When you live smack dab in
the middle of one of the world’s busiest cities, sitting on a porch and cracking
open a book may seem mind-numbingly slow-paced. But that’s exactly what
inspired Charles Petersheim’s business: to get families out of Manhattan and reunited with nature in its purest form.
In the wake of the September
11th attacks ten years ago, Petersheim escaped to Sullivan County just 100 miles north of the city.
“When 9/11 happened, it
created chaos in my life,” Petersheim explains. “The construction management
industry froze as people stopped building, my lease was running out and at the
exact same time, I happened to be buying a cottage upstate.”
After a slew of jobs fixing
up old properties in the area for young Manhattan professionals, Petersheim
dreamed up Catskill Farms: a homebuilding company that built “new old-homes” or
homes that have all of the personality and charm of old American cabins, but
without the flaws of aging properties.
“Older homes have a
personality and emotion—you can feel the people who were there before you,”
emphasizes Petersheim. “The whole trick
was – how do you build a home that successfully emotes the same way an older
home does? Somehow we were able to do it.”
Catskill Farms has now built
100 of their eco-friendly and affordable homes for Gothamites looking for a
respite from urban living, often with inviting features like sloping ceilings
and wood accents that give the homes a rustic feel. “It’s a pre-conscious
decision of wanting to remove themselves from the suburban or urban pace of
life,” Petersheim says.
And beyond appealing to the
eye, Petersheim explains that there are a number of reasons that the company
has proven to be recession-proof. “We can [build houses] quickly and
effectively,” he says. “They trust us to make a vague aspiration and dream into
reality quickly and on budget.”
The advantage of country
living for families is also obvious.
“It is an investment,” he
says. “We’re not getting enough time
together, we have too much going on in the city—too much ballet, too many
soccer lessons, too many nights out—and it’s a great investment [for] the
family to spend time together.”
And in a world of man-made
parks and steely skyscrapers, the 997-square mile area of Sullivan County may be just what you need: picturesque lakes, ponds,
mountains, and perhaps its most alluring feature—acres and acres of nothing at
all.
For more information,
visit thecatskillfarms.com.