In 2016, after years of restoring heritage brownstones in New York City, an Arcadian longing came over architect Christopher Dierig and his husband and business partner Doug Maxwell. “Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a beautiful, rural area near the city with an agrarian character and lifestyle,” Maxwell recalls that they wondered together. “Then we realized, well of course there was.”
Originally hailing from Kentucky and Texas, the two found a natural fit in northern Dutchess County, where they could reclaim their rural roots amidst like-minded historical preservationists. In 2017, they reimagined their city-based practice S3 Architecture as a design-build firm for the Hudson Valley. Their vision for Upstate Modernist would draw inspiration from heritage forms to create landscape-specific, modernist designs. “We love modernism, but not slap-you-in-the-face modernism,” says Maxwell. “We take a warmer approach, focusing on natural materials and sustainability.”
Before beginning any project, the duo spends considerable time familiarizing themselves with the surrounding property. “We spend a lot of time just walking, quite frankly,” he says. “The land is paramount. We get a sense of the unique characteristics and what a property is about, both naturally and historically. These factors drive an entire project.”
They bought a legacy farm in Rhinebeck with plans to create their own modernist oasis, first preserving the fields and woods with a conservation easement. Then, as part of their master plan, they began designs for a small on-site studio. “The ‘cabana’ was just meant to be an office for us to work in and host guests,” Maxwell says.
On one of their early farm rambles they’d found a particularly scenic high point. Perched along the edge of a cliff, the spot was thick with stunning mature trees and presented the kind of design-build challenge the two love to tackle. “It was very, very tight,” says Maxwell of the sylvan setting. “We didn’t want to touch anything and we didn’t want to cut down any trees because it was so beautiful.”
They found a patch of dead hemlocks that would give them just enough room for the cabana’s footprint without altering the thriving treescape. “We took a very light touch in our design approach,” he says. Building on piers, they left the underlying rock intact and cantilevered the structure over the edge of the cliff. Clad in dark shiplap siding, the shoebox-like exterior blends into the rocky landscape and generous floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the structure erase the boundary between the interior and surrounding woods.
Fast forward: Upstate Modernist grew rapidly and the two didn’t have time for their master build. “So we supersized our studio a bit,” says Maxwell. The former wet bar became a “wildly compact, but fully functional” kitchenette. The upsized bathroom includes a clever in/out walk-through shower with exterior access. Throughout the primary suite, millwork and furniture made from naturally felled ash trees extends the compact interior into the exterior setting. A wood stove warms the home in cold weather, and plenty of outdoor space—including a deck jutting into the forest and adjacent fire pit and hot tub—spill the living space into the landscape in warmer months.
The two have lived contentedly in their 800-square-foot cabana, bear-hugged by the surrounding woods, for almost five years. The home expresses their design ethic, in miniature. “We design everything to feel correct in place,” says Maxwell. “Not just now but 50, 100 years from now.”
This article appears in May 2024.
