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."
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.
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.
We are an architectural design firm located just steps from the Public Garden in the historic Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. We design new houses anywhere a client will take us, renovate existing houses, and plan office spaces. We are flexible, diligent, detail oriented and we love what we do. Here we focus on works in progress, news about the office and recent publications. For our office website, just click on this link:
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."
