She was the designer of the 300-square-foot (28 m2) "Katrina Cottage," conceived in 2005 as an alternative to the FEMA emergency trailers supplied to some of the newly homeless survivors of Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
In 2006, Cusato entered into a licensing agreement with the Lowe's Home Centers to make the cottages available in kit form in all Lowe's stores nationwide or the plans alone online.
She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and has said of Notre Dame, “What I learned from Notre Dame was ‘how to learn.’” [2] Cusato moved to New York in 1999, taking a job with the firm Fairfax and Sammons, designers of expensive houses with classical detailing.
"[1] In October 2005, Haley Barbour, then Governor of Mississippi, hired New Urbanist planner Andres Duany to advise him regarding the rebuilding effort.
"[1] Cusato is a public speaker on topics including "The Value of Design," "Sustainability: Community, Home, Architecture, Materials," "Affordable Housing," "Gulf Coast Rebuilding," "Katrina Cottage," "Get Your House Right," and "Is Small the New Big?"