Archive | January, 2010
A Spine that Binds Inside to Out

A Spine that Binds Inside to Out

The Wine Country Residence in Paso Robles, Calif., halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is a fluid tutorial in how to relate inside to out. “We used the curved spine of the house as a unifying element,” said Steven Dewan of Bassenian Lagoni Architecture and Land Planning. The spine is a means of circulating [...]

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In New Canaan, a Townhouse in Context

In New Canaan, a Townhouse in Context

If any town in America breathes the rarified air of architecture today, it’s New Canaan, Conn. It’s close to midtown and Cambridge. Homes there sell for an average of $2.7 million. And in the 1940s and ‘50s, it was a fertile hotbed for the modernist experiments of Phillip Johnson, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John M. [...]

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A Private Island in the Turks and Caicos

A Private Island in the Turks and Caicos

Frankly, Ambergris Cay in the Turks and Caicos is not for everyone. But for those who can afford it, it’s an unforgettable experience. The 1,100-acre private island is three miles long and one mile wide, with eight miles of beaches and shoreline. There’s whale watching at a man-made cove at one end, and world class [...]

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In Woody Creek, the High White Note

In Woody Creek, the High White Note

Two and a half minutes from Woody Creek Tavern, where an outrageous Dr. Hunter Stockton Thompson once held court and passed judgment upon all who dared trespass there, lies a well-sited new house with grand views of the Roaring Fork and the town of Aspen. It’s much quieter now. The good doctor is gone. And [...]

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A Mixed Pedigree on Martha’s Vineyard

A Mixed Pedigree on Martha’s Vineyard

For a house with a long, thin footprint, this one on Martha’s Vineyard packs a real kick. It’s done in the shingle style, and more than a little reminiscent of H.H. Richardson’s 19th century work – a taut skin stretched over volume and mass, then carefully punctured with graceful openings for windows and doors. “It’s [...]

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Joel Lassiter Shoots Architecture

Joel Lassiter Shoots Architecture

Joel Lassiter took up photography as a profession 17 years ago. He’d been a fine arts major at UNC Charlotte, with an eye for architecture. When he graduated, he managed to merge the two interests into a career – and shoot some fairly fabulous buildings along the way. He likes to think of his work [...]

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Celebrating Water at Chartwell School

Celebrating Water at Chartwell School

Where army officers once imbibed feely at a private club on their base near Monterey, Calif., dyslexic K-8 students now celebrate the use of water at a reborn Chartwell School. “They tend to learn in a more experiential way, rather than in a rote manner,” said Bry Sarte, principal at Sherwood Design Engineers of San [...]

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In N.Y., a House that Pays for Itself

In N.Y., a House that Pays for Itself

In the spring of 2010, Chris Colby of Spire Architects & Design in Millbrook, N.Y. will break ground on a traditional Cape-style home. It’s made of concrete, and it’s net-zero energy. “Our earlier net-zero designs were more contemporary,” he said.  “But people here said they didn’t want them so modern-looking.” This one will be an infill [...]

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A Modern Poet of Verticality

Mike Rantilla looked for three years to find the right site for the home he wanted to design for himself in suburban Raleigh. “There were restrictions and hindrances to a modern building,” he said. “I probably looked at 50 lots, and got close on five of them. But then I would have had to do [...]

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David vs. Goliath in Downtown Raleigh

Soon, on a site in downtown Raleigh that architect Frank Harmon puckishly likens to the shape of a pork chop, the North Carolina chapter of the AIA will break ground for a slim new Center for Architecture and Design. “It’s on less than an acre, and we placed it parallel to Peace Street,” Harmon said. [...]

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