This year may be the first of an annual end of summer “camping” trip upstate. Last weekend included: a stay at a fabulous little cottage in the woods, canoeing on the Deleware, ‘smores with guitar-playing and singing at our cottage firepit, a Mark Ruffalo sighting at the Main Street Cafe in Narrowsburg, topped off with a five-course Sunday brunch at Blue Hill at Stone Farms. Not to mention the great company.

Summer can end now, because I’m pretty sure it can’t get any better. That doesn’t mean that I’m bored of vacationing, oh no! Perhaps we can avoid the start of the week with a Salvaged Getaway. Today I’m dreaming of a fall weekend in Napa, at the The Bardessono.

The Bardessono is an example of how a new construction can be handled with as much sustainable consideration as the renovation of an old building.Located on the Bardessono family farmstead established in 1928 in California’s Napa Valley, the hotel is located in the middle of the town of Yountville.

The hotel was built in cooperation with today’s Bardessono family descendants, Bardessono family heirs who were concerned about the impact a commercial development would have on Yountville’s small town character. The developer, Phil Sherburne developed a distinct and understated message while building the Bardessano: Intelligent design is creating beautiful places and extraordinary experiences while not harming our planet’s future.

What this means is… an underground geothermal system heats and cools the guest rooms, the spa, and the domestic hot water supply. Almost no offsite energy is used. Hidden on the flat rooftops are 940 solar panels that provide significant amounts of the hotel’s electrical demand. Occupancy sensors in guest rooms automatically decrease energy consumption when guests are not in their rooms. The large amount of glass used in each building reduces the daytime requirement for electrical lighting.

A former stone building on the property was taken apart stone by stone and saved for reuse on the exterior walls. Redwood recycled from wine casks has been used on the ceilings of some of the public spaces within the hotel, and on several public room doors.

Salvaged California Bay trees have become cut slabs for the desks in the guest rooms. The large tables in the public areas and dining room tables have all come from salvaged trees. The list of environmental initiatives goes on…

I tend to think that older buildings have more character, which is more my style. But the Bardessono has a certain calming, thoughtful, respectful feel of it’s own.

All images via The Bardessono.