Some of you know that Karen and I recently moved from our family home of 26 years to an empty-nester home. Like the experiences of many of you, our move was a bit of a long and winding road, including a two-month stopover in an apartment between homes. We’ve owned three homes together including … Read More >>
Nicely Renovated Basic Blue Historic Colonial Home
When the words "historic home" or "historic district" show up in a home description, we can't help but take a look. Glad we did on this one in Bentonville, Arkansas. On the outside, it's a very nice basic blue historic Colonial home but on the inside, a few contemporary touches have been added to … Read More >>
Inspiring Homes
Tiny Cottage in Virginia is Big on Charm
Warm Springs Virginia is a very small mountain town, near the border with West Virginia. This tiny cottage (only 970 square feet!) caught our eye when we saw it come up for sale and we wanted to share it with you. KAREN : love how the gate “picture frames” the house in this photo! RICH: […]
Updating a Master Bath in a Modest Ohio Cottage
Making the most of a small space is something we typically look for in a Modest Mansion, but sometimes, just a little more space makes everything work the way it should. I added a little more space when I designed this project, turning this cute little hall bath into a very comfortable and well-appointed master […]
Super Remodeling of a Classic California Contemporary, Mid-Century Modern Home
If you’re used to thinking that all “modern” homes are sleek, and cool, and minimalist on the inside, then this remodeled Mid-Century Modern might change your mind. The 1,755 square foot home was built in 1975 by the Streng Brothers in the California Contemporary style (Streng began building great modern homes in California since the 1950’s). It was […]
A Rustic Log Cabin that’s Practically Luxurious Inside
You heard that right. “Rustic” and “luxurious” aren’t often used to describe the same house. Which is exactly what we like about this little place in Hot Springs, Virginia – it’s a yee-haw corncob pipe log cabin on the outside, and a very, very nice family retreat on the inside.
Home Design & Style
Tudor Revival Style is a Great Fit for Small Homes
I’ve always liked Tudor Revival-styled homes, but it seems I’m in the minority. In more than three decades of Residential Architecture practice, I’ve had one client express an interest in Tudor Revival style. One. I’ve mentioned it to a few other clients over the years, but the reaction I typically get is something along the lines […]
Our 5 Rules for Better Home Design
Recently a friend asked me to help him figure out the proper size for a family room addition he was designing to expand his home a bit. He was looking for some “rules of thumb” that would guarantee a comfortable, “architecturally-correct” space – a short cut to good design, because lot of money was at […]
Five Strategies to Make the Home You’re Designing More “Green”
It takes a little science and a little art to design a beautiful, livable new home that’s energy-efficient, uses less material to build, and connects with its building site. Those are some of the major ingredients of good design – and essential ingredients of “green” design.
Updating a Master Bath in a Modest Ohio Cottage
Making the most of a small space is something we typically look for in a Modest Mansion, but sometimes, just a little more space makes everything work the way it should. I added a little more space when I designed this project, turning this cute little hall bath into a very comfortable and well-appointed master […]
Our Journey
Minor Repairs to Our Stone Walk Turns into a Bigger Job than We Thought…
So we’ve been in the new house about 7 months now, and after all the work we’ve done inside, it’s finally time to start sprucing up the exterior. We were so excited to find this home, and the patio is one of the reasons why – it’s just the right size and it was very […]
How We Re-Tiled Our Big Master Bath Shower (with help). Part Two
Part Two of the continuing saga of re-tileing the shower in our master bath, part of an overall master bath remodel. (Read Part One of this story here) With demolition done and all the finish material delivered, Week Two started with the first actual construction work on the shower. First up was replacing the old shower […]
How We Re-Tiled Our Big Master Bath Shower (with help). Part One.
Part One of our continuing saga of re-tiling our master bath shower, part of an overall master bathroom remodel… We’ve done enough DIY remodeling work over the years to know what we’re capable of taking on…and what we aren’t (or maybe “shouldn’t”). We probably could have remodeled our 23-year old master bath shower ourselves, but […]
Build & Maintain
7 Ways to Hold Down the Construction Cost of Your New Home
You might think the only way to hold down construction costs on a house is to strip all the niceties away, and build a “bare bones” house. You’re partly right – adding lots of expensive goodies to a house can jack the price up quickly. But the real culprits are poor planning and waste. Plan your […]
The 3 Big Things That Have the Most Impact on the Cost of Your New Home
You want the best house you can get, with an interesting, family-friendly layout, an attractive exterior, and nice finishes – without blowing up your budget. But if you get heavily invested (emotionally and financially) in a design before you have a handle on potential costs, you’ll end up cutting costs at the very end of the process, […]
How to Be Sure You’re Getting a Fair Price on Your New Home or Remodeling Project
A few years ago a gentleman stopped by our house to ask if he could give me a quote on trimming the trees in my yard – a fairly frequent event on my street, which has a lot of older trees. I’ve lived here long enough to have talked to dozens of tree trimmers. So I pretty […]
How We Re-Tiled Our Big Master Bath Shower (with help). Part Two
Part Two of the continuing saga of re-tileing the shower in our master bath, part of an overall master bath remodel. (Read Part One of this story here) With demolition done and all the finish material delivered, Week Two started with the first actual construction work on the shower. First up was replacing the old shower […]