Upstater

Here at Upstater, we have two great passions: tiny houses (see past obsessive bungalow colony posts) and the Catskills. So imagine how delighted we were to find that the hamlet of Cragsmoor is holding a design competition for tiny houses.

Your job: design a 200- to 400-square-foot home that’s net-zero energy: makes as much energy as it consumes. The Cragsmoor Association will build the winning design and display it in one of six sites within the town of Warwarsing (which, truth be told, has a few bungalow colonies of its own). Download more specs here.

Our suggestion: something modern, but with a nod to the bungalow colony/Borscht-belt history. Put a graywater system in there, some photovoltaic panels slathered across the roof, some serious insulation, way up high in the Rs,  perhaps some lovingly reclaimed wood, radiant heat flooring and a cute little loft, and, voila: Upstater’s new office. Oh, wait — this is about the contest.

Keep us posted on your designs if you enter. Winners will be announced May 3.