Porch Entry A welcoming front entry does not need to be grand or elaborate (but it can be). It needs to say you have arrived. It is not uncommon for me to visit a home for the first time, and to knock on a door that is almost never used by the homeowner or their family members. I am often visiting that house because the homeowner has hopes of fixing that problem. There are many reasons a home can [...]
Front Entry Nestled into a wooded hillside, this home can see far but is hidden from the rest of the world. With simple lines and generous windows, our clients were hoping for an elegant get-away far from the crowded city. There is plenty of room for their kids to have family fun and outdoor adventures. Rear of Home Screened Porch Kitchen View to Porch Photos by Rob Karosis Curated Brochure [...]
In a completely unscientific review of past and current projects, I find that five types of additions are requested more than all the others combined. The reason may be that homeowners value these five additions the most or it could be that most homes lack or only have poor examples of these spaces. While I never try to predict real estate trends or future markets, it stands to reason that a home, which includes fine examples one or more 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 [...]
We started with an historic home on a dirt road in the countryside of Massachusetts which had been uninhabited for several years. Our clients came along at just the right time to resurrect this beautiful bit of history. By carefully preserving the antique portions of the home while renovating and adding to the newer sections, we were able to create a home that has a foot in several centuries. Best of all it still feels comfortable on 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 [...]
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 [...]
About half of the work in our office is new construction and half renovations and additions. When designing a home from scratch some of the most important elements to study(besides the clients wishes) are views, site features, sun and wind direction, and the approach to the site. The most important single element in an addition/renovation is the existing building. Sometimes the portion you save and restore is key to the rest of the project. Although it is almost [...]
It's hard for me to believe it has been almost 7 years since the publication of 'On the Porch'. Sandee Mahoney and I wrote this coffee table book at the request of Taunton Press, and I have to say we are as proud of it today as we were in 2006. What follows is the text of a article written just before release of the book but after we had seen authors' copies. It begins with a [...]
