Rugged Opulence

Having the vistas and recreational opportunities of the Catskill Mountains in New York is probably enough for many home buyers. Yet builder Steve Dubrovsky and his design partners set a new standard with the Chapin Estate, embracing green building concepts such as material recycling to construct creative, well-crafted features that reflect and enhance the surrounding wilderness.

The 4,500-square-foot model home’s exterior is trimmed with hand-peeled birch bark from trees chopped to clear the site. Inside, the guest room’s furniture was hand-built from birch-bark inlays reflective of the home’s surroundings.

Carving was another technique used to achieve inner wilderness. Forest animals were carved into the staircase and on both sides of the entrance door. The kitchen has spectacular post-and-beam columns sculpted into trees.

Forest influence also permeates the kitchen and living room chandeliers, made from iron molded to resemble cattails, lake loons, pine cones and pine needles. And a hand-painted tile mosaic in the entrance hall features elk and deer.

The home is perched on a 40-foot cliff overlooking Toronto Reservoir.

More information is available at www.chapinestate.com.