Courtesy Phinney Design Group
By Susan Elise Campbell
The first of 14 custom homes broke ground some months ago at Riley Farm, a unique new development near Lake Lonely in Saratoga Springs. But developer Mike Phinney, owner of Phinney Design Group, said he would “be happy to take four or five years” to complete construction of the kind of “uniquely designed and sustainable homes” that Phinney is winning prestigious awards for.
“I am not just trying to kick out a subdivision,” he said. “The owner of the land, Kenneth Scott, wants to develop it in concert with nature.”
Scott is a scientist who has traveled the world as an expert in gene therapy and anti-aging technologies, Phinney said. Scott purchased the former working farm in the 1980s.
“He has done his research and has high sustainability goals to make homes net zero,” said Phinney.
Phinney has been a leader and pioneer in the sustainable design movement since the mid-1990s. His firm focuses on environmentally responsible construction methods and is headquartered in a sustainable green building.
When Scott approached him, Phinney didn’t sense a good match at first.
“As soon as he mentioned a subdivision, I thought, we don’t do generic houses that aren’t tied to a site and where the only thing that differentiates them is the paint color,” said Phinney.
But after a few discussions, Scott convinced him their goals were aligned and told Phinney he wanted him to be the dedicated builder, designer and architect, Phinney said.
“I think I turned him down three times,” he said. “But he is a unique client with a passion for real estate as well as the ways that habitat can affect health.”
Each Phinney home is custom designed for the owner, he said. The design process starts with analyzing the site, from zoning requirements to terrain and soil type to sun exposure, the latter being important for solar systems and interior light, as well as exterior design aesthetics.
The lots at Riley Farm are one-half acre and up to three acres. One parcel is 15 acres, which was dictated by the slope and natural features of the land.
Phinney said at one time the Scotts may have wanted to build for themselves on the largest lot, 40 acres across the road from the subdivision, but are leaving it on the market for development. The LA Group, landscape architects in Saratoga Springs, surveyed the land and drew up the lot plans prior to Phinney’s involvement.
Phinney and Scott agreed all homes will have a “a more sleek, a little more modern style that will play well with the landscape,” although a transitional style will work as well with the combination of the materials Phinney likes to work with: “a lot of stone and glass and steel.”
These design decisions will make the Riley Farm homes quite different from what may be deemed typical of Saratoga, with its Victorian and traditional architectural styles.
“Modern design is more about your experience when you’re inside the house looking out, rather than looking at the house from outside,” he said. “What you’re often doing is framing the views, so you would design for more glass and floor-to-ceiling windows.”
Another step in Phinney’s custom design process is determining client needs, such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and “how they like to live.” He said the final step is budget.
“Every client’s wish list is unique and every budget is unique,” he said.
If there is one feature that distinguishes a Phinney home, it’s “the care given to how it sits on the land,” said Phinney. A Phinney home also features natural materials such as locally quarried stone and locally milled timber.
Presently one home is under construction and three properties are at “various stages of interest.” Phinney said the target is to complete three homes per year. Buyer interest is coming mainly from the local area and from city residents desiring to relocate upstate.
Homes are priced around seven figures and up, but do not need to be huge homes. The lot sizes lend themselves to residences as small as 1,500 square feet, and the one under construction now is close to 2,500 square feet, he said.
“We are playing around with a three bedroom design with 2,000 square feet that may be a little more affordable,” said Phinney.
Being that there is also conservation land surrounding the subdivision and overlooking a lake, the new homeowners will be people who enjoy living “where luxury and nature intertwine,” says the web site, rileyfarm.homes.
Phinney said that a client from more than 20 years ago reached out to say she was thinking of coming back to the area to build a place where her son can live year-round and she can visit.
“We got into a discussion about smaller, environmentally friendly homes and a Riley Farm property may be perfect for her,” he said. “It would be amazing if that worked out.”
Phinney opened a satellite in Lake Placid a year and a half ago when his parents relocated there so he could spend more time with them.
“We always had a few projects in the area, but since we’ve opened this office we have gotten a lot more work,” he said.
A major new project percolating is “one of the largest developments in Lake Placid — ever.”
“The Peaks is a 300-unit complex of apartments, townhomes and condominiums,” Phinney said. “The site is a huge building used for stem cell research in the 1960s, sold in 2008, and vacant since 2010.”
Phinney is partnering with Joe Barile, a former Olympic luger and original developer of Whiteface Lodge, a shopping plaza facing the resort, and other businesses.
Phinney has additional links to the winter Olympics. His father was a bobsled racer growing up in the area. Now Phinney Design is on the team modernizing the bobsled track and associated buildings at the sports complex.
Phinney said he was the kind of kid who left his “house in Lake George in the morning, spent the day in the woods or at a creek, and would be home for dinner.”
When he went to college for architecture he saw that buildings were “urban influenced and often disconnected from nature.” His thesis for RPI explored environmental awareness and how buildings could be more sustainable, he said.
“Buildings consume about half the natural resources in the world,” he said. “My respect and admiration for the natural world and my trying to preserve it, and not damage it, has influenced my work.”
Visit phinneydesign.com for more information.