The interior of Matt Buas cabin in Catskill, New York. Photo by Photo by Kevin Witte Productions. All images courtesy of Matt Bua, shared with permissionMatt Buas Repurposed City in Upstate New York Just Hit the MarketFebruary 13, 2025ArtDesignKate MothesOn nearly 27 wooded acres outside the town of Catskill, New York, artist Matt Bua has been hard at work on a creative compound like no other. For two decades, he has constructed an artist-built environment from salvaged materials comprising numerous living spaces and work areas. Recently listed for sale for $269,000, the off-grid property known as B-Home could be yours.Buas project originated with the idea to build one of every type of dwelling we could with materials that were easily at hand, the artist tells Colossal. From repurposed vinyl records, bottles, and reclaimed wood, a sprawling repurposed city emerged as painted signs, sculptures, and one-of-a-kind structures popped up over time.Bua describes his approach as intuitive building, working in response to the natural terrain, found materials, and vernacular structures of the northeast. He wrote a book titled Talking Walls, which focuses on the regions tens of thousands of miles of historic stone walls and considers history and material culture merge in the ways we understand place.Bua lived in Brooklyn when he purchased the property. All I wanted to do was go up there and build, he recently told Artnet. He was inspired by self-sustaining communities like Drop City in Colorado, an artists commune formed in 1960 with a reputation for remarkable hand-built homes. Incidentally, he also used to maintain Catskills quirky Catamount Peoples Museum, an installation of an enormous bobcat made from scraps of wood.Along with a cohort of friends who have contributed freestanding artworks and functional structures over the years, Bua approached B-Home as a collaborative experiment informed by the needs and desires of our surrounding community.Learn more about Buas work on his website. All images courtesy of Matt Bua, shared with permissionMap of B-HomeNext article