At the foot of a mountain in the upstate New York town of Catskill, there is an uninhabited sculpture park of sorts, built entirely out of refuse.
This is b-Home Studio, as its owner and creator Matt Bua calls his 26-acre plot of land with more than 30 buildings constructed across the property, all made from refuse.
b-Home studio is closed to the public and Bua’s been constructing it in bursts of inspiration for almost 20 years. Now he’s looking to sell.
Matt Bua has previously lived on this property, but currently resides in nearby Palenville.
Courtesy of Matt Bua
The interior of the cabin.
Photo by Kevin Witte Productions
“ I just wanted to try to build as many little dwellings as I could with my friends,” said Bua, an installation artist. He had one rule: Besides the fasteners, everything had to be made of found material.
Since buying the land for $33,000 in 2006, Bua and his periodic collaborators have constructed about 30 buildings there, including the “Tower of LP Power,” a two-story structure sided entirely in vinyl records; “Cicada House,” a bunker built of dirt bags; a pew-filled, Tudor-style church; and a Hobbit-like, wood stove-furnished cabin where Bua has previously lived. (Today he lives with his family in nearby Palenville.)
Matt Bua bought this land for $33,000 in 2006.
Courtesy of Matt Bua
After almost two decades of learning from and building on the land, though, Bua is ready to move on.
“It’s time to take the path of least resistance and surrender to the change, for good,” Bua said in a phone interview Thursday.
He’s added that also looking to financially lighten his load, noting that land taxes have been going up annually.
“The wild adventure called b-Home has served me so well,” he said. “It’s time to travel on.”
An aerial view of the land.
Photo by Kevin Witte Productions
That’s not to say the work there is done: “It will never be complete,” he said.
But Bua hopes to sell to someone who, in some way, will maintain and continue his little off-grid oasis.
“I think he’s just excited to move the energy,” said John Iconomou, the lead agent on b-Home’s listing, which is currently priced at $269,000. “I think it was just time for him to move on.”
Bua is open to all offers and “seeing what the universe wants to happen to this place,” he said.
