11/5/2023 0 Comments Log cabin kitchen backsplash"The community really helped me open up and express myself," he says. He returned to New York and began studying graphic design at Queens College, where he discovered the New York City Burning Man community. While he found beauty in both the country and the religion, he ultimately realized the traditional Orthodox life wasn't his path. "I wanted to give Orthodox Judaism one last shot," he says. Then he dove in, building the home from scratch over five years. In his quest to build his nest, he also found his tribe and the home is also a thriving center of community.Īt 18 he went to a yeshiva in Israel for six months. Zach Kalatsky enjoying the open-concept living area of his round, stick-framed home outside Saugerties. After much deliberation and dreaming, Kalatsky designed the home on Illustrator and then worked with an engineer and architect to finalize the plans. He then commission a kit with the walls and ceiling from a West Coast company. "Travel was dangerous, not being seen and hiding-these are all safety tactics." "There was a huge emphasis on safety and security in the community," he explains. "I didn't even like to take photos." He attributes his meekness to learned family behavior. "I was a nerdy kid who was into computers and didn't know how to talk to women," he says. "No matter what I did, I didn't really belong." He describes himself as a shy child who often hid in the closet and had a hard time speaking in public. "Our family was the black sheep in the community, and I'm the youngest," he says. It was always about building community."Ī Queens native, Kalatsky grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community where he always struggled to fit in. Often times the help actually slowed me down, but I was never alone. I had friends' children here helping to screw things in. Someone else asked 'Can I help you paint?' and I was like, 'yes please'. Another friend taught me how to use a router. "I didn't know how to wire for electricity and then a friend told me they loved electrical work. With each new construction step to be mastered, someone more experienced came along with expertise to share, enthusiasm to teach, and a free day to help out. "Between 60 to 80 people helped me throughout the process," says Kalatsky of the five-year project. To make his vision a reality he relied on the help of old friends and new, as well as family. “Collaboration over competition is a big part of my life.” Kalatsky relied on the help of his friends and community to build the home and hopes it can now support others in return. He plans to create a large community garden on a cleared patch in front of the home. “There’s also an old quarry that I plan on turning into a biodynamic swimming pond,” he says. Then know I can do everything below that level. "I tend be ambitious when I take on something new. But there was one catch: "I'd never actually built anything before." Kalatsky admits he likes to go big. "I wanted the house to support everyone around me and be a community space, while also be a home that was uniquely me," he explains. When Kalatsky bought the raw plot of land in 2018 he had a vision of creating a nest. Part yurt, part castle the 1,800-square foot interior looks through walls of windows onto the property's surrounding 52.8 wooded acres and Overlook Mountain in the distance. A manifestation of the proverb, "to go fast, go alone but to go far, go together," the 27-foot-high circular house (technically an icosidodecagon with 32 sides set at five degree angles) is much more than the sum of its carefully crafted parts. Board by board each nail, tile, stair tread, and riser from the hand-poured foundation to the pine rafters Zach Kalatsky's cedar framed, round house outside Saugerties was raised by the hands of community.
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