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NS Builders documented the construction of Echo Pond in public, from the first cut of the access road to the finished rooms. Motif Media filmed and photographed the work throughout. This page gathers that record in the order the house was built, followed by a few moments from the place itself.

The build, in sequence

Road and site

Before the house, a road: 1,400 feet through forest and ledge, a culvert across the wetland, a water line to a new hydrant, and at the end the first view of the pond from the house site.

NS Builders, “How We Built A Road Through The Woods” · 11:02 · YouTube

Photo by Motif Media

Ground

A quarter mile into the woods, the blasted ledge is backfilled and compacted in lifts, and the site is prepared for a slab that sits on insulation.

NS Builders, “Frost Protected Slab Explained” · 5:27 · YouTube

Photo by Motif Media

Foundation

Nick Schiffer and Vincent Appel explain the frost-protected shallow foundation: a raft of concrete insulated horizontally, in place of walls carried four feet below grade.

NS Builders, “You Don’t See Foundation Systems like this in New England Often” · 15:04 · YouTube

Photo by Motif Media

The gable end framed, seen from above
Framing

The house shape appears: walls and gable framed above the slab.

Photo by Motif Media

Envelope

With John Deans of 475 Supply: mineral wool board outside the walls and over the roof, so the framing never meets the cold.

NS Builders, “Why Exterior Insulation Is The Key To Your Home’s Future” · 13:56 · YouTube

Also: why mineral wool in place of spray foam · 10:20

Photo by Motif Media

Glass

Nine-foot lift-slide units, made as doors, are set as operable windows so the first floor looks to the pond from floor to ceiling.

NS Builders, “Installing Floor to Ceiling Sliding Glass in Modern Nordic Cabin” · 13:16 · YouTube

Photo by Motif Media

Interior

The finished first floor, and the detail work that lets the glass slide out of view.

NS Builders, “How This Home Connects Indoor Living with The Outdoors” · 10:24 · YouTube

Photo by Motif Media

The house, nearly finished

Nick Schiffer and superintendent Marc Murray walk builder Mark Williams through the house as it nears completion: the pine-tarred shingle and its eighth-inch seams, the drip edge and stone base, the lift-slide glass and polished slab.

NS Builders, “The Hidden Craftsmanship on This Epic House” · 17:24 · YouTube

Photo by Motif Media

Also from NS Builders: the Andersen factory where the large doors were made, roof windows and skylights, and a short tour of the finished house with Andersen.

The finished house

The house in its first summer, 2026, with the trees around it in full leaf.

The gable end in summer. The same plywood shingle covers wall and roof. The gravel road reaches the house through the trees, edged with boulders set during the sitework. The roof against the sky. Each course of shingles laps the one below. Shingle courses at the eave, the grain of the plywood showing through the pine tar. Plywood grain under pine tar. An eighth-inch gap separates each panel. From above: the long side of the house, its floor-to-ceiling glass, and the roof windows. From above: shingle courses run the length of the roof, broken only by the roof windows.

Photographs courtesy of NS Builders.

Moments

The access road cut through ledge and forest. The road in winter, seen from above. Blasted ledge, stacked at the edge of the site. Edge insulation and crushed stone, before the slab. The slab membrane in place, seen from above. The house site and Glen Echo Pond from the air, during framing. The first floor framed, open to the woods. Roof sheathing, with the openings cut for the roof windows. The gable wrapped in its blue weather barrier. The first floor framed out, with strapping across the ceiling. Copper supply lines against the black membrane. The first-floor glass in winter, looking toward the pond. Pine tar and a roller. Shingling under way in autumn, seen from above. The gable end, fully shingled. Framing for the circular opening on the second floor. The circular opening after blueboard. An upstairs room after plaster. The handrail turning the corner of the stair. Sun from a roof window across the new wood floor. The stone counter and sink in the kitchen. The second floor, finished, with floor protection still down. The long side of the house in snow. The finished house at the end of the road.

Photographs by Motif Media

From Instagram

Groundbreaking at the site
September 2024The project begins. Instagram · Photo by NS Builders
The framed house
June 2025The frame goes up in twelve days. Instagram · Photo by Motif Media
Pine-tarred shingles
September 2025Pine tar, from Scandinavian boatbuilding to a plywood shingle. Instagram · Photo by Motif Media
Still from the Motif Media film
January 2026Motif Media's one-minute film of the nearly finished house. Instagram · Film by Motif Media
The black house in snow
February 2026The dark house in its first winter. Instagram · Photo by NS Builders

The place

Sunrise over Glen Echo Pond in time-lapse, April 2026.
Across the pond to the far shore, August 2022, before construction.
The pond in October.
Two deer in the new meadow, June 2026.

Footage by the owners

A snapping turtle crossing the gravel
A snapping turtle on the move, June.
A hawk on a bare branch against blue sky
A hawk on a bare branch, April.
A woodchuck among the stones at the edge of the woods
A woodchuck at the stone edge.

A century earlier

In the early twentieth century the pond was Glen Echo Park, a summer resort that day visitors reached by trolley. Penny postcards from those years show the pines and water the house looks onto today.

Hand-tinted postcard of a dirt road under tall pines beside the lake
“Road to Glen Echo Park”
Postcard of a pine grove with the lake beyond
“The Grove and Lake”
Postcard of rowboats drawn up along the lake shore under pines
“Lake at Glen Echo Park”

Postcards, early twentieth century. Public domain.