Kate Barutha and Kyle Vegter’s hemlock-clad home doesn’t look out of place in upstate New York —but the process behind the design is another story. Before blueprints, there were writing exercises that helped articulate their ideal day. There were lengthy playlists for inspiration. There were even a few poems.
“It was very ‘art school energy,’” laughs Barutha of their creative rapport with Holesum Studio architect Dimitri Brand. Barutha became friends with Brand as an undergrad at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where they both studied sculpture. When Brand heard that Barutha and Vegter were considering a kit home for their wooded lot in Callicoon, he messaged Barutha and suggested they create something original instead—in a totally original way.
Barutha and Vegter were up for the challenge. “It was really clear that this would be more collaborative than a typical architecture project,” says Brand, who partnered with Ethan Sale of E.S. Builders. “We had a shared language.”
With so many fellow creatives in their inner circle, the couple has quite a collection of artwork—from weavings to paintings and stained glass windows. In the dining area, custom millwork by Mike Scardino creates a vertical opening for a piece by Jolt.
It was the couple’s first home, but their instincts were already well honed after spending the pandemic tucked away in a family cabin outside Chicago. Their search led them to a five-acre parcel ringed by evergreens and birch trees, its gentle slope tapering toward a creek. From the outset, they envisioned a home that blurred the boundaries between indoors and outdoors—one designed with both daily life and a future family in mind.
There were no Pinterest boards to be found. Knowing that reference photos could limit their imagination, Brand wanted Barutha and Vegter to communicate their vision through feelings and ideas, not images. It inspired him to create a document, akin to a writing exercise, with open-ended prompts like: Describe a perfect rainy day. What does it feel like?