Scott Newkirk may be living the chaotic big-city life in New York City, but his weekend digs are the embodiment of off-grid peace. Newkirk is a stylist and designer whose home design makes spaces feel contemporary yet full of life. This is certainly what he’s achieved in his weekend cabin in Yulan, New York, where not a piece of furniture nor a cushion is out of place. At 300 square feet, this cabin required careful planning, and Newkirk’s thoughtful touches and use of vertical space make the tiny cabin feel huge.
Newkirk decided to build the cabin after the wood-framed tent he usually used on his nature getaways burned down. He decided to build a cabin from scavenged materials on his property after reading the 1973 architecture book Handmade Houses: A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art. He then spent the next three years designing the cabin and working with builders to complete it.
The result is a hut that looks rustic at first glance but actually contains many elegant touches. It doesn’t have electricity or running water, but there are an outdoor shower, an outhouse, and even a guest house on the property. The home itself is exquisitely decorated and opens out into the beautiful woods around it. As Newkirk told New York Magazine, “The house reminds me of every fort I built in the woods as a kid growing up in Jackson, Mississippi.”