This year, the 2023 Fine Homebuilding House will showcase a complete remodel and energy retrofit of an existing 1950s-era home, including a second-story addition, in Cornwall, N.Y. We’ll follow along as builder and homeowner Jon Beer completely transforms the house with proven, real-world building practices and budgets while minimizing the building’s environmental footprint.

The 2023 FHB House was originally built by a WWII vet in the 1950s and is not unlike many of the ranch-style homes that are so common across the country. The finished three-bedroom, two-bathroom house will have a rustic-modern aesthetic, combining high-end design details with thoughtfully selected products and materials to create a striking, inspiring home that demonstrates the possibility and opportunity in North America’s housing stock.

Energy performance, affordability, and sustainability are at the core of the project. With interest rates rising to nearly 7% and housing affordability decreasing by 34% in 2022 alone, we’re responding to the growing demand among consumers to renovate existing homes. Building professionals across the nation need commonsense approaches to air-sealing, insulating, and water management, as well as guidance for improving an existing home’s building envelope, updating a floor plan, and modernizing its aesthetics.

This property will also be the headquarters of Jon’s contracting business, and he’s building a shop from scratch behind the house, including conditioned space for an art studio. (Jon is also a painter.) Between the house and the shop, a courtyard and thoughtful landscaping features create an outdoor living space that takes advantage of all the seasons.

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