In the Idyllic Catskills, Designers Take Homes From Rickety to Ravishing
For New Yorkers snared in the frenetic pace of city life, the Catskills offers a welcome antidote in the form of hiking trails, quaint towns, craft breweries—and the halcyon state of mind that comes from getting outdoors. It’s no surprise, then, that harried denizens of the Big Apple might find a home up north for apple picking season and beyond. The DIYers, designers, and architects below have done just that, transforming dilapidated residences into must-see rustic retreats.
Budget Breakdown: Weekend DIYers Renovate a Dated Catskills Retreat For $201K
"We really didn’t have any experience taking on a project of this scale," says homeowner Ely Franko. "We’re both generally impulsive people, so we purchased this house—which was a broken shell of a space— with really no plan on how to proceed."
The fresh, white interiors help the home feel more spacious and offset the exposed wood beams.
Tired of the hectic city grind, and yearning to be closer to nature, urbanites Danielle Franko, a dermatology physician assistant, and Ely, who works in software development, purchased a 1,522-square-foot house in the mountainous Tannersville village in Greene County, about a two hour’s drive north of New York City.
The Frankos spent two years renovating the house, keeping things clean and simple with natural tones and organic materials in the form of wood, textiles, and plants, and ensured that the interior design highlighted the best features of the house—the large windows and 16-foot high ceilings.
Budget Breakdown: A DIY Couple Turn an Aging Barn House Into a Dreamy Catskills Getaway for $55.6K
Thoughtfully placed succulents, ivy, and fiddle leaf fig trees accent The Barnhouse. For the plant wall, homeowners Danielle and Ely Franko mapped out the composition with tape to get the spacing just right. They also built the sliding barn door that shields a downstairs bedroom from view.
After combing through kitchen cabinets and finding nothing appealing that would fit their budget, Danielle and Ely decided to build everything themselves with lumber from the hardware store—sanding, staining, and sealing each piece. The countertops are plywood, as is the range hood surround.
Undeterred by the pandemic—and with their one-year-old daughter in tow—Danielle and Ely Franko went at it again, spending seven months overhauling a former hay barn in Jewett, New York, about two hours north of the city. In addition to addressing practical matters, such as updating the plumbing and electrical systems, the couple sought to create a balance between rustic and refined elements.
Over the course of seven months, Danielle and Ely demo’ed the home, built a new kitchen and dining area from budget-friendly lumber from the hardware store, created four Instagram-worthy bedrooms and three bathrooms, and outfitted the backyard with a new deck, outdoor hearth, and fire pit.
Before & After: A Creative Couple Revive a 1950s Cabin in the Catskills
Black cedar siding gives way to bright interiors in the idyllic Highland Bungalow.
The new kitchen is a compact eight feet wide—and much more efficient. The Ikea cabinets have been modified and upgraded with hardware, attachments, and fixtures. A Smeg refrigerator replaces a corner cabinet and complements a European-scale cooktop and small oven.
After living full time in New York City for five years, Lauren Wesley Spear and her partner, Michael Goesele, were on the hunt for a rural escape that would help them decompress from their fast-paced jobs as a design director and creative director, respectively.
It was in the Sullivan Catskills less than a two-hour car ride from the city that the couple found a two-bedroom, one-bathroom midcentury cabin, now dubbed the Highland Bungalow. What they imagined to be a quick project evolved into a gut renovation that took six months to complete with the help of friends and subcontractors. One major focus was making the home energy efficient, as it had never been insulated. Aiming to preserve its original charm, Lauren and Michael installed Craftsman doors, well scaled appliances, and tongue-and-groove pine in lieu of drywall.
Before & After: An Architect Peps Up Her Midcentury Chalet in the Catskills
Glenn Lazzaro and Azin Valy wrapped up a remodel of their 1965 midcentury chalet in White Lake last year.
A bright red entry door is a nod to the era of the home.
White Lake, New York, has long been a summertime destination in the Catskills. The late 1800s saw resort hotels built on the shores of the lakeside hamlet, with summer camps, cottages, and motels popping up throughout the next century.
Glenn Lazzaro has been vacationing on White Lake since 1963, when his extended family made annual use of a summer home there. Memories of his childhood have since become synonymous with that lakeside setting. "We raced motorboats, went skiing in the winter, and had our first kisses with girls and held hands for the first time. It was all of the things that you do as a kid," he says.
After several years of absence as an adult, Glenn introduced his wife, Azin Valy, to his beloved getaway. Azin is the cofounder of New York City–based practice I-Beam Design, and it was only natural that she started checking real estate listings on her visit. "I was curious because this part of the Catskills is going through a rejuvenation," says Azin. "There were still a lot of depressed properties around, however, and being an architect, I love to work on fixer-uppers."
A friend at Co-Op Fabrication in Kingston, New York, custom-designed the kitchen island and cabinets. Tiffany Jen swapped out the dated vinyl floor for matte white tiles from Home Depot. The backsplash is matte white subway tile from Tilezz, and the plywood cabinets are topped with white quartz counters. The Ready Stacking Barstools from Blu Dot slide under the island counter.
A Room & Board record console behind the couch is mixed with a vintage mushroom lamp and Flos Arco Floor Lamp.
When Tiffany Jen found this Catskills home on Zillow, it had been listed for some 350 days. "That was not a great sign," admits Tiffany, a Brooklyn-based designer and motion graphics artist. But she and her then-partner had been house hunting for over a year, endured three failed offers, and gone on more than 100 tours in search of that "dream cabin in the woods," so they still went to see it. And despite being rundown, it held more promise than a long sit on the market might imply.
The designer had been visiting the area for years—spending "all our weekends," she says—and liked that her very first home purchase could be one that she also rented for income. The problem came during the closing process, when Tiffany and her partner broke up unexpectedly, turning the shared dream and investment into a solo endeavor for Tiffany. She tried not to be overwhelmed by the new challenge of remodeling the house alone, without any previous experience, and two hours north of her base in New York City.
Related Reading: 7 Best Houses You Can Rent in the Catskills This Holiday Season
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