Unplugged: Scott Newkirk's Cabin
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.20.07
Interior designer and fashion stylist Scott Newkirk loved the 1973 eco-classic Handmade Houses: A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art and decided to build a 300 square foot off-grid cabin in the woods. It took two years to build; being a New York designer, it's not quite handmade and he "had a hard time finding builders who got his idea for a simple, rough-hewn look."-silly builders, they try to make it look finished.
It's small, it's built from salvaged and reclaimed materials and it's pretty basic. Nice.
from New York Magazine:
The traditional post-and-beam frame of the house uses old square-head nails on the exterior siding and floor, with a few modern ones for the roof. The smaller side windows are handmade, and the glass-paneled fronts both upstairs and downstairs are standard aluminum frames clad in wood. The downstairs panels slide open, and an upstairs panel pivots. To complete the indoor-outdoor feel, there is a twelve-foot strip of window across the rear with an eye-level view of the backyard. The completed complex (including an outhouse, guest house, and outdoor shower) sits on about three acres of Newkirk’s 50-acre property. “The house reminds me of every fort I built in the woods as a kid growing up in Jackson, Mississippi,” he says. ::New York via ::Materialicious
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It doesn't look very well insulated. He gets bonus points for re-using materials, but what will it cost to heat the thing?
If this is just a two-week-every-summer vacation home, then the poor insulation is less of a problem. But why are we congratulating people on further development of secondary residences?
The man can build a second off the grid. He's not buying a condo in the suburbs.
I was a student Of Arthur (Author of the book mentioned). I was lucky enough to have visited several of the houses in the book. All used reclaimed materials to the utmost. Art was a real trip.
I was a student Of Arthur (Author of the book mentioned). I was lucky enough to have visited several of the houses in the book. All used reclaimed materials to the utmost. Art was a real trip.