Simple Porch In 2019, Fine Homebuilding magazine asked Sandee Mahoney and me to write an article on porches. (We are co-authors of On the Porch, Creating Your Place to Watch the World Go By). The following are excerpts of that article: People use porches in a number of ways. Some porches are simply a place to sit, breathe some fresh air, and enjoy conversation. Others are meant for entertaining, cooking, or sleeping. The key is to be [...]
Dining Table Under Pergola Summertime in the Northeast is wonderful in outdoor spaces. After a long winter, the contrast between the seasons cannot be greater. My family spends a lot of time on our porch and patio and gathering around the pool during the summer. We alternate eating dinner inside and outside, with alfresco dining winning out every summer. When we design a home, we do everything we can to make that indoor-to-outdoor connection. If possible, there should [...]
New Home with Porches We design many forever homes. 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 [...]
Simple Bedroom/Porch Addition Recently we have encountered a spike in construction costs. 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 construction costs of each building trade because they [...]
View to Pool and Pool House Our clients recently completed this Berkshire pool house. It is a fun destination that can double as a guest house as well as a place to play pocket billiards or just relax. The porch facing the pool includes phantom screens, which can come down with the push of a button and completely keep the bugs away. After a sauna and a quick swim in the pool, a glass of wine on the [...]
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 in our outdoor living spaces. 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 [...]
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 [...]
Carriage House/Garage The homeowners wanted comfortable quarters for family members and friends that could accommodate long-term visits. This guest house with 3 bedrooms, a great kitchen opening onto the living room, mudroom, and laundry is a place where anyone could settle in for an extended stay. With a balcony off the living room and porch off the kitchen, it is also a good place to watch the world go by. On top of that, there is an elevator [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
