Outdoor Living 2.0: Upstate Modernist and the Rise of Fully Designed Exterior Spaces

For discerning homeowners in New York’s Hudson Valley, the yard isn’t just a patch of grass to mow every weekend. It’s a fully designed exterior living space and an extension of a home’s architecture. Upstate Modernist, a Rhinebeck, NY-based design-build firm, is leading this shift in outdoor living mindset by creating homes whose patios, terraces, gardens, and outdoor rooms are considered integral to the overall design.

Exterior spaces as an architectural priority

Historically, outdoor spaces have been treated as an afterthought by most homeowners. With new-build homes, landscaping, decks, or outdoor rooms are often added after the main house has been built and moved into. 

Upstate Modernist has worked hard to flip that model. Its team of skilled architects, builders, and developers controls every facet of a new home project, including the thoughtful design of the exterior living spaces. 

“Our outdoor spaces are woven into the home design from the very start,” says Doug Maxwell, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Upstate Modernist. “It reflects a change in how people are using their exterior spaces.”

According to Maxwell, many of Upstate Modernist’s clients who relocate from busy urban environments to New York’s serene Hudson Valley are seeking to capture a bit of what makes the area beautiful in their home design. “They’re looking to have a different relationship to space, privacy, and landscape when they come from the city,” says Maxwell. 

This requires Upstate Modernist to create outdoor spaces that function as true living rooms: places to commune, lounge, cook, and soak in the beauty of the outdoors.

Upstate Modernist’s landscape-driven design

The entirety of Upstate Modernist’s approach to design, both interior and exterior, is inspired by the Upstate New York landscape itself. From historic barns to the rolling pastures and stately forests, the company’s designers take their cues from the nature that drives people to move to New York’s Hudson Valley in droves.

The firm integrates clean lines, deep overhangs, warm wood, natural stone, and long sight lines that embrace the forests, meadows, and mountain views of towns like Rhinebeck. And its exterior planning is an extension of that landscape-driven design. 

“Terraces and plantings act as extensions of the architecture,” explains Maxwell. “While we embrace the use of native plants and trees so our houses fit seamlessly into the surrounding landscape, we want the homes to belong to the land rather than dominate it.”

To help meet this expectation, the exterior designs featured by Upstate Modernist rely on a textural palette inspired by the nature surrounding them. Natural stone and steel, warm wood and cedar elements, expansive glazing, and minimalist hardscapes allow homeowners to feel like they are a part of the natural surroundings that have defined Upstate New York for generations. 

This meld of modern design and natural feel produces luxury homes that feel both contemporary and timeless in the rural setting of the Hudson Valley.

Outdoor room as daily infrastructure for upstate lives

Part of the reason people are attracted to Upstate New York life is that it gives them more of a chance to enjoy nature. While urban living may have its perks, the quiet solace of the country often can’t be beaten. Upstate Modernist’s exterior spaces provide a practical infrastructure for the lives their clients have dreamed of living upstate. 

“There’s a real demand for ‘open-air living rooms,’” says Maxwell. “People want a place where they can host dinners or start the day with their coffee as they overlook forests and hills.”

Many of Upstate Modernist’s projects embrace meadows, mature woodlands, and perimeter paths that allow residents to move easily from indoor to outdoor spaces. The exterior environment isn’t just a backdrop for the home but an amenity intended for daily use.

Upstate Modernist has also found that people moving upstate have a vested interest in sustainability and the longevity of their homes. The company makes that a consideration with every build, including with its exterior designs, by emphasizing sustainably-sourced materials and energy-efficient systems, from cedar and reclaimed wood that weather gracefully to utility systems that reduce environmental impact. Deep overhangs and glazing help extend the life and usable seasons of outdoor spaces.

“These aren’t static showroom yards,” says Maxwell. “These are meant to be lived in and enjoyed for years to come.”

Upstate Modernist’s take on outdoor living, where exterior spaces are as carefully composed as interior rooms, is transforming the landscape in the Hudson Valley. The identity and function of its contemporary homes are enhanced by the gardens, terraces, and lawns that act as extensions of the indoor living areas. Its influence has turned the Hudson Valley into a place where modern design, sustainability, and a deep connection to the land can work together to create layered, intentional living spaces.