# @dwellmagazine on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcGwkbIEZRm
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69394923-dwellmagazine-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2a274b3c06.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-16T15:13:35.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dwell (@dwellmagazine) — https://gondola.cc/dwellmagazine

## Caption

Every once in a while, we like to take a look back at past issues of Dwell to remember the special spaces we’ve been lucky enough to publish, including this Jersey City home that graced the pages of our December 2010 issue.
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Denis only had a few requirements for his house. He wanted it to be energy-efficient and easy to maintain, to be built from concrete, and to include a cat door for Miska, his five-year-old Siamese mix. And the entire project had to be done for $250,000 or less. Back in 2006, he bought a 1,300-square-foot lot next to an old basketball court for $45,000. Thankfully, the size wasn’t enough to deter architects Nicole Robertson and her partner Richard Garber of groarchitects who lived nearby and were excited by the challenge. To make it all work, the architects employed 18 insulated concrete panels that were prefabricated in a factory, delivered to the site, and hoisted into place over three days in late October of 2008. Complete with cedar-slat rain screens and a 72-square-foot cantilevered deck, the home was fully realized in August of 2009 for just $2,000 over Denis’s initial budget. Garber and Robertson have come to see the house as a model for urban infill redevelopment—a system that can be “mass customized” for specific settings while leveraging the cost savings that go along with the use of prefab components. But for Denis, the house isn’t a system or concept. It’s his home, where the sound of his oboe bounces around the concrete, rosemary and sage from his garden compliment his meals, and Miska comes and goes as she pleases. #dwellarchives | December 20, 2010 | Photos by samcontis | Story by wlamb76

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## Tags

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