Habitat building first Danby house

Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties is building its first Danby house in the town’s White Hawk Ecovillage.

White Hawk Ecovillage is a community that is dedicated to living in an environmentally sustainable manner. The village has been in communication with the local Habitat for Humanity for years, discussing a potential partnership to make owning a home in their community more affordable.

Liz Warner, family services coordinator and volunteer coordinator of the local Habitat for Humanity, praised White Hawk Ecovillage as a nice village on communally owned land that has many perks, such as ponds and trails, to offer residents.

She said the community is convenient because it is close to Ithaca, where most people in her chapter’s service area work, and many people’s children go to the Ithaca City School District. Thus, she welcomed the chance to build a house in the village.

“It’s kind of just a unique opportunity for somebody who would not otherwise have the opportunity 1) to build their own house to own and 2) to live in a community like that,” Warner said. “So, I think it’s particularly unique not just because it’s in Danby but in a sort of a special ecovillage. We’re always happy to expand into a different part of our service area within Tompkins and Cortland County.”

Habitat had not built in Danby prior to now due to a lack of opportunities to acquire land to develop for their purposes.

“We’re typically pretty opportunistic with where we build,” Warner said. “It kind of depends a lot on where we can find something that’s affordable that fits our needs. Usually, we’re trying to look for something that we can build potentially multiple units on it. We like to be in locations that are on municipal sewer and water, that certainly helps, and affordability of site acquisition.”

The application period for the house was held last fall, from September through December, and Habitat finalized the application process in the beginning of this year. Selection was made in the spring before breaking ground in June. As of this writing, the foundation of the house is complete, and Warner hopes to be finished with construction by the spring of 2023.

Warner said the next step will be putting on the sub-floor and raising the walls, the latter of which is tentatively scheduled for late September.

The house being built has one story, three bedrooms and one bathroom — the standard Habitat model. Unlike most Habitat houses, the house will be on a basement instead of having a crawlspace. Warner said this will give more storage room to the residents and works better for the location since the lot does not have enough room for a shed.

In keeping with White Hawk Ecovillage’s principles of sustainability, the house will feature a heat pump for heating and cooling, efficient insulation, EnergyStar appliances and other sustainable features that are common to Habitat projects.

“We build pretty green normally, so that’s why it was kind of a pretty natural fit,” Warner said. “We didn’t have try to change anything too much to comply with their building standards.”

The house is for Sarah Costonis, a mother of two. Warner said Costonis had long wanted to live in White Hawk Village before it partnered with Habitat. She knew some residents in the community and had inquired about the village, but living there was cost-prohibitive for her.

Costonis applied during a prior application program but was not mortgage-ready at the time, so she reapplied and did some preparation. She was approved the second time.

“That was pretty cool because I think we were able to make a dream come true for somebody was really interested in living in that community and passionate about the same values but also is income-eligible for the Habitat program,” Warner said.

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In brief:

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The Danby Town Board will meet Sept. 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. and will feature a public hearing on the Bald Hill Road neighborhood extension.

For more information, including the agenda or the Zoom link, go to danby.ny.gov/event/town-board-meeting-6-sept-2022/.

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For more information, including the agenda and Zoom link, go to the town website at townofenfield.org.

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For more information, including the agenda and Zoom link, go to the town website at townofcaroline.org.