+ CATSKILLS CABIN [Private Practice]

NORTH BLENHEIM, NY. 2021

Catskills Cabin

Design Team
Kristine Stiphany and Jason Sowell, with Jesus Ruelas

Structural engineering
Hage Engineering

PRIVATE RESIDENCE | DUTCH BARN | CABIN | WOOD CONSTRUCTION

The Catskills residence is a cabin initially designed for a professor and a policy maker seeking occasional refuge from urban living in the Schoharie valley on a forested site of northern hardwoods and conifers. At 1,500 square feet, the cabin is the largest of several structures that the couple have constructed to camp on a 20-acre parcel in North Blenheim. In recent years, the pandemic has intensified their desire for a dwelling that would perform year round, to accommodate their love of cooking with seasonable foods, inside and outside spaces for larger family gatherings, and rooms that can be opened or closed depending on season and temperature. The family’s affinity for the valley’s Dutch barns inspired the cabin’s organization and exposed roof frame, which spans a central kitchen and dining space, an upper loft for writing, and sleeping spaces warmed by wood burning stoves. Wood cladding, clerestory fenestration, and various forms of operable shutters, evolved from the region’s historic homes, enable the cabin to be secured when the couple are not in residence; while a solar-ready roof, cistern, and interior storage enable off-grid living.