Piaule cofounders Trevor Briggs and Nolan McHugh wanted to grow their housewares business in a way that spoke to the brand’s sustainability ethos. Whether a hand-thrown ceramic vase or a featherlight Japanese cotton towel, each product is “designed to last a long time, fit with any aesthetic, and have no seasonality,” Nolan says.
Japanese and Scandinavian design influenced Trevor and Nolan’s first hotel, ensuring furnishings and decorative arts embodied these two movements.
In order to keep the land as wild and undisturbed as possible, only 5 of the 50 acres were developed.
Sean Davidson
Instead of debuting a new product line, why not ask customers to book a retreat in the woods? “Because of the growing interest in escaping the city,” explains Nolan, the idea for a modernist retreat was born. Piaule debuted its first hotel this summer on a pastoral 50-acre plot in New York’s Catskills region, bordering state-protected wetlands, and featuring 24 cabins, a main house, a spa and wellness space, and a restaurant. Cabin stays start around $499 per night—but with amenities like heated stone floors, oversized rainfall showers, and a view of the treetops, every penny feels worth it.