HEMP HOUSE - CASTKILLS, NY 2023
NESTLED IN THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS IN BETWEEN FIVE STATE FORESTS AND PERCHED BESIDE CATSKILL CREEK, HEMP HOUSE QUESTIONS THE STANDARDS IN CURRENT BUILDING PRACTICES BY PROPOSING AN UNDERSTANDING OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT THAT LOOKS TO THE PAST.
WHEN WE FOUND THE 978 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING, IT HAD NOT BEEN LIVED IN FOR MANY YEARS BUT POSSESSED ALLURING DETAILS RANGING FROM GENUINE PINE TONGUE AND GROOVE WOOD WALLS TO EXPOSED BEAMS, OAK AND PINE FLOORS, WOODEN SASH WINDOWS, AND AN ORIGINAL FIELDSTONE FIREPLACE. STRAYING FROM CONVENTION, LENGTHS WERE TAKEN TO ENSURE HISTORIC DETAILS FROM THIS CIRCA 1932 WOOD CLAD ABODE WERE NOT SIMPLY MAINTAINED BUT PAIRED WITH ENVIRONMENTALLY MINDFUL AND MODERN REFINEMENTS TO CREATE A UNIQUE CELEBRATION OF NATURE, CLOSENESS, AND THE PRESENT.
WITH HEMP HOUSE, THE INTENTION WAS TO ENABLE IT TO FEEL AS IF IT HAD RISEN ORGANICALLY OUT OF THE LANDSCAPE. AND SO, THE MATERIAL PALETTE WAS HIGHLY CONSIDERED - MEANT TO MIRROR THE SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE (LOCAL EASTERN PINE, EASTERN WHITE CEDAR SHINGLE ROOF, FIELDSTONE SOURCED FROM THE PROPERTY ITSELF).
WE ALSO CHOSE A PLANT-BASED ZERO-CARBON HEMP INSULATION, BEING MINDFUL OF HOW MODERN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ARE FILLED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS THAT OFF-GAS FOR YEARS. INSTEAD OF SHEATHING THE HOUSE IN PLYWOOD (WHICH USES ADHESIVES CONTAINING THE HIGHLY TOXIC SYSTEMIC POISON, FORMALDEHYDE), WE SHEATHED IN THE WAY THEY USED TO, FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, WITH WIDE PINE PLANKS.
WHEN IT CAME TO INSIDE THE HOUSE, WE DIDN'T WANT TO HIDE THE VEINS, MEANING WE WANTED THE WATER LINES THAT DRAW UP WATER FROM THE WELL BESIDE THE CREEK TO BE A FEATURE OF THE HOUSE, SO WE CHOSE EXPOSED COPPER PIPING THROUGHOUT, MEANT TO PATINA AND LIVE IN THE SPACE. ADDITIONALLY, COPPER, ALONG WITH OTHER NONFERROUS METALS, DOESN'T LOSE ANY OF ITS CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES DURING THE RECYCLING PROCESS, WHICH MEANS IT CAN BE RECYCLED INDEFINITELY.
PRIORITY WAS PLACED ON PRAGMATISM AND LOW MAINTENANCE WITH A VIEW TOWARDS LONGEVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY, HENCE WHY WE CHARRED THE SIDING IN THE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE WAY (NOT WITH PROPANE OR TORCHES). THIS ANCIENT TECHNIQUE, KNOWN AS YAKIMATSU ("BURNED PINE"), PROTECTS AND PRESERVES THE WOOD FROM ROT, INSECTS, FIRE, AND A HOST OF OTHER ELEMENTS AND CAN LAST FOR A HUNDRED YEARS OR LONGER WITH MINIMAL MAINTENANCE.
WE CHARRED THE WOOD OVER A SPAN OF WEEKS IN A FIELD NEAR THE HOUSE, FIRST CREATING A PRISM WITH THREE BOARDS PLACED UPRIGHT TO FORM A SMOKESTACK, THEN USING TINDER TO IGNITE THE WOOD BEFORE DOUSING IT WITH WATER. AS THERE WASN’T ANY RUNNING WATER IN THE HOUSE DURING THIS TIME, WE UTILIZED THE CREEK ON OUR PROPERTY TO FILL METAL BUCKETS. THE PROCESS WAS SLOW, ALMOST MEDITATIVE—THE OPPOSITE OF SOME OF THE MODERN MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES WHERE WOOD IS CHARRED USING AUTOMATED MACHINES AND PROPANE. OUR TWO SONS THEN HELPED WITH THE LAST STEP: APPLYING A NATURAL TUNG OIL FINISH.
AS WITH THE SIDING, THE CEDAR SHINGLE ROOF WE ADDED CAN LAST JUST AS LONG OR LONGER AND PROVIDES A NATURAL INSULATION UP TO TWO TIMES THAT OF ASPHALT SHINGLES, ENABLING THE HOME TO REMAIN COOLER IN THE SUMMER AND WARMER IN THE WINTER. CEDAR ALSO CONTAINS PROTECTIVE OILS AND TANNINS, PROVIDING NATURAL DECAY AND INSECT RESISTANCE. THE OLD RUSTED METAL ROOF WAS SALVAGED AND GIFTED TO A NEIGHBOR TO USE ON AN OUTBUILDING.
TO CONSERVE THE INTERIOR'S INNATE WARMTH, WE KEPT THE ORIGINAL FIELDSTONE FIREPLACE AS A WOOD-BURNING FIREPLACE BUT ADDED MODERN CAST IRON ELECTRIC RADIATORS, AGAIN CHOOSING NOT TO HIDE WHERE OUR LIFEBLOOD (HEAT, WATER, ETC.) COME FROM.
ADDITIONALLY, WE WANTED TO AVOID FOSSIL FUELS AND SO CHOSE ALL ELECTRIC, HIGHLY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES, AND SELECTED PLANT-BASED/ZERO VOC PAINTS AND STAINS FOR THE EXTERIOR TRIM AND NEWLY REFINISHED HARDWOOD FLOORS, DIVERGING FROM THE MODERN WORLD'S LONG-HELD LOVE AFFAIR WITH SYNTHETIC PAINTS AND/OR PETROLEUM-BASED POLYURETHANE WHICH ARE KNOWN TO BE HARMFUL TO PEOPLE AND THE PLANET. FOR THE BRIDGE THAT TAKES YOU OVER THE CREEK, WE IMPLEMENTED THE PROTECTIVE RESINS OF NATURAL PINE TAR (A TECHNIQUE DATING BACK TO THE VIKINGS WHO USED PINE TAR TO PRESERVE THEIR SHIPS AND OTHER WOODEN STRUCTURES).
THE HOME LIVES AND BREATHES WITH THE LANDSCAPE, REFLECTING THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAIN RANGE AND 5 STATE FORESTS, ONE WITH NATURE AND FILLED WITH A PLETHORA OF WOODY AROMAS. ACROSS THE TREE-LINED DRIVE, THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL .9 ACRES CURRENTLY BEING KEPT AS A POLLINATOR FIELD.
OUR APPROACH IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE BELIEF THAT THE DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY SHOULD RESULT IN A SUSTAINABLE WORLD FOR THE FUTURE.