Treeless

I have always been fascinated with historic photos of places I know and love. Here is a very interesting photo of the bridge leading into downtown Chappaqua taken around 1930.

Notice the lack of trees? Well, if you are a New Castle resident or enjoy visiting the shops downtown, you’d better get used to this look. Construction for the new “improved” bridge is scheduled to start this fall and the first item on the list is to remove every tree adjacent to the crossing.

New Castle NOW has more information, including news on a protest being organized during this weekend’s New Castle Family Fun Day.

Living Well with Leather

Back in college, I was president of the AIAS chapter and attended Forum in Miami. A local house tour took us to a very modern residence with a stained concrete floor with a warm, reddish brown finish. It looked so much like leather, I needed to touch it to be sure is wasn’t. Since that day, I have had a “thing” for leather in home design.

Recently, I’ve been noticing a trend toward more leather products. Here is a quick sample of a few I’ve seen.

Ann Sacks

Piel Leather tiles from Ann Sacks are simply beautiful. I bet you couldn’t keep from touching them. Soft, warm, comfort… pure luxury.

Turnstyle Designs

London-based Turnstyle Designs specializes in unique handcrafted architectural hardware. They carry an entire line of leather wrapped hardware.

Silestone

How about a leather kitchen counter? Well, it’s not actually leather. It’s Silestone Leather quartz counters and tiles in a special matte leather finish. In addition to looking great, Silestone Leather is also the first and only counter top material with Microban technology.

AZEK: Primer or No Primer?

I received a comment on one of my posts about painting AZEK trim and mouldings.

Duncan wrote:

I keep hearing and reading that AZEK can be painted. No one i’ve found has mentioned anything about “priming” the boards before painting. Is this a requirement? or does the primer affect the bonding of the paint?

Their technical bulletin prescribes several products for painting AZEK. Some require a first coat of primer, others don’t. If you use Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint with VinylSafe Technology, you will not need primer.

As a case study, we broke all the rules on our house. We painted our AZEK trim using Benjamin Moore latex. The dark color we selected has a very low LRV and we used no primer. Twelve month in, it’s still looking great.

Little Ram Island House

Back in college, I attended a lecture by A. Eugene Kohn. That specific evening was a turning point for me. Gene Kohn is the business mind behind the great success of Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects. His enthusiasm for the profession and the business of architecture was so inspirational. Since then, KPF has been one of my favorite firms.

The majority of their work is high rise office and residential buildings constructed throughout the world. William Pedersen, the design genius of the firm, has also designed several private homes. His most recent is one for himself on Shelter Island overlooking Long Island Sound.

KPF is known for their attention to detail and this house is a study in detail. Every surface, edge and corner is addressed with an elegant modern resolution. That is no surprise. It took Pedersen over 20 years to design.

The house is sited perfectly (the photo – the only one I can find online – does not do the house justice). It grows from the land as if through erosion and evolution it was created by a natural force. It reminds me of the bluffs of Nantucket or the Palisades of the great Hudson River. The plan of the house, two narrow triangles arranged in a boomerang shape, captures every available view of the Sound, yet respectfully avoids disturbing any views of his neighbors.

This month’s issue of Architectural Record features Pedersen’s masterpiece along with three other architect’s homes. Twenty years from now, I fully expect the Little Ram Island House to be listed on the top ten homes of all time.

Living Well House of the Week: Little Ram Island House

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For more information, check out the house specs published by Arch Record. If I can find more photos, I will post another day.

The Right Pieces in the Right Places

It’s amazing much a house will change by adding the right pieces in the right places. Check out this transformation happening in Pelham.

There are two reasons why this project is successful for us.

1. A smart, caring construction manager that works as a team player.

2. A trusting client.

The Glass House: Visited

On January 25, 2005, architect Philip Johnson passed away. In June of that same year, his partner David Whitney passed too, leaving their entire New York and Connecticut estates to The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Two years later, Philip Johnson’s Glass House was opened to the public.

Unfortunately, unless you would like to purchase tickets for a Private Tour ($500 per person) or an even more exclusive Patron Tour ($1000 per person), you will need to wait at least 12 months for a visit.

Lucky for us, Katie Hutchinson has prepared an amazing review of her recent trip to the iconic New Canaan residence. When you’re finished reading her post, you’ll feel like you were there with her.

In photos, the Glass House has always struck me as smallish, perhaps because the landscape is so vast. In reality it’s much larger than I expected. It’s 1,728 square feet. The floor is brick, laid in a herring-bone pattern. The ceiling height is ten-foot six-inches. It’s a bit like a patio with a lid. The plan is a simple rectangle with full-height glass doors on both central axes. No-nonsense, black, steel I-beams stand as columns around the perimeter. A brick cylinder toward the northeast houses a private full bath and a fireplace facing the seating area.

Read Katie’s entire review here.

For more information, or to purchase tickets for the 2009 tour season, visit the Glass House website.

Concreteworks Studio

Concreteworks is a design studio specializing in the craft of concrete. They’ve developed a lightweight concrete-based composite that allows them to fabricate countertops, bath tubs, sinks, tile, furniture and pretty much anything else they can dream up.

Living Well Link of the Week: Concreteworks Studio

Freedom

This is a re-post from a year ago. Happy Independence Day.

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On this Independence Day weekend, please take time to remember those who have fought (and continue to fight) for our freedom.

July 4th is so much more than a day of hot dogs and fireworks.

Two hundred and thirty one years ago, fifty-six very brave and courageous men signed the Declaration of Independence. In doing so, they risked everything, including their own lives and the safety of their families.

Independence. Freedom. It was an almost impossible thing to accomplish, but they did it simply because it was the right thing to do.

When I see my mom sitting in an Adirondack chair holding my son in her arms, both watching the sun set over the St. Lawrence River, I thank God that there were people willing to do the right thing so many generations ago.

The 4th of July is only a date. Independence and freedom are the reasons we celebrate.

Happy Independence Day.

Almost Famous

Last week, one of our custom kitchens was in the running to be selected for an HGTV promo. Susan Serra, The Kitchen Designer, announced on her blog that the Home and Garden TV network was in search of a suburban kitchen in the NYC area. We’re located in the NYC area and we’ve designed several suburban kitchens, so I pursued the lead. After some back and forth with the spot’s producer, HGTV and the promo’s sponsor selected another kitchen. Oh well… I think I would rather hold out for a feature anyway!

I just wish they had the opportunity to meet our client. Marissa Hardie is the chef for whom we designed the kitchen. She is a great person, a talented chef and has a perfect personality for TV. I have no doubt that Food Network will be knocking on her door someday.

Coming down from such a close call with our 15 minutes (or 60 seconds) of fame, today I had the great opportunity to be interviewed by Howard Greenstein. He is is a Social Media Strategist and Evangelist, and President of the Harbrooke Group, which specializes in helping companies communicate with their customers using the latest Web technologies. We discussed how blogging and the Internet has helped in the success of Fivecat Studio. He used our conversation as the basis of the first post at his new blog for Inc.com, the official website of Inc. magazine.

We have a full roster of great projects, a talented team of happy architects (we had performance reviews this week) and the best clients in Westchester. Now it’s time to let the rest of the world know what we do and how we do it. Exposure like this will certainly help with that goal.

A sincere “Thank You” to Susan for the lead and to Howard for the opportunity.

It was a good week.

Warm Breezes and Cool Water

Summer has officially started here at Fivecat Crossing (that’s what we call our little cottage in the woods).

The boys are out of school and into the pool. Mom and Dad are off to the river and and Annmarie and I are trying to get comfortable with the new routines of the season. Camp, swim lessons, tennis and lots and lots of work. Life is good. We just need to get used to it.

We’re not scheduled for a vacation at the river until late August, so I’ll just have to keep dreaming about the warm breezes, cool water and amazing sunsets until we get there. Ian Coristine’s photography makes me feel like I am already there. I love the river. My long time readers already know; it’s one of my favorite places.

Is there one place in the world that makes you feel at total peace? No worries? No responsibilities? The way you felt when you ran through the lawn sprinkler as a kid? A place where you can actually feel the stress melt away and your shoulders release from that 24 hour muscle tension that you don’t even know you have until you get there?  A place that makes you smile just thinking about it?

Where is your favorite place?