Nature-inspired design gives Vermont homes warmth, texture, and staying power

When you think about the traditional Vermont home, there are a few words that often come to mind: Cozy. Warm. Natural.

In these houses, you’ll see rustic stone and warm fireplaces, classic furniture, and so much wood: wood on the floors, wood on the walls, all varieties, all styles.

Okemo Valley Magazine talked with a handful of Okemo Valley designers, tradespeople, and craftsmen about why homes with these kinds of elements stand the test of time.

Their thoughts? This aesthetic leans into the natural world, hearkening back to yesteryear and encouraging inhabitants to slow down, kick off their shoes, and take a deep breath.

Design from nature – TEASELWOOD DESIGN

Great interior design is a layering process, says Charity Buchika, founder of Ludlow’s Teaselwood Design.

You start with warm lighting. Then the wallpaper, the paint, the fabric, the area rugs, the pillows, the comfortable furniture. The mudroom should have a place for shoes, jackets, and boots, and everything must be durable. To create a timeless aesthetic, Buchika says she and her team fill the spaces with classic furniture and vintage pieces, sourced locally and online, and gravitate to colors from the natural world.

“I’m looking into nature at the color palettes, whether it be a sunset, the trees, the snow, or the crystal patterns on the ice,” she explains.

Buchika tells me the name “Teaselwood” derives from the Skaneateles, New York house she grew up in, which was part of a teasel farm in the 1800s. Her clients come from all walks of life, but most are second-home owners looking for a generational-style house, something they’ll love and their kids will love, too.

“It’s about creating a warm and nurturing environment that people will want to entertain in, have fond memories in, and come back to,” Buchika says.

Build a cottage – JAMAICA COTTAGE SHOP

There’s a feeling many Vermont visitors are looking for that can be met by cozying inside a cottage.

“It has a fragrance,” says Todd Wilson, the general manager of Jamaica Cottage Shop’s parent company, WHS Homes, via phone. “You feel connected to the space you’re in. It’s not some kind of man-made product. It’s just real wood and nature.”

Jamaica Cottage Shop, which originated in Jamaica, Vermont, in 1995, now resides in Londonderry and is a premier site for people to find the rustic structure they’ve been looking for, whether it be for a workshop, studio, livestock barn, or small home to live in.

The cottages, made from local wood such as eastern white pine or hemlock, are constructed with post-and-beam timber-frame systems. Customers can purchase plans, fully assembled buildings, or precut kits with in-depth instructions and a staffed tech hotline to answer questions.

“It makes it very easy, even for someone who’s never attempted any kind of construction, to build one of our buildings from a precut kit,” Wilson says.

Not sure where to start? Their website features more than 150 different models, from a dreamy writer’s haven (with windows, a built-in daybed, desk, and translucent roof paneling) to a traditional sugar shack or guest cottage. Everything can be customized to your liking, from the siding to the roofing to the doors and windows.

Joelle Taylor, the marketing director at WHS Homes, tells me their getaway cottages became extremely popular during the pandemic for homesteaders and new second-home owners. One of their clients is Vermont Collective, which used Jamaica Cottage Shop for its vacation homes in central Vermont’s ski country.

“They’re simple, cozy, comfortable buildings you look forward to coming home to or getting away to for the weekend,” Taylor says. “People like that escape and feel like they’re living in nature.”

Install the floors – VERMONT HARDWOODS

David Waldmann first began working at Vermont Hardwoods—then a division of HP Kiln Corp—in 1982, shortly after graduating high school. He liked the work so much, when the opportunity to purchase the business with his friend Roger Batchelder in 1988 came about, he took it.

“My name in German means ‘forest man,’” Waldmann says. “My father was a tailor. But his brother, who still lives in Europe, was a cabinetmaker all his life, and a couple of his sons were, too. I guess I felt some kind of connection to wood and enjoyed working with it.”

Today the company, which he runs with his wife Rebecca Waldmann, specializes in supplying Northeast-sourced wood flooring and custom millwork to homeowners and businesses, mostly in Vermont but also around the country.

Hardwood floors, he says, can suit any style, chic to rustic: it all depends on the species, grade, and installation. “In a museum, you want to look at what’s on the walls. You don’t want to be distracted by the floors. You want the boards to be narrow and consistent in color and grain. Maple is common for that,” he explains. “For a warm, cozy feeling, you’ll want wide boards with character, the stuff some people would call defects, with knots and discolorations so it feels natural and organic.”

After decades of being part of this company, he says he still enjoys helping customers solve problems and create houses that feel like homes.

“Wood is enduring. It hearkens back to the days gone by,” he says. “It feels like it belongs there.”

Light the fire – GREEN MOUNTAIN FIRESIDE SPECIALTIES

A fireplace, says Peggy Campney, is really the heart of the home.

“It’s where people gather, not just to be at home, but to experience the moment: the smell, the crackling noise of a wood-burning fire,” Campney says. She and her husband, Arnie Campney, run Green Mountain Fireside Specialties in downtown Ludlow, which they started in 2018 after years of running a masonry company in Rutland.

“I wanted to open a retail shop in Ludlow. We were just going to sell fireplace tools and accessories and promote our stone installation, and people started asking for stoves and other items we weren’t prepared for at the time,” she continues.

In this ski town, they found business quickly: just about every home had a fireplace or homeowner who wanted one. Granite is sourced from all over the Northeast and comes in all shapes, sizes, and variations of gray and brown.

But Campney says owning the business has not been without drama; in 2023, it was one of many hit by the flood, leaving them with a service van under 5 feet of water, a building that needed repair, and so much destroyed inventory.

“We didn’t know if we’d survive. We rented temporary office space down the road from another business. They were so gracious to help us while we rebuilt,” she says.

Survive they did—and soon, even saw the need to expand. The couple opened their second location in Proctorsville in May 2025, which houses outdoor living products, stoves, firepits, and a showroom.

It’s been a lot of work, but Campney says she and her husband have always been passionate about their business. They see the magic in what they’re able to provide for people across Okemo Valley, who have been so supportive of them in return.

In their own home, they have two fireplaces: one gas-powered inside, one traditional woodburning fireplace outside.

“You have your firewood and ashes outside, which is perfect. Our grandkids love it,” she says.