New Home with Porches Whenever we are asked to design any project, we approach it the same way the builders of my home did: design it as though a family will live there forever. The forever home starts with good design. Our preference is to avoid whatever the current fad is going around and to design each home or addition in a timeless manner that will look as good 25 years from now as it will 125 years [...]
Bryson Home at Night When we were first contacted by Laura Bryson and her husband, she told us she wanted to use reclaimed materials as much as possible. She started with some columns her father had given her that she wanted to use on the porches we designed. This and other reclaimed materials helped her forge relationships with craftspeople who could match or repair antique components. Finding reclaimed materials became a treasure hunt that led to some incredible [...]
Pool and Pool House Contractors are working to finish projects before the snow falls. Some projects may begin in the fall, but care must be taken to ensure materials are protected, and the ground can support the foundation. Building in the winter has its challenges, but some of the advantages can be more available materials and subcontractors since the high demand has passed in the spring and fall. Warmer winters have opened the doors to more uninterrupted construction [...]
Simple Bedroom/Porch Addition Recently we have encountered a spike in the cost of construction. We have seen this happen several times over the course of our practice, and it is always a shock when the established cost of building a home or an addition is no longer possible. We have found that there are multiple reasons, but the main ones are the scarcity and accompanying inflation of building materials and the increasing cost of each building trade because [...]
Outdoor Living and Dining In the northeast, we don't have a whole lot of warm weather suitable for outdoor entertaining, so we celebrate those perfect days in any way we can. We are lucky to be able to collaborate with talented landscape architects and designers including Conte and Conte, Renee Byers, Judy Murphy of Old Farm Nursery, and Rob Adroyd of Greylock Design Associates respectively. Outdoor living spaces impact the design of our homes and vice versa. Our [...]
Ulster County New Home The good news is, prices for some building materials are coming down. The bad news is that many items are harder to get and have longer lead times. Some windows have an almost 6 month lead time. You can imagine how difficult it is for a contractor to have to put in a window order months before they start construction. Luckily there are workarounds such as alternate brands of windows or substitute materials. As [...]
Modern Farmhouse With Reflecting Pond This summer my family and I rented a home on a lake in Maine and it was wonderful. Other summers we stay in a cabin on a lake in the Adirondacks or on the ocean. Perhaps those water-connected homes are extra special to us because we live inland surrounded by trees with no water, but a pool. Some of our clients are lucky enough to own property on a lake, a pond, a [...]
Indoor Pool 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 or pavilion 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. This summer is predicted to be a scorcher and [...]
Simple Porch Between the shortage of materials and the high demand, we are all scrambling to understand the current price of projects. Covid has shut down factories and interrupted supply chains like no other time in my career. There are signs that material prices will stabilize soon, but no one knows what to expect in the short term. When designing a home or addition, part of the fun for the owner is imagining the project finished without any [...]
New Home New Home-Entry Side I'll repeat what I said a couple of months ago-except with more urgency: As we progress toward winter, days are getting shorter and it’s starting to cool off a bit. Contractors know that there are a limited number of days for working outside and there is a great incentive to get the buildings dried in. It doesn’t always work that way, but the best-case scenario is to get the exterior of [...]
