4 Pool Houses(Revisited)

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 [...]

A Home in the Middle

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 [...]

Small Home-Big Dreams

We have designed new homes which are very small(under 1000 square feet) as well as homes which are very large.  Regardless of scale, each home reflects the vernacular detail of the region and the careful study of proportion and light as well as the needs and desires of its owners.  This will be the first of several articles exploring projects of various sizes. This home was designed as a weekend home for a couple who were professionals working [...]

5 Porches(Revisited)

America has had a love affair with porches that goes back centuries. Although few of the earliest Dutch and English colonial homes had porches, it wasn’t long until they were added to the beautiful stone and wood structures. Like most of the country, there were few homes built from the mid nineteenth century until after World War II in the northeast that didn’t have a porch. From Greek Revival farm houses scattered through Connecticut to Gothic revival cottages [...]