rates have gone up almost weekly for the past six months.”

According to Bankrate.com, as of November 1, the average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate was just over eight percent, up two basis points since the same time last week.

Looking back just two years ago, Domber reflects on how interest rates hovered around three-and-a-half percent. “It’s a pretty big increase from that and they are as high as they’ve been in almost 25 years,” he says.

Based on mortgage rate charts, interest rates were previously at a high of just over eight percent in 2000.

“The rate environment is getting cranky, and I don’t see any signs of it coming down,” says Domber. “I think we will be in a period of high rates for at least the next two to three years. That’s okay if the economy is humming along and people are making money and have jobs. We just have to adjust to the new normal.”

Domber says that high-interest rates are demotivating current homeowners, who might have purchased their homes at record-low interest rates during the pandemic, to sell. “They’re locked in at a rate that, in most cases, is under four percent and some are under three percent, so it’s hard to create motivation to sell, especially when there is so little inventory,” says Domber. “If they do sell, their rate is going to triple in some cases if they buy another home.”

Domber states that at the end of September, there were only 450 listings available on the Mid-Hudson Multiple Listing Services.

“That’s down 30 percent from the year before,” he explained. “I’ve been in this business for 45 years and I’ve never seen inventory levels as low as they are right now. So we have a lack of inventory, high-interest rates, and because there is such a lack of inventory, supply and demand is keeping the prices up.”

Ulster County In one area, Domber says there is less of a downturn.

“Ulster County has a few more months of inventory than Dutchess does and I constantly see more sales in the high end still occurring,” he said. “There is a nice group of well-educated upscale people coming up from the city and Brooklyn that came to Ulster as a second home area because it was relatively affordable. Some of the estate properties are just magnificent, with ponds on sizeable acreage, and it’s a great lifestyle with very pretty towns like Woodstock, New Paltz, and Stone Ridge.”

Domber understands that real estate is as cyclical a business as they come, and every cycle has a different

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twist to it, so this too shall change. “This low inventory cycle will work its way through; it just takes time,” he said.

“However, I don’t ever think we’re going to see interest rates under three percent again in my lifetime. The bottom line is there are still good opportunities to own real estate, but you have to work much harder to find them.”

Changes in Sullivan County Chris Ogden, broker/owner at RealtyPromotions in Middletown, was just getting into the market in the early 2000s. At that time, he remembers having an average of 80 to 90 listings. “On average for the last three years, I’ve carried 25 to 30 listings, and that’s a lot,” he says. “It was also taking four or five months to sell a property where it takes four to five days now.”

But those aren’t the only changes that Ogden has witnessed over the last few years.

“Sullivan County has been predominantly a secondary housing market,” he says. “During the pandemic you saw a huge insurgence into Sullivan County with a lot of people looking for vacation properties in the lower Catskill region. With the rise of interest rates, it has really hurt that market.”

On the other hand, Ogden explains that areas like Wurtsboro are seeing a bit of an uptick in buyers because they are being pushed out of Orange County. “It’s gotten too expensive, so they are starting to travel into lower Sullivan County for affordability,” he explains.

The lack of inventory has also hit Sullivan County.

“It’s a challenging time for a buyer’s agent with a lack of inventory and competition for the existing homes,” he says.

In Orange County, Ogden says the market looks a bit different. “Orange County is uniquely positioned, because we get buyers that commute back and forth into New York City,” he explained. “If you have the product, you’re still getting into bidding wars, homes selling over asking price, both existing and new, believe it or not. And that’s because there’s just so little to choose from. The increases we’ve seen in sale prices are pretty staggering.”

For example, Ogden explains that a home he could sell for $400,000 two years ago could sell for nearly $600,000 today. “We’re starting to hit that ceiling where you’re not going to be able to get much more for these properties, but Orange County has quickly become Rockland County.”

With a lack of inventory, Ogden sees an increased demand for new construction in Orange County. “I just listed a 15-lot subdivision near Mount Hope two weeks ago and we already sold seven houses and there’s not even a shovel in the ground,” says Ogden. “There’s definitely a need for land to build on, but there’s so much involved in New York to build homes, and developers don’t seem to want to do it.”

Looking into his real estate crystal ball, Ogden believes that the feds are going to slow the rise of interest rates come second quarter of 2024.

“The whole point of raising interest rates was to curb inflation, and I think they’ve done that successfully,” he says. “But if they continue to push on the interest rate, we will see a slowdown in the housing market. It’s pricing out so many potential buyers.”

EDITORIAL 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 Jane Anderson, Winona Barton-Ballentine, Anne Pyburn Craig, Jeff Eckes, Melissa Esposito, Lisa Iannucci, Ryan Keegan, Joan Vos MacDonald, David McIntyre, Hannah Van Sickle PUBLISHING COFOUNDER & CEO Amara Projansky COFOUNDER Jason Stern EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Jan Dewey CHAIR David Dell Upstate House is a project of Chronogram Media.

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Natural Expressions

by David Senise

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DESIG N

In her Kingston studio, Olga Joan makes functional home goods from handprinted linens that feature simple lines, geometric forms, and a neutral color palette.

A

fter more than 20 years working in fashion and apparel, Olga Joan was fed up. Her initial love of her job had given way to frustration with the industry’s standards, including the heavy workload borne by designers, the lack of consideration for the environment, and the dearth of creativity.

Joan, now 56, had built a career considered successful by many metrics—jobs with brands like Levi’s and Abercrombie & Fitch, financial stability, and then some—but found herself disheartened and burnt out. So she left the Gap, where she’d been working for nine years, and founded an eponymous home goods business in 2016. Olga Joan makes functional, modern products that feature simple lines, geometric forms, and a neutral color palette.

The brand’s offerings, which range from aprons to couch cushions to napkins, are all handmade in Joan’s studio in Kingston.

“I made a huge, huge decision,” Joan says of starting her business, which has since been included in HGTV magazine, the holiday gift guide of the New York Times, and Architectural Digest. She had her husband, two college-age children, and a mortgage to consider, not to mention the daunting task of turning her back on the career she’d spent the past few decades constructing. Upon leaving the Gap, she took six months off to recharge, during which she stopped looking at anything remotely fashionoriented and started asking herself what she was going to do. In an effort to learn new skills, she took a screen printing class at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, and knew that she wanted to make the discipline the basis of her work going forward. That and her previous experience with fabrics, color, and pattern, as well as her love of interior design, led her to what she calls “a natural progression” into home goods.

CHANGE O F S T YL E OLGA JOA N

By Naomi Shammash

upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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Joan’s personal aesthetic, consisting of geometric patterns, shapes, and hand-drawn linear artwork, is the driving force of the Olga Joan brand. She’s inspired by both Scandinavian and Japanese design traditions, loving the “minimalist clean modernness” of the former and the latter’s “indigo, simplicity, and idea that things might not always look perfect.” The Japanese aesthetic tradition of wabi-sabi, the acceptance of imperfection, grants Joan the confidence to make mistakes as she moves through the design process. She refuses the label of artist—“I can’t draw for anything,” she admits—but many of her designs start as doodles in little notebooks and a gut feeling. The first one she implemented was the zig-zag that she’s come to be known for, a pattern that makes an appearance on almost every product and in the Olga Joan logo. It’s triangular, made of thin lines stacked closely on top of one another, and is often printed in the bright reds and deep saturated blues that are mainstays in the brand’s color palette. Her human touch is visible in the drawing; the lines vary in thickness and the spaces between them aren’t standardized. When looking at the pattern on the whole, however, the shapes flow with regularity. Joan’s designs are at once orderly enough to please the eye and disorderly enough to be intimately human.

Before launching her company, Joan had a clear set

10 • online at upstatehouse.com

of values for the brand in mind, many of which were in direct opposition to what she’d seen in the fashion world.

“I wanted to be far away from fast fashion,” she says, and “use fabrications as sustainable to the environment as I possibly could find.” She sources fabrics close to home to avoid overseas shipping, though she makes exceptions for premier quality that helps create a practical, longlasting product, such as European linen and, occasionally, Japanese denim. She believes in the importance of local production: Joan screen prints, cuts, and sews all her products, sometimes hiring an assistant in the area to help with shipping. Though she’s not American—she grew up in Scotland before moving to New York—she thinks that “we should be producing our goods in the States and bringing that kind of economy to our community.”

Joan currently works out of the Shirt Factory in Midtown Kingston, but hopes to open a hybrid storefront-makerspace where customers can see the screen printing process in the near future. In the meantime, she plans on more collaborations with interior designers and custom products; she’s been making one-of-a-kind wall hangings and designing aprons for local chefs and stylists. “Doing special pieces for folks, I really love,” she says. “That’s what I strive to do.”

OLGAJOAN.COM

Left: Olga Joan handprints all the labels for her products in her Kingston studio.

Right: An assortment of printed wool felt tissue box covers.

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H OM E SERVICES

An essential part of home winterization is making sure essential tools are prepped and ready.

E

very fall I get a real kick out of the chipmunks running around busily stuffing nuts and seeds into their cheeks and stashing them under rocks and in nooks and crannies for the winter months. You begin to see this as early as September, and it’s a handy way to remember that you need to get your house ready for the winter as well.

Because our homes are likely the largest investment most of us will ever make, with just a bit of preparation every year we can make them last longer with less maintenance and overall cost. If you are a gardener like me, you might have a “master plan” each year that includes how early to put plants in the ground and what they need throughout the growing season. Your house and property would benefit from such a list, whether you do the work or hire others to do it, maybe especially if you hire others to do it! Here’s a month-by-month checklist for next year, and a helpful reminder in case you forgot anything this year.

September So, like the chipmunks, let’s begin in September with the traditional “closing of the pool” event we have just after Labor Day in our area. I remember when my kids were young, and we had a big pool I would always think I would get a few more swims in— I almost never did! Just do it, close your pool in the first half of September each year, you won’t regret it. While you are at it, drain any lines, hoses or containers like the skimmer system so freezing water does not crack or break the plastic. I’ve lost a skimmer or two over the years by forgetting about this.

Move your filtering equipment inside once you’ve cleaned it, and don’t forget the robot, it’s full of water too!

One more thing to do this month if you have an oil furnace—give it a good cleaning and tune up. Most of us will hire someone to do this, so getting on the schedule before heating season is important and can save you money. The more mechanically inclined you are, the more likely

S NOW L AUGHING MAT TE R G ET YOUR HOM E W I N T ER-R EA DY

By Jeff Eckes

upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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Gutters and leaders (downspouts) are some of the most important frontline tools for maintaining your home.

you will be to try tackling this chore on your own.

These are relatively simple systems, and the process is fairly simple and straightforward, requires very few inexpensive tools and parts, and takes an afternoon or less to complete. It will get you dirty though, so use your dirty-job clothes. There are literally hundreds of videos on YouTube that cover just about every furnace type out there. Study up, get your parts, and take your time. Video or shoot pics on the “way in,” so you have a reference for your “way out” when you put it all back together. The hidden benefit to learning how to do this is: If your furnace ever goes on the fritz during a snowstorm, you may not be shivering with your family waiting for the repairman to show up. Don’t forget to clean your chimney every few years too!

October October is a good month to think about finally getting to pressure washing your home and washing the windows if you haven’t been able to get to it so far.

That warm week we always seem to get in October is perfect for procrastinators like me. We usually get a few colder days in late October, perfect for checking if you have any air leaks around windows and doors.

We now have thermal imaging cameras available for just a couple hundred dollars (15 years ago I paid $3,600 for one with the same quality) that connect to our cell phones, and it’s one of the best ways to keep tabs on your home. It can spot a water leak behind a wall, drafts coming in around windows and doors

1 4 • online at upstatehouse.com

that need to be sealed, and walls and ceilings that need more insulation. In an older home, what you can save with energy-related repairs over a year or two could pay for that tool.

Ask anyone who knows me, I spend a lot of time around water. I am a former SCUBA instructor, I love kayaking, swimming, and boating, to be sure, but I also dislike water intensely when it’s running wild near a building. Nothing good comes from uncontrolled water around your home, nothing.

Since we usually get a good rainstorm or two in October, it’s a great time to get your raincoat and muck boots on and walk around the outside of your house in the rain to see how it handles the water. Gutters and leaders (downspouts) are some of the most important frontline tools for maintaining your home. Are all of the gutters on the house functioning? Are they all secured and not drooping from damage? Are all the leaders guiding the water away from the house effectively or channeling the water into an underground system? You should never see water flowing over gutters or a leader outlet too close to your house.

A minimum of three feet from the house, and that only if the water is flowing away from the building.

Now is the time to fix those gutters or make an appointment to have them fixed. Give them a good cleaning too. You might need to remove a few more leaves in November but it won’t be terrible unless you live in the woods, and if you do, you’re cleaning gutters more often anyway. It’s also a

good time to look around at anything that might hold standing water and turn it over or clean it up and bring it inside.

November November is the month to batten down the hatches for me. That’s when I tune up my snowblower, get whatever spare parts I need (shear pins!) and stage it where I need it. I check my snow shovel(s), buy new ones if I need any, and make sure I have plenty of calcium chloride for walkways and driveways. I never, ever use rock salt because it will destroy just about any paving or concrete surface in very short order and kills bedding plants to boot. Calcium chloride costs more, but its benefits make it well worth it.

Remember too that winter accoutrements like this are often on sale this time of year as well. Last, but certainly not least, the end of November is when I shut off my non-freeze-proof outside water bibs and drain them so they do not crack from a hard freeze.

Correctly installed freeze-proof faucets, which are usually labeled as such, do not need to be drained.

To me the best part of maintaining my home myself, other than the savings, is the confidence that comes from understanding how my home and its systems work on a mechanical level. That’s real peace of mind.

Jeff Eckes is the CEO of LDR Group, a Passive House design/build/renovate contractor located in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

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SP ONSORED

MAKE A SPLASH

FIBERGLASS POOLS OFFER AN EASY, ELEGANT WAY TO CREATE A BACKYARD PARADISE

G

unite (or concrete) pools have long been a top choice of homeowners looking to create an ultra-modern inground pool with all the luxurious amenities, but there’s another pool type that has been making waves in recent years: fiberglass.

The reason why? Fiberglass pools check pretty much every box when it comes to ease of selection, construction, and maintenance. Add to that the fact that fiberglass manufacturers have worked hard to catch up to the modern design possibilities of gunite, and even the choosiest homeowner will be able to find a model that fits their personal taste and the style of their home.

“Fiberglass pools have been around forever, but the industry was way behind gunite,” says Jamie Albert Snyder, the founder of Albert Group Pools & Patios in Salisbury Mills. “When I started my business in 2005, there were only nine configurations of fiberglass pools available from our manufacturer. Today, there are 70.”

Leisure Pools, the manufacturer that Albert Group works with, offers those 70 models in everything from super sleek rectangular shapes to gently curving lagoon styles in eight statement-making colors. Adding to classic Aquamarine are shades like Diamond Sand, whose green undertones and beige accents transport guests to a white sand beach; Ebony Blue, which calls to mind a deep freshwater lake; and Silver Grey, a reflective blue with white undertones that will have guests feeling like they’re at a high-end resort.

Then there are the bells and whistles: automatic covers, tanning ledges, builtin hot tubs, large splash decks for the kids, calming waterfalls, and benches in the deep end for taking it all in. The Albert Group team doesn’t just stop at the pool itself. They create custom paver paths, patios, and fencing around the pool, build outdoor kitchens, and even work with garden designers to create lush landscaping that ties it all together.

Produced by the Chronogram Media Branded Content Studio.

“This is something out of a magazine, and it’s right in our backyard,” says Carla Churyk, a Brewster resident who worked with Albert Group to install her family’s pool. “The project went so smoothly. They helped us with everything from the masonry work to the fence around the pool to working with our town for permits. We were just blown away by the results.”

When it comes to the technical side of things, fiberglass pools have always been a winner. Without a lengthy design process, the Albert Group team is ready to break ground in just two to four months once permitting is approved.

Once they prep the ground for install, the pre-constructed fiberglass shell is laid into place. The team upholds the same excellent standards on all their projects by completing all construction and finishing work in-house.

Because of the insulating qualities of fiberglass, the pools warm up quickly and retain heat, and can be used late into the outdoor season. And unlike the naturally rough texture of concrete, fiberglass pools are smooth to the touch.

With thoughtful additions like textured stairs, benches, and floors for stability and support, fiberglass pools offer an experience that is as comfortable and safe as it is stylish.

“Fiberglass was definitely the way to go with our kids because it doesn’t slip and it holds the heat in really well without running the pump all the time,” says Churyk. “But I never thought a pool would actually be this comfortable as well.”

Albertgrouplandscaping.com

Scan to watch the Churyks’ poolbuilding process from start to finish. upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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THE S O U RCE

A R T IST IC A SSEMB L AGE C ASA Z I K I

By Melissa Esposito

T

he village of Woodstock is synonymous with the arts.

Although the shops and restaurants that have opened in recent years are less focused on a tie-dye “Voodoo Chile” vibe, their aesthetic and offerings are still aligned with the bohemian artist colonies that existed long before the festivalthat-didn’t-happen-here—with artisans held in high regard.

Home decor and gift shop Casa Ziki is one of these artistforward, post-pandemic additions to the town’s main drag, offering statement-piece housewares and accessories, both locally handmade and globally sourced. A salmon-colored portico frames a royal blue door that beckons passersby to enter the Mill Hill Road location.

“I think people come to Woodstock to shop because they want something unique to add to their homes, like art prints, handmade mugs, and items that support artists,” says Sylvana Kiss-Zinshtein, shop owner and buyer. “When people walk in here, they don’t expect to see what they see, which is a really fun, colorful, eclectic mix of objects and art.”

The boutique offers a wide range of wares, like organic kitchen textiles; one-of-a-kind ceramics—from mugs, to bongs, to Furby sculptures; throw blankets and pillows; handbags

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and sunglasses; and more, all in vibrant hues that provide a kaleidoscopic sensory experience for shoppers. Besides the occasional Bowie or Marley holiday ornament, Kiss shies away from Woodstock kitsch.

As for local art, you’ll find paintings, photography, and sculpted works by a rotating cadre of artists, including the likes of Justin Love, Madelyn Goodman, and Bill Patrick among makers of various media who’ve been featured. “We like to collab with local artists and display their works along one big wall, rotating the featured artist every four to six months,” Kiss says. “I’d like to connect more with artists and artisans for events, too. For example, we did an art opening for photographer Bill Patrick and recently started hosting clothing pop-ups.”

Casa Ziki started as a Brooklyn-based brand with its first shop opened in 2019; Kiss brought the second location to Woodstock two years later, at the site of the former art supply store on Mill Hill Road. “I was living in Brooklyn, but spent a lot of time in Woodstock with family during the pandemic and fell in love with the town and the Hudson Valley,” she says. “So, in 2021, I decided to open a second store up here right after I had a

Casa Ziki in Woodstock offers a wide range of wares—organic kitchen textiles; one-of-a-kind ceramics, Furby sculptures, throw blankets and pillows, handbags, sunglasses, and art by local artists—all in vibrant hues.

feelings of surprise and delight. baby. I know that’s a crazy time to do it, but I found an amazing “I’m always on the hunt for new and unique things that are space and felt like I had to take the chance.” also colorful and vibrant,” she says. “I love when people walk This take-the-leap mindset was a driving force behind the in and are wowed; that’s why we often rotate merchandise and original store, as well. “I studied finance and have a business artists, so that people can revisit but always find something new.” background—I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” she This includes pop-ups with artisans who have a connection explains. “I owned a restaurant in Brooklyn for a while, then to the region. This month, you’ll find a pop-up by clothing realized I never wanted to do that, so I ended up working at brand RLC. “I was put in touch with the founder, Rachel, a friend’s concept store. I also owned a jewelry brand, which through a friend, and she seemed like a perfect fit,” Kiss says. taught me a lot about buying. One day I was walking down the “The amazing thing about RLC is the craftsmanship—she’s block and found a building that had a space opening; I decided based in, and designs in, the Hudson Valley, but her materials to take it on a whim. We started as a pop-up within the building owner’s retail shop, and quickly grew into the space as our own.” are made in Italy and France in small batches.” Shoppers can browse seasonal women’s clothes and accessories in natural The name, Casa Ziki, is derived from the Spanish word for fabrics, including sweaters, gloves, hats, and knits at Casa Ziki home, casa, and a combination of Kiss’s and her husband’s, through the fall.

Sasha Zinshtein, last names. Zinshtein, who works on Wall “It’s exciting for us to work with artists and we hope to do Street, is her business partner in both locations, as well. more to make it just as exciting for the community,” Kiss says.

A self-proclaimed shopaholic, Kiss has used Casa Ziki to “It’s heartwarming to me to see people reacting with excitement channel her skill for finding distinctive, quality goods and when they visit—I love to see that. I want you to be wowed.” scratch that shopping itch. “I love buying things, so I needed to make some money out of this addiction,” she says with a laugh. But her larger goal has been to create a space that evokes CASAZIKI.COM

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THE SOURCE

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R A RE F IND A H UD S O N B OAT H O U SE T U R N ED S HOWR OOM

By Joan Vos MacDonald The exterior of the boathouse that contains Kim Arenskjold and Wlodek Malowanczyk’s latest antiques venture.

Opposite top: Malowanczyck and Arenskjold in the showroom.

Opposite bottom: 19th-century plaster bust.

T

he profusion of art and fine furniture crowding the floors of Arenskjold Antiques Art in Hudson has long made it a fun place to shop, but Kim Arenskjold and his business partner Wlodek Malowanczyck noticed that sometimes, amid the abundance of choices, some of their rarer pieces did not quite get the attention they deserved. To remedy this, the dealers renovated a former boathouse, transforming it into a one-of-a-kind gallery/showroom space only a short walk from their store on Warren Street.

The new space is remarkable for several reasons, the first being how it’s hidden on a residential block of Union Street.

Located discreetly behind a modest home, the 2,000-square foot building has enough room to allow Malowanczyck and Arenskjold’s favorite finds to be lovingly displayed. With enough viewing space, visitors can indulge in all the details and craftsmanship that make these rare pieces noteworthy.

“We put special pieces in here,” says Arenskjold. “They are definitely pieces for a clientele that has an understanding of the period and of the pieces and their rarity. The idea is to bring these rare pieces out of the store and put them on a pedestal.

They look different here than seeing them in the store.”

Modern Times The eclectic mix of finds includes a golden multi-headed sculpture by the Mexican surrealist designer and artist Pedro Friedeberg, as well as one of his iconic hand chairs, an example of which is also found in the Museum of Modern Art. Friedeberg is a favorite of antiques dealer Malowanczyck. “I was always fascinated by his work,” says Malowanczyck. “I went to Mexico City several times and studied his artworks in Mexico. He really appealed to me.

This is one of his largest pieces of sculpture that we acquired here in Hudson from a collector.”

The inventory also includes two luxuriously restored chairs by Danish cabinet maker Frits Henningsen, as well as two chairs that Finnish architect Alvar Aalto designed for a sanatorium in 1933. There’s also a diminutive children’s chair

by American designer and architect Charles Eames. “This little chair, one of my favorite pieces, was designed by Eames in 1945,” says Malowanczyck. “Before all his fame, he designed several pieces for children, including this chair. He did the stool and he did the table. And then he made a little elephant.

He wasn’t so successful then.”

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The showroom’s diverse collection contains pieces that reflect both Malowanczyk’s modern sensibility and Arenskjold’s penchant for collecting older pieces.

Another rare find that gets a well-deserved spotlight is a dining chair designed by architect Rudolph Schindler, an Austrian-born architect associated with the modernist movement. Schindler’s chairs are highly collectible, and not easy to find.

“He became one of the American architects that established the modern look that is today called California Modern,” says Malowanczyck. “And he never put his furniture into production.

So the pieces were only designed for the particular project. You can’t go and buy another one.”

The display is aimed at the discerning designer or customer, definitely not someone looking for a bargain. For example, a rare Victorian hand-painted globe with a map of Mars, created by Danish astronomer Emmy Ingeborg Brun, goes for $50,000. “Supposedly there are only about seven or eight of them in the whole world,” says Arenskjold. “And three or four of them are basically in museums and collections. They’re extremely rare.”

Something Vintage, Something Modern For Malowanczyck, the period after World War II was the most exciting period for art and design, and that’s reflected in the pieces he collects. “It was the postwar era with Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright,” says Malowanczyck. “It was a booming

time. When I moved from Denmark to the US I became a dealer for 20th-century antiques only, specializing in pieces designed by architects or some famous designers. Kim still likes old paintings and pieces. He still likes mixing between the old world and the 20th-century world. Mixing pieces makes sense, in that you have a chair from 1930 and it provides a kind of a transition from the old world to the new one. And it goes really nicely together.”

It’s a diverse mix, but somehow harmonious. “Wlodek has been focusing a lot more on 20th-century design, designed by architects and name brand stuff from the 20th-century, where I’m a little more all over the place,” says Arenskjold, who also favors classical marble statues and Victorian furniture. “I mean, I do that too, but maybe I sometimes favor older pieces. It’s a good combination.”

Old Friends That can also be said of the two dealers who have been friends since they were young adults in Denmark. “Kim and I met when we were around 20,” says Malowanczyck, “So it was just about 50 years ago.”

Malowanczyck and Arenskjold were introduced to the antiques business because of a mutual friend whose mother was a respected antiques dealer. They began by making

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2 4 • online at upstatehouse.com

Chair by Danish designer Kofoed Larsen, produced by OPE in Sweden in 1956.

deliveries and learned about antiques along the way. Both men opened businesses in Denmark and then life took them in different directions. Later, Malowanczyck had businesses in Dallas and Laguna Beach before heading to the Hudson Valley.

Arneskjold opened shops in Houston, then returned to Copenhagen, before deciding to move back to the US to open a shop in New York City. That required more rent money than he cared to invest, so he traveled north and opened a shop in Rhinebeck.

But the amount of space available for the price in Hudson was appealing. “Back then, there were three or four antique dealers here,” says Arenskjold of Hudson in the 1980s. “Hudson had a really bad reputation, and the buildings back then sold for nothing. We saw a building on Warren Street, which was for sale for, like, $120,000, and we bought it for $105,000, which I think was the highest price paid for a building on Warren Street back then. Slowly Hudson became a destination for people looking for antiques.”

For a few decades, Arenskjold ran the store with his wife

and business partner, Jennifer. When she retired a few years ago, it coincided with Malowanczyck looking for a change, so Arenskjold suggested he move up to the Hudson Valley. They now work in what they describe as a “semi-partnership,” as independent dealers that buy and sell primarily furniture imported from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Italy.

The dealers renovated the space with the idea of holding exhibits and events there, but the design also factored in footage for the old friends to hang out in, as they have been doing off and on for half a century. There’s a comfortable section in the corner of the gallery, with a large pool table over which two six-foot-high Chinese paper shades hang.

“It is kind of a memory of the old days where we were in Copenhagen,” says Malowanczyck. “Kim was very good at playing pool and I was very good at drinking beer at the time.

With that it really came together nicely, the whole project for fixing this space up.”

A friendship that long is also a rare find.

ARENSKJOLD.COM

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COM M U N IT Y

GREAT BARRINGTON Where Beauty Abounds

By Hannah Van Sickle Photos by David McIntyre

L

ocated at the intersection of abundant cultural attractions, sprawling green spaces, and a surprisingly diverse culinary and retail scene, considering its rural locale, Great Barrington is a destination. Denizens of Boston and New York City flock to the undulating Berkshire hills yearround, seeking solace in the superb slice of heaven cultivated by those who live and work in this quintessential New England community.

“It’s beautiful here, and the community remains present despite changes,” says Abby Webster of a kind, easy-going, and inclusive local population.

Walking the scant two blocks between One Mercantile and Sett, the downtown shops she and her husband Andy Pruhenski own, Webster knows most people she passes—evidence of growing up and choosing to do business in the Berkshires.

While residents and hard-core weekenders alike can attest to the shifting downtown landscape, one constant remains: an aesthetic awareness that permeates all things.

The Scene While locals may be used to brushing elbows with one Yo-Yo Ma over baguette sandwiches at Bizalion’s Fine Food and purchasing woolens from award-winning actor and director Karen Allen at her eponymous fiber arts store on Railroad Street,

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visitors are hungry for daily life in this rural, albeit increasingly chic, locale.

The community’s commitment to historic reuse is evidenced by a trio of refurbished former churches.

Saint James Place is a state-of-the-art cultural center boasting regular concerts, plays, and holiday markets with local vendors plus the People’s Pantry, a South County staple for those facing food insecurity; the Flying Church houses an art space (Gallery SGD); a Swiss-style bakery (Pixie Boulangerie); and coffee shop (Carly’s Angels); and the Du Bois Freedom Center, a nonprofit named for Great Barrington’s native son— activist, scholar, and cofounder of the NAACP W.E.B. Du Bois—will return the former Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church to the spotlight as a hub for African-American heritage sites throughout the region.

Aesthetic attractions abound—from the intimate Bernay Fine Arts to the sprawling Asia Barong emporium with a dozen others in between. Retail destinations range from Fluff Alpaca (everything from socks to throws) and T. P. Saddleblanket (for Westerninspired clothing and home goods) to Moho Designs (organic, screen-printed duds for all ages) and the Refill Store (bulk products sans plastic). Sate your appetite at local spots like Marjoram + Roux (coffee, pastries and daily lunch specials); Farm Country Soup (serving fresh soup and homemade quiche plus frozen rations to go); Bizen (for sushi served in authentic

tatami rooms); and Cafe Adam (touted for its chefowner’s creative farm-to-table fare).

The hamlet of Housatonic must not be overlooked.

This once-thriving mill town, a scant six miles from downtown, is well worth the trip for distinctive stops including Berkshire Mountain Bakery (think almond croissants and cherry-pecan loaves); Extra Special Teas (boasting breakfast, bubble tea, and gluten-free snacks prepared and served by differently abled individuals); Pleasant and Main (classic comfort food served amidst a menagerie of antiques and ephemera); plus a pair of cultural outposts: Berkshire Pulse (a movement-based creative arts studio) and the Little Gallery—formerly Deb Koffman’s Art Space, a significant portion of whose graphic work was acquired by the Norman Rockwell Museum for its permanent collection following the Housatonic resident’s death in 2021, now part of the Center for Peace Through Culture.

And the hills are alive—the trails are open, no matter the mode of transportation. Skiers and boarders keen on making first tracks will want Ski Butternut and Catamount Mountain Resort in their GPS; hikers take note of the Appalachian Trail (22.9 challenging miles in GB alone stretching between Beartown and Bald Top); and walkers will enjoy strolling the RiverWalk, a paved path hugging the Housatonic, running parallel to Main Street in upstream and downstream portions.

THE FACTS ZIP CODE: 01230 POPULATION: 7,214 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $65,192 PROXIMITY TO MAJOR CITY: Great Barrington is 135 miles from both New York City and Boston.

TRANSPORTATION: Reach Great Barrington by car via the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90; Exit 1, West Stockbridge to Route 41 South, or Exit 2, Lee/US Route 20 to Route 7 South). There is Bonanza Bus service to Lee and Lenox, and Amtrak train service to Pittsfield.

NEAREST HOSPITAL: Fairview Hospital, 29 Lewis Ave., Great Barrington.

SCHOOLS: The Berkshire Hills Regional School District, based in nearby Stockbridge, is well regarded, as are a number of nearby independent schools including the Berkshire Waldorf School, Berkshire Country Day School, and Berkshire School.

Main Street in Great Barrington is quintessential New England.

Opposite: Fountain Pond State Park, with five miles of trails, is minutes from downtown.

The Market A wealth of cultural assets, coupled with a stunning natural landscape, makes GB a homeowner’s dream—one that continues to come with a hefty price tag.

“We are in a very tricky market for buyers and for sellers,” says Jen Harvey, cofounder and broker at the Great Barrington-based Berkshire Property Agents, citing rising interest rates and (somewhat) dwindling prices in the wake of pandemic-era sales.

At the time of this writing, 62 properties were available in Great Barrington with an average sale price of $623,800 after an average 29 days on the market. Aside from a miniscule 0.6 percent increase in new listings, all other numbers are down—including an 18.4 percent decrease in sales, 2.6 percent decrease in inventory, and 7.8 percent decrease in asking price.

From an investment perspective, real estate values remain protected—meaning the current drop in asking price is, “not catastrophic, rather more aligned with supply and demand,” explains Harvey of a healthy market in which the latter continues to outpace the former.

As to why that is?

“The Northeast has a draw—[including] the somewhat agreeable climate, the balanced political views, cultural exposure, and the proximity to large urban areas for work [and]

travel—making it a strategic place to buy property,” says Harvey, pointing to a pair of current listings.

The first, touted as a one-of-kind, in-town property on the Housatonic River, boasts classic Victorian bones that have been entirely renovated plus a detached barn (built in 2015) whose classic exterior belies the contemporary interior—a total six beds and five baths over 5,000 square feet for $2,195,000.

The second, a 1773 Colonial, is advertised as renovated and move-in ready. Of note is the ground-floor primary suite addition, detached guest cottage and sprawling three acres—a total three beds and three baths over 2,940 square feet listed at $1,295.000.

“Like most things, [the market] is cyclical,” says Harvey of an adjust-and-move-forward attitude required in the industry. Still, skyhigh prices have prompted town officials to contemplate whether or not imposing a one percent “real estate transfer fee” for property sales of over $1 million—to be shared between buyer and seller to augment the town’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund—is a viable option in Great Barrington as it has been in other parts of the state, namely on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

Chill vibes abound. Whether you’re looking for a weekend getaway or a way of life, get in on the beauty that is Great Barrington.

POINTS OF INTEREST: Monument Mountain, Flag Rock, Fountain Pond State Park, Lake Mansfield, Benedict Pond, W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Site, Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Berkshire South Regional Community Center, Giggle Park, Fuel, Mooncloud, Baba Louie’s, Mama Lo’s BBQ, Steam Noodle Cafe, Prairie Whale, Berkshire Food Co-op, Rubiner’s Cheesemongers, Griffin, Home Love, Barrington Outfitters, The Attic, Railroad Street Collective, Matrushka Toys and Gifts, JWS Art Supplies, Boho Exchange, Yellow House Books, Crystal Essence, Hammertown, Robin’s Candy Shop, Theory Wellness, Farnsworth Fine Cannabis Company.

• Great Barrington

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COM M U N IT Y

POUGHKEEPSIE

O

n any given day, there’s a whole lot going on in the five square miles of the Queen City.

Poughkeepsie is home to the Bardavon, the oldest operating theater in the United States; and to Vassar College, the nation’s second-ever women’s college and the site of IBM’s Poughkeepsie Lab, which gave the world the mainframe computer.

Scores of Poughkeepsie natives have become boldface names in art and sport, in aviation and jurisprudence. Poughkeepsie natives gave the world baby formula, Morse code, cough drops, and the game of Scrabble.

Yet Poughkeepsie has always struggled in the popular imagination. Being as much fun to say as it is tricky to spell has inspired punchlines in movies and TV ranging from the French Connection to “Friends,” few of them flattering, They’re compiled with celebratory relish by a Gen X native at Poughkeepsiepopculture.com; and taken in bulk, they clearly represent homage. Poughkeepsie is badass and indelible, many places in one, and steadily, perceptibly on the rise.

“New buildings are going up, old favorites are getting renovated, partnerships are strengthening, and long overdue public investments are being made,” writes Director of Development Joe Donat in a draft document shared with Upstate House,

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A Place with a Plan

By Anne Pyburn Craig Photos by David McIntyre

mentioning citywide parks improvements, a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, and “completed streetscape and parking lot beautification improvements downtown.” Donat cites the Complete Market Street plan, which would reconfigure traffic to draw people downtown, and the refreshment of Academy and Cannon streets— in recent years, the neighborhood has gained a cafe, wine bar, pizza place, brewery, and event space—as solid improvements to the city’s core, which was carved up decades ago by two ill-conceived one-way arterials that send traffic around its outer limits.

The Riversong Project, 47 Cannon Street, is repurposing the onetime Board of Elections headquarters into eight stories of mixed-use space; the Mosaic Project at 43 Cannon Street is adding another 40 residential units and more retail space.

Meanwhile, the Dutchess County Transportation Council has proposed reducing the arterials from three lanes to two, devoting the regained streetspace to bike lanes, green space, and a more pedestrian-friendly experience.

“Our first Poughkeepsie project was the former Nativity School on Union Street, a bombed-out shell we restored into a 39-unit apartment building, which is fully rented and doing well.,” says Jay Blumenfeld, COO of Chai Developers. “That gave us

the encouragement we needed. We bought a bunch of smaller houses that had really nice architecture we knew we could restore, and we’re working our way through that portfolio now, among other things.” In September, Chai purchased the Chance, a 1912 theater that’s hosted more legendary bands than there are jokes about Poughkeepsie. “We’re excited to give it the kind of holistic renovation that it never really had,” says Blumenfeld, “combining our experience in historic preservation with top engineers who know lighting and staging and sound, and then finding the right operator and giving them some freedom to do their thing.”

“You meet so many amazing people out here really trying to make improvements in the city and you just want to surround yourself with those people and work together,” says mayoral candidate and four-term councilwoman Yvonne Flowers, a grandmother born and raised in the city. “We’ve made a lot of progress with city finances, improving our parks, bringing in more youth programming.

We have a lot of development coming in, and we want to be sure that it happens in a way that’s inclusive to the whole city. We don’t want people deeply invested in our community to feel like they could no longer stay here because they can’t find adequate housing.”

THE FACTS ZIP CODE: 12601, 12602, 12603, 12604 POPULATION: 32,558 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $48,805 PROXIMITY TO MAJOR CITY: 70 miles from New York City, 80 miles from Albany

TRANSPORTATION: The city is accessible by the Noxon Road exit of the Taconic State Parkway. Both Metro-North and Amtrak trains stop downtown.

The city runs its own bus system, and the Dutchess County-wide LOOP buses also make stops.

NEAREST HOSPITAL: Both Vassar Brothers Medical Center and the Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Medical Center (formerly St. Francis Hospital) are located within the city.

SCHOOLS: The Poughkeepsie City School District has nearly 5,000 students attending six elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and a community learning center. Private schools include Poughkeepsie Day School, Oakwood Friends, Faith Christian Academy, and Our Lady of Lourdes High School.

John David Baez making drinks at Goodnight Kenny, part of the revival of Academy Street.

Opposite: Poughkeepsie’s Mt. Carmel neighborhood viewed from the Walkway Over the Hudson.

POINTS OF INTEREST: Walkway Over the Hudson, Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn, Bardavon 1869

The Scene The 10-block Main Street core offers dining options including French, Italian, East Asian, Caribbean, and Mexican fare, along with the lively Trolley Barn Gallery and Vidl, a barbershop that hosts pop-up cultural events. There’s Laughing Gut for local kombucha, teas, and botanicals, and a brewery scene throughout the city that is, true to the legacy of college founder Matthew Vassar, off-the-chain fabulous.

Closer to the river, the city’s Little Italy neighborhood is rich in history and delicious food. Over by Vassar College, check out Geneva’s Blues House for authentic Southern barbecue and Twisted Soul Food Concepts for AsianLatin-fusion treats. The Raymond Avenue neighborhood is a college town within the city, offering metaphysical supplies at Dreaming Goddess, music and art at Darkside Records, and a cozy retro bookstore at Three Arts, along with an array of thrift shops and mighty good pizza.

Poughkeepsie boasts four golf courses, two of them municipal, and nine acres of waterfront greenspace at Waryas Park. Also on the riverfront: the Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum, designed for the under-12 set but unlikely to disappoint accompanying grownups.

Then there’s the Walkway Over the Hudson, the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge, free

to the public all day long and hosting a series of innovative Walkway At Night events.

The Market “You can get the same feel as you get in Larchmont in the south side of Poughkeepsie, for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the taxes,” says Sandi Park, Associate Real Estate Broker, Global Luxury Specialist and publisher of The Brick, a real estate newsletter. “The trajectory was already happening before the pandemic; I had six properties go for six figures over asking in the past few years. But despite the historically low inventory, there are also plenty of opportunities in the $350-450,000 range, some in move-in condition, some historic. I tell my clients not to overlook things that have sat on the market for a while—if you see something intriguing, get in there and make an offer before the seller makes a public price reduction” At the time of this writing, Poughkeepsie listings include a handful of foreclosures and some apartments available for under $300,000, as well as nifty three- and four-bedroom colonials and ranches in the $500-700,000 range.

A turnkey five-bedroom center hall Colonial up a private drive on eight acres and offering a saltwater pool, light-filled great room and chef’s kitchen was offered for $1,225,777.

Opera House, Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Vassar College, Marist College, Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum, Academy Food Hall, Locust Grove (Samuel L. Morse Estate), Mill House Brewing Company, Waryas Park Promenade, Union Street Historic District

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HOUSE PRO FIL E

ARTISTIC PUZZLE Arnaud Cornillon’s Container House

By Joan Vos MacDonald Photos by Nils Schlebusch

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The rear of the container home built by Arnaud Cornillon. The expansive terrace offers an extra room in warmer weather while one of the home’s shipping containers opens at the end for outdoor dining.

Opposite top: Light ripples along the interior container walls, making them seem almost like curtains.

Oppsite bottom: The house is constructed from seven 40foot shipping containers and an additional 20-foot container.

W

hile sleeping in a tepee on his 10-acre Tivoli plot, Arnaud Cornillon dreamt of the home he would one day build there. It was an ambitious plan, incorporating seven 40foot shipping containers and an additional 20-foot container. His design took cues from the lay of the land and the slant of the sun. Observing the changing light and seasons helped orient his home.

“One time I put the entrance of the teepee in the north and there was a cone of ice following the shadow of the teepee,” says Cornillon. “So an entrance in the north was a big no-no, because the house would give a shadow and there would be ice in the back. I moved the entrance to the east.”

That attention to natural details is evident in the finished home. The galley kitchen faces east because Cornillon enjoys making his morning coffee in a room flooded with light, while the home’s living room faces southwest, a location that makes the most of the sunset’s golden hour.

It took Cornillon six years to build the house. He’s not an architect, nor did he start with endless funds to complete his ambitious project. Having worked for almost 30 years as a decorative painter, Cornillon more than once ran out of money during construction. He also faced multiple major health issues

that threatened to derail his project. Nor was it easy to get a loan on a container house, despite their growing popularity.

None of those obstacles permanently hindered Cornillon.

He likes solving puzzles and, for him, building the house was an exercise in creativity. His artistic approach to tackling projects was nurtured during his childhood in France, growing up with an artist mother and an architect/artist father who was fond of Le Corbusier and African art. “I grew up watching my father solve house problems, so that’s how I see the world,” he says.

“I think everybody is capable of designing their whole house, given that maybe it’s a little bit more modest than this one. I feel as a designer that I can design a car or a dish or a tray. It’s just a language that I’ve learned. And just like every writer or artist, you learn that language over the years.”

Cornillon had some art school experience with architectural drawing and he taught himself to use a 3-D architectural modeling program to expertly position the house. He did much of the physical work himself, but enlisted the services of an engineer and always hired professional plumbers and electricians. “If you make a mistake there, it’s just not worth the money,” says Cornillon. “But the rest we eventually figured out. The problem with shipping container houses was that there was no how-to [manual].”

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Space Between The house mostly consists of containers, now painted a soft black, but the home also features a balcony and entrance sections clad in wood. Vines on a trellis soften the home’s entrance and a playful wooden plank leads to the deck.

Cornillon initially worried that the white interiors of the shipping containers would look cold and perhaps too “brutally industrial,” but the corrugated material surprised him by looking almost like a curtain. Light ripples across the undulating metal walls and, as shadows travel across the room, provides the illusion of texture. The home’s most distinctive feature—and also his favorite—is the sculptural living room staircase, composed of a steel frame with thick chunks of hemlock wood on either side. It rises into a gap in the assembled containers, “It was actually two columns that I bought for $60 at a garage sale and my neighbor welded them together,” says Cornillon. “We went to the mill and they charge you per cut on custom wood. This was extremely cheap. It was like a block—12-inches-by-eight-feet long—and we cut them down on site here to almost four feet and that was it. I was able to do it without knowing too much.”

He initially planned for the staircase to ascend through the floor of an upper level container but the metal floor was too difficult to cut, so he separated the containers with an

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extension, creating a skylight that lets sun and starlight wash the space below.

“When you walk around at night, it’s so incredible to have the moon inundate the house with light,” says Cornillon.

“And so it became a feature that I appreciate very much.

Instead of cutting through the container, I just made the space between them.”

A Well-Traveled Home In colder weather, the home is heated by a wood-burning fireplace plus radiant heating under the polished concrete floors. The expansive terrace becomes an extra room in warm weather, an outdoor entertaining space with sunset views. A fire pit with circular stone seating is also positioned to enjoy the evening view, while an open-ended shipping container serves as an outdoor dining space. In Cornillon’s childhood home, entertaining often involved dining outdoors. “We always had large terraces where most of the dinner would happen” In addition to the design possibilities, Cornillon was drawn to the romance of shipping containers. “It’s probably the only house that has been to China and back a couple of times,” says Cornillon, who moved from Nice to New York City, then California and, eventually, the Hudson Valley. “The containers were 10 years old when I bought them. So they’ve traveled.

After Cornillon sold the home to Lori Greenberg, designer Elyse Kroll curated furnishings to perfectly fit the space.

Opposite top: When designing the home, Cornillon positioned the rooms to face the best light at different times of the day.

Opposite bottom: The width of the kitchen was determined by the size of a shipping container, so Cornillon opted for a galley kitchen.

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3 4 • online at upstatehouse.com

This shipping container, once Cornillon’s studio, now serves as a stage for outdoor performances.

Opposite: Cornillon poses on the staircase he designed alongside current homeowner Lori Greenberg, center, and designer Elyse Kroll.

There was some Arabic, there’s Korean, we found all kinds of writing in them. It’s kind of funny to think your house has been everywhere.”

Four years ago, after living in his dream home for four years, Cornillon sold the house to Lori Greenberg. He’s happy to see that she’s put the space to good use, holding community events, hosting weddings, and giving concerts at his former on-site shipping container studio, which now serves as an informal stage. “Lori has brought together a community, especially of women and artists and writers, creating all kinds of energy within this house, and I’m very proud of that because that’s the playful feeling I wanted to capture in the house.”

After building his dream home Cornillon employed his hard-won container skills to found Acorn Studio in Hudson, selling shipping containers suitable for an office, writer’s retreat, artist or recording studio. The containers feature a single metal window and a sliding glass door. A heart attack forced Cornillon to temporarily suspend that business, but now he’s ready to design and sell more container minis.

Rocks That Roll Acorn Studio wasn’t his first business. Cornillon also founded Hudson Paint, which sells chalkboard paint in bright colors.

He came up with the idea when asked to design an afterschool center in which every room had a color scheme. He wondered how cool it would be to have an orange chalkboard in the orange room, so he mixed up a few colors and found out how to mass produce his paint.

One of Cornillion’s current projects involves rocks. There are the “silent pets,” knee-high rocks—and sometimes chunks of wood—set on skateboard wheels. They were inspired

by the Tivoli home’s concrete floors and how easy it was to skateboard on them.

“I always collect all the rocks and logs that I can find that have cool shapes,” says Cornillon. “So one day they sat opposite a skateboard. One day I’m like what? Rolling stone.

Rolling rock.”

So, he decided to rock and roll, exhibiting and selling his creations. He’s come to see his silent pets as friendly figures that he’s formed an intimate connection with—and they are pets you don’t need to feed or walk. He also creates minis, tiny rocks with wheels, that have been sold at Opus 40 and were recently on display at Artport Kingston, part of the group show “Are We Home Yet?”.

“It’s kind of a mini sculpture, but I’ve also connected to people through those rocks and the stories people tell about rocks,” says Cornillon. “I keep on doing the rocks to get those stories.”

He envisions a small coffee table book, which would include the stories of people’s experiences with stones. “The heavy stones people told me they carried in their backpack for miles and miles and miles, thinking they were going to die,” says Cornillon. “But they still have it at home and it’s the most precious thing they’ve ever done.”

Would he ever design another house or more mini containers? Definitely, although he might not want to physically build one. He’s up for the creative challenge. For now, he’s focused on his rock art and the stories rocks inspire.

“This world of art, especially rocks on wheels, who does that?” asks Cornillon. “This is my new journey, putting rocks on wheels—or anything more artsy—without asking anyone if it makes sense or not.”

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S PO N S O R E D

For its listing of the Seelbach Lane Residence in Staatsburg, designed by Frank W. Chen of New York City design studio JSDnA, Upstate Curious partnered with ArtPort Kingston to hang pieces from local artists that showcase the home’s masterful use of angles and light.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

The Modern at Long Farm is the first house Upstate Curious is listing in an eight-site development on 63 pastoral acres in Callicoon that blends the best of modern living with natural country beauty.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

3 6 • online at upstatehouse.com

GROWTH MINDSET

UPSTATE CURIOUS’S WINNING REAL ESTATE STRATEGY

On the Cover: Owned by renowned British artists Gary Hume and Georgie Hopton, this 19th-century farmstead in Accord with numerous studios and outbuildings was sold by Upstate Curious this fall.

Photo by Gabriel Zimmer/ Catskill Image Above: Designer Tom Givone’s Floating Farmhouse in Eldred was sold by Upstate Curious after just six weeks—a result of the team’s deep knowledge of the communities it covers and dedication to buyer education.

Photo by Phil Mansfield

E

arlier this year, an article by New York magazine’s real estate and design publication Curbed described Upstate Curious as the team behind the sale of “every single house that was recently painted black within 50 miles of the Hudson River.” Considering that the boutique Hudson Valley-based real estate team founded by Megan Brenn-White is less than five years old, the sentence speaks volumes about the meteoric rise of Upstate Curious.

With $140 million in closed and pending deals so far in a year that has seen mortgage interest rates climb to their highest levels since 2002, Brenn-White and the Upstate Curious Team have managed to thread the needle of success in an increasingly crowded and challenging industry. The secret?

Brenn-White’s business philosophy is all about leaning into the power of connection. With 55,000 Instagram followers, a wildly successful community app with 7,000 active users, and a newly forged partnership with the innovative tech- and design-driven brokerage Compass, the Upstate Curious Team is managing to meet everyone in the right place at the exact right time.

Instagram Rising Brenn-White left New York City for full-time life in Ulster County in 2016. That year, the Harvard and London School of

Economics-educated owner of a digital marketing firm first dipped her toe into real estate by getting her realtor’s license, and began tinkering around with the possibilities of Instagram.

“I started an account just to document what was happening with my move up to Kerhonkson,” says Brenn-White, associate real estate broker and CEO of Upstate Curious. “It was also a new, visually compelling medium that I felt like I needed to learn for my marketing clients.”

In 2018, an article in the New York Times profiling residents who had moved to the Hudson Valley and Catskills touted Brenn-White’s account as an approachable blend of listings and community goings-on, and gained her 1,000 followers in the process. “I think that was really a catalyst for getting a lot more attention,” she says. The next year, she closed her marketing firm and launched the Upstate Curious real estate team. As the story now goes, then came Covid.

The pandemic drove intense growth for most brokerages in the Hudson Valley, but it catapulted Upstate Curious from upstart brand to household name. “Covid accelerated everything,” Brenn-White says. “We went from $50 million in volume to over $100 million in one year. It basically doubled the business.” The Instagram account was a one-stop-shop for browsing listings, learning about communities upstate, and immediate conversations with buyers and sellers.

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In the four years Upstate Curious was part of Keller Williams, Brenn-White grew the team from just herself into a dynamic group of agents with diverse backgrounds in everything from fashion to documentary filmmaking.

While many real estate agencies focus on a small geographic area, the 14 agents and six support staff on the team cover 12 counties across the Catskills and Hudson Valley, intentionally mirroring the broad search parameters of their client base of second home buyers and sellers. Home base for the team is a 43-acre property in Accord whose historic farmhouse and cottage have recently been renovated into guest houses for visiting clients, team members, and partners.

The key to covering so much territory is communication.

The team is in constant conversation with each other, sharing tips on accepted or declined offers, community happenings, and more over Zoom and Slack.

“We have the resources and geographic reach—because there are so many of us and we’re spread out—to make ourselves experts on anywhere there is someone who wants us to sell their property,” says Katy Porte, an agent who joined Upstate Curious in 2022. “It’s extremely important to have a support network in real estate. If it’s just solo agents helping each other out from time to time, it’s very different from having this kind of established team network.”

This spring, Upstate Curious moved from Keller Williams to Compass, a partnership that is proving to supercharge the reach

3 8 • online at upstatehouse.com

of its listings. “The decision to move to Compass was based a lot on the market conditions,” says Brenn-White. “Compass is the largest brokerage in New York City, has some of the best agents across the country, and it’s very collaborative and tech-forward, so it’s a natural fit. We’ve probably been getting 15-plus referrals a month since we joined Compass. That network is going to be a world of difference for us and our clients.” It’s also helped to increase the team’s average sales price by over 40 percent, although buyers will see listings for $350,000 (albeit ones that generally boast a distinctive design or location) sitting happily along ones in the seven figures on the team’s website.

An All-In Approach By the time acclaimed designer Tom Givone was ready to sell his Floating Farmhouse in Sullivan County, his artful four-year design/rebuild process had already been featured in Dwell, Architectural Digest, and Travel + Leisure. But the modernist reimagining of a historic manor home with a deck cantilevered over a private swimming creek sat on the market for six months with a big-name brokerage before Givone took the leap to relist with Upstate Curious this year. In six weeks, the team secured an all-cash offer at asking price.

“I was afraid to let the other brokerage go because I thought they knew my buyer, but I figured I really had nothing to lose,” says Givone. “Upstate Curious had a fresh game plan and a much more customized, personal approach.”

Currently on the market, the bucolic property at 379 Mead Road in New Kingston offers 90-plus acres and a lovingly updated 1904 Victorian farmhouse in one of the most scenic areas of the western Catskills.

Photo by Alon Koppel Photography

Founded in 2019 by CEO and associate real estate broker Megan Brynn-White, the Upstate Curious Team has expanded to 14 agents and six support staff who cover 12 counties across the Catskills and Hudson Valley. The team’s move to Compass earlier this year has dramatically expanded its network and increased the team’s average sales price by over 40 percent.

Photo by Kate Callahan

Upstate Curious Team at Compass Upstatecurious.com (838)-UPSTATE Info@upstatecurious.com 5145 Route 209 Accord, NY 12404

With the Floating Farmhouse, the team applied their winning combination of down-to-earth social media coverage, digital storytelling, and captivating photography by their fulltime team photographer Phil Mansfield, whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Vogue Living, Food & Wine, and the “House & Home” section of the New York Times. They also featured the listing at their booth at the high-end Kingston makers’ fair Field + Supply, and developed day-trip itineraries with recommended local spots for buyers to get a feeling for what living in the area might be like.

“Our job as real estate agents is not just finding you a home; it’s discovering the community you want to be in,” says Hillary Kolos, an agent who joined the team in 2021. “We try to get to know all that we can about someone and what kind of lifestyle they’re looking for, and then we can start to connect them with certain towns,” she says. “With my listing on Mead Road in New Kingston, for instance, the right buyer will appreciate the pastoral privacy of almost 100 acres and the work that the seller has put into the historic Victorian farmhouse, as well as this nice constellation of nearby towns—Margaretville, Bovina Center, Roxbury, Andes, and Stamford. But that might not be the right fit for someone looking for busy village life.”

A Community-Minded Ethos The team’s passion for helping buyers find their sense of community extends well past the dotted line on the closing

contract. In 2021, the team debuted the Upstate Curious mobile app, which provides a way for residents to find everything from community meetups to contractors. “As a team, I think we just keep figuring out how to solve problems,” says Brenn-White.

“One problem was that a lot of people moved up during Covid and needed to meet people and didn’t know how to deal with a house.

The app now has almost 7,000 people who are talking to each other and answering those questions, as well as small businesses and vendors gaining access to these new potential customers.”

Earlier this year, Upstate Curious also joined forces with the American Farmland Trust to help launch the New York Farmland Access Fund (NYFAF). So far, the fund has received $2.5 million in pledges, including $1 million from Upstate Curious, to help provide first-time LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and women farmers with equitable farmland access and permanently protect 1,000 acres of farmland in the Hudson Valley and beyond.

“Part of what I like about Upstate Curious and our approach to real estate is that we do try to keep the community in mind,” says Kolos. “It’s important to me that if I’m going to be involved in real estate that I’m involved in equity conversations, and doing my best to be a positive force within a world that’s hard right now economically. Taking on projects like the New York Farmland Access Trust is just part of how our team is trying to operate in a thoughtful and ethical way.”

Produced by the Chronogram Media Branded Content Studio.

upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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Julie Hedrick and Peter Wetzler bought a circa 1860 Baptist church and its adjacent chapel in 1986 after stumbling upon Kingston when they ran out of gas on their way home to New York City. Since then, the church has become a studio, performance space, and art center, and the chapel evolved into an Airbnb.

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BO OK

THE ART OF HOME Living Upriver: Artful Homes, Idyllic Lives

By Jane Anderson Photos by Barbara de Vries

T

he concept of “home” comprises many perspectives: the hygge of a warm fire and cozy blanket, golden sunlight slanting onto a well-worn floor, and comfort shared at the table around a home-cooked meal. Writer/photographer Barbara deVries explores the homes and livelihoods of creatives spanning the Hudson and Delaware valleys in her latest book, Living Upriver: Artful Homes, Idyllic Lives, published this fall by Rizzoli.

“Researching and doing the work on this book was incredibly satisfying and cozy in itself,” deVries says.

The book richly displays exteriors and interiors of a baker’s dozen of houses up and down the Hudson and Delaware. Living Upriver goes further than just stunning photography; deVries recounts the “origin story” of the homeowners—how they discovered the area, why they chose or built their houses, and the ways they’ve made them their homes.

“The story idea was born during Covid,” deVries says. She and her husband, writer/critic Alastair Gordon, hunkered down in their mountaintop home in Milford, Pennsylvania, with their daughters—Iona and twins Kiki and Leila. “Our twins were in school still,” deVries continues. “They’d all be working in their respective spaces throughout the house, and in the evening, we would come together and cook. I truly appreciated that sense of home.”

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DeVries fought off pandemic-borne isolation by scrolling social media. “I was on Instagram a lot at the time—it seemed to be a way to find out how the rest of the world was doing.” She started noticing that creatives, from artists and writers to photographers and actors, were using their houses as a way to display their creativity and design.

That sparked an idea for deVries: to connect all those people in the upper Hudson River and Delaware River into one narrative.

Focusing on a 2.5-mile radius from their Milford home, deVries scouted more than two dozen houses, including those with which she was most familiar: the homes of friends.

J. Morgan Puett’s “Mildred’s Lane”—a 96-acre farmstead on the Upper Delaware—nearly defies description, yet deVries does a bang-up job of doing just that. “We’d been going to Mildred’s Lane for 20 years,” deVries says, of Puett’s “experimental community” of meals and salons.

“It was our Saturday night hangout during Covid.” That familiarity shines through in deVries’s photographs of not only the interiors and exteriors of the slatted hemlock house, but portraits of the people there and the artworks within. Capturing the moodiness of the space, Living Upriver celebrates the simplicity of textiles drying on a clothesline and tables set for a dozen.

4 2 • online at upstatehouse.com

O Pioneers!

DeVries honors “pioneer” East Village expats painter Julie Hedrick and musician Peter Wetzler, who moved to Kingston in the ‘80s, as well as relative newcomers who fled upriver during Covid. Page by page, the book uncovers deVries’s curated interpretations of the beauty of home.

Readers discover that there’s no one definition of “upriver” living; each home has its own story, its own feel, its own character. “I was impressed by everyone; they’re all visionaries,” deVries explains. “They don’t see what it looks like at the time, but what it would look like in the future.”

And that future is fluid, as the story of Todd Carr and Carter Harrington’s Greene County farmhouse shows. A mixed retail/ art/botanical space, Hort and Pott (short for horticulture and pottery) overflows with verdant vines from floor to ceiling.

DeVries’s images capture the horticulture in striking relief against the dark interiors of the home, bringing to mind the still lifes of the Old Masters. She recalled in the interview that she was thoroughly enthralled with the space, which was at first difficult to define. “It’s interesting that they’ve created an enigma,” de Vries says. “As a visitor, rather than entering with an idea for what you want, you’re the one who’s challenged— because they know exactly what they’re doing.”

Living Upriver also gives readers a glance into the lives of

The library at Mildred’s Lane, a creative community and gathering space by J. Morgan Puett in Pennsylvania near Narrowsburg along the Delaware River.

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J. Morgan Puett and her then-partner Mark Dion, along with artist friends Renee Green and Nils Norman bought a 96-acre farmstead on the banks of the Delaware River in 1997 to form the creative community Mildred’s Lane, where artfully furnished tents like this one (that still exists on the property) pre-dated “glamping.”

more well-known upstaters, like Laura Chavez Silverman of the Outside Institute and its Outpost in Callicoon. Again, deVries forgoes the traditional exterior, living room, kitchen, bedroom photos in favor of following Silverman on one of her nature walks; zooming in on a Monarch butterfly and explaining how to help the endangered insect; and showcasing the contentment of a cat snuggled up on a duvet.

Nothing looks staged, because nothing is staged.

“In photographing the homes, I only used ambient light, because I really enjoy it,” deVries says. Her lifelong experience in design—first as a model, with a Cosmopolitan cover on her resume, then a fashion designer who helped launch Calvin Klein’s CK in New York—sculpted her eye behind the camera, too.

She tried to take as many shots as she could on one visit, and only returned to a few homes for more nuanced additions: “It’s kind of like an embroidery: You go back and add the final touches.”

The love that DeVries has for her subjects comes through in her images. A two-page spread of Nadia Yaron’s sunlit studio has the sculptor

off to the side; she is spotlit in sunlight, and her sculptures are front and center. A pine-sided farmhouse in Bovina is a handsome structure in itself; through deVries’s text, readers discover that the house’s design incorporates elements from a historic Massachusetts tavern and a home from the owners’ college travels in the Czech Republic. Such fascinating facts elevate the images.

DeVries actually wrote the text for the book on another river, in another country altogether.

When shooting finished, deVries’s mother fell ill, so the author flew to her Netherlands homeland to help care for her. “I wrote the text along the Zaan River, upriver from Amsterdam; it’s a very beautiful place,” deVries explains. “I had a lot of quiet time in which to write.” Her family is imprinted throughout the book, with some shots taken by her husband, and the creative, woodsy title font created from scratch by one of her daughters.

The book is a celebration of homes that are well loved and well lived-in, with a thread of creativity that, like the rivers emulated in the title, runs seamlessly through it.

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SP O NSO R E D

BRING THE OUTDOORS IN What Your Favorite Season Says About the Paint Colors to Use In Your Home

F

rom sunny yellows to stormy blues, color is one of the quickest ways to set the mood in any space. Choosing the perfect paint color for the kitchen or bedroom from a wall of swatches, however, can be intimidating for even the most savvy DIY-er. One easy (and fun!) way to define the hues that are right for you and your home is to take a few cues from the colors of your favorite season.

Valley and Rhinebeck, Williams has been the go-to for home improvement in the Hudson Valley since 1946. “At Williams, we have all types of customers with different styles and tastes who know that they can rely on our expert team to guide them to design choices they’re sure to love.”

Whether spring’s peppy brightness, summer’s laid-back warmth, autumn’s earthy embrace, or winter’s understated elegance resonates most, there’s a palette of perfect hues to match. Here’s how to choose the Benjamin Moore paint colors that will offer the best of your favorite season, all year long.

“The paint colors you gravitate toward using in your own home are a reflection of your distinct personality, so why not take your inspiration from the season that you feel most at home in?” asks Kim Williams, SVP of Retail Operations at Williams Lumber and Home Centers, an authorized retailer of premium Benjamin Moore paints. With seven locations, including two design centers in Pleasant

SPRING Those who favor spring are invigorated by its sense of optimism and the promise of a fresh start. Want to bring that budding excitement indoors? Interiors defined by soothing pastel colors offer a refreshing spin on classic neutrals, and create lighthearted spaces that sing with the serenity of a reawakened world.

4 6 • online at upstatehouse.com

Paint Colors to Love Always a favorite, Fernwood Green is a mellow light green with earthy undertones that will provide a calming sense of renewal.

Cappuccino, a warm, creamy beige with a faint touch of pink, is a cozy neutral that will add a quietly blooming energy to any room. Looking for a color with a bit more oomph? Windmill Wings, a crisp, cool periwinkle, will call to mind spring’s first flowers even in the middle of winter.

SUMMER Outgoing, social, and adventurous, summer lovers crave those long, lazy days of summer that provide the freedom to travel, hang out with friends, and soak up time spent outdoors. For that same vibrant-yet-easygoing ambiance at home, look to the lively, invigorating colors of the coast: sky blues; warm, sandy neutrals; and sunset-ready reds and oranges.

Energetic greens and buoyant blues welcome the abundance of spring and summer inside, while moody grays, calming lilacs, and icy blues draw on the dramatic landscapes and contemplative atmosphere of autumn and winter.

Paint Colors to Love Sunlit Coral, a calming peachy pink that takes its scues from those endless cotton candy sunsets, will definitely add a cheery glow to any room. Want to bask in summer’s expansive midday sky no matter the hour?

Opt for Jet Stream, a breezy, buoyant blue with just a touch of lilac. Looking to make a bolder move? Wild Flower is a sophisticated, earthy red that brings to mind elegantly weathered terracotta.

AUTUMN Autumn aficionados are strong and passionate, and love to bask in the theatricality of the natural world in transition.

To bring the season’s winning combination of golden light, fiery foliage, and clear starry nights indoors, lean into a saturated palette of earthy tones that create a rustic, cozy energy.

WILLIAMSLUMBER.COM Produced by the Chronogram Media Branded Content Studio.

Paint Colors to Love Revel in the woodsy, careworn vibes of the season with Bear Creek, a rich, grayish brown that contrasts beautifully with off-whites and creams. A dustier take on a classic burgundy, Sequoia adds just a touch of dynamic color

intensity and violet undertones that are reminiscent of the changing leaves. With its rusty red undertones, Metallic Gold upgrades the concept of neutral and will add an effortless, warming glow to any space.

WINTER With its stark, sculptural landscapes, winter appeals to those who find comfort in stillness and appreciate a tranquil environment where they can rest and recharge. Welcome the season of reflection inside with cool, serene hues like icy blues, soft grays, and moody greens that recall the quietude of a winter wonderland.

Paint Colors to Love Hint of Violet, a playful pairing of lilac and gray, feels as plush as a cashmere blanket.

A deep graphite green suggestive of a shady alpine forest, Ashwood Moss can create a bold yet grounding statement when used on all four walls or as an accent. Winter Lake, a soothing medium gray with soft blue undertones, provides the earthy richness of blue slate and the calming presence of deep waters. upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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DES IGN FEAT U RE

A FRAME

OF MIND

An Influencer’s All-Season Haven

By Melissa Esposito Photos by Nick Glimenakis

4 8 • online at upstatehouse.com

The original interior of Steffy Degreff’s A-frame was a warm wood tone that she painted white to create a brighter, more spacious feel.

Opposite: Degreff collected her decorating advice in the recently released A Home for Every Season.

W

hen Steffy Degreff visited Iceland, she noticed a bright orange A-frame home blanketed with freshly fallen snow, and was so struck by the postcard-worthy contrast that she felt inspired to recreate that same sense of winter whimsy on her own A-frame in the Catskills.

Degreff’s Phoenicia-based home is her family’s retreat from their permanent residence in Long Beach on Long Island. And although it’s secluded, it’s far from private; Degreff is a lifestyle blogger and content creator who specializes in seasonal decor and fashion, and whose social media followers have hit just over half a million on multiple platforms.

Her eye for inspired design stems from years spent as a visual merchandiser for J. Crew. “The life of visual merchandising is exhausting though, and even though I was passionate about it, I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do in the long term,” she explains. “I shifted to working at a marketing agency, which is where I got

into doing more content creation for other brands.

By 2017, I was doing my blog and focusing on content creation full time.”

Time of the Season Most of her content in the beginning centered around seasonal fashion, with some home DIY projects. But after a few years of building momentum and followers, the pandemic hit. As the common tale of pandemic pivots goes, during lockdowns she found that not only did she enjoy spending her extra time on DIY projects in her Long Beach home, but that her audience was just as interested in seeing the journey play out, as many were stuck at home, too, and feeling the itch to change their surroundings.

“I was already into seasonal decor, painting accent walls, and room remodels, pre-Covid,” she explains.

“But when we were home for lockdowns, I started thinking about work; fashion influencing was starting to feel like it’s dying out, and I never enjoyed the

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Left: Despite the bold exterior of the A-frame, the interior features a minimalist color palate inspired by Scandinavian design.

Right: Degreff formerly specialized in visual merchandising, and credits the job as a starting point that encouraged her love of everchanging seasonal decor.

consumerism aspect of buying new clothes every year, anyway.

The home content was a natural fit—I wanted to change everything in my house, I felt empowered to do most of it myself, and audience interests were shifting that way. I was happy to not have to be on-screen every day, like I did with fashion—I’d come up with something to work on, film it, and focus on the project; it’s so much nicer.”

Her follower count steadily climbed as Degreff began sharing DIY projects, decorating tips, and room renovations.

As lockdowns eased, she and her husband looked into buying a weekend home upstate, and in 2021 they purchased the A-frame—which had good bones but needed updates and personal touches. “I just love A-frames—they’re cute and quaint, plus we always love Phoenicia and being in the woods.

Long Beach is, of course, on the beach, so we’d often visit Phoenicia for nature and hiking trails. When we found this house, we had to have it; it was the perfect house.”

Because the 2021 housing market saw intense competition, they opted to buy it as-is, in an attempt to win a bidding war.

“We wanted to be as agreeable as possible,” she explains. “That meant that the seller left all their furniture—rugs, couches, built-in shelves. It took us about two or three weeks to empty the house. We only kept a bed that fit perfectly downstairs and these brown-speckled plates that I love.”

A Splash of Color Once the home was cleared, the fun part began. Degreff set to work on as many DIY projects as she could, such as painting tiles in the downstairs bathroom, new counters, cabinets, and painting the entire interior white. All lighting fixtures and faucets were replaced. Contractors came in to assist with a radon mitigation system in the basement and a new roof with nine skylights. An exterior balcony was removed and all windows were replaced. And the exterior was painted from a soft gray to that warm orange. “When choosing the exterior color, we considered green, but that would blend into the trees; black looks nice, but has been done so many times. We wanted a color that would stand out but work with the surroundings.

So, we color-matched as close as possible to the orange A-frame we saw in Iceland, and it turned out exactly how we hoped.”

For interior decor, Degreff chose to do a Scandinavianinspired look with a somewhat-minimalist color palette that would make it easier to swap out seasonal decor. She utilized local purveyors and services as often as possible, frequenting Tannersville Antiques, obtaining lighting and fixtures in Saugerties, and working with Dziewa Construction, who built a gazebo on the property, and more.

Degreff learned several of her DIY skills from her father, a general contractor, and others by watching tutorials online.

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Where she was limited, Degreff employed contractors. But all in all, her biggest challenge was getting deliveries up her quarter-mile driveway. “The tile company wouldn’t even drive up to the house; I had to leave from Long Island to meet him and drive the tiles to my shed,” Degreff says.

The long driveway didn’t stop curious neighbors, however, and Degreff welcomed them and their stories—many knew the history of the house, built in 1974, and the owners over the years. “While we were working one day, a woman walked up and said she knew the original owner, who was French and would invite the whole neighborhood to dinner parties,” she explains. “I gave her a tour of the new look and she told me about the parties. Other neighbors would walk by on occasion to check out the changes and see about our progress.”

A Picture Book Story With each step along the way being documented on TikTok and Instagram, the internet was watching along, too—and you never know who might be included within that group. For Degreff, that included a publisher who offered her a chance to live out a major goal.

“In March 2022, I received an email from DK Publishing, a division of PenguinRandom House, asking if I was interested in putting out a book,” she says. “I went to school for journalism, and had written a few children’s books, but never imagined this project would lead to its own book. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I talked with them, they extended an offer, and we jumped into producing it right away. Within weeks they set up a spring photo shoot.”

What resulted is A Home for Every Season: A Month-byMonth Guide to Decorating Your Space. It includes seasonal and holiday decor inspiration, 25 DIY projects, five recipes, outfit ideas, and reflections, all centered around life in the Catskills A-frame and her Cape-style home in Long Beach. The book features text by Degreff and photography by Nick Glimenakis.

Meanwhile, she’s still creating content to share on her blog and social media for the foreseeable future. While the term “influencer” tends to have a stigma associated with vanity, the idea of social influence is not new—it’s just that the medium through which the masses are inspired has changed. And Degreff says she’s proud of the impact her work has had, noting that she’s received numerous messages from women who say that after watching her content, they’ve found their own confidence to take on challenges that felt intimidating before.

“It’s great to see so many people say they felt empowered to step outside of their comfort zones and take on projects, whether it’s putting in board and batten, or expanding in other areas of their life,” she says. “Everyone is a beginner at something, and I think some people just need to hear someone say, ‘It’s okay, you can do this,’ before they jump into a project.

Mistakes along the way are learning opportunities; make a plan, jump in, and go for it.”

Above: A Home for Every Season contains recipes as well as holiday decor inspiration and DIY home projects.

Below: Defreff had a gazebo built, painted the same warm orange as her A-frame.

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Interior Design, Kitchens, Baths, Additions & Decks, Finished Basements, Saunas, Steamrooms & Outside Showers, Cabinetry & Countertops, Sinks & Faucets, Hardware & Lighting, Tile, Hardwood, Carpets, Wall Coverings A MODERN RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT LOCATED MINUTES FROM RHINEBECK, NY WITH HOMES DESIGNED BY AWARD WINNING ARCHITECT JAMES GARRISON

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ELECTRIFY! 2024 CLEAN POWER GUIDE

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

PREMIER SPONSOR

W

elcome to the 2023-24 Clean Power Guide. Our theme last year was “The Green Economy Grows Up.” This year, we can only say it’s growing some more. In 2022, nationally, heat pump sales exceeded sales of conventional furnaces. Remember when nobody had heard of them?

So our theme this year is timely: Electrify! We tie together heating and cooling, power supply and mobility under that core idea with a powerful reason. You can’t make combustion of liquid fuels clean, period. The shift to renewable energy to power electric lifestyles is the solution, and there are many affordable ways to implement it.

In these pages you will learn steps for planning and assessing the upgrades your home needs, and ways to make them affordable by sequencing your steps to start saving at the beginning. You will find abundant information on EVs, solar options, choosing an efficiency contractor, and green jobs.

With editorial support from Chrisso Babcock, our outreach coordinator, much of this data has been gathered from expert sources by Sustainable Hudson Valley’s three EnergyCorps interns—Alyssa Rivera, Lizette de Alem, and Joanne LouisPaul—funded by New York State to build the workforce! We do love this partnership.

Even if you’re feeling a little jaded or overwhelmed, this promises to be a good year to keep on top of the news. State and federal policy decisions expected in 2024 will dramatically shape your clean energy choices.

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New York’s Public Service Commission will eventually have to review its suspension of the popular “optout community distributed generation”—the policy framework that allows entire communities to opt into renewable energy sources. Right now, a surprise suspension of this guiding policy has left providers of renewable energy to towns hanging, unable to deliver the programs they were founded to offer.

The state’s Cap-and-Invest program should launch, making climate polluters pay and channeling even more dollars into clean energy.

The Justice40 Technical Assistance Center run by WE-ACT will be up and running to help communities and organizations access federal funding.

EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fund will be directing another $27 billion into the economy, much of it for financial institutions to lend for home energy improvements.

Through the year, we will build on the educational resources in these pages with events, social media, and the fourth annual Hudson Valley Climate Solutions Week, set for September 14– 22, 2024. Please share your stories, questions, and ideas with us on how to make Climate Solutions Week a success.

With appreciation, Melissa Everett, PhD, Executive Director, Sustainable Hudson Valley

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Why Should I Electrify?

(And What Do I Do First?)

BY MELISSA EVERETT “Why” is the Easy Part The only way to stop generating climate pollution is to stop relying on combustion to heat, cool, and power our lives and help us get around. Both New York and the federal government are driving the infrastructure and policy changes that will make this doable and beneficial by greening the grid and supporting a comprehensive shift to electric power with financial incentives, technology development, training, and education. As Rewiring America, a leading policy organization, notes, “Burning gas in the home is akin to living with a smoker, and is a major factor in childhood asthma.”

Electrification means: • Shifting from gas to electric transportation.

• Shifting from fossil-powered to renewable electricity.

• Shifting from oil, gas, or propane for home heating to an electric heat pump.

• Transitioning appliances, tools, and other gadgets to the most efficient electric version you can.

A massive undertaking in the big picture, going electric does not need to be daunting for consumers, partly because it does not need to happen all at once.

A Logical Sequence In spite of the diversity of homes, there is a logical sequence in the transition to electric. The place to begin is with efficiency. That will lower your requirements for heating, cooling, and power, preventing oversizing and overspending.

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yourself, a Power Purchase Agreement is a no-cost way to put panels on your roof and just pay for the power they generate. These contracts are typically for 20 years and can be at a fixed or escalating rate.

Since Tesla bought Solar City, the behemoth owns panels on many people’s roofs. But small local companies can also provide this service.

There are over 70 models on the market. Ranges are expanding, prices are falling. But charging is lagging behind what’s needed. According to 2022 research by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, there are over 400 public chargers in our region, but 342 were “level 2”—providing around 25 miles of range for every hour of charging. This is changing, as banks of fast-charging stations appear in malls and downtowns as well as on the Thruway.

But if your travel patterns are complex and your gas car is already efficient, you might want to watch the rollout of chargers for another year or two while planning for your next car to be an EV.

A home energy audit is a great place to start on the path to a home outfitted with appliances and mechanicals that run on renewable energy.

Tom Konrad, an energy finance professional and energy coach with New Yorkers for Clean Power, suggests the following sequence as a way to prepare and take small steps, then lean into the bigger investments smartly.

1. Inventory: List all the ways you use fossil fuels.

2. Prioritize: Rank all fossil-fired equipment by expected remaining life, with the ones that need replacement first.

3. Plan: Decide on the best replacements for the equipment at the top of the list.

4. Prepare: Do any preparatory steps for the above replacements as soon as possible (insulation and air sealing for heat pumps, electrical upgrades (if needed) for heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, EV chargers, and induction stoves.

5. Implement your plan as time and money allows, but before you have to do emergency repairs.

6. Don’t waste opportunities. Insulate walls and stop air gaps if open during remodels, add insulation if replacing roof or siding, do all electrical upgrades at the same time. Add solar panels shortly after roof replacement.

Plenty of Choices The home energy audit is a marvelous thing, especially if you prepare by noticing where there are drafts, potential maintenance needs, and old equipment. Make sure your service provider knows what the Building Performance Institute is (and is certified through their training programs). Ask whether they can include infra-red photos of your

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home, which gives you a dramatically clear visual of heat moving through your walls. This is best done in summer or winter when there is a contrast between indoor and outdoor temperature. Your energy pro may actually perform some simple services like sealing air leaks during the visit.

During your early planning phases, make sure your electric system is in shape for higher loads.

Your breaker box should be able to carry 200 amps (compared to the 60-to-100-amp capacity in some older houses). Your wiring should accommodate 240 Volts if an induction stove, EV charger, heat pump, or heat pump water heater is in your future.

Next time you are upgrading lighting or getting anything electrical fixed, talk with your electrician.

In terms of major investments, insulation and further air sealing are among the most certain to pay for themselves in a few years. Geothermal or air source heat pumps are another mid-sized investment that make a substantial difference in reducing your energy use because they are so efficient. (Geothermal has the highest efficiency overall, while air source heat pumps generally have lower up-front costs.) All these will affect your demand for electricity, so it’s useful to have them done before you look at solar, in order to size the solar array correctly.

Roof orientation doesn’t need to be due south with today’s panels. According to Peter Reynolds of North River Architecture, “Anything on the east-south-west spectrum can work, though you’ll probably need more panels if it’s east- or westfacing. The real site issue is big trees near the house, especially evergreens.” Alternatively, you can keep the trees and buy into a community solar project to get your power from the sun.

A simple alternative to owning solar panels

There’s Money, Honey By planning and taking time to research, a person can also watch for deals. There are at least four places to look for financial incentives and bargains: the state, the feds, lenders, and contractors.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers generous incentives under multiyear programs that are fairly well established and consistent. The main ones are: Home Energy Efficiency, Clean Heat, and EV Drive Clean Rebate. Find out more at Nyserda.ny.gov.

Electric utilities also provide financial incentives for electricity conservation and renewables, with differences from provider to provider. These programs are more likely to change every couple of years or as pools of funds run out, so keep on top of them. As of late 2023:

• Central Hudson offers rebates for heat pumps

and heat pump water heaters plus incentives for cutting power use at peak times and breaks on EV charging at specified times later in the day.

• Orange and Rockland offers rebates for heat

pumps and heat pump water heaters, as well as incentives for “smart thermostat” adjustments that let the utility reduce power when the grid is overloaded.

• Con Edison offers an array of programs for

“smart usage,” geothermal as well as air source heat pumps, and cash incentives for EV charging at off-peak times.

The game-changer is the Inflation Reduction Act, with two kinds of incentives: tax credits (for those who pay taxes) effective starting in 2023; and direct rebates, which are known generally but won’t be operational until program designs are finalized in 2024. The fine points of eligibility are critical—what is a made-in-America EV and how do I know if I’m low to moderate income? Rewiring America (Rewiringamerica.org) is the national impartial go-to source.

The future is electric.

Let’s get there together.

RESIDENTIAL

BUSINESSES & MUNICIPALITIES

Enroll in Central Hudson’s Electric Vehicle ChargeSmart Program for a sign-on bonus and additional incentives for charging your vehicle during off-peak hours.

Participate in the Make-Ready Program for up to 100% of electrical infrastructure costs covered when installing chargers. Plus, New York State offers up to $4,000 per charger, while funds last.

Learn more and apply on our website.

CentralHudson.com/EVs

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QUESTIONS ABOUT ELECTRIC VEHICLES? WE’VE GOT ANSWERS

BY CHRISSO BABCOCK, LIZETTE DE ALEM, ALYSSA RIVERA

Q: What is the difference between a battery electric vehicle and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle?

A: Battery-electric vehicles, or BEV, are powered entirely by electricity from the battery. Battery electric vehicles currently on the market can be driven between 200 and 330 miles on a full charge.

“Refueling” times can vary with 30 minutes for fast charging and four to six hours with Level 2 charging.

Plug-in hybrids, or PHEV, are a hybrid between a gas engine and an electric motor. Some plug-in electric hybrids will evenallow you to choose which drive train you want to use.

Hybrid vehicles tend to be initially cheaper to purchase or lease than all-electric vehicles.

However, EVs don’t require oil changes, and overall maintenance costs are less than a hybrid, meaning that EVs are cheaper in the long run.

Q: What are the safety standards of EVs when compared to traditional vehicles?

A: Electric vehicles meet the same safety standards as traditional combustion vehicles. That includes safety standards set up by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, as well as electrical and safety standards set by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Working Council, and many others.

Charging equipment is tested independently and certified by safety labs, such as Underwriters Laboratories, CSA international, and Edison Testing Laboratories. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, data collected from insurance claims between the years of 2011 and 2019 shows that injury claims for drivers and

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passengers of electric vehicles were more than 40 percent lower than traditional vehicles.

Q: What type of maintenance do EVs require?

A: Electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts, so they generally require a lot less maintenance than gas powered vehicles. However, one can expect similar routine maintenance as with any other car, like refilling wiper fluid when it’s low or tire rotations once a year. To sell EVs, a dealership must be certified to repair them, and generally it’s the dealership rather than a private repair shop that will be able to service your EV. Q: How long do EV batteries last before they have to be replaced?

A: The average EV battery pack’s lifespan is around 200,000 miles, which is around 17 years of typical use at 12,000 miles per year. Battery warranties are included with an EV purchase. Many manufacturers also reuse or refurbish batteries.

Q: Will supply of EVs continue to be erratic due to availability of materials?

A: The industry has been sobered by supply chain issues such as shortages of lithium, not to mention human rights issues in some lithium-rich countries, so a major aspect of research and development is finding more reliable alternatives. But in the near term, some uncertainty is likely to continue.

Q: Can I buy an EV without breaking the bank?

A: EVs are still more expensive upfront than comparable gas-powered vehicles, but prices are falling and some automakers are strategically

making deep cuts (e.g., Tesla in the fall of 2023).

However, when you consider the lifetime costs of a vehicle, EVs are already cheaper in the long run, and costs are offset by federal and state rebates.

One of the most affordable ways to get an electric vehicle is to buying a used one. Consider the maintenance history of the vehicle, the battery health (you can get a battery health report from a dealer or manufacturer-certified technician), and the battery warranty, which should be transferable. Be aware that EVs that are just a few years old may have a significantly lower range than newer models.

Q: What about leasing?

A: Recent research by New Energy Innovation found that leasing an EV is actually now the lowest cost option for US drivers—cheaper than leasing a gas vehicle, and cheaper than buying an EV or gas vehicle. These monthly savings can add up quickly, with some leased EV models being between $5,000 and $7,500 cheaper to operate per year than a comparable gas-powered vehicle. Many dealerships have the authority to offer low-cost leases, but fewer make them known unless you ask.

Q: What incentives are available?

A: Depending on the make and model (and whether it is assembled in the US), you can receive up to a $7,500 tax break through the Inflation Reduction Act tax credit. In New York State, through NYSERDA, you can expect to get up to $2,000, after purchase, through the Drive Clean Rebate Program.

Certain states, utility companies, and automakers offer incentives to offset the cost of installing home

chargers. There are also programs that can help with the cost of installing a home charger, depending on where you live.

Q: Where can I buy an EV, and what should I look for in a dealership?

A: In a 2023 review of Mid-Hudson auto dealerships, the most common EVs were: Jeep/ Dodge/Ram/Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan. Some counties also had more readily available EV stock at dealerships, such as Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Westchester, which all have an abundance of both 2023 and 2024 models on numerous lots. Rensselaer, Schenectady, Greene, Columbia, and Sullivan counties had far fewer.

When choosing a dealership, consider looking for one that has an abundance of EVs in stock. This suggests interest and trained salespeople. When talking to a salesperson, ask them questions to assess their EV knowledge. For example, you could ask how various EV options on the lot compare.

Q: Will charging my EV at home make my monthly electric bill really high? How does EV charging compare to the price of gasoline?

A: On average, charging an EV at home will only add $30 to $60 to your monthly electric bill. In fact, charging for electric cars is much cheaper than gasoline; owners can expect to pay between $13.22 and $22 to recharge a fully depleted battery, which will provide 200-300 miles of driving or more. In 2020, for instance, the average vehicle in the United States went about 24.5 miles per gallon of gas, or approximately $50 for 300 miles. The same distance of 300 miles can be achieved by an EV at a charging

cost of roughly $16.50. Should your utility company offer off-peak charging rates, charging at night may allow for additional savings. In other words—the price of fueling your vehicle will most likely be cut by more than half.

Q: Is it hard to find public EV charging stations?

A: The charging landscape is slowly getting better, but the availability of fast-charging stations needs to improve a lot more. According to Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, in September 2022 there were 400 public charging stations within the nine counties surveyed, 349 were Level 2 Stations, which provide 25 miles of travel for every hour of charge. Most EV navigation systems can guide you to charging stations, and there are also phone apps like PlugShare available to help locate them.

This is likely to change in the next one to three years, as fast-charging stations are being installed all around New York by both government (NY Power Authority) and industry (for example, BP is investing $100 million in fast-charging stations at gas stations nationwide). As automakers commit more fully to electrification, the charging landscape will evolve rapidly.

Q: Are EVs better for the environment than gaspowered cars?

A: Yes, though they are not without their own environmental impacts. EVs produce zero emissions while driving and an average of 60-percent less lifetime emissions than traditional gas-powered vehicles. This includes emissions both during production of the EVs and electricity

to charge the batteries. EVs are also much quieter than traditional vehicles, so they don’t contribute to noise pollution either!

Q: I am considering buying an e-bike—what should I be thinking about?

A: E-bikes are powerful. You need good cycling skill. They are diverse. Low-price ones are fine for recreation, but you may need a more sturdy and fast one for a regular commute. It is worth studying your community and your route in terms of the streetscape, traffic, and backdrop of safety issues.

Many local governments are figuring out rules of the road for e-biking now. It is not a bad idea to study before investing.

Q: What are the fine points of eligibility for the IRA tax credit for EVs? A: Vehicles must have undergone final assembly in the United States in order to be eligible for the Clean Vehicle Credit. Consumers can use a vin decoder to determine a vehicle’s build plant and country of manufacturing. The US Department of Energy’s website is a good bet for maintaining this data.

Vehicles purchased before August 17, 2022, are not required to have final assembly in North America, and the vehicles are eligible for tax credits.

Learn more about EVs via the Clean Power Guide Resources page at Sustainhv.org/cpgresources.

Chrisso Babcock is outreach coordinator for Sustainable Hudson Valley. Lizette de Alem and Alyssa Rivera are organizing and outreach interns with Sustainable Hudson Valley.

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Through the end of the year, get a $60,000 heating system for as little as $30,000 Make the switch to geothermal heating before incentives run out.

RESTORE YOUR PEACE OF MIND With consistent, high-reliability heating and cooling, you can sit back and relax - without worrying about breakdowns SUPERCHARGE YOUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY Dandelion Geothermal's cutting-edge system is the most energy-efficient heating and cooling option on the market CUT YOUR MONTHLY COSTS Between federal tax incentives, up to $5,000 in New York state incentives, and local utility rebates, geothermal costs less than heating with fossil fuels

Winter is coming.

Incentives are limited.

Learn more at geothermal.house/cleanpower2023 or call 833-GEO-4ALL 62 • online at upstatehouse.com

Installing an array of solar panels is the simplest maintenance-free way to produce your own electrical power.

Does Off-Grid Solar Make Sense?

By Richard Miller, AIA

D

o you ever wonder about the possibility of generating your own power independently for your home or small business? Would you love to take your life off the grid using solar? Let’s talk possibilities.

I want to start with the fact that installing an array of photovoltaic (PV) solar electricityproducing panels is the simplest maintenancefree way to produce your own electrical power.

Installing PV solar to produce power on site makes sense as a financial investment, in addition to the environmental benefit. (I recommend using the NYSERDA list of PV installers.)

The most common PV solar systems are grid connected. This means the power produced feeds into the electrical power grid owned and managed by your local power company. This is an elegant way to produce electricity; you sell electricity to the power company, and they sell it back to you as you need it.

My family’s recently installed PV system has dropped our utility payments from bills that averaged $400/month to about $20/month for usage. This includes charging two electric vehicles onsite, equating to an additional $300/month savings in gas.

What would be the additional cost for storing my own power on site, to be more self-reliant?

It depends on how much energy you use and how much you are willing to conserve. For those that want to achieve 100 percent energy self-reliant living, an option is to install off-grid solar with battery storage. However, the larger battery bank necessary to be completely off grid at all times is impractical for most people, and New York’s incentives for solar do not apply to off-grid systems.

There is a system that is in the sweet spot, between the completely off-grid and the completely grid-tied models, and that uses the benefits of both.

This is the grid-dependent hybrid system, which combines solar, battery power, and controls that can flexibly draw the power from the grid or the battery.

Today, many companies are producing modular battery power bank backup systems to go along with solar systems. They offer convenient, easy-to-use apps with settings to optimize when to power from your batteries or from the grid to save you money.

If a storm is coming, it can top off the battery.

When the power grid goes down, these systems automatically kick in, off grid.

house. If the sun is shining and you have a superinsulated Passive House, or a zero-energy house, then definitely the solar with battery backup is an alternative to that generator, and definitely prepare for it. The addition of batteries increases the overall system cost by about 40 percent plus the cost of the small heated and/or insulated space for the batteries.

I design innovative, energy-efficient buildings with solar. Here are some basic recommendations on how to make sure your building is green overall.

How many battery units do I need?

A larger generator will fully power your house until the propane runs out. By comparison, a 40 kWh battery storage system will get you maybe several days of powering your fridge in a typical leaky

Richard Miller is a New Paltz-based architect specializing in residential and commercial, green architectural design for new construction, renovations, and historic rehabilitation since 1990.

Richardmillerarchitect.com.

1. Insulate better than code.

2. Install the most efficient windows.

3. Air seal.

4. Install an energy-recovery ventilator.

5. Address moisture up front.

6. Do not use gas-run equipment.

Green design can also mean a better house layout, better light, less toxicity, and, in the end, higher value at resale.

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Get the Advantages of Geothermal Plus™ from Advanced Radiant Design Most geothermal systems are restricted to forced-hot-air delivery.

Unlike those systems, Geothermal Plus uses a water-to-water heat pump, which offers you more heating and cooling options, including the comfort and efficiency of radiant heating.

Advanced Radiant Design is an award-winning leader in the design and installation of geothermal systems.

Save Money, Protect the Environment

Give us a call at 845-687-0044 email us at info@radiant-design.com

According to the EPA, a geothermal system is the most environmentally friendly and efficient way to heat and cool, making geothermal a perfect fit for net-zero homes and buildings.

And there are many financial incentives available.

You can see examples of our Geothermal Plus systems on our website at www.radiant-design.com

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The Training of an Energy-Efficiency Contractor (and Tips on Choosing Yours) A CONVERSATION WITH MELINDA McKNIGHT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, ENERGY CONSERVATION SERVICES

N

ew York is committed to getting millions of buildings off fossil fuels in the next couple of decades. This will require lots and lots of people doing the hands-on work of improving insulation and air sealing as the first step. What should a customer know about the training of a good energy-efficiency contractor? Melinda McKnight and her husband Bill have been in the business most of their careers, and she shares these thoughts.

—Melissa Everett What are the essential skills for an energy auditor, someone who assesses homes for energy-efficiency and recommends upgrades?

The foundation is what’s known as building science—how the building works as a system. That includes transfer of heat and moisture, how to measure air leakage, how to look at the building structure and consider where any leakage might be. There are tests for fan pressure, duct pressure, leakage, and combustion analysis for fossil fueled appliances. In certain conditions, condensation can be created if insulation is applied incorrectly, so it’s necessary to understand how to minimize that risk.

A useful skill, too, is infrared photography, which detects heat leakage. An infrared camera graphically shows temperature differences between the building and its surroundings.

What about skills for a weatherization technician, the person who actually installs the insulation and air-sealing materials?

The most important skill is attention to detail, and some understanding of building science basics. The technician needs the eyes to see where problems are likely to occur. If you give an employee prescriptive measures to be done across the board, there will

be some exceptions; the best technician has to see what’s in every part of an attic, even what’s below the insulation.

People considering working in this field should consider that they are sometimes going to be uncomfortable doing this work. Every building is different, every week is different. One attic and crawl space might be tight and uncomfortable, the next week might be in a full standup basement. You have to get through each job and know the value of what you are doing. Manual skills can be taught if a person is interested in working with their hands, but the training needs to encompass proper ways of installing a variety of insulation materials and doing it correctly for each specific application.

What’s the training like?

For energy auditor training, the SUNY community colleges and other training centers have blower doors and duct blasters to learn to use. There is no training available in a classroom environment for a weatherization technician. Certification programs of the Building Performance Institute (BPI) provide the basic understanding through self-study and testing. Otherwise at this point it’s all on-thejob training.

What do you view as the minimal credentials for a good contractor?

The most important credential is BPI accreditation for the overall company. It’s okay to have certified employees, but accreditation demonstrates a companywide commitment to the craft. Certified means you’ve gone through the coursework and understand concepts. An accredited company means you implement systems that support the work. You commit to upholding the standards of the Building

Performance Institute. You have internal qualityassurance processes. You’re documenting all the way through, you have checks and balances in your systems. It’s also about how you treat your workers, and thereby how you retain them.

What are some differences between good and excellent energy-efficiency professionals?

There is a judgment that is developed with time. You take the classes, but it’s when the skills are applied that the real learning begins. One of the core skills is attention to detail. Most auditors know how to set up a blower door test, but they don’t necessarily understand the movement of heat and air through interstitial spaces. There are judgments—like whether to include leakage from a basement—that depend on the context.

Another point of judgment: How tight is tight enough for building air flow? New York’s code prescribes very tight new construction, which in turn requires mechanical ventilation, which somewhat increases energy use. For retrofits, we encourage it to be just tight enough to be comfortable and efficient without that mechanical ventilation.

What are good questions to ask a contractor you are thinking about hiring?

Ask them to describe how they would approach assessing your house, and go with the one who can identify and explain details. Really have a conversation about what you want to achieve and what the options are, what materials choices and parts of the building to focus on. You want a contractor who can participate in a dialogue and coherently describe the different options available and their benefits, and of course who will provide well-documented written estimates.

A collaboration between SUSTAINABLE HUDSON VALLEY and upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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Yes, You Can (Electrify Your House)

By Melissa Everett Over three years, Lisa Giannico turned her 1,700-square-foot ranch house, built in the 1960s, into a green energy showcase. It is now 100 percent renewably powered.

L

isa Giannico is a retired assistant school principal who moved to Stone Ridge in 2021.

She bought a 1,700-square-foot ranch house built in the 1960s, turned the basement into an art studio, and followed a thunderous instinct that the whole thing had to be as green as possible.

She trained in the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program and joined the town Environmental Conservation Commission, a ready-made fellowship of knowledgeable people who like to get things done. Three years later, Giannico’s house is 100 percent renewably powered, and the lawn transition to pollinator garden is well underway.

It was a steep but enjoyable learning curve. “I was an apartment dweller. I had a big vision but no idea what it would entail,” she says. “By plugging into area nonprofits and local commissions—which anyone can do—I had no idea how much money and support are available. I also learned that I have significantly increased the value of my house.”

Taking the First Step When Giannico closed on the house and had an inspection, an electrical issue was discovered.

Through her realtor, she found an expert contractor who guided her on what needed to be done quickly and what could be put off. Because Giannico let him know her interest in going solar, she was able to have a full upgrade of her electrical service to prepare for electrification (which older homes may need).

Next came a chimney inspection, which uncovered problems with the existing chimney and wood stove, in the middle of the pandemic, leaving

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her without heat for a time and determined never to have that experience again. Fortunately, the repair contractor made Giannico aware of rebates for high-efficiency woodstoves that recycle much of their emissions, and she was able to purchase one of these sooner than expected. “That, too, is a learning curve—what kind of wood to buy, how to use it efficiently, and how to store it properly,” she notes.

Giannico’s next project, solar panels, were the original driver of her dream. She has a good flat roof, but its orientation is not ideal, so she ended up with more panels than a south-facing home would need.

She found a company that offered zero percent financing, which is not hard to do if you look.

The house had a heat pump, but it was placed in a corner where it didn’t do much good, so it was relocated. To keep the cost down, Giannico’s strategy was to install one heat pump at a time, starting in the bedroom, then continuing into the rest of the house.

She watched for special deals and zero percent financing here, too.

A kitchen remodel came next, with an induction range, which made good use of those wiring upgrades. Giannico left space for one more heat pump if needed, to make it possible to get rid of the oil burner.

“Next was an independent home energy audit— which I now understand should have come first!” she says. “My original home inspector said casually, ‘You might want to replace that old insulation at some point.’ The energy auditor said, ‘Your insulation is R7 and we can upgrade it to R51 and your house will be cozy.’ From the audit I learned that attic and basement insulation would make a fundamental

difference in the sizing of my heating and cooling equipment and my solar panels. I insulated the basement rim joists too, which has made it much more comfortable in the studio and when I’m doing yoga in the living room.”

The Logical Sequence For every home energy makeover, there is a logical sequence. In Giannico’s case, the attic insulation has had to come after improvements like installing ceiling fans and lighting upgrades, as the insulation restricts access to the attic. “You want to put on those solar panels right away, but in reality, you have to work backwards to make sure your roof and your electrical wiring are ready,” she says. “In hindsight, the audit and insulation should have been done much sooner.” Now, with groundwork done and solar installed, Giannico’s Central Hudson bill is limited to the monthly service charge.

What’s next? A heat pump water heater and a few more solar panels, then a home EV charger, and an EV in due time. Giannico’s lifestyle is hyperlocal, with mostly short drives, so this sequence makes sense for her. Doing one thing at a time, and getting it paid off, has been a low-stress financing strategy.

What were the main surprises? Except for how little the building inspector knew about energy, the lessons were positive. “People do not realize how much money is available, how many different ways to finance these investments,” Gianicco says. “They don’t realize how much support and information is out there. I get this information in my inbox regularly now, but most people do not. That is what we have to change.”

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ot every step toward renewable energy demands a huge leap.

For example, nine years ago, as part of a kitchen remodel, we purchased an Electrolux induction stove. (These days all the major brands sell induction stoves.) We had wanted a convection oven, but also favored the high heat that gas burners provide. Our foodie daughter suggested an induction stove with the convection oven instead, listing various celebrity chefs that had adopted the technology. The induction stove top was initially a challenge. Now we wouldn’t ever change.

At the top setting, the ‘hottest burners’ on the stove heat liquids in record time or sear meat in my wok. (Like most stoves, I have two large high-heat locations and two smaller simmer spots.) Even better, the stove’s surface doesn’t get red hot—no burned-on carbon debris on the surface. In fact, our stove still looks almost new. Moreover, when you dial down, the heating instantaneously powers down.

Settings are numbered: 5 for medium, 3 for simmer, and 10 or Pb (power boil) for insanely rapid heating.

Induction stoves are also energy efficient, measuring over 70 percent efficient compared to around 40 percent for gas, according to independent measurements.

Downsides: Induction stoves are still more expensive than standard electric or gas stoves. And only certain pots and pans, such as stainless steel or cast iron, work on these stoves. It is easy to check which cookware can be used; if a magnet sticks to the pot, it is good to go. On newer cookware, look for a looped, magnetic field icon on the bottom.

Nine years ago, it was impossible to find certain specialty cookware, such as a stove-top espresso maker or hot water canning pot, that worked on an induction stove. Today, we own both items.

Another step forward occurred just over a year ago, when our dryer’s drum went out of alignment, creating an awful racket. The dryer and washing machine were old when we bought the house in 2012 and had served their time. We chose a Miele stacking washer and dryer as a replacement, not fully appreciating that we now owned a heat pump dryer. Our old dryer heated the house in the winter (nice) and turned the place into a sauna in the summer (not nice). The new dryer is also a lot quieter and saves us money since heat pumps are incredibly efficient. You don’t need an expert to prove that; all that heat radiating from the old dryer was clearly lost energy.

I faced another challenge a few years back when my beloved, 20-year-old Stihl chainsaw acted up. I had previously owned a corded electric lawn mower from EGO. I liked the mower but hated finagling and sometimes running over the long extension cord.

I took a chance on an EGO battery-powered chain saw, not expecting it to be as powerful as the Stihl. In fact, the EGO has tackled all kinds of wood, including rock-hard black locust. While it still uses chain oil, I am glad to be rid of the oilmixed gasoline and its heavy exhaust. The EGO is also radically quieter. So much so that I no longer wear ear protectors. My chain saw also doesn’t get blisteringly hot. I still always wear eye protection.

The chainsaw is wonderfully light if I snap in a 2.5-Ah battery (Ah stands for ampere hour, which correlates to how long a battery will last). However, that battery’s runtime is not as long as a tank full of gas. No problem—I purchased a second, heavier, and longer-running 5-Ah battery. I stick the depleted battery on the charger and swap in the fresh battery, and I am back in business. Charging is fast, so I can keep cutting wood until I run out of steam.

Tools, Appliances & Gadgets Smaller Ways to go Renewable

By Alan Newman Again, the downside is the upfront costs: chainsaw, batteries, and battery charger. What makes sense is to evolve more of my outdoor tools to electric, which use the same batteries and charger. (I had learned my lesson with portable tools, owning three different brands with incompatible batteries.) Currently, I own an EGO battery-powered weed wacker and hedge trimmer. I am eyeing other EGO products, such as their snow blower, which has great reviews, as does their leaf blower. EGO battery sizes run up to 10 Ah; they are quite heavy but fine for a wheeled snow blower or lawn mower. Battery-powered outdoor tools are found in most hardware stores, some at discount prices.

You too can take small steps like these, in your own way.

Alan Newman is a member of the Marbletown Environmental Conservation Commission and an avid gardener.

An induction stove is a good place to start when upgrading your appliances to run on renewables.

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THE PREMIER BUILDING SCIENTISTS IN THE HUDSON VALLEY. Call for an assessment today (845) 338-3864 ■ ecsbetterhome.com

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FAMILY

It’s Go Time for Green Careers

By Melissa Everett

T

hinking about a clean energy job? You have landed in the right decade. As New York implements the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, a 2022 NYSERDA jobs study projected a whopping 189,000 net increase in clean energy jobs by 2030.

Expanding Fields First up are existing skills that are needed in dramatically increasing numbers. Electricians will be needed to upgrade wiring and circuitry as all those buildings are electrified—and to keep EV chargers in good working order. Automotive News reviewed national data in October 2023 and concluded that over 4,000—or six percent of public charging stations are out of service at a given time. Altogether, the study projects a need for 142,000 more electricians to complete the national electrification push.

Demand is also growing for installers of insulation and efficient appliances, not only for homes but for commercial and institutional customers with large facilities. Solar panel installation is no longer an emerging field but an expanding and diversifying one. US News and World Report’s Best Jobs site rates it number 16 in the Best Jobs Without a College Degree category, although average compensation hovers around $23 an hour.

Emerging Fields Heat pump installation and service, both air-source and ground-source (geothermal), are growth opportunities. Old-fashioned oil and propane dealers are keeping themselves current by adding especially air source heat pump service and installation. Geothermal drilling, system design, installation, and maintenance is a fast-growing field in New York, with online and in-person training from the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association designed for people with some mechanical, plumbing, or construction skill.

Wind power is now the largest source of renewable energy in the United States. Jobs are growing in manufacture of components, design and construction, and operations. For offshore wind, there is even a need for crews for more than 25 types of vessels that are used in construction and operations.

Transforming Fields Every field of work that connects with the built environment, or energy, or transportation, is evolving with the realities of state policy, innovation, and increasing market interest: architecture and construction, engineering, building code enforcement. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration companies have a major need to re-skill to install heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, washers and dryers, and to deal with new, climate-safer refrigeration equipment.

In the world of hydropower, a profound shift has occurred with recognition of the environmental destructiveness of dams on fish habitat and their greenhouse gas emissions from decaying plants underwater. In some parts of the world, there is a growth in lower-impact approaches to micro-hydro that doesn’t require dams and may use prefabricated small systems.

Auto repair is changing in the electrifying world, but it’s certainly not going away. Automakers with commitments to EV have begun to run training programs for licensed auto mechanics on electric drive trains, battery packs, and other EV elements. For example, Tesla has established EV mechanic training programs as add-ons for six existing automotive tech programs nationwide, including Suffolk Community College on Long Island.

Design and production of low-carbon building materials is a fast-growing arena of innovation that has lots of room for small businesses. Timber frames, hempcrete, and low carbon concrete are examples of emerging opportunities.

As all these fields grow, they will all need talent in management, marketing and sales, communications, finance, law, information technology, and all the other core functions that make a business work. There is truly room for everyone.

Finding Your Way In Cal Trumann, a green jobs specialist for New Yorkers for Clean Power, has worked in various sectors across the green energy economy. Trumann’s been a solar installer, cool roof technician, field naturalist, and more, and Trumann has seen the growth of the green energy workforce. “A decade ago, a lot of the work was seasonal from the spring to

the fall, and you might be re-hired into a completely different role,” Trumann says. “There is more stability now, especially working with technology like solar and heat pumps, but it’s still important to be adaptable. The technology is constantly evolving. Faking it does not cut it in these industries.

Be realistic and ask questions, or you could cause serious and potentially dangerous issues. Now, with the new incentive money available, all the solar and heat pump shops are hiring like crazy to keep up with demand, but there isn’t a line out the door of potential new hires the way there is in regular construction. You have some leverage to shop around for an employer. Company practices vary a lot and not every ‘green’ job is a good job (at least not yet), so make sure you do your research.”

New York is investing heavily, and working seriously, to prepare the industries that are building clean energy and transportation infrastructure. In the core industries such as renewable energy, green building and sustainable transportation, there is generous funding for learning and experience.

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If you are a student in any New York college or university, you can apply for a paid Clean Energy Internship and earn up to $17 per hour for up to 480 hours. Nonprofits as well as energy businesses can be approved workplaces.

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If you are starting a new job, your employer may well be eligible for on the job training funds for an initial period.

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If you are switching careers and want to access training in advance of a job search, numerous programs are out there with funding from New York, the federal government, and industry.

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If you are part of a “priority population” under the climate law—a person of color, a veteran, or a single parent, for example—you are eligible for NYSERDA’s Climate Justice Fellows program. This is a full year’s subsidized (entry level) salary for learning and professional development at any approved workplace that will cost-share by providing full health insurance.

This review is far from exhaustive. Follow your intuition—and the links on the Clean Power Guide Resources page at Sustainhv.org.

A collaboration between SUSTAINABLE HUDSON VALLEY and upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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Agrivoltaics GAME CHANGER FOR HUDSON VALLEY FARMERS

By Chuck Schwartz

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grivoltaics is a new and innovative farming practice that combines agriculture and solar power generation.

By installing solar panels over crops, farmers can produce both food and energy on the same land. This has the potential to revolutionize farming in the Hudson Valley, with several benefits:

• Reduces water use by providing shade for crops.

• Studies have shown that crops grown under solar panels can have higher yields than crops grown in full sun.

• Agrivoltaics can also help to improve the quality of crops. Crops grown under solar panels tend to have less sunburn, other heat-related damage and lower impacts from spring and fall frost events.

Agrivoltaics is a climate resiliency technology. At the same time, agrivoltaics can help farmers increase their income and lower operational costs. Solar panels generate electricity that can offset

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electricity use on farm or be sold to the grid, providing farmers with a steady source of revenue.

Although relatively new in the US, there is over a decade of success from agrivoltaic installations in Europe, Israel, and parts of Asia. When done properly, with attention to site-specific environmental impacts, it has the potential to revolutionize farming in the Hudson Valley. By providing these benefits, agrivoltaics can help farmers to increase their income, reduce their costs, improve the quality of their crops, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Under development currently is a 300 Kw agrivoltaics system at Cornell University’s Hudson Valley Laboratory in Highland. This system will research the impacts for solar over apple orchards and be a demonstration site for the Hudson Valley farming community and New York State.

Chuck Schwartz is director of commercial sales and agrivoltaics for New York State Solar Farm.

DON’T MISS THE CLEAN POWER EXPO + INFO SESSION FOR HOME ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS January 25, 2024, 5:30–7:30pm The Fuller Building, 45 Pine Grove Avenue, Kingston As always, we launch the year’s programming with a festive, informationfilled Clean Power Expo in Kingston on January 25, 2024. Our theme is “Electrify Your New Year’s Resolutions.” A panel of home energy experts will be there to help, even with your most complicated and thorny questions. So will all the businesses that generously sponsor the Clean Power Guide.

Find Your Perfect Home in the Hudson Valley 1

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1. A Jaw-Dropping View

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grab the most spectacular 4-season view in the Hudson Valley. 25+ acre site has panoramic, 180-degree vista of the Ashokan Reservoir at one of its widest spots, plus every famed Catskills mountain. Site is convenient to Kingston and Woodstock and already has roads, buried electric and septic approval. An epic site for an epic home. Hayes Clement m: 917.568.5226; or Julie Mazur m: 845.853.3708

2. Lush Estate Uptown

$1,600,000 | Hurley

$1,450,000 | Kingston 4

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Myron Teller-designed estate with 4,700-sq.ft. main house plus charming and spacious guest house bracketing a heated pool, all canopied by wonderful mature trees, in the heart of residential Uptown Kingston.

House features 3 floors of living, including superb architectural details, formal living and dining rooms and no less than 2 sunrooms.

Beautifully maintained and minutes to Stockade District. Harris Safier m: 914.388.3351, or Hayes Clement m: 917.568.5226

3. Luxury with Privacy

Beautiful 6.5 acre, 3-bedroom, 4.5-bath contemporary, complete with first-floor primary suite. Gourmet kitchen with Sub-Zero refrigerator and 8-burner Wolf stove and large center island, plus a heated garage with guest suite with its own kitchen. Outside is an inground pool and your own pond surrounded by mature trees, all approached from a wonderful winding driveway. Donna Brooks m: 845.337.0061

4. Victorian Head Turner

$1,329,000 | Saugerties

$1,160,000 | New Paltz 6

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This village center property is actually a small compound comprised of 2 large and gracious buildings: a grand 3-level Victorian with front and back porches, plus a mammoth finished barn/garage formerly used for offices, all on a half-acre zoned 2 different ways, residential and commercial. Minutes to SUNY New Paltz and the village center. Julie Mazur m: 845.853.3708; Donna Brooks m: 845.337.0061; Hayes Clement m: 917.568.5226

5. Rooms with a View

Stunning Ashokan Reservoir views from a contemporary home that seamlessly blends modern with natural, plus indoor and outdoor living.

Newly renovated kitchen features sleek cabinetry, state-of-the-art appliances, farmhouse sink and quartz countertops. Primary bedroom suite includes office. Hardwood floors throughout. Begin and end your day on the deck while taking in the sweeping views. Donna Brooks m: 845.337.0061

6. Bucolic Country Oasis

$1,039,000 | Hurley

$570,000 | Germantown 8

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Wonderfully bright and meticulously maintained one-level house with in-law suite in finished basement with new appliances. Beautiful flow and extra large deck, all overlooking lovely pond and 5+ acres of open vistas and mature trees. Primary bedroom has en-suite bath with separate shower and soaking tub. 2 more generous bedrooms situated at opposite end of house, for privacy. Kathleen Manikowski m: 917.991.3445

7. Bright and Brand New

This just-completed cape in Glasco Ponds, a new community midway between Saugerties and Kingston, defines “move-in ready.” Features 3 roomy bedrooms and 2 full baths, including a ground-floor primary bedroom with bathroom, plus semi-open living and dining rooms and a separate kitchen, all laid out to blend a sense of openness with separation for privacy. Municipal water and sewer, plus piped natural gas. Hayes Clement m: 917.568.5226

8. True One-Level Living $389,000 | Saugerties

$365,000 | Kingston

Neat-as-a-pin brick ranch offers almost 1,500 sq.ft. of one-level living, including 3 bedrooms, an enormous sunroom and a large dry basement.

Close to both the historic Rondout district and convenient to big-box stores and other key Ulster County shopping destinations. Property has full basement, big yard and well-maintained systems. One owner family for 50+ years! Julie Mazur m: 845.853.3708; or Hayes Clement m: 917.568.5226

Visit us at UnlockUpstate.com or follow us on social media O: 845.340.1920

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Kingston Office | 16 Hurley Avenue | Kingston, NY 12401 upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

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WOODSTOCK $1,450,000

Work with the #1 independent real estate brokerage in the Hudson Valley and Catskills! You’re closer than you think to finding your dream home, and we can make that dream a reality. Thinking of selling? With high buyer interest in the area and historically low inventory, there’s never been a better time to sell. Our team of leading real estate professionals will give you the individual attention you deserve. Call or click to get started!>

KINGSTON $790,000

WOODSTOCK $1,900,000

SAUGERTIES $1,100,000

CAMPBELL HALL $859,000

SAUGERTIES $650,000

WOODSTOCK $785,000

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WOODSTOCK $585,000

SAUGERTIES $379,000

WOODSTOCK 845 679-2010 I KINGSTON 845 331-3110 I HALTERASSOCIATESREALTY.COM 7 2 • online at upstatehouse.com

THREE FAMILY

COMMERCIAL/RESIDENTIAL

Double the Elegance: Your Saugerties Luxury Getaway Awaits 47 Spaulding, Saugerties, NY | $2,500,000 This exceptional property boasts 700 ft of Hudson River frontage on 17+ private acres. It features a mid-century home, a 50 ft saline lap pool, a waterside studio and complete seclusion within a surrounding forest. Perched on a highpoint, the beautifully crafted home offers stunning river views. Four courtyards, pathways and decks seamlessly connect the building to its natural surroundings. The home’s exterior combines modern elements, while the interior radiates midcentury modern warmth. An open, spacious living area with cathedral ceilings, a stone fireplace and a custom sunken living room is perfect for entertaining.

Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with natural light, revealing breathtaking views. This residence includes four well-appointed bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a stylish primary suite with a black marble bathroom and a spacious walk-in closet. The lower level offers an in-home gym, studio, an extra bedroom with a bath and a home office with access to a meditation zen courtyard. The property’s curated grounds feature custom walkways, an Ipedecked lap pool with custom chairs and a scenic path leading to the river’s edge.

Water access allows for peaceful kayaking. Just 5 minutes from Saugerties village and two hours from New York City, this property is a rare find.

8 Accurso Road, Saugerties, NY | $2,195,000 This one-of-a-kind luxury home is located on a beautiful private drive off West Saugerties-Woodstock Road and is nestled in the heart of the Catskills.

Meandering down quiet country roads to this standout contemporary modern home, entirely custom built with impeccable design details, is indeed to impress. Upon entering the home you feel tranquility, welcomed by a floor-toceiling wall of windows with picturesque pastoral and mountain views – bringing in the peace and serenity of nature. This main space, an open living room/ kitchen, features high ceilings and skylights, bringing in tons of natural light and a cozy modern fireplace, making it an idyllic space to entertain and gather.

A chef’s kitchen has top-of-the-line appliances, custom Italian cabinetry and a stylish island for additional storage and seating. Entering the corridor, you will find three spacious bedrooms and extra office space, complete with a primary suite with seasonal waterfall views. From the kitchen, the glass doors lead you to a bluestone patio overlooking a sun-drenched inground pool and hot tub, the perfect spot to host in the summer. Situated on 7.61 private acres, and can also be sold fully furnished, this peaceful home is just minutes away from the village of Woodstock with boutique shops, diverse culinary experiences and a robust arts and music scene. This prime location provides easy access to the region’s finest outdoor activities, including exceptional hiking trails, skiing, equestrian facilities and fishing. This property strikes an ideal balance – effortlessly blending serenity, convenience and adventure.

Sheena Lepez

Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker m. 845.616.2509 e. slepez@bhhshudsonvalley.com

Woodstock Office | 24 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, NY 12498

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Celebrating

400 Route 308 Rhinebeck, NY (845) 876-3196

YEARS IN BUSINESS

58 E Market Street Rhinebeck, NY (845) 876-3197

Thanks to the community for your support!

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74 • online at upstatehouse.com

Hudson Valley’s Finest Homes Luxury Homes 1

1. The Compound at Breezy Hill

Renovated by celebrity owners, this unique legacy property showcases a beautifully reimagined 3588 sq.ft., 18th-century stone house, a historic post-and-beam barn and two bespoke guest houses. The stone house rises above the hillside at the end of the driveway. Sited on over 20 acres of picturesque, rolling landscape with a centerpiece pond, it offers a one-of-a-kind retreat. Near Stone Ridge, Woodstock and Inness.

45BreezyHillRoad.com. MLS#20232220. Rober Airhart m. 917.304.3864 o. 845.340.1920

2

2. A Completely Private Turnkey Estate

$3,850,000 | Accord

$2,700,000 | Washington

3. Welcome to Fallkill Farm

4

3

On 12 picturesque acres with sweeping panoramic views of the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains. Walking paths, sloping lawns, green meadows, apple orchards and a fenced-in pasture. Heated gunite pool with bluestone lounging area. Expansive kitchen with wood-burning fireplace, spacious primary suite, third floor bonus room. 90 minutes to New York City, 15 minutes to Metro-North and Taconic State Parkway.

5 minutes to Millbrook. MLS#415136. George Langa m 845.242.6314 o 845.677.3525

A 37-acre oasis with meadows, wooded buffers and Roeliff Jansen Kill frontage. Historic significance and modern amenities converge with the impeccably restored circa 1800 farrnhouse. Updated kitchen with center island, designer cabinetry, Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances and soapstone counters. Period features include 6 fireplaces, exposed beam ceilings, wideplank flooring. 4-bedroom cottage and 7500 sq.ft. barn offer endless possibilities. Turnkey for primary residence or weekend retreat. Near Parkway, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Millbrook, Hudson. MLS#416404. Daniel Axtmann m. 845.702.7060 | o. 845.905.8789

4. Superb Compound Close to Rhinebeck $1,799,000 | Milan

$1,750,000 | Clinton

Fine Homes & Signature Properties 6

5

Indulge in the mesmerizing charm of Ferness, an exquisite estate nestled within the serene Hudson Valley. Discover this hidden gem situated on a tranquil country lane, a mere 15 minutes from the lively town of Rhinebeck.

This retreat boasts over 68 acres of private woodlands and enchanting gardens, complete with a one-acre spring-fed swim pond. Built in 1820, the main house and guest house exude a blend of historical elegance and delightful eccentricity. 7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and 5,000+ sq.ft. of living space, Ferness is the perfect Hudson Valley sanctuary.

MLS#415444. Veronique Guccione m. 845.416.3867 | o. 845.876.8600

5. High-End Luxury in a Quaint Village

Tucked into the quaint village of historic Fishkill, with its street festivals, eateries, piano bars and shops, is this lovely 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath, highend home that has been completely redone and expanded. The custom gourmet kitchen features Wellborn cabinetry and new GE Monogram appliances and the primary en suite is conveniently located on the main level. Convenient commuter location, 90 minutes to New York City.

MLS#416068. Irene Moody m: 845.366.6232 | o: 845.244.2196

6. Remarkable Opportunity

$899,000 | Village of Fishkill 7

$899,000 | Union Vale 8

Sprawling land parcel with multi-use commercial and/or residential subdivision possibilities. Beautiful rolling hills with massive Catskill Mountain views, encompassing 80.52 acres. Seasonal stream and partially wooded with meadows. Many building sites available. Great for commuters with close proximity to the Taconic State Parkway. Zoning is 310 (village center) for Union Vale. MLS#415628. Diana Wiemer m.845.234.0038 | o. 845.677.3525

7. 1889 Historic Train Station

If you crave a truly unique property, love history or look to host short-term rentals, this property is your ticket to ride. In the hamlet of Stanfordville, this is the only existing station remaining on the original P&C line along Wappinger Creek, a top 10 trout NYS stream. The buildings consisted of the main passenger station, coal shed and freight shed, each lovingly transformed into three warm and welcoming cottages. Just 90 minutes to New York City. MLS #417232. George Langa m 845.242.6314 o 845.677.3525

8. Exquisite Oversized Cape

$895,000 | Stanford

BHHSHUDSONVALLEY.COM

$599,000 | Poughkeepsie

No expense spared in the 2022 renovation of this 1950’s Spackenkill classic. Many upgrades, inside and out, have transformed this home, including 3 full, spa-like baths, to provide relaxation, and a master suite so gorgeous, it could be straight out of a magazine! Also, gourmet kitchen, fenced backyard, deck, pool, playset and shed. Close to shopping, McCann Golf Club, restaurants, colleges and Route 9. MLS#418524.

Christina Naula m.845.590.2008 | o. 845.244.2167

A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC. upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

75

FOR SALE

Rosalie E Rose Lic RE Assoc Broker 845.616.3620

Easy, everyday living

$475,000 3 BEDROOM, 1.5 BATH, 1,350 SQ FT 3163 COUNTY ROUTE 8, GALLATIN, NY

914-664-5000

upstater.com PART OF THE

76 • online at upstatehouse.com

FAMILY

CROW’S NEST, CAIRO, NY 6 BR/8 BA | 8535 sf | $3,700,000

s

Pamela Belfor C: 917.734.7142

s

COZY LOG HOME, HYDE PARK, NY 3 BR/2 BA | 1611 sf | $585,000 Jason Loeb C: 917.579.3394

s

PRATT HOUSE, MALDEN BRIDGE, NY 4 BR/4 BA | 3940 sf | $2,200,000

s

s

Oliver Helden: C: 518.444.2109

s

s

SPLIT ROCK, MARBLETOWN, NY 4 BR/4 BA | 3257 sf | $2,150,000 Annabel Taylor C: 518.763.5020

LUXURY MOUNTAIN ESCAPE, WINDHAM, NY 5 BR/6 BA | 5,500 sf | $1,999,000

GARFIELD PLACE, POUGHKEEPSIE 8 BR/5 BA | 5400 sf | $925,000 E. Elizabeth Peters: 845.235.3488 Joshua Briggs C: 917 213 9042

Richard Byrne C: 646.342.7125 HISTORIC HUDSON VALLEY FARM, GHENT, NY 5 BR/3 BA | 3695 sf | $1,250,000

s

Annabel Taylor C: 518.763.5020 | Parker Meyer C: 917.242.2906

THE OVERLOOK, NEW BALTIMORE, NY

s

s

4 BR/4 BA | 3600 sf | $1,800,000 Emily Iason: 914.671.4097

MODERNIST HOME, COPAKE, NY 5 BR/5 BA | 4325 sf | $2,500,000 Annabel Taylor C: 518.763.5020

WWW.FOURSEASONSSIR.COM/HUDSONVALLEY O: 845.876.5100

Formerly Gary DiMauro Real Estate

s

s

HILLTOP MODERN, CANAAN, NY 2 BR/2 BA | 1,760 sf | $1,075,000 Emily Iason: 914.671.4097

Each office is independently owned and operated. upstate HOUSE | WINTER 2023/24 •

77

INDEX O F ADVERT IS ERS INDEX O F A DVERTI S E R S Adirondack Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Phinney Design Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Freestyle Restyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Advanced Radiant Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Glenn’s Wood Sheds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Pioneer Millworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Albert Group Pools & Patios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Halter Associates Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Quatrefoil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Hammertown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Red Cedar Landscapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Hudson Valley Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71, 73, 75

Herrington’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Rennie Cantine Overlook Benches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Blejer Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Hippo’s Home Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Roman Professional Engineering PLLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Bloomberg Connects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover

Hot Water Solutions, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 56

Sheeley Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services

Cabinet Designers, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Hudson Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Staley Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Catskill Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Hudson Valley Forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Steven Holl Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Central Hudson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Hudson Valley Kitchen Design Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Stinemire Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Claverack Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Hudson Valley Trailworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Stone Bender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Claverack Pump Service, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Jeff Wilkinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Stone Ridge Electric Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Country Life Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Kate Aubrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Stone Wave Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Dandelion Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Latitude Regenerative Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Studio Cicetti Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Surfacearts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Davis Frame and Panel Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

LDR Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

DBO Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Lighthouse Solar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Tip Top Furniture Flooring and Bedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

DEMO architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mihai Radu Architects PLLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Upstate Curious Team at Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Energy Conservation Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Milan Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

WaterFurnace International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

EvolveD Interiors & Design Showroom LLC . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Modern Shacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . back cover

Whalen Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Finch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Murray Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

William Wallace Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Fleetwood Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

New Energy Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Williams Lumber & Home Center . . . . inside front cover, 47

Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty . . . . . . . . . . 77

Peggy Lampman Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Worth Preserving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 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

M A P O F TH E REG I ON

New City

ROCKLAND Nyack

78 • online at upstatehouse.com

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Croton-on-Hudson

WESTCHESTER Ossining Tarrytown

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79

B ACK PO RCH

ESCAPE ROOM BUDDHA BOOTHS

By Anne Pyburn Craig

E

ver wish you could just stop the world for a moment?

Is there anyone who hasn’t? Sometimes the need for a moment’s peace can feel as urgent as the need for food, but in all too many settings, that peaceful moment is just not on the menu.

What those settings need is a Buddha Booth: a noise- and light-canceling velvet-lined escape space just for you that makes the world go away amid even the rowdiest crowd.

Buddha Booths are the creation of Hudson Valley resident Francine Steadman, who found herself in need of a moment of calm and wondered how finding precious peace and quiet could be simplified. Her creation, a meditation aid billed as a “focus enhancing, portable escape,” aims to solve this problem in settings where alone time is normally impossible.

“I was a divorced mom of three, working four jobs to make ends meet,” Steadman says, “and one of them was doing custom monogrammed embroidery at big events. I was doing that at a Major League Baseball players’ party in Cincinnati—just over-the-top, Snoop Dogg, Macklemore, working with a bunch of young millennials who were completely unruffled by the chaos. Then I had to hightail it back to New York to do a Fashion Week event, face more

8 0 • online at upstatehouse.com

chaos on about three hours of sleep. Amidst all that, it just came to me, ‘I need a Buddha Booth.’”

No such thing existed yet. But three months later, Steadman had her first prototype; three months after that, the velvet-lined Buddha Booth made its public debut at Coachella.

That was back in 2015, and Buddha Booths have been finding happy homes in workplaces, nurses’ lounges (Johns Hopkins Hospital has some), schools, and anywhere people might need a moment alone. They can be leased, with or without a wellness attendant, or purchased—the base unit starts at $4,900, and can be customized and upgraded in all sorts of ways, including with digital “mindfulness modules” to help guide a user’s meditative experience.

“Sometimes people just need to escape, and there’s no dignity in escaping to the bathroom,” Steadman points out.

“I just did five borough-wide baby showers with the NYPD, and the commissioner loved it, and now his staff is pushing to get them into all the precincts. Everyone needs a mindful moment sometimes, and these really help the mind to quiet.

They’re like a blanket fort for grownups, but quieter.”

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Buddha Booths are designed to be a mobile mindfulness and relaxation station.

Meet your true neighbors.

We know some neighbors you’ve never met: the statues, abstract portraits, and curious figures of the Hudson Valley.

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Storm King Art Center, Zhang Huan, Three Legged Buddha, 2007 © Zhang Huan Studio, Courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo by Jerry L. Thompson

Our philosophy is simple...

create beautiful living spaces inspired by our natural surroundings. Modern Shacks designs and builds high-end, energy efficient homes and dwellings in Ulster County.

ModernShacks.com

Kristabelle McDermott

Kristabelle@modernshacks.com 845-663-4760