One of the great pleasures of architecture is seeing the ideas that were on paper take shape on the site. Today for the first time I saw the framed outline of the second story and roof lines of the Lexington Ranch remodel. Things are really starting to take shape and for the first time you n really get a sense on the new spaces.
C
It is always exciting when a new project breaks ground. Demolition just started on a new project in Lexington. This 1950’s cape is going to be completely transformed into a 2 ½ story new home. We had pretty good weather during the demolition and luckily they had the roof framed before the most recent snow fell. Look for a new post later in the week to see how the framing is progressing.
I’m also specifically talking about groups that are both tightly-knit and participatory communities.
I am a new father, a husband and an architect who works primarily on homes in New England. My wife and I renovation a Greek Revival we purchase in the spring of 2012.
This site is in part a document of the designs I create and partially a document of things that inspire me.
Expect to find a mix of posts about design, home and art.
I grew up on the coast of Maine on an island in Casco Bay. Like the hundreds of
islands that dot the coast, Cousins Island where I lived had a tight knit community where
all the kids knew each other and played together while the parents took turns watching us.
The Island, as we called it, was a wonderful place to explore and grow. Some days we
would play kickball or build forts in the woods, but what I most enjoyed was in the fall
when one of us had seen some remote cottages deep in the woods on the Island, and a
group of us would set out to find them. It would take the better part of the day to crawl
along the water’s edge and climb through juniper bushes until we found the cottages that
had been closed for the winter. Peering through the windows you could see how the
people who summered there lived. I loved how the cathedral ceilings exposed the rafters
of the house and we could see how it was put together. We would walk around looking at
how the floor plan was laid out and what each room was used for. Then we would sit on
the decks and look out at the ocean watching the boats go by before heading home for
dinner. At home I would lay in bed before falling asleep and go through the house again
in my head, picturing the rooms and figuring out how all the spaces worked together.
Then I would picture my own house and dream about changes I would make to make it
better.