Inspiring Interiors + Scavenging

Teeny-tiny Catskills cottage.

I’m not sure how I missed this story when it first ran in the New York Times, but today I happened to stumble onto it while reading the comments on this post (thanks, Madeline, whoever you are!).

Sandra Foster and her husband, Todd, bought a piece of land in Delhi, NY, with a hunting cabin and a trailer on it for $46,000 and spent $3,000 renovating and decorating the 125 square foot cabin until it resembled a magical Victorian gingerbread house. Sandra did virtually ALL of the work herself. I am super-impressed.

There are a bunch of additional photos (and a great article!!) on the NY Times website. So inspiring.

All photos by Trevor Tondro for The New York Times.

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21 Comments

  • Reply Stephanie July 28, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    What a quaint cottage! I would definitely stay there! Glad to have found your blog 🙂

  • Reply Adam July 28, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    Wow! That is quite amazing!

  • Reply Trace July 28, 2010 at 2:47 pm

    Oh my, this seems like perfection. Just the ideal place to get away from everything.

  • Reply Stacey July 28, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    Truly inspirational and such a serene space and place.

  • Reply Ceci July 28, 2010 at 3:05 pm

    This little cottage is special! I saw this in the NYT this morning. LOVE IT!

  • Reply Salla July 28, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    Amazing!! That’s one of a kind…

  • Reply Hyun July 28, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    I wonder how it feels to step into cottage. I’ll dream about it.

  • Reply amenity July 28, 2010 at 5:53 pm

    Wow, the cottage & article are fascinating; this woman seems totally repulsed by her husband…and in all fairness, he’s seems to be a hulking, unemployed slob. So she renovates this cabin, capped by a shimmering princess bed that he can’t get to! Amazing.

  • Reply jessica July 28, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    so cute!

  • Reply Jason July 28, 2010 at 8:30 pm

    It’s so hard to get a sense of scale from the first couple of photos. And then you see her standing there on the porch, and it seems to make sense. But then, then! it feels like she’s a tiny, tiny, Tinkerbell lady and it’s back to confusing.

    But pretty.

  • Reply Lauren July 29, 2010 at 10:49 am

    Its like a little fairytale house. Luckily her husband can protect her from the big bad wolf.

    I am always inspired by a woman who swings a hammer. Thanks.

  • Reply Grumble Girl July 29, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    That teeny tiny house is freaking adorable. Wow.

    Can’t imagine any kids or a dog in there though… le sigh.

  • Reply Fiona July 29, 2010 at 2:49 pm

    Interesting article! The house is amazing, and very gothic in a way. Psych 101 – but it is also interesting that her husband is a failed entrepreneur, much like her father.

  • Reply Amy July 29, 2010 at 3:13 pm

    What a sweet little place! I want one 🙂

  • Reply belinda July 31, 2010 at 10:58 am

    be still my beating heart!. how adorable is that?!. i still dream about my ‘nearly got’ house in the catskills…..sigh.

  • Reply Suzen August 1, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    No kidding, this changed my entire perspective on my retirement. See, now I can buy a mobile home and park it somewhere and then change it into something completely and utterly adorable! I love it! Also, along this line, if you go to http://www.magnoliapearl.com, you can scamper around her site and go to the Airstream trailer they rehabbed. So fun!

  • Reply Avant-Gardenist August 7, 2010 at 2:40 am

    When I saw this, Anna, it reminded me of some photos I took 25 years ago of my own family cottage. See if I’m wrong. Thanks for posting.

  • Reply Sobinique August 9, 2010 at 7:32 am

    This is really inspiring! This little cottage looks perfect! I could live there.. 🙂

  • Reply Avant-Gardenist August 10, 2010 at 11:15 pm

    added more of my own photos, if anyone’s curious:
    http://wreckorated.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_05.html

  • Reply amanda August 13, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    Wow! That whole tiny space is incredibly dreamy! It almost seems impossible that you could fit so much into such a small space! Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Melanie March 25, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    I’ve seen this photo dozens of times on Pinterest – I’m so glad you posted the original article. Thank you!

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