Go wild in the country at Vipp’s first US guesthouse
Vipp Pavilion, designed by the renowned architectural firm Johnston Marklee, is an idyllic retreat in upstate New York
The Upper Delaware River, a pristine 73-mile ribbon that separates New York state from Pennsylvania, has long captivated city-dwellers, lured by thrilling rapids, dramatic sandstone cliffs and a burning desire to get away from civilisation.
Six years ago, two Danish transplants also fell under the region’s spell. Frank and Sofie Christensen Egelund were in search of the perfect plot of land on which to construct a rural escape from their Manhattan loft. But this wasn’t to be an ordinary upstate bolthole – it was to be a guesthouse for their design company Vipp, the Danish lifestyle brand that manufactures everything from pedal bins and toilet brushes to swivel chairs and sleek modular kitchens.
A decade ago, it began offering bookable guesthouses around the world, from Denmark and Sweden to Mexico (winner of a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025) and Tasmania. Often located in spectacular remote settings, these retreats are furnished by Vipp and brim with the Scandinavian brand’s signature minimalism. ‘It’s not something you make money on. We’re not hoteliers,’ notes Sofie, who co-runs the company with her brother Kasper Egelund. ‘We’re curious to know how people feel about our products.’
The family had been on the lookout for a US property, but nothing had ever felt quite right. That was until an Upper Delaware excursion led the Christensen Egelunds to a 16-acre plot up a steep country lane, 100 miles away from New York City. ‘The feeling of remoteness – the trees, the birds, the quietness – was what we gravitated towards,’ Sofie says. ‘It was just what we’d hoped for.’
Tour Vipp Pavilion, upstate New York
To design the guesthouse, the Christensen Egelunds already had an architecture studio in mind – the LA-based practice Johnston Marklee, a firm with a winning combination of ‘great people and beautiful work’, says Sofie. Luckily, founders Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee already owned a number of Vipp products, including the classic pedal bin. ‘We were totally in,’ Johnston says.
Johnston and Lee immediately recognised the beauty of the plot, with its wooded slopes, tranquil pond and dramatic rock outcropping. They came up with a pavilion-like concept, based on an unrealised project they had designed in Chile, that, as Johnston puts it, ‘would choreograph the views’.
The guesthouse shows off the Vipp portfolio, including modular sofas, dining chairs, coffee tables, floor lamps and outdoor lounge chairs
The drama begins as soon as you pull into the driveway and follow the pond towards the house, a low-slung, rectilinear volume at the far end of a clearing. To enter, you pass through a semicircular courtyard surrounded by high walls that intentionally blot out the landscape. ‘It purges you from nature so that you don’t see anything but sky – a bit like a James Turrell Skyspace,’ says Lee. Once inside, though, the outside is inescapable, visible through broad panes of glass. ‘It’s conceived of as a building in the round,’ says Johnston. ‘Every view is different.’
The two-bedroom guesthouse’s footprint is fairly modest – it totals just 1,200 sq ft – but the clever layout, minimal decor and natural light pouring in through a series of skylights make it feel bright and airy. Vipp’s monolithic ‘V3’ kitchen anchors the open-plan living space, its anodised aluminium and stainless steel surfaces providing a striking counterpoint to the stucco walls, while the brand’s textured modular ‘Loft’ sofa, positioned in front of an expanse of windows, frames a serene view out over the pond.
The open-plan living space is anchored by Vipp’s vertically-ridged, freestanding ‘V3’ kitchen, which is lit from above by a circular skylight
‘You can only talk about a chair for so long. But a felt experience – that you can talk about for a long time’
Sofie Christensen Egelund, 3rd generation Vipp owner
The interiors are understated, all taupes, greys and off-whites, with a material palette of stucco, polished concrete and wood – ‘it’s very, very Danish in that way,’ says Sofie – but the restraint, after a circuitous drive up Route 97, feels like its own luxury. So does the remoteness. There’s no television and no mobile phone reception (though there is WiFi), allowing visitors to completely shut themselves off from the world if they so choose. ‘We played with the idea of calling it a ‘human charging station’ Sofie says.
This forest retreat offers the perfect invitation to unplug and unwind. During the summer months, visitors have the option of exploring the region’s numerous hiking trails or embarking on a guided rafting trip, but most will likely want to stay put – pottering around the kitchen, curled up in the crook of a sofa or burrowing into fluffy bedding to gaze up at the stars through a skylight.
‘You can only talk about a chair for so long,’ Sofie reflects. ‘But a felt experience – that you can talk about for a long time.’
