The New Energy Works design, enclosure systems, and timber frame teams have been hard at work on a hilltop outside of Rochester, NY curating a high performing showcase property for our clients. This legacy home sits at the end of a long driveway that winds through the Finger Lakes landscape, leading to the top of a knoll overlooking the fifty-acre property. 

The home integrates several arms of the New Energy Works team resulting in an heirloom estate that incorporates several family spaces, with plenty of room to party.

We have filled the structure with detailing and custom timber work and have enhanced its performance with our high-performance enclosure. Our off-site fabricated, pre-panelized system creates an airtight environment, reduces material waste, and improves the home’s efficiency, all while using eco-conscious, sustainable building materials.

The heart of the house is also our heart, a structural heavy timber frame creating a core that’s beautiful, robust, and environmentally minded. Timber frame engineer Melissa Schmidt says, “The client’s great room, kitchen, and primary bedroom are all structural timber frame. On the exterior of the home, we have a continuation of the great room that turns into a screened porch on the upper level and an eating and seating area below along the back side of the house.

We like to do really creative stuff, and it often requires creative structural solutions. In this case we were able to work through some interesting truss designs that we were able to make happen structurally while keeping with the aesthetic that the clients were looking for.” 

Led by project manager Brett Wood and our general contracting team, this lake retreat is all about the luxury details that provide our clients with a seasonal refuge, as well as a space to relax, entertain, and cheer on their Buffalo Bills.

Wood says, “High-end homes like this demand more than just exceptional design; they require flawless execution at every level. Our focus was on pairing advanced building practices with refined craftsmanship to create a residence that performs as beautifully as it presents.”

We developed this high-craft cottage along the eastern shoreline of Canandaigua Lake as a testament to thoughtful intent and the expertise of our general contracting, interior design, and woodworking teams. Our team blended timeless lake house charm with modern amenities, ensuring every detail from the hand-finished woodwork to the carefully integrated outdoor living spaces reflects our commitment to quality and durability. Designed to harmonize with its lake surroundings while offering elevated comforts, this entertainment focused cottage showcases how skilled craftsmanship and project management can transform a property and vision into a refined, lasting retreat.

Five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms define the cottage, which is filled with distinctive custom features. NEWwoodworks-crafted storage spaces appear throughout, each with door-activated low-voltage lighting. Motorized pocket doors add convenience, while the lower-level entertainment space includes a temperature-controlled wine room and a private, customized sauna.

Our team also provided several additional elements to Hanlon Architects design including custom vanities, stairs, kitchen cabinets, and an artisanal island that invites family and friends to gather around in celebration. An additional catering space off of the kitchen offers an auxiliary space for food preparation for large gatherings and football Sundays.

We asked Daryl Hood, the energy behind a recent and super fun project in the salt marsh off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, to tell us his story.  Here’s what he had to say:

“When you mention telling a story, this is one hell of a story , my whole life is one hell of a story. This project and the relationships built are at the top of my list, I will cherish forever.

From the very beginning when I called you with this problem I had I just felt right dealing with you, there was something in our initial conversations that made me feel good about where it might go, never called another company which isn’t my normal way, I’ve often wondered what were your thoughts about this and with a knucklehead like me to boot. The idea that together from all the way across the country people who have never met and we’re all in uncharted territory could come together and pull off a project like this seamlessly is good stuff. 

To be completely honest, due to repeated disappointments and complete lack of confidence in people doing good work much less pulling off miraculous stuff like this, I had my doubts pretty much all the way up to the time I put the girder together at which point I knew we were golden.

This project for me was a lifesaver as I had been feeling like all the fun of building the really cool stuff was over and I was just cutting boards and driving screws or nails just for money. My wife knows what this project did for me, it was a revival of sorts in that the people that had forgotten about the shit I have done and the people that weren’t around here back then to see it for themselves put me back in the conversations around this small island town and gave me that feeling of pride again. My wife’s proud of me.

Well, this shit, they pulled it off, man. And it's beautiful. It is beautiful. And the tongue and groove that came out of New York, that's just badass, too. It was the collaboration between the two of us again, me and what my specialties are and Jonathan and what his specialties are.