Sustainable Catskills Cottage is a modern vacation house located in Catskill, New York, United States, designed in 2018 by VIPP.

Description
THE AREA AND HOUSE
Peaking as a preferred vacation spot for the community of New York in the 1950s, the region of Catskills with its crystal-clear water in the summer, fall foliage in October and great skiing opportunities in the winter still attracts the metropolitan audience who crave nature and fresh air.
After 10 years of frequently hiking in the Catskills mountains the architect couple purchased a piece of land in the middle of a protected wild area in the woods.
Made from prefabricated high insulated panels and running on solar energy from spring to fall season, their love of nature resulted in a wish to build a passive house aiming to reduce the building?s ecological footprint. Completed in the summer of 2018, the entire construction took about six months with an additional six months for the interior to be finished by them. Because of their respect for the trees, it turned out to be quite difficult for the construction workers to get access to the land.
Because the house is placed on a slope and on top of a watershed providing drinking water for New York, the house rises on a platform supported by structural piers. A solution which also minimized the need of cutting down trees and excavation. From here, the house is founded on a concrete box with a steel frame platform on top ending with a wood house enclosure.
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