April Newsletter

“with Cottage Court Extension complete and warm weather upon us, our crew is now able to turn their attention to exterior work on site including building preparation, landscaping, and solar canopy updates.”

March Newsletter

“we currently have a one-bedroom unit looking to be occupied! If you or anyone you know is interested in living at Hillside, please email hillside@hallandmoskow.com for more details, or fill out an application below. We are looking for a long-term tenant (2 year initial lease) to join our community in mid-April or early May. The ideal tenant is passionate for sustainable living and is eager to foster community with their neighbors.”

February Newsletter

“Hugelkultur (pronounced: hoogul-culture) is a permaculture technique derived from Germany. “Hugel” in German means “hill” explaining the planting practice of creating raised beds in the shape of a hill/mound on top of decaying logs. On top of the logs goes branches, grass clippings, compost, soil, and any other biomass to round out the mound. The seedlings get planted in the topsoil layer of the mound, and the work is essentially done.”

January Newsletter

The YWCA at Hillside is finally complete! The YWCA at Hillside is 10-unit, single-resident occupancy (SRO) building. An SRO is a building design where an individual (no families or couples) occupies a private bedroom with attached private bathroom. Additional living space is supplemented by a kitchen and dining area that is shared by the residents in the building.”

December Newsletter

“The second building at Hillside is complete! Aside from a few details that require the warmth of spring (painting arbors and trellises, landscaping, etc.), Cottage Court Extension (CE) is finished and is awaiting the last of its resident move-ins.”

November Newsletter

“The past year and a half has tested our ability to foster and maintain community from afar. Cultivating an active and inclusive community at Hillside is pivotal to our success. In an attempt to start building a greater sense of belonging for our residents, we have been searching for existing spaces on site that will allow for safe gatherings.”

July Newsletter

“Be a part of Newburyport's first sustainable-living community. Live within walking distance of Newburyport's historic downtown and minutes from pristine beaches along Plum Island. Hillside provides the opportunity for residents to live amongst individuals, couples, and families of all ages committed to reducing their environmental footprint while finding strength in community.”

June Newsletter

“As we prepare to welcome our next batch of residents this November, a common concern from prospective tenants is noise pollution from the on-going site construction and nearby Route 1. In this newsletter we want to talk about the steps we have taken to address sound insulation at Hillside.”

May Newsletter

“Did you hear?! Hillside got a feature on wbur — Boston’s NPR station! Bruce Gellerman did an amazing job getting to know our story and sharing it with the greater Boston community.”

April Newsletter

“This month we would like to highlight the YWCA at Hillside. Nestled in the southwest corner of our campus, we are currently constructing a 10-unit single-resident occupancy (SRO) for those in need of an affordable living opportunity.”

March Newsletter

“Cottage Court Extension (building 2 of 4) now has walls and floors thanks to last week’s tilt up! Curious about our wall construction process? We start off by framing each wall in our onsite tent — that includes laying in window and door framing. Once the wall “mold” is finished, we fill the mold with concrete. The concrete walls then cure throughout our site until tilt up..”

February Newsletter

“Phase 2 of our Hillside project is underway! Cottage Court Extension will be our second building on site and consist of 8 units; one (1) first floor, 1 bedroom, ADA compliant unit; three (3) first floor, 2 bedroom units; and four (4) second floor, 1 bedroom units.”

January Newsletter

“Hello & happy 2021! We certainly have missed you, and hope that you have missed us. So much has happened on our project since our last newsletter and so much is coming in the future, so we are stoked to be able to bring our monthly newsletter back. We’re going to start things off slow today, but come back next month jam packed with updates from our site!”

Summer Newsletter (May-August)

“WOW have we had a busy summer at Hillside! Since our last newsletter in April we have been able to make huge progress on our site and are excited to share with you what we've been up to the last few months.”

April Newsletter

“Let us begin by saying, we wish we could write this segment under different circumstances. We wish that an upturn in our environment did not have to come at the cost of human lives. However, there is much to be learned, gained, and changed about our way of life during this global emergency, and our natural environment has the potential to heal as a result.”

March Newsletter

“We at Hillside want to extend our thoughts and best wishes to all those being affected by the Corona/COVID-19 virus. With community being a main pillar of the Hillside Center for Sustainable Living, we know that communities around the world will be deeply impacted by quarantines and people staying home as a means of slowing the spread. We want to ensure you that community connections do not need to be severed in the wake of this pandemic.”

February Newsletter

“The three bedroom unit at Hillside combines the best of our one and two bedroom units. With the first floor including a large chef’s kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, full bath, and back patio with garden, and the second floor having a second full bath, two additional bedrooms/offices, lounge space, loft storage, and private rooftop patio, these units provide ample living space and dynamic outdoor areas.”

January Newsletter

Happy New Year!

“Interested in living at Hillside? We still have units available in our Cottage Court building. There are 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units available for rent starting in the spring. Be a part of Newburyport's first sustainable-living community. Live within walking distance of Newburyport's historic downtown and minutes from pristine beaches along Plum Island. Hillside provides the opportunity for residents to live amongst individuals, couples, and families of all ages committed to reducing their environmental footprint while finding strength in community.”

December Newsletter

Our last newsletter of the decade!

“We have power at Hillside! Last week National Grid was busy on site hooking up our transformer for the Cottage Court building and Solar Parking Canopy South. This does not just mean that when you walk into a unit you’ll be able to switch the lights on, it also means that our south solar canopy and roof mounted solar panels can start producing energy to power the Hillside site.”

November Newsletter

“With help from the staging professionals at All Arranged Home Staging, our Cottage Court units have come to life and are now available for viewing. These units will be used as models for those interested in living at Hillside until they are occupied by tenants. If you are considering living at Hillside, and want to walk through your future home before applying, feel free to email hillside@hallandmoskow.com to set up a viewing appointment.”

October Newsletter

“Progress is not only our favorite thing to see at Hillside, but it's also our favorite thing to share with those who have been keeping a close eye on our project. In the month of October we have been able to install the kitchen cabinets and appliances, lighting fixtures, bathroom appliances and accessories, wardrobes, windows, doors, roof decks, loft ladders, exterior landscaping, flooring, wall paint, and Zehnder units for Cottage Court 5 and 6, all while continuing work on the remaining Cottage Court units and preparing to break ground on Cottage Court Extension.”

September Newsletter

“Green living in Newburyport is finally here! We are so pleased to announce that our resident application is now up and running on our website. The first completed phase of our project will be Cottage Court. This townhouse style complex consists of 10 units for those eager to join the Hillside community. Cottage Court will have a variety of units ranging from one bedroom to three, along with one universally accessible unit. Our goal is to start moving residents in by December.”

August Newsletter

“At Hillside, every resident benefits from energy efficiency and clean air with the Zehnder system, but we've actually taken our efforts a step further. The highly energy efficient design of our walls, all windows, doors, and seals are extremely air tight, which means that the only air seeping into your home is the fresh, filtered air from the Zehnder system. Coupling the Zehnder filter with our wall design is expected to provide residents with outstanding air quality and low energy needs.”

June Newsletter

“Permaculture is a set of design principles centered around perennial edible landscaping. It is meant to simulate and utilize the resilience of natural ecosystems. As you might imagine, Hillside's design is largely inspired by this concept. We are designing every element of Hillside with permaculture principles in mind as a way to diversify crops, increase soil health, have an edible landscape, all the while reducing the amount of labor that is needed in the long term. “

November Newsletter

“Congratulations to the YWCA of Greater Newburyport and David Hall for the Hillside Center for receiving a Community Scale Housing Award from the Department of Housing and Community Development. I appreciate the City of Newburyport’s contribution to creating more affordable housing as a part of this project as well.”
-Senator Kathleen O'Connor Ives”

June Newsletter

"Put simply, it feels good to come together over a good cause. After hearing from state officials about the importance of a clean energy future and the role of this project in that future, and of the importance of the concept of social equity that is being demonstrated by the project’s commitment to create affordable housing for lower income people through it’s relationship with the YWCA of Greater Newburyport, the positive energy surrounding the project’s mission was evident."

Newburyport in the Pleistocene: Hillside's Groundbreaking Ceremony

“The calendar system we use today distorts our concept of time savagely. It allows people to think that this planetary journey is only a couple thousand years old. I can tell you way more happened before us than our Christian calendar encourages us to believe. The concentrated energy in your gas tank is really a legacy of millions of years of geological processes and plant and animal life cycles in the making.”

The Great Mock Up Walls

"Our first flip was a success! Starting with the EPS foam template, the exterior siding is applied, then flipped, the structural wall is poured, and the interior wall is later finished with a pigmented plaster to create a 20in thick, R60 wall. These mockups will be reviewed and inspected by the architects, engineers, and the building department. Credit to the Mass Dept. of Energy Resources for their grant to study the performance of these high-efficiency walls!

Foam; OuR(-Value's) Best Friend

"Being mostly air, foam is a superb insulator. Heating and cooling are responsible for roughly 44% of all home energy usage, so having the best possible insulation can make a huge difference in energy savings. Over the years of Hillside design work, the options of insulation materials moved from very creative things like recycled blue jeans and sheep wool to EPS foam for one very specific reason.

It's All About the Details

"If there is one word that describes the Hillside design team, it would be deliberate. From the smallest elements of the wall system to light bulbs and floors, each piece that is chosen for the Hillside homes is done so very carefully. Let's take a peek at some of the decisions floating around the Hillside offices..." 

Slow the Flow

"If you have ever noticed the pond at March's Hill or the intersection of Federal and Water St after a significant rain event you may have thought to yourself, as we have in the Hillside offices, "wow, that water is coming fast and this space just can't handle it". With the ever-increasing frequency of these rain events in our future, we are working deliberately to design a system that will be able to withstand the influx of rain with ease..."

Community Food at Hillside 

"Global numbers range for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by agriculture from 9% to 24%. Wherever the true number lies, the reality is that there is quite a lot of work to be done and endless opportunity to create more sustainable models of food production and consumption. This is why food is an integral part of Hillside and our mission to the development of sustainable housing..." 

Our Love for Water 

"The wet spring weather is an inevitable short-term setback, but much can be gained by understanding the way water moves on a particular site. In Hillside's case, there is a dense layer of blue marine clay in the subsoil layer of our site making it of high importance to foster water retention on the surface and topsoils..." 

Inside Our Walls 

"The standard functions of walls are intended to create structure, define space, and hold a load. Our walls at Hillside go far beyond what is traditionally expected of residential walls and creates a system that is more efficient, more sustainable, and pretty darn cool...."