Back Porch with Swing It seems that all we talk about are front porches. Of course that is where we enter a home, and if that home is in a neighborhood, the front porch is the public face of the home. On many old farm houses, the back porch was off the kitchen while the front porch led into the more grand and public rooms of the home. The back porch was where boots came off, deliveries were [...]
Lake House Porch Owning a screened porch on a buggy summer evening is like owning a castle with a moat when the barbarians attack. The screened porch provides a place to relax outdoors without having to pay attention to the barbarian bug population.In general, the screened porches we design are larger than the average open porch. Most often they are designed as outdoor rooms and are furnished with sofas and chairs as well as dining tables and occasionally [...]
Stone Addition Something magical happens to a home with the first snowfall of the season. Around my house the kids and the animals are even more excited than I am as we run and throw snow balls. Rosie, our mini Aussie, tracks in the snow which melts on the floor while I start a fire and my wife makes hot cocoa. The timing doesn’t always work, but when we can coordinate a photo shoot of one of [...]
Many people I know are weary of the work required to maintain a large home and the headaches associated with coordinating that task. Although the idea of living in a very compact home isn’t for everyone, there are certainly days around my house that make me fantasize about living in a home, which due to its size, limits the amount of work required to keep it in good shape. Luckily we are often asked to design exactly that [...]
Excerpted from “On the Porch” by Sandee Mahoney and James Crisp Have you ever looked at a house and sensed that something about it wasn’t quite right? Perhaps it didn’t look finished or feel balanced. Was it the placement of the windows? The pitch of the roof? The size of the porch? It’s not always easy to put your finger on what’s wrong, but it helps if you understand a few principles of good design. These drawings illustrate [...]
Cool evenings in October draw me out onto my porch. We have an area heater which extends the season both in the Spring and the Fall. Many of our clients who want to enjoy those edge of season days and nights outdoors ask us to design an outdoor fireplace. Once they start using it, they find that the ambiance of an outdoor wood burning fireplace can be a lot of fun year around. We have heard of great [...]
I will be the first to admit, everyone doesn't need a bowling alley. But if you would like to see the latest in home bowling, come on out to Fine Home Source on September 28th and take a look. This year we have some of the most broad ranging and professional vendors ever. You can speak to the experts from Orvis Sandanona about learning how to fly fish or shoot sporting clays then talk to the folks at Dutchess Overhead [...]
Porch-exterior Every old home needs an advocate. A special someone who understands and cares about the details, the history, and the sense of place inherent in a period home. Those advocates may save that home from the wrecking ball or the vinyl siding salesman or the addition that would look better on a gas station. Two of those advocates are David and Nan Greenwood.Their home is in Hart’s Village just outside of the Village of Millbrook. Philip Hart [...]
Nothing says summer like kids splashing around in a pool–except perhaps an adult party centered around a pool on a balmy summer evening. In either case, a pool house makes everything easier.Whether the pool house is small and simple or includes a full kitchen and guest quarters, having a place to store cold drinks, towels and refreshments makes summer entertaining a lot more fun. A pool house can be a place to access only the absolute necessities [...]
The first of my articles on house sizes(Small Home-Big Dreams) featured a home with 2200 square feet of heated living space. We explored the strategies which are critical when designing a smaller place to live. A medium sized home in our office runs between about 3000 square feet and 5000 square feet of heated space. As the size of the home increases, shared spaces are still desirable but are not as critical to the overall perceived [...]
