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    You Can Rent Midcentury Architect Philip Johnson’s Wolfhouse on Airbnb

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    A lot goes into owning and maintaining a historic residence created by a world-famous architect like Philip Johnson. Luckily, for those not up for the full-time task, you can rent the late visionary’s Wolfhouse in Newburgh, New York, instead.

    The Hudson Valley property was completed in 1949, the same year Johnson finished his famous Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. In the decades since the midcentury countryside retreat has been thoughtfully preserved and recently underwent a three-year renovation to restore the abode to its original glory.

    Named after Ruth and Benjamin Wolf, who commissioned the project, the hilltop abode can sleep up to six guests and comprises four bedrooms and three bathrooms. According to Designboom, the house was purchased in 2020 by former Guggenheim graphic designer Jiminie Ha and artist Jeremy Parker. The pair updated the residence using materials and original floor plans that they found in the Columbia University architecture library.

    The Hudson Valley property was completed in 1949.

    Jeremy Parker

    “We recognize the harmful effects of planned obsolescence. It’s our responsibility as designers to lead with smart sustainability at the forefront of our practice, not creating more waste, but working with what we already have,” Ha told the publication. They also teamed up with USM Modular Furniture to revamp the kitchen, which is now clad with steel, and sourced vintage design elements, including sinks, trims, and tubs, to match Johnson’s aesthetic, which includes an open floor plan with tons of glass walls framing views of the Hudson River. 

    Throughout the residence restored and updated residence are iconic mid-century furnishings.

    Chris Daniele/@dirtandglass

    “We had originally thought about using a stone overlay for the countertops and worked with artist Shawn Maximo to visualize a more modern version of this kitchen,” Parker explained to Architectural Digest. “Once we saw the USM setup in place, we decided that it spoke for itself and that we really didn’t need to add more details to the counter.”

    The home sits on a grassy slope overlooking the Hudson River.

    Chris Daniele/@dirtandglass

    Wolfhouse is priced on Airbnb at a cool $1,110 per night with a two-night minimum stay. In addition to serving as a vacation rental, Ha and Parker have turned Wolfhouse into an art hub and a community-focused incubator for a variety of design and architecture programs. Some of the past events held here include artist exhibitions and lectures for creatives. “It was important for us, as LGBTQ and BIPOC community members, to acknowledge Newburgh’s history and find a path forward in engaging the home more proactively as a center for education and programming,” the owners told Time Out.

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    Abby Montanez

    Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, dining, travel and topics…

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      in Luxury

      Willem Dafoe Seeks $1.3 Million for a Bucolic Getaway in Upstate New York

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      Willem Dafoe, one of Hollywood’s most versatile and accomplished actors, has put his longtime getaway in Upstate New York on the market for $1.275 million. The Hudson Valley property is listed by Christopher Pomeroy and Nancy Falcetto of Brown Harris Stevens.

      Tax records indicate the four-time Oscar nominee, whose last Oscar nom came in 2019 for At Eternity’s Gate and who appeared earlier this year in Wes Anderson’s characteristically quirky ensemble film Asteroid City, ponied up not quite $400,000 for a one-acre country estate in New York’s Hudson River Valley in 2008. About five years later, records show he shelled out another $60,000 for an undeveloped neighboring parcel of 4.7 acres.

      The densely wooded acreage, about 90 miles north of Manhattan, on the outskirts of the tiny hamlet of High Falls, where painter Marc Chagall took refuge for a few years after he fled Europe during WWII, includes a 1920s farmhouse that marries period details with contemporary accents, a vintage red barn, and a charming writer’s cabin.

      The 1920s farmhouse marries vintage details with contemporary accents.

      Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens

      All but hidden behind a thicket of trees and foliage on a picturesque country lane, the carefully restored and artfully renovated three-bedroom and two-and-a-half-bath residence measures roughly 1,800 square feet, much of it outfitted with radiant heated hardwood flooring. Beyond the slender front porch, a minimalist fireplace warms the spacious living room. Sash windows provide ample light and sylvan views, while French doors swing open to a heated sunroom overlooking the backyard. 

      The up-to-date kitchen, with polished concrete countertops, two sinks, and designer appliances, is configured around a center island alongside a casual dining area. Nearby is a screened porch with a concrete floor and an oversized utility sink.

      The country estate’s three buildings are set in a grassy clearing surrounded by dense woodlands.

      Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens

      Upstairs, two guest bedrooms share a bathroom fitted with a classic claw-footed tub, and the ample primary bedroom offers lots of custom closet space and a compartmentalized bathroom with a floating two-sink poured concrete vanity and a deep soaking tub set into a windowed corner.

      The property’s trio of buildings are sprinkled along the wooded edge of a sunny clearing where a rolling expanse of grass is broken by a sinuous, stacked stone wall. The red barn stands beneath the branches of a huge apple tree, and the simple writer’s cabin, the roof dotted with several skylights, is set on a high point with a view toward the house and barn.

      Records show that the Platoon star and his wife, Italian actress Giada Colagrande, also maintain a two-bedroom residence in Manhattan’s West Village that was purchased almost a decade ago for almost $3.9 million.

      Click here for more photos of Willem Dafoe’s Upstate New York home.

      Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens More

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      in Luxury

      Showbiz Couple Joshua Leonard and Alison Pill List Their Revamped New York Home for $4.2 Million

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      Back in 2021, Joshua Leonard and Alison Pill fell in love with a home in New York’s Hudson Valley that immediately struck them as a “weird, rundown, hodgepodge of styles and eras.”

      The married actors—he probably most known for The Blair Witch Project, and she The Newsroom—wound up purchasing the 200-year-old property for a mere $718,900, and subsequently renovated and updated the place to suit “a new generation of tastes”; now, two years later, the couple is putting their fully transformed compound up for sale, asking just over $4.2 million.

      “When I first laid eyes on Breezy Hill, none of it really made sense,” says Leonard, who recently retired from a 25-year stint in the film industry to pursue his passion for building. “From the early 19th-century stone house, built with bluestone excavated on site, to the civil war-era post-and-beam barn…to the two 1950s-era boarding houses. It was magical and derelict, but even in its rawest state, I could feel the generations of hands and hearts that had gone into building it.

      “It spoke to me—like when you meet a lover who’s weirdest, most hidden parts are what you actually find the most appealing,” he adds. “I knew how epic the property could be with the right stewardship, and believed (for better or worse), that I was the one to do it.”

      Much of the stone used in the renovation was excavated on the property. 

      Morten Smidt

      During the construction process, Leonard says protecting the marks of craftsmanship that came before him was just as important as updating the property with his own twist, which included the challenging task of bringing all of the infrastructure and creature comforts up to modern-day standards. Per The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the sale, the multi-seven-figure project encompassed raising the ceilings and exterior stone walls, adding a cupola, reconfiguring the floor plan and building an 1,800-square-foot addition onto the main house.

      The result is a stunningly reimagined property sited on a 20-acre parcel of heavily wooded land in the rural community of Accord, about 90 miles north of Manhattan. Included is a 19th-century stone house, plus two newly rebuilt guesthouses—for a total of six bedrooms and an equal number of baths in around 5,000 square feet of living space spotlighted by stone excavated from the property. There also is the aforementioned barn and a detached one-car garage.

      Especially standing out in the three-story main house is a sitting room featuring reclaimed wood and the original stone, which opens to a spacious kitchen outfitted with white oak floors, custom cabinetry, an under-lit marble island, a built-in butcher block and top-tier stainless appliances, as well as a window-lined breakfast nook and French doors spilling out to a veranda.

      Other highlights include a newly enlarged 1,000-square-foot primary bedroom suite resting behind a sliding wood bar door, and holding French doors leading to a private balcony, a walk-in closet, and spa-inspired bath equipped with radiant-heated floors, dual vanities, a soaking tub and large glass-encased shower.

      Perhaps the most special part of the property, though, are the secluded and picturesque grounds, which are laced with rolling hills, a spring-fed pond and streams with seasonal waterfalls. Then there’s the beautifully restored barn, which flaunts the stained-glass windows, along with a hand-chiseled chestnut staircase and massive wrought-iron chandelier salvaged from a circa-1860s hotel in Manhattan.

      The teal-hued kitchen sports white oak floors, custom cabinetry, an eat-in island and top-tier stainless appliances.

      Morten Smidt

      What’s next for Leonard now that he’s completed his first professional renovation? “I’m excited to spend this next chapter of my life building in the Hudson Valley,” he says. “I just contracted myself out to a client for the first time to design and build a house that I think will be very special. I also want to keep building/rebuilding/imagining/reimagining my own projects. I don’t have a specific agenda, but am very excited for all the possibilities that this area and its community have to offer.”

      One of the most expensive homes currently on the market in Ulster County, the home is listed by Robert Airhart with the Clement, Brooks & Safier Team of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson Valley Properties.

      Click here for more images of Joshua Leonard and Alison Pill’s Breezy Hill compound.

      Morten Smidt More