HP ROVINELLI ARCHITECTS

This Old House

2009-09-30T09:29:00.006-04:00

This spring we were fortunate enough to have a project of ours selected to be the next feature on PBS' venerable This Old House television show. Within weeks, the crew, including Norm, Kevin, Tom and Roger, had descended upon a tired Dutch Colonial in Newton, just outside Boston, to start bringing to life the additions and renovations we had drawn. Our project, for a wonderful family of four, was just right, it turns out, for the show at this particular moment: a modest reworking of a modest house, with budget issues and space constraints, yet executed with a bit of architectural flair.

This 3D model, which we prepared, shows what the additions to the rear of the house, will look like when the work is done. The large windows on the second floor, in the middle, are in the new library we have designed at the top of the existing stairs: just the right thing our clients, a professor and a writer. More on this project as the first episode airs in October!

The Governor's House

2008-08-06T17:09:00.007-04:00

Once a campaign issue, now a place for political entertaining..........the Boston Globe has just published an interesting piece on the house we designed for for Governor Deval Patrick and the way he is using the house not only as a family retreat but also as a venue for political events. We like the aerial shots they took over the house: you can see the pool house and pool, with the main house and the carriage house a little beyond.

We are delighted that the house functions well for crowds of politicians and happy with people's reactions to the house. And yet, concerned that the article may have made it seem that the house was really all about politics and not so much about family, we sent a short letter to the editor of the Globe, telling a story from the design of the house that indicated, at least to us, that the Governor really did intend this house to be a place for, first and last, his family to gather..........

Barn Raised

2007-10-16T09:43:00.000-04:00

Some months ago we posted a story about an addition to a farmhouse we were designing in Northern Vermont, a design that began more than ten years ago as the dream of several members of a large extended family and is only now coming to reality. As we noted in that post, sometimes architects just have to be patient. But here it is, coming together at last. In the photo above, you can see the 1800's farmhouse beyond, with the new addition in the foreground; the porch out front is still under construction.
As one of the family writes, "We were [at the house] again last weekend and with 10 folks on board, the house worked splendidly. There are still a few punch list things that need attending to but, suffice it to say, the house is a hit."

Couldn't ask for anything better.

Red Tape

2007-10-12T16:44:00.001-04:00

It didn't seem like such a difficult proposal: to extend the back of an 1890s Victorian three feet toward the rear yard, not visible from the road, decent size city lot...........but not in the city of Boston! We spent about six months wending our way through the city of Boston bureaucracy, presenting to neighborhood groups, making our appeal to the zoning board, getting approvals from the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In the end, everything worked out well and surprisingly smoothly, but you've got to wonder whether the efforts of so many well intentioned professionals, from urban planners to building inspectors to architects to citizen activists were really worth the time spent to permit the construction of a modest expansion................

Well, the clients--and their neighbors--are pleased with the way its all turning out, including the double height space at the rear wall, soaring above the kitchen sink and bringing much needed light into a house from the last century. Its going to be a great place to live.

Brothers

2007-10-09T12:03:00.000-04:00

Some years back, when the office was young, we renovated a run down cottage on the ocean for a couple of brothers who'd purchased the place because of its location on a well known stretch of windsurfing water. It was a great project: we turned the house into a bright, modern, casual spot for two bachelors and their friends. As the years passed, the brothers each married and had children and, ultimately, the house they shared became a little crowded. They came back to us, looking to add a house to the house so that they could continue to vacation together in the same spot. The story was a good one; we weren't surprised when the editors at Boston Home & Garden magazine found it intriguing enough to want to write about the brothers and their two houses.

Raising the Frame in Vermont

2006-11-13T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, its not exactly a barn raising, but the frame for the addition we have designed for an early 1800's farmhouse in Vermont's remote Northeast Kingdom, is definitely on its way up. It took us awhile to reach this point, but the work is moving fast now that it has begun, with winter threatening and the contractor eager to close in the shell.
Our design concept here, in adding new spaces that total the sum of the square footage of the original house, was to set the addition back from the front of the old house and to turn the bulk of this addition perpendicular to the road. When complete, the expanded house will look a bit like a connected farmhouse with adjacent sheds and a barn, a model still to be seen through the hills of northern New England.

Moving In

2006-07-17T14:08:00.000-04:00

The walls have been painted, the light fixtures are almost all installed, the sod is about to go in.........and the furniture arrives. Always a stressful day, with the general contractor and his team struggling to get the house clean and ready, boxes arriving, drapes being hung, carpeting going down.

Years of work have gone into a project such as this one, a new custom home in the Massachusetts Berkshire hills, from initial design meetings to preparation of construction documents and local approvals proccesses.....and then construction, with innumberable site visits and job meetings. Its difficult, at the point when the furniture goes in and the owners begin to take possession, to give up control, to let go of this object of your closest involvement, but at the end........it really does belong to someone else......

Eastern Shore in Early Spring

2006-05-25T11:12:00.000-04:00

On a lovely day in April, the talented architectural photographer Brian Vandenbrink photographed the new home we designed for a waterfront site on Maryland's historic and scenic Eastern Shore. We think he has captured the lively, modern spirit of the house; this is a house full of light yet designed for maximum passive cooling in the oppressive humidity of the summer months.

This view, from the kitchen out through the living and dining rooms to the water beyond, gives a sense of the open and airy character of the house, despite the fact that we have carefully shaded all of the window openings from the most direct of the sun's rays, through the use of overhangs and recesses in the wall. Take a close look at that stone on the countertop: an incredible find by our client. We liked it so much, we urged her to use it consistently through the house and it looks great.

If You Wait Long Enough.........

2006-05-23T11:54:00.000-04:00

Architects need to be patient people.

Sometimes it takes a long time for a project to pass through design phases, changes of all kinds, permit processes, and then construction.........but in this case we have waited more than 10 years! The drawings above are schematic sketches for an addition to a charming Vermont farmhouse that we designed as one of the first projects for this firm. The house is used as a vacation retreat for several generations of a New England family and, initially, there were some concerns about how the house, which was of obvious sentimental value to them all, should be handled, what should be altered, and what should remain the same.

Well, its been more than a decade and decisions are ready to be made. So we dug out the old drawings, all drawn by hand on mylar, and we are starting again: same schematic plan, but updated to meet the newest requests of the family. We are absolutely delighted to see this project finally come to fruition!

Transformation Update

2006-05-22T08:37:00.000-04:00

Construction is moving along on the house we are renovating in the Boston suburbs and wrote about earlier as a transformation of a tired Cape in a quiet, desirable neighborhood. Rather than simply update this house, we determined through the design process, working along with our clients, to actually shift the character of the house. You can see in the photo above that this once rather conventional Cape is beginning to take on something of the character of an Arts and Crafts bungalow, with the long, horizontal dormers, the shingled brackets and the window style. The kitchen is just going in now, and landscape work should begin soon, if it ever stops raining here in New England. We'll keep you updated.

A Stairhall in the White Mountains

2005-11-28T13:52:00.000-05:00

Last month we posted photos of a house we designed in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, as it was under construction. We are now able to show this new photo of the main stair in the house, as the efforts of a team of finish carpenters, painters and wood flooring installers come to an end. The floor is old growth walnut and the stair parts are custom designed by our office. If you look closely at the stair landing below, you can catch a glimpse into the living room on the first floor.

Craftsmanship

2005-11-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

This photo by Brian Vandenbrink of a home we designed in Maine is a great example of the fine craftsmanship we rely upon to see our concepts brought to reality. In this photo, you can see the painstaking care and compositional ability required to build the stone walls; the expert framing and finish carpentry work required to create the horizontal screened vents in the end gable; the precision and detailing required to construct the custom mahogany windows. We were very fortunate indeed to have Mike Hewes and Company as our general contractor for this house. You don't get this level of craftsmanship without a lot of talent, patience and coordination.

A Carriage House with a View

2005-11-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

It wasn't so long ago that we built models in our office by hand: desks were often covered with grey chipboard, exacto blades, and modeler's glue. We used these models extensively for design--to make sure what we were designing was what we wanted--and for presentation--to make sure clients knew what we were giving them. And clients loved them. There is nothing quite like holding a well built scale model up to your eye and imagining walking inside it, around it.

Today we have shifted almost entirely to computer generated modeling, using advanced software systems. Truth is, they require a lot of hours to build a detailed model, but the benefits come the moment the first, inevitable design change appears. In very short time, roofs can be raised, window patterns altered, materials substituted.

The image shown above represents our design for a carriage house, replacing an existing garage, on the grounds of a lovely estate with a spectacular view of Boston. The glass wall you can see to the left of the model is positioned to capture that view. The estate has some lovely gardens, which will be augmented, when this project is built, by a handsome new greenhouse.

The Photographer's Eye

2005-10-28T14:53:00.000-04:00

Recently we commissioned the renowned architectural photographer Brian Vandenbrink to shoot a house of ours on the coast of Maine; the first proofs have just arrived and we think they look great. The photograph we are posting here is a detail at the front entrance to the house, showing how you can see through the house toward the sea beyond. We'll post more of these pictures as we get them.

Transformation

2005-10-28T10:39:00.000-04:00

About to begin re- construction! A tired house in a lovely neighborhood outside of Boston, a rabbit warren of existing rooms, too many of them in fact, with small windows and little character, soon to be transformed into a spacious, open home for modern family living. And without adding enormous amounts of new square footage.

And this is what will be coming soon: a new front entry, a new family room addition replacing the small existing sun room, new dormers, new windows and new roof. A small house transformed. We will be keeping you up to date with progress reports so you can watch the new house appear out of the shell of the old.

Beacon Hill Times

2005-10-27T17:32:00.000-04:00

We'll be running our first ever print advertisement in the Beacon Hill Times next month, with a photo of a kitchen in a townhouse we renovated this year. We've been working on townhouses in Boston's Beacon Hill, Back Bay and South End neighborhoods for years now, and we've gained expertise not only in the design of these houses, but in the tricky task of shepherding these projects through the maze of city approvals they require. The renovation pictured in the advertisement involved five floors of a narrow townhouse, with the addition of a rooftop headhouse and deck--a wonderful amenity in the middle of the city.

It's fall in the Berkshires!

2005-10-24T14:32:00.000-04:00

Construction is underway on this family compound. The exterior trim and shingles at the Main House (foreground) are finished and painted; the laying of the stone veneer is yet to come. The Carriage House (beyond) is ready for installation of the windows, after which the exterior trim can be completed. The two buildings are located atop a knoll, in a valley, with the fall foliage as a colorful backdrop. Construction of the Barn and the Pool House will begin later this year.

The low stone site walls and wall veneer around both the Main House and Carriage House will help ground the house.
The stone is a combination of Goshen and Ashfield stone; both indigenous to the Berskshires.

In the Main House rough plumbing and electrical work are finished and the walls are being plastered. The massive stone Chimney will help to organize the Great Hall into sitting and dining spaces. The exposed wood timber and structural decking roof system, with slender bronze tie rods, give the double height space a rustic feel.

Boston Home and Garden

2005-10-18T13:56:00.000-04:00

Recently we were fortunate enough to have a project of ours published in Boston Home and Garden, in an article entitled "Kitchens that Cook." This was a challenging project: we were asked to transform a tired 1950's split level in a desirable suburb of Boston into an open, airy modern home for an empty nester couple. Our clients requested a house that had the feel of a Manhattan loft, so we lifted the roof on the house, allowing the ceilings in the main living areas to soar to 18'. The kitchen cabinets pictured above are maple, with countertops of black granite, a stainless steel backsplash and an oak floor accented in walnut. (Photo by Greg Premru)

Maryland's Eastern Shore

2005-10-17T16:17:00.000-04:00

On a point of land looking across one of the Eastern Shore's most picturesque waterways, we have recently finished work on a house for a family from the Washington DC area. These photographs are from our last site visit this past July, as the house was nearing completion. The summers are very warm and humid there, of course, so we designed this house for passive cooling that would reduce the number of days air conditioning is required for reasonable comfort. The house has a "thermal chimney," a large open vertical space at its center, which induces air flow through the house and out the high windows of the chimney wall.

The house is clad in two kinds of wood siding, both of which are used in traditional architecture in the region: vertical board and batten siding, typical in barns and outbuildings, and cove siding, often used on 19th century houses. We painted it all white to reflect the harshest of the sun's rays.

The house has a pool and a poolhouse which look back toward the dining and living rooms, and out to the water beyond. Landscape work is going at the house now and we are hoping to have the finished house professionally photographed early next spring. We just learned that the house will be part of an Eastern Shore House Tour this Christmas--so the pressure is on the owners now to buy some furniture!

Mountain Views

2005-10-16T11:21:00.000-04:00

We just received some new photographs of a house we have designed in New Hampshire, on a lovely hillside looking out toward the back slopes of the White Mountains. The contractors are making excellent progress, and the landscape work has begun. Carpenters are busy inside with the interior wood trim and kitchen cabinets are being installed.

This is a view from the family room looking across the kitchen. Those beams in the ceiling are the actual structure that is holding up the house: no fake beams in this house.