About the Author
James Crisp has been an architect for well over 20 years. His architectural firm, Crisp Architects, designs projects throughout New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. In April of 2007, Taunton Press published 'On the Porch' by James M. Crisp and Sandra Mahoney.
New Homes Archive
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Carpenter Architects
Posted on August 16, 2009 | 1 CommentTwo hundred years ago there were few architects to direct carpenters in the way to build a proper home. That was just fine. Homes in general were simple and carpenter architects paid a lot of attention to detail and proportion.There were books written by architects, that... -
Parish Hall
Posted on June 1, 2009 | No CommentsCrisp Architects specializes in home design. We design new homes, renovate and add to existing homes, and we restore old homes. In the course of our practice we are frequently asked to design other types of buildings and we happily comply. Those include horse barns,... -
Kitchen Costs
Posted on May 4, 2009 | No CommentsOne of the most expensive rooms in a home is the kitchen. It is easy to see why a kitchen is so expensive considering it contains appliances, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, lighting, ventilation, countertops as well as decorative finishes. To try to quantify some of those... -
Cutting Construction Costs
Posted on April 3, 2009 | No CommentsWhen designing a home or addition, part of the fun for the owner is imagining the project finished without any compromises. When bids come in from the contractors, many home owners are eager look at ways to reduce the price without loosing space or the... -
Modern Farmhouse Design
Posted on March 30, 2009 | 5 CommentsThere is no absolute prototype for a farmhouse, but most of us can recognize one when we see it. By definition the originals were located on farms and were integral to the life and work of those farm families who lived there. Depending on when and... -
How Much?
Posted on February 26, 2009 | No CommentsWe are frequently asked the cost of building a project. Universally the answer is: It depends what you build. Following is a list of some of the elements that go into homes in our region and their installed costs. The prices will vary depending on... -
Farmhouse Modern
Posted on December 31, 2008 | No CommentsMany of our clients own old farm houses and love the way they fit into the countryside of the Northeast. These same clients want the interior of their homes to be brighter and more modern than the original farm house. Recently we renovated a large kitchen... -
Universal Design
Posted on December 15, 2008 | No CommentsFew of us pay attention to how we get around in our home until for one reason or another it gets harder to navigate that home. I personally had not given much thought to the fact that my master bedroom was on the second floor... -
Compact and Crisp
Posted on December 10, 2008 | 2 CommentsDesigned for friends who bought a beautiful piece of land on the side of a hill in Columbia County, this home embodies the phrase ‘Simple can be better’. We were given the mandate to design a small home on a budget, but to also give... -
Small Can Be Big (Almost finished)
Posted on November 6, 2008 | 2 CommentsOur clients asked us to design a small, energy efficient, comfortable home to replace their existing log home which felt confining and dark. Both we and our clients are overjoyed at the way this ‘not so big’ house turned out. For a home with about 2000...