Northampton

Habitat built a two-story, three-bedroom, single-family home on Woodland Drive in Northampton, MA. The project broke ground in summer 2024, and finished in June of 2025. The home is located in the outskirts of the city of Northampton in a suburban residential neighborhood near the intersection of Woodland Drive and Westhampton Rd (Rt 66). This modest home is approximately 1,300 sq feet, energy efficient, and built to ENERGY STAR standards.

Habitat built three, 3-bedroom homes (two 2-story, one single story) just down the road from the Broughton’s Meadow project, with the first walls raised in summer 2023. The name Victoria Bismark came from a sign passed down through the property’s original owners. This lot, located in the quiet outskirts of Northampton abutting farmland, had been in question for affordable housing development for over thirty years. Habitat is thrilled to be able to continue our partnership with the City of Northampton to build three more affordable homes for first-time homebuyers and their families.

Habitat built three single-family homes on Burt’s Pit Road of varying sizes, all with accessible design in mind. The first walls were raised in spring 2022, and the homes were dedicated in October 2023. These homes are the evolution of designs first unveiled at the City of Northampton’s Just Big Enough – Green Building for All competition, and were recognized at the 2021 Habitat House Design Contest as the Design of the Year.

• 1 bedroom 800 sq ft home
• 2 bedroom 900 sq ft home
• 3 bedroom 1000 sq ft home

Habitat built a fourth home on Glendale Road, on a property diagonally adjacent to the three cluster-built homes. Construction began in early March as part of Pioneer Valley Habitat’s participation in International Women Build Week. While construction was delayed by the end of March due to site and volunteer safety concerns around Covid-19, the wall-raising was held in June of 2020 and a small group of dedicated volunteers worked alongside the future homeowners to complete this house.

After the success of VEIC’s mobile home replacement program in Vermont – bringing zero net energy homes to low-income residents – they are working on a pilot program to bring zero net energy “vermodular” homes to Massachusetts. We were selected as a pilot site, and completed these homes in October of 2019. The Vermod factory built the insulated shell and roughed in the major mechanical systems, and local Habitat volunteers (alongside vocational tech school students and our future homeowners) completed the finish work. These homes were also awarded with a 2020 Housing Innovation Award from the US Department of Energy for their use of innovative techniques in affordable housing.

The third home on this common driveway was built entirely on site. For an accurate comparison of labor, cost, and efficiency, the design and floor plan is as similar to the modular homes as possible; the only major difference is the addition of a first floor full bath for accessibility.

These homes were supported with grant funding from the City of Northampton, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the MA Department of Energy Resources, and the Community Foundation of Western Mass.  Financing provided by Easthampton Savings Bank.

Critical community support — both financial and volunteers — was provided by an interfaith coalition working on raising $30,000 for the “House that faith built”.

This exciting project was a ~650 sq ft, one-bedroom home where Habitat piloted the best of the small home revolution through our “Big Enough” house project.

The last house to be built on Garfield Avenue, this house is situated on a corner lot next to conservation land. This is also the first home Pioneer Valley Habitat has built for only one occupant. Building homes small and energy efficient makes them more affordable and sustainable, so keep an eye out for more future “big enough” builds!

Financial support for this project was provided by People’s Bank, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the City of Northampton, and a generous anonymous individual. Additional fundraising came from the community at large. Architectural work was done by Jones Whitsett Architects. Landscape and civil engineering services were done by Berkshire Design Group.

Habitat built five homes on the Garfield Avenue site between 2008 and 2016. The first construction was townhouse style, with the wall dividing the homes running along the property line – thus two homes, not a condominium. These two homes have been completed, and two homebuyer families with children moved in in 2010 and 2011. The third home is a detached single-family, and another homebuyer moved in over the summer of 2012.

Habitat began work on fourth house on Garfield Ave during the fall of 2012, and the homebuyer moved in during 2014. The last home in this development phase was built in record time during 2014 and the final family moved in in January 2015.

• A duplex condo home on Pine Brook Curve, 1993
• A single family home on Cahillane Terrace, 1999
• A duplex condo home on Vernon and Forbes Avenue, 2000
• A duplex condo home on Ryan Road, 2002
• Three duplex condo homes on Westhampton Road, 2003-2007