Architecture

18th c.

18th century Georgian houses are common in New England.

Yet each one is precious:
owners understand that they are stewards, caretakers.

I am often asked to help the house work better today, gently inserting modern amenities.

Frequently that means quiet upgrading or adding a wing that does not compete with the house.

Haverhill Street

This 1711 house was well cared for. Now it was time to tackle its rear wings. Both had been built badly 100+ years ago, cut up, and poorly maintained.

They were demolished.

What replaced them needed to be secondary, almost invisible: the traditional ‘little house’ and ‘back house’ attached to the barn.

We added an entry, a mud room with closets, a family room, bedrooms and baths, including a master bath connected to the master bedroom in the main house, a stair with head room and width, and a porch for rocking chairs.

Before picture of the back wings

After

Berry Street

A beloved First Period house had marginal kitchen, bedroom, bath, and family spaces.

The wing to the right needed to be 2 floors above a walk-out basement and subservient to the original house.

c. 1710

Pearl Street.

Built in 1790, this house needed repair as well as a new wing for garage and guest spaces. An old shed poorly attached to the house in the 1950’s barely worked as a family room.

The request list included a 3 season entry porch and easy access to gardening equipment.

I was asked to recreate the original front entrance from a vintage photograph. I explained that the fan light should be painted black – to create the circle which encompasses the front door and sidelights. The owners are not inclined.

My Blog documents the design of the front entrance.