Hudson Passive House, which was completed last year and is listed for sale at $595,000, is being touted for its nod to regional architecture and its understated luxury – a combination that often proves to be catnip to city dwellers of means who are sniffing around for a second home.

The house is in Claverack, New York, a few miles east of the Hudson River and a little more than two hours’ drive north of Manhattan – a location comparable in distance and tranquility to places like Washington, Connecticut (another Manhattanite favorite that is far pricier) and a range of other semi-rural locations in Upstate New York. The Hamptons this not.

Marketing for Hudson Passive House focuses heavily on its Passivhaus design and construction, and its provenance as one of the first single-family homes in the state to meet the standard. At 1,650 sq. ft., the three-bedroom home features exterior walls insulated to R-48, an R-54 roof, an R-60 floor, and airtightness of 0.149 air changes per hour at a pressure difference of 50 Pascals. As we noted in an earlier post about the project, mechanical ventilation is provided by a Zehnder ComfoAir 200 heat-recovery ventilator, while space heating is provided by a mini-split air-source heat pump that is mounted in the wall of the loft space at the north end of the building.

A PH showcase

So for those attuned to energy efficiency the house has cachet. Last fall, as it neared completion, it attracted visits from members of New York Passive House (NYPH), a New York City-based group of consultants, contractors, architects, engineers, homeowners, developers, and others. And it is participating in New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s High-Performance Residential Development Challenge, a program designed to provide assistance in design, energy modeling construction oversight, and performance monitoring of projects aiming for exceptionally high energy efficiency.

Dennis Wedlick Architecture, of nearby Hudson, led the design team, and Bill Stratton Building Company, of Old Chatham, handled construction. We’re checking on final construction costs.

Another detail not mentioned in our original blog on this project but was noted in a New York Times “House Tour” post on July 22: the house sits on seven acres, and the estimated annual tax bill is about $6,000.