40-Foot Container Cabin in the Catskills

Our 4-season 40-foot container cabin is set on a stream and 20 acres of mountainside wilderness. Warm in the winter and cool in the summer...gaze at the stars from the deck, enjoy the Solo fire ring, La Colombe coffee, yoga platform, DIY wood-fired hot tub and hammock. The cabin is two hours north of NYC, with electricity, propane and wood heat and a compost toilet. Woodstock, Kingston, the Hudson River and hiking trails 15 min away.

One of the best cabins we’ve rounded up from all across the U.S. - Architectural Digest, 2022

Top 12 in the Catskills - Time Out, 2018-2023

We took everything we learned building our 20-foot container cabins and incorporated it into our deluxe 40-foot container cabin. The 40-footer is a high cube container, with 9' 6 ceilings, household 110v electricity, La Colombe coffee service, a dedicated bedroom (with a door and room for a crib or luggage), indoor bathroom with shower, EVERGREEN STITCHES organic percale linens, and a beautiful deck overlooking it's own waterfall and stream. It is not like other tiny home compounds in the area that have dozens of units set 10 feet away from one another. It sits on its own stunning 5-acre parcel in the middle of an old-growth forest, slate ledges, a stream and resident owls and deer.

The cabin is toasty in the winter with a propane Rinnai heater—in addition to the wood stove. There is a hammock and an adjacent promontory with a second fire ring and seating. The wood-fired hot tub is very DIY, but amazing once you get it going. The bathroom has a compost toilet and a shower. The sitting area in the cabin is elevated with an L-shaped Ikea Friheten sofa (bedroom has a traditional bed) opposite two contiguous 5'x5' windows to stare at the forest and wildlife. The writing desk is an original Mohonk House secretary. The sofa converts into a queen-size sofa bed, that we often leave out for maximum-lounging space.

Staying in a 4-season container cabin is not like living in a house or a hotel room or a glamping tent. It is like living in the wild, except you are encased in high-efficiency insulated walls with giant low-energy windows—and sleeping on a comfortable bed. You can watch shooting stars from the living room. You will likely see a family of deer wandering through the woods while you make coffee. If it's cold outside (with the direct vent propane heater and wood stove it's always warm inside) we usually fire up the sauna and lounge around drinking coffee. (You can book multiple 120-minute private sauna sessions.) If it's warm, we leave the double doors open and lounge around the patio.

Living in a container cabin is kind of like living on a boat in the middle of the woods. Our inspiration was to create an immersive wilderness experience with the comforts of home. There is solar power in the 40-footer with outlets throughout the cabin. The heater has a thermostat—set it and forget it. The bathroom is tiled and located inside the cabin. The wood stove has a glass door with ceramic baffles, reburners and a blower for maximum heat. High-efficiency insulated walls and low-energy windows keep the cabin warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There is a refrigerator with a freezer box. The bedroom is like a nature capsule with a 7'x7' picture window at the foot of the bed and a 7'x8' sliding glass door on the south wall.

Staying in the cabin is an experience, not a simple overnight. On a 20-degree night in the middle of a blizzard, it is 80 degrees and silent inside. There are enough pots/pans/kitchen tools to cook whatever you want. (Yes, we have a coffee grinder.) There is a gas grill and a two burner propane cooktop in the kitchen. In the summer, a breeze off the 3,645-foot mountain behind us keeps the container cool, and the sound of the waterfall will put you to sleep.

The cabin is cleaned immaculately after every stay, now using CDC disinfecting standards. It is set on a truly gorgeous 20-acre plot on the eastern edge of the Catskill Mountains. It feels a bit like Maine, or Alaska. You can't see any neighbors from our property, but there are neighbors, great ones. (Please be courteous and respectful to them.) We are on the side of Kaaterskill High Peak and have tons of wildlife on the property. (Listen for the barred owls at night!)

All guests are left with 15 gallons of filtered potable drinking water. (The sink uses a foot pump.) There are drawers under the bed for clothes, room in the bedroom for a crib or pack-and-play, and a mudroom for jackets, shoes and backpacks. No smoking inside, please, plenty of room to smoke on the deck outside...

We have a cell signal booster in the cabin, so service is good. The other 20-foot containers are divided by driveways and each are private. (We designed it that way.)

Saugerties is a gem. Miss Lucy's (dinner), The Dutch (drinks), Circle W General Store (breakfast/lunch) Love Bites (breakfast) and Diamond Mills (fancy!). Walking to the lighthouse is a must, as is hiking to Kaaterskill Falls, Huckleberry Point and North and South Lakes. Hunter Mountain is also 30 minutes away. Food shopping and farm stands are 10-15 min away.