Woodland Drive, Northampton – Coming Summer 2024
Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity will be building an energy-efficient, two-story, three-bedroom, single-family home on Woodland Drive in Northampton, MA. The home will be located in the outskirts of the city of Northampton in a suburban residential neighborhood near the intersection of Woodland Drive and Westhampton Rd (Rt 66). This modest home will be approximately 1,300 sq feet, energy efficient, and built to ENERGY STAR standards.
Victoria Bismark Farm – Burts Pit Road, Northampton
Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is building three, 3 bedroom homes just down the road from the Broughton’s Meadow project, with the first walls raised in summer 2023. This lot had been in question for affordable housing development for over thirty years, and PVHH is thrilled to be able to continue our partnership with the City of Northampton to build three more affordable homes for first-time homebuyers.
Broughton’s Meadow Homes on Burts Pit Road, Northampton – Completed Fall 2023
Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity built 3 homes on Burts Pit Rd – the first walls were raised in spring 2022, and the homes were dedicated in October 2023. These homes are the evolution of designs first unveiled at the City of Northampton’s Just Big Enough – Green Building for All competition, and were recognized at the 2021 Habitat House Design Contest as the Design of the Year.
Two Bedroom Home on Glendale Rd, Northampton – Completed Spring 2021
Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity built another home on Glendale Road, on a property diagonally adjacent to the three cluster-built homes. Construction began in early March as part of Pioneer Valley Habitat’s participation in International Women Build Week. While construction was delayed by the end of March due to site and volunteer safety concerns around Covid-19, we held the wall-raising in June of 2020 and a small group of dedicated volunteers worked alongside the future homeowners to complete this house.
Three Homes on Glendale Rd, Northampton – Completed July 2020
Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity completed three zero-net energy 
homes on a common driveway off of Glendale Rd as a part of our Big Enough Project. Two were built with modular construction techniques through an innovative partnership with the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), the MA Department of Energy Resources, and a modular home builder called Vermod, and the third was built from the ground up on-site. While the COVID-19 pandemic did delay the completion of the third house, thanks to quick fundraising and community support, the partner family was able to move in by the end of the summer of 2020. You can learn more about these homes in the 2020 Big Enough Report, this case study by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), and the US Department of Energy’s Tour of Zero.
Modular Homes
After the success of VEIC’s mobile home replacement program in Vermont – bringing zero net energy homes to low-income residents – they are working on a pilot program to bring zero net energy “vermodular” homes to Massachusetts. We were selected as a pilot site, and completed these homes in October of 2019. The Vermod factory built the insulated shell and roughed in the major mechanical systems, and local Habitat volunteers (alongside vocational tech school students and our future homeowners) completed the finish work. These homes were also awarded with a 2020 Housing Innovation Award from the US Department of Energy for their use of innovative techniques in affordable housing.
On-Site Build
The third home on this common driveway was built entirely on site. For an accurate comparison of labor, cost, and efficiency, the design and floor plan is as similar to the modular homes as possible; the only major difference is the addition of a first floor full bath for accessibility.
These homes were supported with grant funding from the City of Northampton, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the MA Department of Energy Resources, and the Community Foundation of Western Mass. Financing provided by Easthampton Savings Bank.
Critical community support — both financial and volunteers — was provided by an interfaith coalition working on raising $30,000 for the “House that faith built”.
Small Home on Garfield Avenue, Florence – Completed June 2019
This exciting project is a ~650 sq ft, one-bedroom home where Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is piloting the best of the small home revolution. Learn more about our “Big Enough” house project.
The last house to be built on Garfield Avenue, this house is situated on a corner lot next to conservation land. This is also the first home Pioneer Valley Habitat has built for only one occupant. Building homes small and energy efficient makes them more affordable and sustainable, so keep an eye out for more future “big enough” builds!
Financial support for this project was provided by People’s Bank, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the City of Northampton, and a generous anonymous individual. Additional fundraising came from the community at large.
Architect: Jones Whitsett Architects
Landscape and civil: The Berkshire Design Group
Garfield Avenue, Florence – Completed Homes
Pioneer Valley Habitat built five homes on the Garfield Avenue site between 2008 and 2016.
The first construction was townhouse style, with the wall dividing the homes running along the property line – thus two homes, not a condominium. These two homes have been completed! Kelly and her children have been living in their home since fall of 2010. Iris and her children moved in in June 2011. The third home is a detached single-family. Mary and her family moved in over the summer in 2012.
We began work on fourth house on Garfield Ave during the fall of 2012 and Kimberly Rivera moved in during 2014. The last home in this great neighborhood was built in record time during 2014 and the Wolcotts moved in January 2015.
Other homes built in Northampton:
A duplex condo home on Pine Brook Curve, 1993
A single family home on Cahillane Terrace, 1999
A duplex condo home on Vernon and Forbes Avenue, 2000
A duplex condo home on Ryan Road, 2002
Three duplex condo homes on Westhampton Road, 2003-2007
