Isn't this what is now referred to as "glamping" to the extreme, the same way these same tech types have air-conditioned campers and hired chefs so they can 'rough-it" at Burning Man?
33
I met Klein not long ago and was perturbed by his dead eyes and complete lack of enthusiasm: he didn't smile once the whole time we spoke, despite similar interests and projects. Looking at the photographs from Beaver Brook, it seemed a little too close to a contemporary Lord of the Flies for comfort.
I admire that idea of what they're doing, but there's something creepy about it: too much money, too many artisanal axes, too many hipster photographers documenting it all with ennui.
I admire that idea of what they're doing, but there's something creepy about it: too much money, too many artisanal axes, too many hipster photographers documenting it all with ennui.
49
The "voice of reason" informed these people not to settle permanently in rural Sullivan County. I wonder if these people were to actually venture into Narrowsburg or Barryville to do something as simple as buy groceries. One of New York's most economically depressed counties could use a little spreading around of these peoples great fortune. But who wants to mix with the hoi polloi? Not the hipster-twee crowd.
37
I hope these well-heeled nouveau Walden types are aware that they are nesting in a hotbed of Lyme disease. These woods are crawling with spirochete-carrying critters just waiting for a wet meal of blue blood. Cover up, children of the tech boom. Nature is not always what it seems! My suggestion: pack in some antibiotics with the gourmet smores.
26
Another NYT adoring ode to the elite and their hobbies.
44
It's all good while it lasts. Then everyone goes home to their modern, well heated, hi-tech abodes. Ah, roughing it. Great fun if you know it's only temporary.
Going all Bohemian or 'slumming it' has been around for more than a little while among the young well to do. Always easier to do if you can land safely else where when you're tired or need something else of comfort.
''Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac....".
Going all Bohemian or 'slumming it' has been around for more than a little while among the young well to do. Always easier to do if you can land safely else where when you're tired or need something else of comfort.
''Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac....".
26
This reminds me of nothing so much as the little peasant village on the grounds of Versailles where Marie Antionette and her friends could go to experience the noblity of work -- for a couple of hours before returning to their gold-encrusted palace. Architect designed, off the grid, back to nature living. Ha!
84
Wow, so much antipathy towards these people in the comments. Here is a guy who wanted to do something, went out and did it, and then shared it with a bunch of other people so that they could also have the enjoyment of being on a beautiful piece of property. They aren't hurting anybody, and it is saddening that so many people want to mock these people as if their experience isn't something real. I applaud them for seeking a better piece of the world and way to exist in a community and in nature. Good for them, and "jeers" to all those people who feel the need to deride them simply because of their economic class, primary mode of communication (blogging, internet, online), and lack of novelty. If everybody was so dismissive of every single project or effort, we should all just stay in bed every day because, yes, it's all been done before, what we are able to achieve is often a result of some privilege or standing in society, and we probably fit into one or more groups that people like to poke fun at.
69
You gotta laugh, a bunch of folks from New York City building a bungalow colony in Sullivan County.
24
This is an interesting article that reminds me of a similar movement in my youth. In the late 1960's and early '70's people like me quit company jobs to move to more simple lives in the country. I also moved to Upstate New York and carved a home out of the woods.
While I grew up in a trade family and learned how to work with tools at a young age, I think that few people today know how to work with wood and tools any more. Shop class has been replaced with technology classes. Craft skills hold little value for most people today.
The pictures of the structures shown in this article required carpentry skills that could not be learned in a few weeks. Some of the carpentry of a pretty high level. The article implies that these young people took a few weeks of on-site training and then built these structures.
I'm skeptical that a few young people with minimal training could develop the trade skills to do it. If I'm wrong, then great credit goes to them.
While I grew up in a trade family and learned how to work with tools at a young age, I think that few people today know how to work with wood and tools any more. Shop class has been replaced with technology classes. Craft skills hold little value for most people today.
The pictures of the structures shown in this article required carpentry skills that could not be learned in a few weeks. Some of the carpentry of a pretty high level. The article implies that these young people took a few weeks of on-site training and then built these structures.
I'm skeptical that a few young people with minimal training could develop the trade skills to do it. If I'm wrong, then great credit goes to them.
23
"Beekeeping has been broached as a project for next summer (Mr. Klein has a hankering for mead)..."
Wow, you really couldn't make this stuff up if you tried!
Wow, you really couldn't make this stuff up if you tried!
62
There are many ways for the creative young and very smart to make mass quantities of money in short periods of time in the 21st Century. What they decide to do with that money and how they do it is really a matter of choice, though we would like to believe that there is a component of helping those who are less fortunate in the myriad of ways that are possible but this is the Style and Fashion section and an article like this is to be expected. As tedious as it can be to read about all the preciousness of rich young choices, it's even more tedious to read the endless comments from the begrudgers.
I was drawn to this article because I love the notion of tiny houses and discovered a group of young people who had the wherewithal to explore a dream and the energy to see it through to some end. Sounds like fun to me. Sans the mosquitos and ticks, though.
I was drawn to this article because I love the notion of tiny houses and discovered a group of young people who had the wherewithal to explore a dream and the energy to see it through to some end. Sounds like fun to me. Sans the mosquitos and ticks, though.
20
The website Cabin Porn - a guide for the rich hipster (there's a contradiction in terms) is just that, porn. Trophy mansion, trophy tiny house are essentially the same. My essay, Real Estate Porn, just might sum it up: http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/notes-on-commodified-language-real-es...
I've lived in one room with three kids, by myself in one-room cabins, countless poor people do. An article about how we have gotten and get by - now that's something newsworthy.
I've lived in one room with three kids, by myself in one-room cabins, countless poor people do. An article about how we have gotten and get by - now that's something newsworthy.
35
Great countryside project. Good for these well-to-do folks.
How do we get these tech entrepreneurs, architects and other affluent folks to invest in similar micro-housing projects/initiatives for the urban poor in their backyards. That's the story I want to read in the New York Times, notwithstanding the comment about "recontextualizing" (?) one's choices.
How do we get these tech entrepreneurs, architects and other affluent folks to invest in similar micro-housing projects/initiatives for the urban poor in their backyards. That's the story I want to read in the New York Times, notwithstanding the comment about "recontextualizing" (?) one's choices.
47
Idyllic...But if they're doing laundry, there must be plumbing...and if they're staying overnight, there must be toilets...and if they live on the brook, other folks live downstream...no one in our world is completely "self-sufficient" and our choices and actions always affect others around us, and especially downstream of us. Living in the wooded hills of northern New England, my own stretch of "pristine" brook regularly runs with detergent blobs from heedless, irresponsible commune-dwellers upstream. I'd give this essay a lot more credibility if it spoke of such mundane things as septic systems, wells, permitting, and pollution.
42
Recently we moved from a busy city life to a 5 acre property in the woods of N. New Mexico with a river flowing through it. Probably the most profound aspect of this move was simplifying our lives by getting rid of a lot of stuff, the silence on the property that improved our sleep and greatly reduced rumination and stressful thoughts, making us at one with nature (including the snakes and bear), and brought us into contact with a village of 900 people where everyone is considered a part of each other. It may sound like a cliche but it is a "gift to be simple and a gift to be free"
14
Don't seem to be able to see the forest for the "twee"
45
When did the Home and Design section get wrapped into Fashion? I don't mind these Cabin Porn pieces every so often. The images are compelling, but I would also like to see more about creative ideas for housing for the masses, by the masses. How people are being ingenious and stretching their dollar. How we can provide temporary shelter for people during disasters (like the 3000 people that are now homeless because of the Valley Fire). How dwellings impact and shape community - working class community. I recall years ago (2000) an article the Times did on Bryan Bell and his efforts to create housing for migrant farm workers. It was so compelling and inspiring - it has shaped much of what I do and think is important today.
36
The New York Times has to put forth articles like this -- and have sections about "style" -- because a huge percent of their readership is wealthy and want to hear about these sorts of things. Not every article is written for everyone. Not everyone's choices in life can or should be recontextualized by another person's choices.
8
Agreed.
You can see that they ignore topics that would upset this class, such as the impact of agriculture on climate change. Divestment. The serious worries about climate change that would upend civilization as we know it.
It's become a fluff publication. A publication for the rich that does not give us all the news that's fit to print. It gives us the news that won't rock the boat, even if that boat is about to sink because it's built of rotten wood and the seas are getting rough.
You can see that they ignore topics that would upset this class, such as the impact of agriculture on climate change. Divestment. The serious worries about climate change that would upend civilization as we know it.
It's become a fluff publication. A publication for the rich that does not give us all the news that's fit to print. It gives us the news that won't rock the boat, even if that boat is about to sink because it's built of rotten wood and the seas are getting rough.
28
@ outis, Times do change, I went to a elite private school and as part of my 7th grade Social Studies class we were require to read The New York Times everyday and be prepared to answer a question on an article which appeared in that day's paper. That was in 1971 and the teacher made that we should always be aware that the the Times slogan was missing two words, "we feel," as in "All the News We Feel is fit to Print." It's incumbent on all readers to understand the bias of a publication or author.
9
What women out of her 20s soon find out is that most men will somehow leave any and all the boring household chores to them.
Laundry, cooking, cleaning...all will not be left undone and women will wind up doing 'female labor' by default.
I learned that when camping for weeks in the redwood forests of California with another couple and our small children. The men were thrilled to be in the 'wild', as they very much enjoyed fishing, hauling water, chopping wood, and building camp fires.
Us women spent all our time cooking and heating water to wash children, wash clothes, wash dishes...it never ended.
It appears most of the bunkhouse visitors were men and the description of the 'laundry issue' is that few men learned to do their own laundry as teenagers. Most young men (and women too!) leave home without ever having changed their own bed sheets or done a load of laundry or even made themselves a meal, other than a sandwich.
It is great that they are learning self sufficiency, but no parent does their children any favors by allowing them to leave home so helpless.
Laundry, cooking, cleaning...all will not be left undone and women will wind up doing 'female labor' by default.
I learned that when camping for weeks in the redwood forests of California with another couple and our small children. The men were thrilled to be in the 'wild', as they very much enjoyed fishing, hauling water, chopping wood, and building camp fires.
Us women spent all our time cooking and heating water to wash children, wash clothes, wash dishes...it never ended.
It appears most of the bunkhouse visitors were men and the description of the 'laundry issue' is that few men learned to do their own laundry as teenagers. Most young men (and women too!) leave home without ever having changed their own bed sheets or done a load of laundry or even made themselves a meal, other than a sandwich.
It is great that they are learning self sufficiency, but no parent does their children any favors by allowing them to leave home so helpless.
24
Would you prefer than the women instead do all the hunting, hauling, chopping and building...or was the suggestion that the men keep doing their chores in additional to the laundry, cooking and cleaning while the women get a weekend of freedom?
7
That has not been my experience. I believe you find that which you believe you will find. I also note that many (hetero) women go into their relationships with pre-formed assumptions such as you mention, and simply take it upon themselves to do all such work, as, in their minds, the men just aren't as good at it. And so it will be.
I on the other hand have never believed that all or most men are like this. (I know plenty of females who are lazy or slobs.) So I don't think it's any accident that the men I attract are very capable indeed, whether it comes to housecleaning, cooking, etc. And no, they don't act this way in the beginning only or just to 'impress' me. The guys I've been in relationships were all naturally this way. Very able to keep a clean home and whip up great meals. ;-)
I on the other hand have never believed that all or most men are like this. (I know plenty of females who are lazy or slobs.) So I don't think it's any accident that the men I attract are very capable indeed, whether it comes to housecleaning, cooking, etc. And no, they don't act this way in the beginning only or just to 'impress' me. The guys I've been in relationships were all naturally this way. Very able to keep a clean home and whip up great meals. ;-)
9
Maybe we would all be better off with a less antiseptic and constantly scrubbed down environment, personal and communal.
3
Having the financial resources to live your Walton fantasy in a manner to you liking is fine, but I would encourage people to look at the reality faced by the less fortunate in rural America today. My home state of West Virginia has a 7.6 percent rate of and there are kids in my classroom who live in tents or mobile homes because there are no jobs in this community which has been completely devastated by this administration's energy policies.
"But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
--John Adams, To the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, 1798
"But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practicing iniquity and extravagance and displays in the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
--John Adams, To the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts, 1798
15
Pretty high fallutin' stuff there pardner and some good points. Sorry to hear that you think it a good idea that we all burn mountains of coal until the whole human race is extinct (quickly, at that). I would hope that you get some of those "fallutin" moral priorities a bit straighter….more like John Adams.
12
Seems to me the moral priorities are pretty much in order here....children living in tents and trailer homes so you can feel better about a carbon footprint? And you lecture on moral priorities?
5
The Littlest House on the Prairie is the dream--roughing it with pralines and cream...
18
"elegant 350-square-foot cabin is being built by Grace Kapin and Brian Jacobs" is in fact an inelegant, absurd structure - any eye-sore disruptive to the beauty of the woods.
23
I think an appropriate term here is Glamping.
41
not envious at all... the article just doesn't reflect what it is like to truly live off the grid yet alone living in the country, it glamorizes it. The reality in Sullivan County? 20.9% of the population has a bachelor degree, the median household income is $48,000, 18% live below poverty level. We had a week-end farm up in rural Vermont, during the hard winters, where the snow gets to be 8 feet deep, we were cozying in Brooklyn while Vermonters were enduring the hardship of living with low incomes and having to take care of the fallen trees, digging the snow, keeping the house warm and getting the children to school. We just didn't belong, we tried, we wanted to live there, clearing fields with a tractor was fun for a while, after 6 years it wasn't fun anymore. During mud season where the only way to get the muddy water out was to open front and back door of the house to let it slide through runs out of excitement fast. But we had a way out, some people living there endure year after year. Big dreams yes - for city folks with money, and they are dream with an escape when it gets hard - for some there, big dreams are just to laugh at. So in that sense this article is upsetting, it ignores the surrounding context and focuses on the life of the rich and famous in the woods. I myself don't care for it. We sold the farm.
119
Confused what led you to believe this was meant to be an article about what it's like to "truly live off the grid." Seems like a fluffy piece talking about a place in the woods where some friends like to spend the weekend. Calm down people! lolz
9
So much hate in the comments for a guy who was successful in his 20's, found his passion and followed it - and wanted to have some fun along the way with his friends...
18
I agree. They are positive and polite to each other and to their land, which is indeed our land. No doubt they are privileged, but hands on and communal in a good sense. Some may object to their sense of style but it is a small and serene style, something most all of us could do.
6
It's funny how it's become only acceptable to live in two extremes: either completely urban or a completely desolate farm / woods barn.
Anything in between (i.e. the suburbs) is unacceptable! When did it become a bragging point of how few square feet one lives in?
Anything in between (i.e. the suburbs) is unacceptable! When did it become a bragging point of how few square feet one lives in?
8
Most Americans grew up in the suburbs and find the isolation soul-deadening.
Better to brag about a tiny house than a 5,000 square foot monstrosity for four people that many Americans live in.
Better to brag about a tiny house than a 5,000 square foot monstrosity for four people that many Americans live in.
7
I find your comment amusing. "Soul deadening"? I've lived all over the world in cities and suburbs. The place is what you make of it. The median size of a house in the 'States is 2400 sq. ft. Hardly a monstrosity. Some have bigger houses, more kids, some have smaller. Most of the suburbs, old and new, are quite lovely. What a strange comment.
1
Yet another repetition of the trope that "the suburbs are soul-deadening?" What the heck does that even mean? I grew up in Brooklyn and now live in a wonderful suburb which provides many opportunities religious institutions for spiritual growth and cultural enjoyment; libraries for many programs of wide interest; opportunities to meet neighbors at everything from block parties to Labor Day parades; local system of government which is truly democratic - and I get to know most of our commissioners by their first names; and alot of people who enjoy our parks, greenery and wonderful township staff. It seems pretty terrific to me!
3
Sure, this is a bit of a DWELL magazine view of the world, "Cabin Porn" and all, since we apparently need to package other people's dreams and visions to make them acceptable, but why is the following comment necessary?: " . . . all they have done is hoodwinked a few rich dummies into blowing cash on one of their hipster notions about the future."
Envy of youth, jealousy of success, resentment of others, well, that's all folks!
12
As someone who lived off grid for a very long time, living rough in a 10' travel trailer and eventually into our dwelling, a 12' x 36' studio in a corner of our barn without running water or power, and at the same time running a full time business pre-internet (try walking a 1/4 mile through the woods to plug your phone into the pole @ the corner of the property at 10 at night, in the rain!) I can appreciate the urge for people to gather in the wild and create dwellings and a sense of community. The intent here seems rather vain however, kind of a part time subscription to a 'Habitat for Vanity' as an end in itself rather than a means to enhance a full-time committed life in the sticks. Kind of strikes me as a bit "twee in the trees", no?
I quit my "pioneer woman' life after 8 years when I saw how firmly my partner embraced the life of the hermit rather than of a working partner towards the goal of a settled ranch with even the basic accouterments: running water and power (of some sort!) We're buddies still, and he carries on, most recently surviving less than a ridge line an 1/8th of a mile away from the epic Butte Fire in N. California. I now affectionately call him the 'Professional Hermit'.
I quit my "pioneer woman' life after 8 years when I saw how firmly my partner embraced the life of the hermit rather than of a working partner towards the goal of a settled ranch with even the basic accouterments: running water and power (of some sort!) We're buddies still, and he carries on, most recently surviving less than a ridge line an 1/8th of a mile away from the epic Butte Fire in N. California. I now affectionately call him the 'Professional Hermit'.
36
I so agree with you. Beautiful little post!
4
I know there's no obvious reason to feel grossed-out by this article, but it reminds me so much on the endless "entrepreneurial" blather you hear here in Silicon Valley. People in their 20's teaching you how to succeed in business while really all they have done is hoodwinked a few rich dummies into blowing cash on one of their hipster notions about the future. I see there are a lot of negative comments about the article -of course this is in "Fashion" as it should be, but these guys are really insufferable in person and I think that kind of comes through in the article. Now instead of using their 'disruptive innovation' to build silly apps for phantom trends they are building forts in the woods. Just like with everything else when do the real builders show up to do the work of the highly polished domiciles we're seeing here -at about minimum wage no less?
141
Article said they built the cabin themselves. Sounds like you know them though- is that not true?
I'd love to know how these poseurs (yep, a judgment. I've watched the rural Southwest be Californicated by charming fake hipsters for thirty years.) give back to the rest of the people in their area - or anywhere.
6
Real life "on the land" is physically hard. But Klein and friends are enjoying the idea of small and the idea of simple and the idea of physically making your own space.
Our real challenge in life is to live simply and inexpensively without disengaging from the modern world.
Our real challenge in life is to live simply and inexpensively without disengaging from the modern world.
11
While I agree that this is a rather superficial article on the subject the idea of Tiny highly affordable houses is something that many town planning boards in New England are wrestling with. Tiny houses on rural and wooded sites are an exciting possible way for communities to address the need to provide affordable housing in their communities.
One of barriers to this of course is state building codes which require a substantial expenditure of money to provide access road, power, water and septic systems bathrooms and kitchens that meet code. Once you have brought those standard utilities to a site you are almost certainly at the $100K to $200K mark already.
The acceptance of smaller footprint, low tech houses is tricky. These houses in the article were built by folks with lots of fiscal resources.
The tipping point between a Hipster tiny home, a Hippie cabin from the 1960 and an poverty class house trailer in the woods can be a fine line to walk for local building officials.
Drive down a typical dead end road in New England and you may find a Wall Street Banker's rural retreat, A middle class home, A hipster enclave and artist colony or you may start hearing the banjos from "Deliverance" and discover grinding rural poverty. It all depends on the economic situation of the people living there.
It's no fun to regulate.
One of barriers to this of course is state building codes which require a substantial expenditure of money to provide access road, power, water and septic systems bathrooms and kitchens that meet code. Once you have brought those standard utilities to a site you are almost certainly at the $100K to $200K mark already.
The acceptance of smaller footprint, low tech houses is tricky. These houses in the article were built by folks with lots of fiscal resources.
The tipping point between a Hipster tiny home, a Hippie cabin from the 1960 and an poverty class house trailer in the woods can be a fine line to walk for local building officials.
Drive down a typical dead end road in New England and you may find a Wall Street Banker's rural retreat, A middle class home, A hipster enclave and artist colony or you may start hearing the banjos from "Deliverance" and discover grinding rural poverty. It all depends on the economic situation of the people living there.
It's no fun to regulate.
66
Most young city-based professionals never get anywhere close to going "back to the land", so I'm happy to read that some are trying, even if just part-time.
All the vitriol here can only make me think those commenters are envious. I hope they will note, this was for the Fashion & Style section, not meant to be general interest news.
All the vitriol here can only make me think those commenters are envious. I hope they will note, this was for the Fashion & Style section, not meant to be general interest news.
13
As someone who made my own tipi and lived out in the country alone when I was young, I understand the impulse for these young people. However it is strange that these rich folks get a whole article about them. Many do this with very little money, like I did it, and never have to shout to the world... look at me. But I guess that is what rich folk do. They really are not doing much that is unique. Millions of people build cabins in the country. In fact out West it creates a problem because so much fire suppression has gone on to protect these cabins on private land that the forests now are overgrown and we see the result... Middletown in Lake County where fires go wild in minutes.
63
'The result, “Cabin Porn: Inspiration for Your Quiet Place Somewhere,” is out this week from Little, Brown.'
Read the article. Buy the book.
Read the article. Buy the book.
2
I too lived for a few years in tents and various broken down old cabins that need lots of fixing, with and without permission. It was called squatting and it was very cold some nights when it reached 25 below. The fear of the Forrest Service or a landowner was always in the back of your mind because buying a piece of paradise is not always attainable for everyone.
8
As I read this story, I thought I that I had read the same story a while ago--June 8, 2015.. VERY similar story in Huffington Post on Forest Huntington, quitting job with Ralph Lauren and building a tree house in rural Oregon. Forrest's tree house is a bit more rustic, but still the story of itinerant professional exploring their vision of rural nature. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/foster-huntington-treehouse-the...
5
Oh, my! Thirty-somethings playing house with real money--while Rome burns. Go, girls and boys, go!
42
While there's something admirable about people going for the rougher, closer to nature, country experience, I have to wonder how deep the idealism runs here. The following paragraph was quite telling:
'Like all utopias, this one changed as it grew. It was three years ago that the Bunkhouse was built, on a piece of land across the brook with road frontage, electricity and a well. Camping in Scott’s Cabin or in tents strewn about the hill had lost its luster, Mr. Klein said, “People got slower and slower about volunteering to do the dishes on cold nights.” And without power, Beaver Brook’s season was contained to the warmer months.'
It's fun to play woodsman, but if you've lived a first-world existence your whole life, creature comforts are a thing not so easily given up. As these people get older, and perhaps more "successful", they'll more than likely graduate to real houses. Having started at a basic level, however, they'll have more of a connection to the land than the average person, and hopefully more respect for it. To whatever extent it might lead them to live smaller rather than larger, it's better than the other way around.
'Like all utopias, this one changed as it grew. It was three years ago that the Bunkhouse was built, on a piece of land across the brook with road frontage, electricity and a well. Camping in Scott’s Cabin or in tents strewn about the hill had lost its luster, Mr. Klein said, “People got slower and slower about volunteering to do the dishes on cold nights.” And without power, Beaver Brook’s season was contained to the warmer months.'
It's fun to play woodsman, but if you've lived a first-world existence your whole life, creature comforts are a thing not so easily given up. As these people get older, and perhaps more "successful", they'll more than likely graduate to real houses. Having started at a basic level, however, they'll have more of a connection to the land than the average person, and hopefully more respect for it. To whatever extent it might lead them to live smaller rather than larger, it's better than the other way around.
6
what a terrific piece about another rich white guy and his friends!
97
Henry David Thoreau said it best: "Make yourself wealthy by needing little." This exercise is small-footprint living close to the earth is imbued with deeper vision... there is more going on than meets the eye. I suspect my wife and I would enjoy knowing this band of Scoundrels in the Woods.
7
Thoreau, who went to Harvard, was born solidly middle class and lived in a cabin on his family's extensive property, walking to town a few days a week for tea and scones, while his mother brought him food.
Basically, he had a in common with the people in this article.
Basically, he had a in common with the people in this article.
9
This article really bothers me. It's such a white bread "Kinfolk" magazine spread and the writer just fawns over the idea of the super urban rich getting back to nature. Its kind of boring as a narrative.
79
As usual with the wealthy, it's always excessive. Why buy 1 acre when you can buy 150?
14
I agree. Almost 'twee'. Really? Who cares?
4
Sorry, most of us have other real issues besides being "bothered" by an article about a couple friends building some cabins in the woods...
1
I own a bunkhouse. I can say with certainty, the Klein Family should not be using that term for the living structure on their urban hipster retreat.
32
I'm a sucker for any tiny house headline and found this article interesting so thanks for that. However, please inform your editors that "former Eagle Scout" is not correct. Once you've earned the rank, you're an Eagle Scout for life. No former about it.
18
The structures shown here in photos remind me of the early days in communes I lived on in the late 60's and early 70's. Impractical, fanciful buildings that could not weather the elements because they failed to employ traditional structural design like roof overhang and eaves as well as other window and door protection design.
City folk playing around in the woods should be recognized for the frivolous nature it displays.
I say go live in the woods and SURVIVE; don't play campout in artsy boxes that will be in the dirt in short order. I don't want to be a spoil sport but young readers need to know these "cabins" won't hunt.
City folk playing around in the woods should be recognized for the frivolous nature it displays.
I say go live in the woods and SURVIVE; don't play campout in artsy boxes that will be in the dirt in short order. I don't want to be a spoil sport but young readers need to know these "cabins" won't hunt.
40
And where are the window screens?
Anyone who lives in a rural area anywhere near water knows that the bugs are rapacious.
Anyone who lives in a rural area anywhere near water knows that the bugs are rapacious.
8
This article highlights peoples desperation to escape strained eyeballs and carpel tunnel syndrome. An attempt to reconnect with real labor, sore backs, and rough cut up hands. But mostly the feeling that you actually accomplished something from start to finish instead of hitting the enter button over and over.
Cheers for getting out there and seeing how it really is, jeers for blogging and raising their rebel flag like they are doing something special. Thousands of other Americans live a life like this day in and day out. These weekend warriors only pat themselves on the back and run back to the city to jump back into their real lives.
Once they get a bit older that shovel will be harder to hold and their backs will hurt even more and they will find it will be easier to hire out the labor to someone else who is forty or fifty something years old and can handle the physical demands of creating their fantasy.
Cheers for getting out there and seeing how it really is, jeers for blogging and raising their rebel flag like they are doing something special. Thousands of other Americans live a life like this day in and day out. These weekend warriors only pat themselves on the back and run back to the city to jump back into their real lives.
Once they get a bit older that shovel will be harder to hold and their backs will hurt even more and they will find it will be easier to hire out the labor to someone else who is forty or fifty something years old and can handle the physical demands of creating their fantasy.
41
I hope these campers are Lyme and tick literate....
8
Great article. My only comment is that the second sentence contains a serious error: Zach Klein is not a FORMER Eagle Scout, he IS an Eagle Scout. Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout.
As an Eagle Scout who proudly includes this on my CV/resume, during my 30+ years of management I always gave someone an interview who listed this accomplishment on their CV. It says a lot about someone's character, ambition and skills.
As an Eagle Scout who proudly includes this on my CV/resume, during my 30+ years of management I always gave someone an interview who listed this accomplishment on their CV. It says a lot about someone's character, ambition and skills.
6
Would it have been more efficient to have stayed in the city in a 500 sq. ft. apartment?
15
habitat for vanity
104
I love hearing about the tiny house movement in all it's forms. Small is all you need. I purchased an old 4 bedroom farmhouse long ago. It still needs lots of work and never feels "clean" enough. My taxes reflect a much larger real estate value. A non conventional lifestyle chosen by any generation - baby boomers to 20 somethings is admirable - there are so many choices to make - being bold - as these people have been...leads to more freedom. In turn, rethinking community reflects more opportunities for both young and old residents.
5
What? No slide show?
11
There is only one problem I have with this set up. When I'm in the woods, I want to be by myself and with my own thoughts. When I want to be around people, I go to the city.
33
I'm spoiled. I love the woods. I also love plumbing. And this is why I moved from NYC to the backwoods of Georgia. And with an airport in Atlanta that is close with direct flights to everywhere. But I don't like the copperheads... The people in the article are lucky: they have access to the woods and NYC culture!
3
Back in the 70s I lived on commune called The Farm that had a branch in Delaware county. Many of us lived in small cabins, mostly built from scrap and salvaged lumber. Nowhere near as fancy as those depicted but just as calming.
8
Hi dant
I lived on The Farm too, and I always find these articles about trendy tiny houses amusing. But, much better than the giant cottages, some people build.
But, yes we recycled materials before 'recycle' was a word! (Early 70's)
I lived on The Farm too, and I always find these articles about trendy tiny houses amusing. But, much better than the giant cottages, some people build.
But, yes we recycled materials before 'recycle' was a word! (Early 70's)
I was waiting for someone to utter the word "intentional" and almost gave up, but Mr. Zach Klein did not disappoint after all, sneaking it in at the end of the article.
7
But I was disappointed there was no "authentic." Ah well, can't have all your buzzwords, can you?
1
"Mindfulness" was missing, though.
1
The only reason luminaries can carry out such trendy style is that they can afford to hire others to handle the complexity that surrounds our lives and they can afford to hire others to handle the myriad detail of everyday life. The pristine, bucolic atmosphere pictured is a shell game of life's demand realities.
Minimalist simplicities are a hollow dream. I have done everything to live that life of carefree, do-it-yourself responsibilities, and it is hard and its is stressful, because I can't afford to hire it done and then go dream by the mossy stream.
Only in the canyons of Manhattan are the reporters of the NYT beguiled by such fantasy that Marty Stauffer almost seems to project convincingly onto the screens of our imagination.
There is a hidden penthouse somewhere on the 86th floor to which the real retreat happens.
Don't bother us with these kind of stores. We have to pull our blistered noses away from the grindstone to consume the luxury of such fantasies. Such things are not for the masses.
Minimalist simplicities are a hollow dream. I have done everything to live that life of carefree, do-it-yourself responsibilities, and it is hard and its is stressful, because I can't afford to hire it done and then go dream by the mossy stream.
Only in the canyons of Manhattan are the reporters of the NYT beguiled by such fantasy that Marty Stauffer almost seems to project convincingly onto the screens of our imagination.
There is a hidden penthouse somewhere on the 86th floor to which the real retreat happens.
Don't bother us with these kind of stores. We have to pull our blistered noses away from the grindstone to consume the luxury of such fantasies. Such things are not for the masses.
46
Sounds like a little piece of paradise to me.
Where you can save on 300 dollar a month gym memberships and Zumba and spinning classes with just doing the day's chores.
Where do I sign up ?
Where you can save on 300 dollar a month gym memberships and Zumba and spinning classes with just doing the day's chores.
Where do I sign up ?
8
Really this looks idyllic and very green. How does this work in the winter ? Ah yes a commune, how does this work when they have kids etc. Older age may put a crimp on this "cool" lifestyle.
8
Had to laugh: bring their own sheets & towels. Guess these guys never heard of youth hostels.
7
It would be more impressive if they did this anonymously...
17
Inspiring. I'm gonna go to Central Park this weekend.
4
Lot of negative comments here, why? beautiful place and inspiring images. Thanks for this article and pictures. For the record I love LL Bean.
9
Money can buy anything. So what?
9
Outdoors as theme park?
The urban take on nature is so pretentious. I can't tell of some of these people get it or not or if I'm just responding to the way this story was written.
Oh yeah. It's the "Fashion and Style" section. What was I thinking?
The urban take on nature is so pretentious. I can't tell of some of these people get it or not or if I'm just responding to the way this story was written.
Oh yeah. It's the "Fashion and Style" section. What was I thinking?
9
God, How I hate these vanity pieces in the NYtimes!
30
I've been a follower of the website for years, checking in for new pics every couple of months. Thought to look tonight and the first submission is a link for this article. Keep the inspiring cabin pix and captions coming!!!!
1
That's pretty cool. They had their choice and could've clear cut an acre and paid someone to build a Jackson Hole style lodge, instead the focus is on getting involved with friends. Good for them. Clicking through to the porn though was even better. Austerity at its finest.
3
I love reading about what rich young people do on the weekends. Please, more of this! It is an excellent indicator of the New York Times's values and priorities (as well as the circles your journalists travel in.)
14
The rich we will always have with us.
8
Readings for an earlier concept of Beaver Brook:
"An Everyday History of Somewhere", Ray Raphael. The life and times of the early '70s "settlers" in Humboldt County, CA
"Cash Crop", Ray Raphael. How many of those early '70s "settlers" finally were able to make a living.
"An Everyday History of Somewhere", Ray Raphael. The life and times of the early '70s "settlers" in Humboldt County, CA
"Cash Crop", Ray Raphael. How many of those early '70s "settlers" finally were able to make a living.
1
The Leisure Class has some nice stuff. I wish the Times would write some more about folks not in The Leisure Class.
13
reflects well on the tech industry that their successful young people focus on building experience and community instead of the show-off, ego-bloated monstrosities of the banksters. but, then again, maybe it's not so surprising, given that many tech entrepreneurs make their money by creating things people actually need.
17
Gee, wonder if they are posting on instagram photos of their "community building" activities? I see little that is necessary that they are creating. It is more likely they are helping to create a world where freedom for us is no vacations and the chance to work without contracts. Gota pay for those 50 acres and second homes you know!
5
Yeah. Don't know how I'd get by without Clash of Clans.
3
Funny how fashion goes in the woods too? This is the new trend being a "Woodsmen". These boys will last very shortly because the machine will draw them to the next trend. Americans have no soul.
18
This strikes me as First World reverse snobbery. After participating in all manner of conspicuous consumption, you pose as going back to nature by spending $800 K. Indeed a simpler life.
148
Right on! As a boomer raised during the "back to earth" movement of the 60s I'm so thrilled to see this kind thing going on! Yes, getting back to the basics of clean, country low tech living is the perfect counter balance to our technology and consumer obsessed culture. This will be the generation that makes the connection between an indivduals health, the overall health of our society and the health of the planet, yes I said it and I believe it!
18
"Hipster-twee affectation" -- it can't be said better than that. There is, by the way, no such thing as a "self-sufficient society."
68
Well dear, I never realized that the self-sufficient barn and cabin society up Farmington way at the end of Intervale Road and up the hill from a little red one-room schoolhouse where I spent much of the 1950's with my mother and grandfather was so " hipster-twee ". Hipsters were what summer people called boots; and twees were what we spent most of the day chopping down for firewood and pulp when not tending gardens, picking berries, fishing , writing, painting, singing, and having vibrant conversations into the night by flickering candlelight. You must be new to Maine, Dave. Try to get out a little more
5
During the 1970's there was a program called ""Life Studies" at a N.H. school. Part of that program entailed a small group of students building their own little houses, a yurt, pod dome, timberframe house and geodesic domes on 15 acres of rented land. The group was able to get a 'main' house built where cooking and hanging out occurred. That house had electricity and a hand pump for water. Many skills were acquired including, solar heat for the main house, organic gardening, 'putting up' food for the winter. The Whole Earth Catalog was a good read and Organic Gardening the bible. The community was a model for the university and many of the faculty offered their skills and expert advice. At that time the houses cost about $400. and were heated with wood and lit by kerosene lamps. Most students went on to work in traditional jobs so when we see articles such as this it is as if we stepped back in time to the early 1970's. Hats off to these folks!
27
fantastic idea! I love the woods and camp at every opportunity - of course my wife looks cross-eyed at me despite our earlier history of wilderness life. Combining the comforts of home and the aesthetics of outdoors is an act to be applauded!! Bravo!!
10
Missing from this piece: any mention of interaction with local neighbors.
116
We did this in the 70's, but they called us hippies.Glad to see it's acceptable now.
79
I'll believe it when they have some old and ordinary looking people up there. Right now the pictures look like a Calvin Klein shoot. With a little LLBean thrown in.
136
Believe what? This is how they look. Very simple, snark not required.
2
what a very passionate story, it seems the only thing that people need is a lovely house for being our dreams up. I'd like to have a successful life like them / he.
Nevertheless I want to people look up me like someone who is trying of change the world
Nevertheless I want to people look up me like someone who is trying of change the world
3
Normally, this is where I would point out how lame/fake this project is, but instead I am filled with a mix of envy and admiration.
31
Don't be. This is nothing more than aggrandizement. Watch The Last Alaskans, and you'll see this for what it is; make-believe.
1