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 [...]
There comes a time when you are ready for a kitchen refresh. Our client asked for a functional, practical, and timeless makeover. With this renovation, we kept it simple, which was just what the owners were looking for. In addition to ample shelves and lower cabinets for storage, we included a big pantry for everything else.  Kitchen Before Stove and Shelves Pantry Refrigerator Wall Island Seating Wet Wall Detail [...]
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 [...]
Breakfast Bay I have always loved sitting in a bright alcove, eating breakfast, and reading the paper. Â These days the object in front of me is often an iPad or other electronics, but the wonderful feeling of a breakfast nook is always the same. Â Of course, bays that have windows on three sides are going to be the brightest. Â Depending on the orientation of the house, the sunlight streaming in can be dramatic. If there are some interesting [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Front Entry This was a wonderful old home that needed a modern kitchen, more light, and a great master suite. As always, we respected the original architecture while adding rooms that now take advantage of the views and the landscape. We added porches and made it into a very comfortable new/old home. Side View Rear View Screened Porch Kitchen Kitchen View Breakfast Area Butlers Pantry [...]
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 [...]
Kitchen With Walnut Counter Kitchen With Walnut Counter Before A new kitchen can be one of the most dramatic changes to a home and a homeowner’s lifestyle. When my wife and I renovated our kitchen, we went from wincing every time we cooked a meal to really loving to spend time there. The new kitchen is the heart of our home. It is where our family eats breakfast, does homework, gathers with friends and of course cooks. The [...]
3 Chicks Close Up On one of our site meetings which included the homeowners, me, the project architect and the contractor, Howie Senior, from Structure Works Construction, pointed out a new swallow’s nest. The swallows would start to build a nest on the house which is under construction and then the workmen would have to undo their hard work when a new piece of clapboard or framing was installed. Howie solved their dilemma by putting up a couple [...]
