We had our second team day to close out September on a high note together. This team day was hosted by Holdt and was packed with so much fun! We all teamed up together without Holdt knowing to surprise him. Our surprise? All of us wearing all black. Holdt is notorious for wearing all black so it only felt fitting for us to prank him on his special day.
Cold Spring Creek House
As we all showed up to the surprise location, Holdt, in his signature outfit, quickly caught on to what was going on. “I see what’s going on…”. The coordinates he had given us led us to Cold Spring Creek House, one of our renovation projects currently under construction. Holdt is the Project Manager on this project, so he gave us a tour of the progress and what’s to come. We quickly spit up and roamed around the construction site taking pictures of different details and imagining what the home will look like when complete. It was the first time the rest of us were seeing the project and we all loved the reuse of the original wood barn structure, unique wood details and the original closet doors.
Puzzle Activity
After touring the site, Holdt then brought out an activity for all of us to do together. What better way to connect with your inner child than with a puzzle! Holdt had gotten custom printed puzzles for us to do in groups. The puzzles were pictures taken by Holdt around the Hudson Valley and one of an illustrated map of the Hudson Valley from our friends at the Starlite Motel. We split into groups and some of us got a little competitive with the speed at which we completed the puzzle. To be transparent, the puzzles consisted of 60 pieces so it wasn’t too much of a struggle. We then reconvened with our finished puzzles and figured out where each picture was taken in relation to the map.
We love the Hudson Valley and all it has to offer and that’s why we love designing homes here. While some of our team lives upstate, many of us are coming into the NY office from different boroughs. For the people from the city, it can be hard to place where all of our projects are in relation to one another and to important spots in the valley. It was such a fun activity and a great way to learn about important places to Holdt that he wanted to share with us. We are looking forward to framing the puzzles and hanging them up in the office!
While part of why we wore all black was to prank Holdt, we also wanted to match for a new team picture! We haven’t taken one in a while and our team has transformed and grown so we’ve been wanting to take another one. It was a little difficult because the sun was so bright, so we had everyone move around the site for different exposures which eventually built up everyone’s appetite.
We had some pasta salad (which now seems like a tradition for team day) and then headed over to our secret second destination! Holdt and Amlin were transported in ~style~.
Lasting Joy Brewery
Holdt had also planned a tour for us at the newly opened Lasting Joy Brewery in Tivoli. We got a tour of the brewery and learned more about its architecture from co-owner Alex Wenner. It was many of the team’s first time touring a brewery and getting to learn more about the beer-making process. We learned that the barn structure where the brewery is contained was the existing structure that drove Alex to grow the brewery in Tivoli. The tasting room/bar addition designed by Auver Architecture was gorgeous and we, like we always do, enjoyed looking at all of the details and material choices. Alex was very hands-on during the construction so he shared some anecdotes with us – we empathized with the construction delays they experienced during the pandemic. We’re glad they were able to work through it and build this beautiful new business in the Hudson Valley!
At the brewery we tasted some beer and hung out together as a team. It was such a relaxing portion of the day and as always was a great way to be with one another. Now that half of the team is upstate and the other half is in the city, it’s always nice for us to be able to be with one another in person.
These team days have been amazing so far and the rest of the team (including myself) are both nervous and excited to continue to keep the bar high. Thank you Holdt for such a fun day!