About

Brooklyn Double-Wide is a guide to the Northern Catskills. Our corner of the mountains is still off-the-grid (seriously, it's impossible to get WiFi at our house). So, if you're looking for an offbeat rental or affordable second home, here's your insiders' look at all the best under-the-radar listings. If you're hoping to build inexpensively and energy-efficiently, we'll help you make the most of a mobile home (a.k.a. a single-wide or double-wide trailer).

I'm Kara Zuaro, a Brooklyn-based cookbook author and freelance writer. As a kid in the '80s, I spent my summers in an Irish-American Catskill Mountain town known for its 60's era motels and roadside dance halls. But by the time I had 2 kids of my own, Grandpa DJ's old country trailer was in shambles. After a ton of research on mobile and modular homes, I designed a double-wide trailer that sleeps 20, and I had it parked on DJ's breathtakingly beautiful plot of land, which was left to his 4 daughters and 8 grandchilden.

Our double-wide was built to share with our close-knit and ever-growing extended family (hence the 3 queen-sized beds and 14 bunk beds). Come along for the ride while my husband Pete and I spruce up the place and figure out how to feed our huge crew. And join us on our adventures as we introduce our 2 city kids to wildlife, waterfalls, little-known Catskills destinations and country characters.