How the same, simple walk can change over time. Just a short time ago, if you turned from Huber Road onto our newly constructed Manor Falls Drive, thereby entering TCP proper, you would enjoy a nice saunter through pristine woodlands, wetlands and meadows. Then, a little later, the first excavators arrived, preparing the lots for upcoming construction. Then trucks carrying Bensonwood wall and roof panels, followed by cranes assembling the house shells, followed by all the trades needed to bring the houses to a successful completion.

And now? The same walk still features the same beautiful Catskill scenery, but there are three finished houses poking out from among the trees. And you may spot one of the owners taking their mail from one of the mailboxes at the Project’s entrance, or taking recyclables to the adjacent container. In other words, our community has been born. Lots 4, 8, and 11 are occupied by both part-timers and full-timers, with Certificates of Occupancy in proud owners’ possession.

From the very beginning, we talked about how it would feel to see the first houses come to fruition. Sure, we were as excited then as we are now about the values our endeavor represents, but we also knew that they cannot be fully expressed until actual houses are occupied. And it is safe to say that the reality exceeded all our expectations. There is nothing better than the myriad of signs of actual life at TCP: neighbors saying Hello to each other, enjoying a glass of wine together, borrowing a pinch of salt at dinner time, kids laughing as they play on the community trails. One of this reporter’s favorite things is to see the houses’ lights on at night, unobtrusively pointing to the human life that has respectfully joined all the other life in the beautiful Catskill woods.

Not surprisingly, our efforts are increasingly noticed by the outside world. The established track record is generating conference speaker invitations, podcast interviews, upcoming press articles (stay tuned for when the ink is dry), and — excitingly — notable awards. Green Builder Media, LLC, a leading platform and publication in the sustainable built space, has awarded The Catskill Project with their Green Home of the Year award for 2024, in Offsite Construction. This trend-setting magazine has emphasized both the technical merits of our homes as well as the community aspect of the Project. As such our Passive House-standard homes are not only standalone achievements; they take the concept to the level of carbon-neutral community living.

The Catskill Project is not just an escape, it also represents life with others, with a minimal footprint, in concert with the surrounding environment.

Access full issue here.

Is this the true Future of Living? We certainly think so

As the last frost in the Catskills gave way to the annual spring parade of snow drops, daffodils and mayflowers, The Catskill Project eagerly joined in the new season celebrations. We held an Open House at the property earlier in May and couldn’t have been happier and more encouraged with the outcome. One uncontrollable variable was the weather. Early May can be, shall we say, highly variable in the mountains, with snow squalls not entirely out of the question at this time of the year. However, our constant checking of the forecast during the week prior to the Saturday in question must have worked; with the forecast looking barely passable all week, it suddenly changed on Friday to all sun and temperature in the mid-60s. And so on Saturday our guests came to our model house, the Balsam, bathed in the sun, with hiking trails dry and ready for our boots, the waterfalls were gushing with their signature spring flow.

And what an impressive showing it was! Around 80 people made the journey, sometimes from quite afar, reflecting the healthy and growing interest in our project. Faith Kelly and Caswyn Moon returned to The Catskill Project to serenade our guests with live music, craft beer from Upward Brewing Company flowed, local bites from The Neon Croissant and The Walk In went down with relish. Our partners at Bensonwood spoke about Tektoniks, their unique panelized technology deployed at The Catskill Project, Greg Hale gave an update on the evolving legislative and regulatory framework for decarbonizing the built environment in New York (did you know that as of January 1, 2026 all newly built houses will have to be all-electric in New York?) and Buck Moorhead answered all sorts of enthusiastic questions about passive house designed homes in general, and our portfolio of passive houses in particular.

And who can imagine a better advocate for a passive house and The Catskill Project! So it happened that the next week we learned that Buck Moorhead Architect was awarded the Best Architect 2023 in The River Reporter’s Readers’ Choice 2022 awards. While entirely unsurprising it is a phenomenal recognition of Buck and Remy Moorhead’s leadership in the sector. The father-daughter duo works tirelessly to serve their clients in New York City and the Upper Delaware River Valley while decarbonizing the building stock through whole-system energy retrofits and developing a new paradigm of emissions reductions in newly constructed single-family homes at The Catskill Project. The rest of the team feels excited and privileged to be turning their ideas and concepts into reality. The future of living has well and truly arrived in the Catskills.

Their most recent, hot-off-the-drawing board development is a new model for The Catskill Project. We always intended to introduce additional designs to our three currently available. The time for the first addition has arrived, and it did so in the form of ‘Red Hill’, a barn-style beauty paying homage to a local architectural vernacular of the Catskills. But while it is at first glance different from the first three, it does fit The Catskill Project narrative. There are soaring ceilings once you are inside, the main siding option is raw hemlock and, of course, and it is designed to a passive house standard with solar panels to achieve net-zero emissions handily. Our new model, Red Hill, also tips its hat to our beloved Catskills, being named after another regional fire tower. We have one more Catskill fire tower left which can lend its name, so stay tuned for a possible fifth design. In the meantime, welcome to our carbon-neutral community, Red Hill! We can’t wait to show you to our clients.

This year is really shaping up to be a true heavy-hitter year for The Catskill Project (TCP).  We couldn’t be happier with the model house performance, and are equally excited with the progress on our two new builds.  Our first owners are about to move in, making the project truly alive and buzzing with excitement.  

How did we get here?

Our collaboration with Bensonwood Tektoniks is the very bedrock of the continuing success of TCP.  The  factory-manufactured shell, representing around 40% of the value of each home, is performing like clockwork in all houses. It passed the blower-door test in every case with room to spare, proving that the houses are truly well and tightly insulated.  Sub-zero temperatures in the winter?  No problem;  the indoor temperature barely budges even after several days with heat turned off. 

In fact, Tektoniks is such a key part of the whole process that we have effectively formed one fully integrated team.  Whether it is house design, wall insulation or passive house features, suggestions and recommendations flow in both directions, resulting in continually improving efficiencies.  Both teams see great potential beyond TCP.  Once we are done with this groundbreaking project, we have ever-expanding plans to take the show on the road and continue mainstreaming panelized, passive-standard houses in the Catskills and well beyond.    

Bensonwood panel assembly line in Keene, NH

Our expanding ambitions are reflected in a new addition to our portfolio of houses.  You will recall that at the moment we offer three models – Balsam, Overlook and Tremper.  We always had plans to add to it when the time is right, and it is now.  Ready for the upcoming selling season, our new house will be both similar and different.  You will recognize the TCP aesthetic in many indoor features, but the overall look is quite different.  Tipping its hat to the local vernacular, the house has a gable roof, and is designed broadly in the farmhouse / cabin style.  We will have a rendering soon, and cannot wait for you to see it.  Only what to call it?  Balsam, Overlook and Tremper are named after the five remaining fire towers (the others are Red Hill and Hunter).  Somehow we feel the provisionally called Model IV should have a different moniker.  Any ideas?  Let us know!

What’s next?  Make sure you put May 6th, 1 – 4pm on your calendar:  we are hosting an Open House at the property.  It will be a first-hand opportunity to speak with our Bensonwood Tektoniks partners and the rest of the Catskill Project team. Join us for light bites, refreshments, and live music. After hearing from the project team, check out the finished houses, go for a hike on the common ground trail, and mill about with all sorts of nice people. And why not head down to one of the breweries or eateries in Livingston Manor afterward to cap off the afternoon?  Maybe we’ll see you there, too! 

Lots to do in 2023!  See you soon.  

Register for the May 6th Open House Here


Every human endeavor needs to see results. We bought the land in 2019, got it successfully subdivided, built the hiking trail, put up the viewing deck overlooking cascading waterfalls, and dug the ponds shortly after that. With the model house ready to welcome our visitors to tell the story of the future of living, we’re ready for prime time. We’re selling lots, buyers are choosing their dream home, and we’re building it! A beautiful site to see.

Welcome to life, carbon-neutral community, grow and prosper.


THE CATSKILL PROJECT

When the trucks started rolling in, carrying panels with Lot 4 and Lot 8 labels, we stood at curb side with a sense of pride and giddy excitement. Within a week the shells were assembled, complete with the triple-pane windows and doors, fully insulated. We weren’t surprised when they both passed the blower-door test, one of key features of a passive house, with flying colors and room to spare. Once the trucks left, it was game time for our plumbers and electricians, with our famous hemlock siding going up in parallel.

Now appliances have been ordered, and soon there will be sheetrock, tiles and finished floors. It’s not too long now before houses on the two lots will be ready to throw a housewarming party. Julie Baron Sehrt and Jan Sehrt on Lot 4 can’t wait, and nor can Julie Pyun and Scott Kim on Lot 8 — and it’s always fun to meet them on site and inspect the progress. Time to finalize the furniture decisions and agree on the color of the towels!

Are you ready to be a part of the next generation of living? Come visit us at the model home and find serenity in the Catskills. Bring your hiking boots or sneakers too!

livingroom in the catskills Sullivan county

Your neighbors at The Catskill Project will be not only other wonderful people. You will also share the site with thousands of beautiful trees, silent and wise sentries of the rolling and forever changing landscape.


THE LANDSCAPE NOW AND THEN

People live in and come to the Catskills for all sorts of reasons, and the love of trees is certainly one of them. With over 90% of the park’s area covered by them it is not unusual to stand at a lookout and marvel at the endless, rolling expanse of canopy, often without a trace of human activity. You see the iconic eastern hemlock and balsam fir among the evergreens, and a rich array of deciduous species such as several kinds of oak, cherry, ash, beech, maple and birch. Even if you don’t quite believe that trees communicate via intricate root systems, are able to send nutrients to individuals in need and warn each other against common threats, you cannot but be amazed by these majestic neighbors of ours (Q: what percentage of DNA do we share with trees? A: 50%)

Quite a thing to behold – but if you stood at that same lookout sometime late in the 19th century all you would see would be denuded, deforested hills. This was courtesy of an extensive tanning industry, based on stripping the bark of hemlocks, boiling it in nasty acid and treating cow hides, locally plentiful thanks to a robust dairy industry. Good for boots, coats and bags, not so good for local forests and rivers. The last hurrah of tanning was the First World War, with most American boots pounding the European theater originating in the Catskills. No more bark stripping after that, with other, more benign methods giving trees a break.


THE PARADISE NEEDS OUR HELP

The trees came back where they belonged, eventually further assisted by the decline of the dairy industry. With some of them over 100 years old now, parts our forests start to look like genuine old growth. Truly beautiful. But all is not quite well in paradise, with several parallel threats putting stress on our trees. And it turns out that home owners in The Catskill Project can help.

Perhaps the best known pest is the Emerald Ash Borer, a beetle originally from north-eastern Asia, currently spreading north through NY State, including the Catskills. As the name suggests it attacks ash trees, with 99% mortality rate: a healthy ash is gone within 10 years of being attacked. But there is hope. The 1% of trees that survive demonstrate a truly unique ability to kill the attacking larvae. Arborists call them “lingering ash trees”, and finding them is invaluable. Citizen scientists can get educated on how to spot them, and how to replant them. Perfect for TCP home owners! The Catskill Mountainkeeper located in Livingston Manor will welcome you with open arms for a quick tutorial.

And while you are at it, keep an eye on the other growing threat, the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. An unwelcome visitor from Japan, it kills hemlocks in 10-20 years. However while there seem to be no “lingering hemlocks” this beetle is relatively easy to spot, and once identified the tree can be treated and saved. Once again, citizen science is invaluable, and the Mountainkeeper can use all our help.

Why not commit to keeping The Catskill Project healthy and sound? Let’s find and replant lingering ashes, and make all hemlocks healthy. Kids and dogs welcome on the mission, craft beers at the local brewery to follow in late afternoon.

A recap of our Opening Celebration on October 9th, 2021


THE BALSAM: OPENING CELEBRATION

Having finished our model home in late summer, we all agreed that we should throw a party.  Not only do we wholeheartedly agree that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” but the completed Balsam truly deserved a proper coming-out bash. 

View from Kitchen to Living Room. Photo by Marcus Brooks.

While Labor Day weekend was one obvious possibility we decided to roll the dice a little and went for Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend in October. The weather can be a little blustery by then, but the foliage is generally at or close to peak. Rain or shine we knew we would get the red of maples, orange of ashes and yellow of cherries. And rain it didn’t — the temperature was downright balmy and everything came magically together.

Of course there was the inevitable day-of chaos as half the team were setting up at the house while the other half were darting between town and site, bringing any and all missing items. But by 2 p.m., as the first guests turned into the driveway, the bites were out and ready, beer was on ice, the first of three bands for the day strummed its guitar and we were ready to celebrate.

Pictured left to right: Ethan Feldman and Mav Moorhead – first to arrive, last to leave!

By 2:30 we had over 60 people in and around the house. The whole team was dutifully milling among the crowd and one could overhear answers to questions such as “how does energy recovery ventilation work?”, “what is a thermal bridge?” and “are these really triple-pane windows?”. Visitors from far and wide truly took to the Balsam and one could sense that everyone felt that this is not just another house. Physically being in a passive house really does feel different, and better. It wasn’t all erudition though. The beer flowed freely (thanks, Catskill Brewery and Upward Brewing), pizza was yummy (thanks, Kaatskeller) and the sweets were delicious (thanks, Neon Croissant). 

RIBBON-CUTTING, WITH ASSEMBLYWOMAN AILEEN GUNTHER

The highlight came just after 3 p.m., with actual ribbon cutting by none other than the fabulous Aileen Gunther, our local Assemblywoman. Aileen is a politician you really want:  infectiously enthusiastic, excellent at all aspects of her job, in love with the area and its people. She effortlessly inspired the crowd, cut the red ribbon and wished us all luck and good fortune. We can’t be 100% certain but we thought we saw the Balsam wink and smile a little.

Pictured left to right: Buck Moorhead (Principal Architect, AIA), Hans Porschitz (COO Bensonwood), NYS Assemblywoman Aileen , Remy Moorhead (Architectural Designer, CPHD), Greg Hale (Principal), Peter Malik (Principal), Laura Carter (Architect, AIA, CPHD).

Your corresponded was relieved he was not expected to speak for Aileen was a truly hard act to follow.  But Greg did a great job, as did Hans from Bensonwood. and by the end everyone got a good sense of What the Future of Living and Building looks like, and why we picked western Catskills for our carbon neutral community.  The afternoon was brought to a close by a guided trail walk, complementing the house experience with local waterfalls, ponds and endless natural beauty on the property.

You are some host, Balsam. We never doubted you, but you exceeded all expectation. A happy wink and smile back.

Southwest corner of the Balsam. Photo by Marcus Brooks.


Now that you know how the Balsam came to be – a few words about Livingston Manor.


THE DARLING OF UPSTATE RENAISSANCE

The Manor: Think rusticity combined with sophistication, hikes and yoga, blissful remoteness and craft beer.  Fly-fishers have long valued the local rivers, but the word is now out for a much wider variety of both visitors and permanent transplants, as per the steady drumbeat of articles in New York Times, Travel and Leisure and Financial Times, to name a few. 


A RICH HISTORY

As with many towns that have “arrived”, the history is interesting and varied. Originally called Purvis, the tiny settlement changed its name to Livingston Manor in the late 1880s.  Or we should rather say the Manor, the locals’ affectionate moniker for the hamlet.  But besides affectionate it has also been resilient, tough, no-nonsense.

It had to be.  The town welcome sign as you exit route 17 — “Small Town, Big Backyard” — captures the ethos well.  Its 1,221 inhabitants by last count are indeed surrounded by thousands of acres of pristine Catskills wilderness, with uninterrupted vistas and hundreds of lakes and streams.  And water played an important role in the Manor’s history, good and not so good, with the latter being periodic floods.  Every decade or so Main Street would turn into a river, washing away much of what has been created and built since the last deluge.  Hardy locals, many multi-generational families, simply learned to live with it.

More recently, right after the financial crisis in 2008/2009 much of Main Street found itself boarded up, courtesy of financial problems of a Wall St currency trader who first purchased multiple buildings here, only to fall behind on mortgage payments and taxes, with the buildings ending in foreclosure.  In the process his troubles shook up the entire financial system of New Zealand but that’s another story.  And about two years later The Lazy Beagle, a hip restaurant just off of Main Street, blew up at night due to a propane leak.


A BLOSSOMING PRESENT

That is roughly when your correspondent bought a house nearby and fell madly in love with the region.  And what a transformation he has seen!  The rapid revitalization of the Manor and its surroundings is as unrelated to his arrival as it is profound.  It started with the Army Corps of Engineers putting in place effective flood mitigation measures, forever saving the hamlet from its regular washouts, thereby making investment in the area an entirely different proposition.  Soon Main Street Farm store and café opened, serving farm-to table deliciousness.  Shortly thereafter the Catskill Brewery started attracting beer-heads from far and wide due to its regularly award-winning craft brews.  A slew of other businesses followed:  you can eat at The Kaatskeller, Smoke Joint, the Walk-In, Brandenburg bakery (now renamed Neon Croissant) or Ba & Me;  Upward Brewery is now rivaling its earlier neighbor in the number of medals it captures annually for its ales;  you can visit Nest or Homestedt for boutique items for your home upstate or in the City;  or you can visit the Catskill Art Society for first-rate programming ranging from exhibits to performances. 


AND AN INSPIRED FUTURE

With a new business or eatery opening every time you visit this trend is here to stay and evolve forever. And we haven’t even mentioned other local hotspots such as Roscoe, Callicoon and Narrowsburg, creating true buzz in Western Catskills.  More about those in future postings.  So come here and be a part of the ride, it’s good for the soul and it’s also simply fun.  See you around somewhere on Main St, a mere 10 minutes from a house in The Catskill Project.  I am heading for a grass-fed burger and an IPA myself.     

Enjoying a fire-side beer at Upward Brewing, Livingston Manor, NY

Once the building shell is up, our team of master craftsman gets to work.


BLOWER DOOR TEST

After the house shell went up we had to make sure the external air barrier was up to scratch, via a “blower door test.” This is a standard and critically important feature in the Passive House world. Essentially you close all the windows and doors and pump pressurized air into the house. If none of it leaks out you have satisfied one of key conditions of a Passive House. And our beautiful shell passed this initial test with flying colors!

INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR FINISHING

With this, Bensonwood’s work was largely done, and a team of local carpenters, plumbers, electricians, tiling specialists, painters and countless other trades descended on the house. Were there challenges? You bet, with the chief one being Covid. We couldn’t build at all for a while, and when the construction market limped back to some semblance of life the prices of many commodities skyrocketed. Among the hardest hit was lumber, with prices rising up to fivefold for a period. Fortunately, we had already procured most of the lumber for the model house through Bensonwood prior to the price spike, and prices have since started to come back down.

But problems are there in order to be solved, and the nearly finished model home is a tribute to that. Throughout the process we stayed true to our mission of circular economy, short supply chains and responsible sourcing of materials. Among the best examples are our floors, ceilings and kitchen backsplash: the soft maple, cherry and ash we used in the house was harvested locally while clearing the site for the building, septic, driveway and other infrastructure. We will repeat this for subsequent homes, giving future owners the comfort of knowing that much of their house came literally from outside of their window.   

Absolutely committed to doing the best project that we can, here. Carbon-neutral, net-zero, regenerative design, is at the heart of it.

Buck Moorhead, Principal Architect & Partner

LOCAL ETHOS, ABOVE ALL ELSE.

The local ethos of TCP extends even to the homes’ names. We agonized over what to call them for quite a while. Should they pay homage to trees, rivers, animals, plants? Then one day when we were in the midst of another debate of the topic on a zoom call a spouse of one of us helpfully butted in, exclaiming “fire towers of course, fire towers”! Her less talented other half on the call confirmed that the two of them just finished the Catskill Fire Tower Challenge, consisting of climbing all five remaining fire towers (there used to be dozens back in the day). And the names BalsamOverlook and Tremper were quickly settled on. We hope that living in one of the homes will bring the lucky dweller the same sense of satisfaction and excitement as the view from one of the towers after a hearty hike. In fact, we are sure it will.


In Partnership with industry leading high-performance wall and roof panel manufacturer, Bensonwood, the Balsam is assembled over the course of 3 short days.


BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

So now we had the land, evolving design, commitment to be ambitious, and the right team to throw at it. Getting on the same page regarding the north star of the project wasn’t difficult, even if it took many sessions, both upstate and down.  One thing was clear to us from the start: we are NOT classic developers, meaning our objective cannot be reduced to subdividing land, and then building and selling houses. Sure, we have to do all that, but far more important was the vision. And while we cannot be reduced to classic developers, I think we can be characterized as people who build for the future. 

This is not being presumptuous or precious, in fact it is fundamentally humble.

What are the main ingredients of our vision? Respect for nature and our planet, the only place we have (sorry Jeff and Elon); fundamental belief in circular processes, leaving the place in at least as good a shape as we found it in; optimizing the energy performance of our buildings, one of the main greenhouse gas emitters in the US and globally; and building to the highest quality, ensuring durability, low maintenance and beauty of all we build.  All this rolls up to net-zero energy, carbon-neutral Passive House community: The Catskill Project.

It’s respect of the environment, and its underlying ecological systems, which drive our design and thought processes.

Buck Moorhead, Principal Architect & Partner

BUILDING WITH BENSONWOOD

Which brings us to our building partner, Bensonwood. Superior insulation and ventilation / indoor air quality are the bedrock of passive house performance. And this is best achieved by a panelized system, meaning the shell of the house, complete with windows and roof, is manufactured off-site, and then trucked in and put up in a matter of a few days. This is why we found ourselves in Keane, NH one day, touring Bensonwood’s ultra high-tech panel factory. Imagine a hangar the size of three football fields, spanking-clean cranes and beeping machines, all nearly fully automated, with the few people present zipping around on electric forklifts. All this translates to an incredibly high quality product and repeatability of the targeted performance, put together year-round, rain or shine.

We left duly impressed and firm in our belief that we found the right partner for such an important part of our houses. The panels were built while we prepared the site and built the foundations of the model home. And in about 6 months we were standing on site in awe and high-fiving each other as beautiful blue panels went up in the space of 3 days or so

AND NOW WE HAD A HOUSE TO FINISH!


How did it all begin?  Over 3 years ago 3 long-time friends chatted over a beer in Greenwich Village. The conversation meandered from work to vacations to family and beyond, with the Catskills making a repeated appearance. Buck and Peter have had homes there for many years, and Greg was not a stranger either, courtesy of his birding escapades.

None of us remember the precise moment that evening when the idea of building high-performance, environmentally responsible homes upstate first materialized, but we all agreed in hindsight that it made perfect sense. Afterall, Buck has been a major face in the Upper Delaware valley for decades, both as a Passive House architect and anti-fracking activist. Greg was working for the state at NYSERDA as one of NY State’s top sustainable energy gurus. And Peter was looking to combine his enviro bone fides and obsessive love for the Catskills. Buck ran the idea by Remy and Laura in his architectural studio and just like that, our 5-star team was born.

Before too long Peter was motoring up route 17 not just to escape the city on weekends, but also to look for suitable land for the project. Buck, together with Remy and Laura, started sketching possible house designs, searching for what we agreed had to be both rustic and modern – not an easy task!  And Greg started burning midnight oil after his day job, devising the lowest carbon development possible.

It took us several months and visits to at least a dozen potential locations, trudging through fallen leaves in the fall, and then deep snow in winter.  We liked many of them but we needed to love it. And then we found it: land with deep woods, lots of beautiful creeks with waterfalls, gorgeous meadows, varied topography. While our broker James told us that this was by far the most challenging site to develop, we knew that this was it, that this was the land we could make truly special and unique.

And The Catskill Project was born.